Dule temple is about 100 km from Beijing, and was rebuilt in 984 AD. It houses an enormous 16m wooden Buddha statue. If you want to find wildlife in China, Buddhist areas are often the most rewarding because the Buddhist respect for nature means that the animals are not eaten there. In 2001 we visited Fu Guang Temple in Shanxi to see a huge colony of the endemic Myotis pequinius. At Dule, the temple is home to a large colony of the fishing bats Myotis ricketti, and many common swifts.

After a quick meal of the local delicacy (donkey), we recorded the echolocation calls of the fine-haired noctule Nyctalus velutinus.

Other bats encountered on this trip included Myotis frater,

and a tube-nosed bat Murina sp. which may be new to science.

These Rousettus leschnaulti fruit bats were photographed at Beijing Zoo.

Back to July 2006