(CFP)

The spoon-billed sandpiper, a critically endangered mudflat species, has become the city image ambassador of Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province.

The small wader migrates to the Taozini Wetlands in Yancheng for winter, creating a spectacular scene at the site, and gaining popularity online for its distinctive bill shape.

Yancheng boasts the largest muddy intertidal zone wetland in the world and China's first coastal wetland inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a natural site. As a key hub on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, the city’s wetlands provide stopover, moulting and wintering grounds for millions of migratory birds.

Tourists and photography enthusiasts from all over the world are now visiting Yancheng to watch birds and visit exhibitions.

"Each photography activity is fully booked, with the duration extended from initially one or two days to three to five days or even a week," said Qi Xiaoyun, chairman of the Photographers Association of Yancheng City.

According to Qi, participants typically photograph spoon-billed sandpipers in the spring, Chinese black-headed gulls in the summer, the vast red carpet formed by hardy shrubs in the autumn, and flamingos in the winter.

Duan Jingjing, a tourist from Nanjing, is planning to visit the Tiaozini Wetlands to watch migratory birds and then the Yellow Sea Wetland Museum to explore the story of feathered friends.

According to the museum’s head of publicity, Jiang Junbo, the facility aims to showcase the environmental changes from the perspective of migratory birds, and is determined to develop itself into a hub for knowledge exchange for the wetland ecosystem.

A closer look at the designs inspired by the spoon-billed sandpiper in an art district in Yancheng. (Gao Shanshan/visual.people.cn)

At the end of the tour, some tourists prefer to choose souvenirs at the museum store, taking home beautiful memories of the trip. The most popular item in the store still features the cute cartoon design of the spoon-billed sandpiper, printed on T-shirts, mugs, notebooks, and fridge magnets or made into soft toys. The museum café also prominently feature the design on cups, napkins, wallpaper, and floor tiles.

Efforts are also underway to develop more cultural products featuring the iconic species of the wetlands - the red-crowned crane and the milu deer, apart from the spoon-billed sandpiper, according to the museum.