First stop, Gejiu and Mengzi
As the major mining sites for tin and coal in China, the subsequent deforestation destroyed most of the natural habitats in those two places.
One of the entrances of the tin mines
one of the open coal-mining sites
Almost cleared mountains with very few patches of "forests"
Outside the major cities scattered with many slum towns, which were specifically built for the miners.
Those STD medication ads (for all kinds of nasty STD and parasites like pubic louse) were very common in the poor mining district.
Some herptiles found around these two localities:
Tiannan Knobby Newt
Verrucous Digging Frog, Kaloula verrucosa
[/url]Tadpoles
Burmese Keelback, Rhabdophis leonardi
Black-headed Slugater, Pareas nigriceps
Big-eyed False Cobra, Pseudoxenodon macrops
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And Jerdon Pit-viper, Protobothrops jerdonii
The "kissing" in action
Japalura varcoae
The second stop was a small town beside the Red River.
Those fruits are AWESOME! lol specially the mangoes!!!
Our driver, I called him "The Man" hahaha
We drove about 2km away from the town and took the trail off-road along the stream into the mountain.
Night sky decorated with Fireflies
Even though I did not have the chance to see the Yangtze Giant Solfshell Turtle, I did found my first Chinese turtle in the upper reach of the stream!
a Chinese Softshell, Pelodiscus sinensis
Some other herptiles found in the stream
Hemidactylus frenatus
Odorrana livida
Polypedates impresus
Common Asian Toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus
! If they posted that somewhere in public in the US, there would be protests in the street!