For 2,000 years the song thrush has brought music to the ears of millions of Chinese. Now the ancient tradition of buying, caging and keeping wild song birds looks destined to die out.

A new law banning the trade in seven species of wild birds takes effect on January 1. The aim is to try to save China's dwindling numbers of birds. It will also undermine the bustling local markets that are a familiar sight across Chinese cities and towns.

The change in rules signals the likely demise of an integral aspect of Chinese life that dates back to the Han dynasty. Anyone who already has a bird will be allowed to keep it.

But among the seven birds that will be banned from sale is the huamei — or song thrush — which has long been the species of choice for bird-keeping enthusiasts. Those buying or selling the birds will face a fine of up to ten times the price of the bird. It is the first time that Beijing environment officials have changed the list of protected species since 1989.

The customers of the trade are Beijing's more elderly residents. Early in the morning in the capital's parks and alleys, grey-haired men gather around a cluster of bird cages to chat and compare avian tales. They stroll up, gently swinging as many as two cages in each hand. They say that the movement forces the birds to cling on to their perches and thus get their daily exercise.

These old men with their pet birds are a quintessential feature of Beijing. Entire markets have grown up selling bird paraphernalia — bamboo and wooden cages and tiny porcelain water cups. Antique porcelain cups can fetch a fortune among serious collectors.

At the Hongyan market in the suburbs of Beijing, parakeets and larks, mynah birds and thrushes huddle in their cages in the watery winter sunshine.

At one small store dozens upon dozens of song thrushes dart back and forth in a mountain of individual cages.

Their young owner shrugs his shoulders at the impending ban. “What will I do then? I'll find some other business. But I can sell you a bird really cheap now.” He is offering his birds for sale at 60 yuan (£4) each. He refuses to reveal whether this is a discount from his usual price.

He says he is perfectly confident that he will be able to sell off his entire stock before the ban takes effect.

Another bird seller is more defiant. He is cleaning out a cage filled with tiny chattering green-feathered birds and refuses to give his name.

“I just set up my shop a month ago. But what can you do about the Communist Party? They decide to do something and what rights do we common people have?”

He offers a hill mynah bird for 1,600 yuan and a less valuable ordinary mynah bird for 600 yuan. “I'm not worried about the ban. Of course I'll still be able to carry on my business. How will they stop me?”

The custom of keeping birds dates back as early as the Han dynasty (206BC-AD220), when governors kept their feathered pets in private gardens. In the Tang dynasty (618-907) the wealthy and the scholars began to collect exotic birds brought into China as tribute. And in the Song dynasty (960-1270) the the practice of catching wild birds such as larks and orioles to keep in captivity was introduced.

The Manchu invaders who set up the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) popularised the hobby. Nobles idled away their days in Beijing collecting and comparing their ornamental birds. That was when the huamei, which means painted brow — for the white circle around the bird's eyes — gained such popularity.

One elderly fancier at Hongyan market confessed to mixed feelings about the impending ban. “It will be the end of a very old tradition in Beijing. But I think it's wrong to keep birds in cages.”

Feathered friends

— In the Ming and Qing dynasty civil servants commonly displayed their rank using “Mandarin Squares”. The embroidered badges displayed nine levels of birds, with the quail the lowliest and either the golden pheasant or white crane the highest

— The phrase “selection by hitting the bird screen” is used to mean choosing a husband after the story of the daughter of a 6th-century military commander who said that she would marry the man who hit a painting of a peacock twice with an arrow while running

— China's ornithological love affair came to an end with Chairman Mao. Because they ate grain he ordered the eradication of the sparrow population. Citizens were told to leave their houses and clap continuously — the noise scared the birds and kept them on the wing until they dropped from exhaustion

Sources: Times archives, Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs: A Comprehensive Handbook on Symbolism, Spurlock Museum

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