Earlier this year, a netizen taking a walk in Shenzhen Bay Park suggested adding streetlights to brighten the area, but park authorities politely declined, explaining that bright lighting would disrupt migratory birds’ wintering and migration rhythms. The decision won widespread public acclaim, with many hailing Shenzhen as “a warm city that also lets birds rest.”

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Regulations on Mangrove Wetland Protection took effect in November. Article 15 calls for improved layout and management of nighttime lighting around migratory bird habitats to build bird-friendly cities. By enshrining the popular “lights-out for birds” initiative in legislation, Shenzhen has filled a national legislative gap.

Shenzhen lies on the critical East Asian-Australasian Flyway, and its Neilingding-Futian National Nature Reserve is China’s only reserve of its kind in an urban core. Nearly 100,000 migratory birds stop over to winter at Shenzhen Bay annually, a key global habitat for the endangered black-faced spoonbill. The 2026 global census recorded 341 of the birds here, accounting for 4.4% of the world’s total. Over 270 bird species have been documented in Futian mangroves alone, with both species count and population sizes rising sharply and rare birds appearing more frequently in recent years.