# General > Events, field trips and gatherings >  My first fishing trip in China

## kuching

April 4, 2008. It was public holiday in China. 3 of us; Mr Tree (Zhou Hang), Yellowman (Huang Bao Ping) & jungle mike (Michael Lo) decided to explore the river system in north eastern part of Guangdong province of southern China.

Due to some reasons, I do not want to disclose the places that we went but I will write down the names of nearby towns. 

It was a cool & misty morning. We took the bus from Shenzhen city to a small town called Haifeng. There, we took a motorcycle taxi to a village.

Mr Tree went there before, about 2 years ago. When we reached the 1st location, he was so very upset because the stream was used to covered by evergreen broad-leaved forest of the subtropical zone. But now, it's gone!!! 


Haifeng town.





On board the motorcycle taxi:






Destruction of paradise on earth !!!!





We're so disappointed to see this....a polluted stream!!!

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## kuching

After walking for a few minutes to the upper stream, we found a good spot to collect fish.





Mr Tree is the 1st to jump into the freezing water. Compared to the water in my homeland (Borneo), the water over here is very cold, probably 14 degree Celsius (?). 






I was so happy to see this cute hill stream loach which looks very similar to the Borneo sucker fish from Borneo. This loach is called _Pseudogastromyzon laticeps_.











And, Mr Tree suddenly screamed so loud......everyone was shocked. He found the beautiful dwarf catfish called _Pseudobagrus trilineatus_ for the first time!!!






....to be continued.

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## kuching

As I was feeling down because of the emotional (girl) problem back home, I didn't collect fish in this trip except taken photos most of the time.

After taking our lunch in a restaurant, we continued to walk to down from the stream to a bigger river. There, Mr Tree showed me some beautiful fishes that I never seen before. 

Then, Mr Tree trying to find the location where he found _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var. _crispatula_ (aquatic aroid) about 2 years ago.....but he couldn't find it. It was getting late, we got another half an hour to search the Crypt before we called a day off. 

I was busying photographing the insects in the bushes & suddenly Mr Tree shouted "Cryptocoryne" very very loud... (in Mandarin language) I jumped up and quickly ran towards the bushes. I saw a beautiful stream behind the bushes.....and unbelievable.....I saw _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var._ crispatula_  for the first time in my life!!!! At that moment, I forgot all my problems back home....& all of us screaming & jumping in the stream like a group of crazy people....Ha!ha!ha!




Collecting loaches & gobies in a river near a restaurant:







In the late afternoon, we're trying to find the habitat of _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var._ crispatula_  ....there's a stream behind the bushes. Mr Tree turned left to check it out....





And, he found _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var._ crispatula_  in a new spot!






What a beautiful aquatic aroid!






The beautiful leaves (submerged in the water):

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## kuching

The habitat (fast flowing stream):




Submerged condition:






The rotten spathe (flower):






Beautiful Crypt.!!! (all in submerged condition)






Other photos.....

grasses:





Cute puppy:







.....to be continued.

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## kuching

After dinner, 3 of us went to a nearby river to check out the gill net that we set up not long ago before sunset. As the air temperature was dropping slowly, we needed to wear jacket. 


Mr Tree is checking his gill net:






_Zacco platypus_





_Zacco platypus_ in its natural habitat.






_Opsariichthys bidens_





_Rasbora steineri_

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## kuching

_Parazacco spilurus spilurus_







Freshwater shrimp (_Macrobrachium_ sp.)






Apple snail (_Pila_  sp.) - Apple snail is a pest. This snail also can transfer a type parasite called _Angiostrongylus cantonensis_ to Humans. 






Common tree frog. (_Polypedates megacephalus_)






The mating beetles.





.....to be continued.

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## Aquaculture

Wow! Couldn't wait for more of your sharp photo journey.

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## kuching

> Wow! Couldn't wait for more of your sharp photo journey.


Ha!ha! thankyou. More coming up..... :Smile:

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## K11

Wah! very nice!!!

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## juggler

Wow, Mike -- this is a nice photo journal.  :Well done: 
Will wait for your "continuation..."

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## kuching

Yes, still got tons of photos to post!

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## michael lai

Great field report! unfortunately I never have the time to go exploring the number of times I've been there. Guangdong that area always projects to me an industrial area as the sky is literally covered with soot everyday... :Grin:

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## kuching

> Great field report! unfortunately I never have the time to go exploring the number of times I've been there. Guangdong that area always projects to me an industrial area as the sky is literally covered with soot everyday...


Yes, not many nice places to look for fish or water plants.....most of the rivers are polluted! :Sad:

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## MrTree

In Guangdong, need to travel very far to a good fishing spot.....but there are still good places around.

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## keithtang

That's a nice fishing trip....the Crypts are beautiful..

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## kuching

On the third day, we hired a local kid to be our guide to climb the mountain at the village where we took our lunch. Half an hour later, 3 of us decided to stop climbing as there is no big tree or stream along the trail. We could not find any interesting flora & fauna in this type of forest, so we went to visit a waterfall next to a Chinese temple. There, we found the carnivorous plant of China .....the sundew!


The mountains of southern China.





Evergreen forest.





The forest:





Unidentified species of flower:

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## kuching

Sundew (most probably _Drosera spathulata_)










The larvae of a species of beetle:

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## kuching

In the afternoon, we went to catch fish again.

_Schistura fasciolatus_





Shrimp (_Caridinia_ sp.)






Forgot the name.....(???)





Goby (_Rhinogobius duospilus_)




Goby (_Hypseleotris compressocephalus_)

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## kuching

Hill stream loach (_Pseudogastromyzon laticeps_)





_Oryzias latipes_






Small water snake (_Opisthotrophis_ sp.)





Carnivorous plant (_Utricularia_ sp.)

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## kuching

Around 3pm, Zhou Hang found the fish which I'm looking for ......BLACK PARADISE FISH (Macropodus hongkongensis)!!!!


The spot where Mr Tree caught the fish.




_Macropodus hongkongensis_. This fish is named after Hong Kong.






We walked further down the stream & we found the BIGGEST population of _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var. _crispatula_  (another location)!!!






Mr Tree is photographing the spathe (flower) of _Cryptocoryne crispatula_ var. _crispatula_  (above the water surface).

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## kuching

The spathe (above the water surface)





The leaves....





We also found the Crypt in emersed condition.





The Chinese temple

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## MrTree

Mike, that flower is _Mucuna birdwoodiana_..common in Shenzhen too. 

and this is another less common species found in Shenzhen, _Mucuna semperirens_ , very hot stuff taken 12:35 am this morning in Wu Tong Mountain. We are going back again tonight. :Grin: 

The fatty goby is _Odontobutis haifengensis_

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## MrTree

i am going out now to buy a goggle.......will go back again soon..

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## illumbomb

Simply stunning and beautiful. Its a pity that during my 3 years stay in Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, I did not attempt to go for such trips  :Crying:  !!! Anyway there were no like-minded kakis also lah and the mountains around Suzhou are mostly rocky mountains. We do have 2 very famous lakes called Tai Hu and Yang Cheng Hu around there, but I usually go there to makan 太湖三白 and 阳澄湖大闸蟹.  :Embarassed:

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## TS168

Nice flower  :Smile:

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## kuching

> Mike, that flower is _Mucuna birdwoodiana_..common in Shenzhen too. 
> 
> and this is another less common species found in Shenzhen, _Mucuna semperirens_ , very hot stuff taken 12:35 am this morning in Wu Tong Mountain. We are going back again tonight.
> 
> The fatty goby is _Odontobutis haifengensis_


Thanks for the ID. :Smile:

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## kuching

> Simply stunning and beautiful. Its a pity that during my 3 years stay in Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, I did not attempt to go for such trips  !!! Anyway there were no like-minded kakis also lah and the mountains around Suzhou are mostly rocky mountains. We do have 2 very famous lakes called Tai Hu and Yang Cheng Hu around there, but I usually go there to makan 太湖三白 and 阳澄湖大闸蟹.


There are a lot of interesting aquatic flora & fauna in China....u should go back there next time to look for them. :Smile:

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## kuching

> Nice flower


Thanks for viewing. :Grin:

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## Jungle-mania

Keep it up, you are a big inspiration to all.

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## kuching

> Keep it up, you are a big inspiration to all.


Ha!Ha! Many thanks.

More coming up.... :Grin:

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## MrTree

Mike, that water snake got ID liao, it is _Opisthotropis kuatunensis._

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## kuching

> Mike, that water snake got ID liao, it is _Opisthotropis kuatunensis._


Thanks for the id. :Smile:

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## rogerboi

Very nice pictures and superb photography skill. Do share more pictures with us. May all these pictures motivate everyone to conserve the environment and do what that can to preserve the nature.

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## kuching

> Very nice pictures and superb photography skill. Do share more pictures with us. May all these pictures motivate everyone to conserve the environment and do what that can to preserve the nature.


TQ. still got some photos to share. Will post it tomorrow. :Grin:

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## kuching

On the 4th day, Mr Tree & I woke up early & took a motorcycle taxi to a nearby village to look for paradise fish. 

Pix A

Mr Tree is looking for paradise fish in a polluted drain. The fish population is very low:





Pix B: A calf.






Pix C: the scenery.






Pix D: Water plant, most probably is _Potamogeton_ sp.





Pix E: Close up of _Potamogeton_ sp.

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## kuching

Pix F: Unidentified species of semi-aquatic plant.





Pix G: _Polygonum_ sp. ???





Pix H: _Channa asiatica_.





Pix I: _Anabas testudineus_





Pix J: Pest of the world.....a juvenile of tilapia.




Pix K: farming....




We failed to find paradise fish in this trip, so we returned back to Shenzhen in the afternoon. Due to the following day was Monday after the long weekend holiday, the highway/expressway got very serious traffic jam. We reached Shenzhen very late in the evening.


To be continued.....

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## rwalker

Really enjoy your outing journal.
Thanks for sharing.

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