Wetland · Jiangsu
Yancheng Coastal Wetlands
盐城黄海湿地
Tidal flats of the Yellow Sea, where cranes winter and milu roam
The Yancheng Coastal Wetlands are the largest continuous belt of tidal flats on the Yellow Sea coast of China, stretching along the Jiangsu shore north and south of Yancheng. They are a critical refuelling stop for shorebirds on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, the main wintering ground of the red-crowned crane in China and home of the world's largest herd of Père David's deer, and were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019.
- UNESCO World Heritage (natural) — Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China · 2019
- UNESCO biosphere reserve · 1992
- Ramsar site · 2002
- National nature reserve (Yancheng Rare Birds; Dafeng Milu)
Key facts
Overview
The Jiangsu coast is one of the few places on Earth where land is still growing quickly. Mud carried by rivers and by the old course of the Yellow River has built a flat, low shore with mudflats several kilometres wide at low tide, backed by salt marsh, reed beds and fishponds.
The World Heritage site, the first coastal wetland in China to be inscribed, protects these flats because of the birds that depend on them. Millions of shorebirds on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway stop here in spring and autumn to feed, among them the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper, and red-crowned cranes and other waterbirds winter in the salt marshes. The site is made up of the Yancheng Rare Birds National Nature Reserve, the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve and the Tiaozini flats of Dongtai.
How the landscape formed
Between 1128 and 1855 the Yellow River flowed to the sea through northern Jiangsu, pouring vast amounts of silt onto this coast and pushing the shoreline far to the east. When the river shifted north to Shandong, the northern part of the coast began to erode while the southern part, fed by sediment redistributed by the tides, kept growing. The result is a gently sloping coast of silt and clay with radiating tidal sand ridges offshore and bands of vegetation — bare mud, seepweed, cordgrass, reeds — running parallel to the sea.
Highlights
Tiaozini mudflats
条子泥
Vast intertidal flats near Dongtai where tens of thousands of shorebirds gather at high tide, including the spoon-billed sandpiper and Nordmann's greenshank.
Yancheng Rare Birds reserve
丹顶鹤保护区
The core salt marshes north of Yancheng where red-crowned cranes winter.
Dafeng Milu reserve
麋鹿保护区
Reed and grass marsh where Père David's deer, reintroduced in 1986, now live in free-ranging herds.
Red beach
碱蓬
Seepweed flats that turn deep red in autumn along the upper shore.
Plants and wildlife
The flats are among the most productive intertidal habitats of the Yellow Sea. Several hundred bird species have been recorded along the Yancheng coast. Land reclamation for aquaculture and farming was the main threat to the flats until China restricted coastal reclamation in 2018; the spread of introduced cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) is now the main management problem.
Plants
Seepweed
盐地碱蓬
Suaeda salsa, a succulent that colonises the upper tidal flats and colours them red in autumn.
Reeds
芦苇
Tall reed beds behind the salt marsh shelter cranes, deer and reed-nesting birds.
Smooth cordgrass
互花米草
An introduced North American grass that has spread over large areas of mudflat and is being removed.
Wildlife
Red-crowned crane
丹顶鹤
The largest wintering flock of the species in China gathers in these salt marshes.
Père David's deer
麋鹿
Extinct in the wild in China by the late nineteenth century, reintroduced from British herds and now thriving at Dafeng.
Spoon-billed sandpiper
勺嘴鹬
A critically endangered shorebird for which the Tiaozini flats are a key stopover.
Culture and legend
Yancheng means “salt city”: for two thousand years the coast was a land of salt pans, and the Fan Gong Dyke, first built in the Tang and rebuilt by Fan Zhongyan in the 1020s, protected the salt works and farmland behind it. The wetlands lie seaward of that old line.
Fan Gong Dyke
范公堤
The historic sea wall named after the Song statesman Fan Zhongyan, which marks the medieval shoreline far inland of today's coast.
History
1128–1855
Yellow River flows through northern Jiangsu
Its silt builds out the coast and creates the modern tidal flats.
1986
Père David's deer return
Thirty-nine deer from British collections are released at Dafeng.
1992
Biosphere reserve and national nature reserve
The Yancheng coast joins UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
2002
Ramsar listing
The Yancheng and Dafeng reserves become wetlands of international importance.
2019
UNESCO World Heritage
Inscribed as the first phase of the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China.
Through the seasons
Spring
April and May bring the peak of the northward shorebird migration on the Tiaozini flats.
Summer
Hot and humid; the deer rut at Dafeng and breeding waterbirds in the marshes.
Autumn
Southbound shorebirds from August to October and the red seepweed flats; cranes begin to arrive in late October.
Winter
The crane season, from November to February, with large flocks of ducks, geese and gulls.
Routes and ways in
Crane reserve boardwalks
Visitor areas of the Yancheng Rare Birds reserve have boardwalks and observation towers over the marsh.
Dafeng deer reserve
Viewing areas and a museum on the reintroduction of Père David's deer.
Tiaozini high-tide roost
Birders time visits to the rising tide, when shorebirds are pushed close to the sea wall.
Practical notes
- Most of the reserves are closed to the public; access is limited to designated visitor areas.
- Tide tables matter more than the clock for shorebird watching: the best views are two hours either side of high tide.
- The coast is flat and exposed, with strong winds in winter; a telescope is useful for the mudflats.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Ramsar Sites Information Service — Ramsar Convention Secretariat (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Yancheng Municipal People's Government — Yancheng Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Man and the Biosphere Programme: Yancheng — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More mountains and nature in Jiangsu
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