Episode Details

Charles and Jon compare notes from their recent trips to China, and talk the joys of travel there especially the country's superb mammalwatching opportunities. 

Charles and his family spent 10 days in China's Qinghai Province in May, while Jon was in China for a month from mid-April, including almost two weeks in Yunnan Province and a few days in Qinghai.

We discuss the Gouli Valley, and the extraordinary carnivore watching there, due in large part to a guide with superhuman vision. Charles has a close encounter with some Tibetan mushroom connoisseurs and Jon discovers that seeing any species might be possible with the help of the right friends in China, especially when one is the 'mammal lord'.

Notes: Jon's 2026 reports from China - Yunnan, Qinghai, Tangjiahe, Guangxi and Zhejiang - are already available on mammalwatching's China page. If you are interested in details of the tour he will lead across Qinghai next year, including to the original Valley of the Cats, please email.

The study of Fishers predating Lynxes Charles discussed at the start is here.

If you would like to submit you own notes from the field then please get in touch with Jon at info@mammalwatching.com

You can support mammalwatching and buy us a coffee here https://buymeacoffee.com/mammalwatching

Finally did you know you can sign up to receive a weekly mammalwatching newsletter here? https://www.mammalwatching.com/subscribe-to-updates/

Cover art: Pallas’s Cat in the Gouli Valley, February 2026. Photograph by Man Fu.