This morning, I posted a simple question in a local Shanghai birding group – and got a reply. Here is the unedited transcript, with the Chinese answers translated using machine translation.

Kai Pflug:

Does anyone know whether the back entrance to Binjiang Forest Park is still open, so that one can enter before the official opening time?

Reply:

So, you want me to find a way to get into the place without going through the proper channels, just to release some breadworms and set up a sound trap?

Kai Pflug:

No, I just want to know whether it is possible to enter before 8 am.

Reply:

Why should the rules be bent for a foreigner?

Kai Pflug:

You are not a nice person. There are many Chinese going in there before 8 am. Why should a foreigner not do it then? I thought this group is for birders to help each other, not to show how patriotic and nationalist you are. I was wrong.

Reply:

Article 43 of the Wildlife Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that when foreigners conduct field research or shoot films and videos of key protected wildlife in China, they must obtain approval from the wildlife protection authorities of the provincial, autonomous regional, or municipal people’s governments or their authorized entities, and must comply with relevant laws and regulations.

Kai Pflug:

Yes, I knew you were a nationalist. Congratulations.

So, first, you indicate that foreigners should not have preferential treatment. Then, you show that by Chinese law, actually, foreigners have fewer rights than locals. Your thinking is muddled.

Note: Binjiang Forest Park is a public park in Shanghai. To my knowledge, it does not have any key protected avian wildlife.