Zhejiang Herping Expedition I
The province is known for its advanced infrastructure, highly modernised, and high population density. Also surprisingly, over a hundred species of herpetofauna called this place home. In this expedition, we will look for both lowland suburban herps and mid to high-elevation subtropical montane forest dwellers, with the famous Five-Pace Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) and the King Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata) as our main targets.
July 6th-July 12th, 2026
Itinerary
July 6th 2026 Day 1 Xihu District, Hangzhou
July 7, 8th 2026 Day 2-3 Jingning She Autonomous County, Lishui
July 9th 2026 Day 4 Taishun County, Wenzhou
July 10, 11th 2026 Day 5-6 Longquan City, Lishui
Picking up locations could be Hangzhou International Airport or Hangzhou East Station.
We will be meeting up at a Starbucks around 3pm. near the first spot in Hangzhou.
We can drop you off anywhere around Hangzhou after the trip is over.
Day 1 📍Xihu District, Hangzhou
The first day of our herping expedition will start in a suburban area of Hangzhou, the largest city in Zhejiang province. Hangzhou is a large city with over 10 million people, but with a surprisingly great herpetofauna diversity.
We will meet up at a Starbucks near the first spot in the afternoon, after all of us are picked up. With a quick introduction to each other, we will head to dinner and get ready for the first night of herping. The low-elevation suburban herping can turn up many surprises. Our main target will be the beautiful Chinese Bamboo Ratsnake (Oreocryptophis p. vaillanti) as these elusive snakes are relatively common in this suburban area, and also the venomous snake that caused the most bites and fatalities in China — the Short-tailed Mamushi (Gloydius brevicauda), melanistic morph Fujian Green Pitviper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri), and melanistic morph Red-banded Wolfsnake (Lycodon rufozonatus) have been found here several times, so there is a possibility to find some wild mutations. Many amphibians living in this area, the iconic Chinese Giant Flyingfrog (Zhangixalus dennysi) are very common here. Even though the habitat might look a bit too disturbed in this area, there are still a great number of snakes living in this area.
The herping spots in Hangzhou are relatively small and quick to wrap up, but we will visit two spots on the first night (or potentially three) and drive to the hotel. Once we finish herping, we will stay at a very nice, modern hotel very close to the highway entrance.
Day 2-4 📍Jingning County, Lishui & Taishun County, Wenzhou
On the second day morning, we will head south to Jingning She Autonomous County. We will stay in a mountain resort for the next three days, and all of our following herping spots will be very close to where we are staying.
In the next three days, we will be herping in Wangdongyang Wetland Park, Wuyangling National Park, and a mountain road that connects the border between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. This is a relatively high-elevation area by Zhejiang standards, and we will mostly focus on finding montane dwellers here. Many mountain vipers can be found here—Five Pace Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) will be our top target, Taiwan Mountain Pitviper (Ovophis makazayazaya) can be found if it rains heavily, Sharp-scaled Lancehead Viper (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus) are very common in mid elevation, and the green beans— Fujian Green Pitviper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri) are everywhere in this place, if the conditions are right, finding a hundred of them in a single night is possible in one of the spots! False Mamushi (Pseudagkistrodon rudis), Gray-bellied Green Ratsnake (Gonyosoma frenata), Chinese Bamboo Ratsnake (Oreocryptophis p. vaillanti), Chinese Many-toothed Snake (Sibynophis chiensis), King Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata) and many more interesting colubrids were found here in previous expeditions. The elusive Elapidae, such as the Fujian Coralsnake (Sinomicrurus kellogi), Annulated Coralsnake (Sinomicrurus annularis) and the Chinese King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) (but DORs only) were found in this place in the previous expeditions. The high species diversity in this place will make the results of every single night quite different. In the Wangdongyang Wetland Park, we can also encounter a very unique and range-restricted amphibian—Orange-back Warty Newt (Paramesotriton aurantius). We found a secret spot that is guaranteed to turn them up!
Since we are living in a mountain resort, the chance of turning up diurnal snakes is much higher. The owner found many snakes at the resort before; he once saw a Big-eyed Ratsnake (Ptyas dhumnades) eating a frog in the yard, and we found a King Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata) on our way to get drinks before. We keep a good relationship with the resort owner, and he has become a good friend of ours lately. We told him not to eat wild-caught snakes and to take phone pics of snakes he found to send me so I can get an ID on them.
Day 5-6 📍Longquan City, Lishui
On the last stretch of the trip, we will head to Longquan City, and our main herping spot will be the Longquan Mountains—one of the most famous herping spots in Zhejiang province.
This mountain seems to have the highest chance of finding showstopper-level snakes from my past experiences. The Five Pace Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) are relatively common here, as well as the two cool-loving ratsnake species— the Mandarin Ratsnake (Euprepiophis mandarinus) and Chinese Bamboo Ratsnake (Oreocryptophis p. vaillanti), which we all found in here in my previous expeditions. We even witnessed a Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) predating a 2.4-meter-long Big-eyed Ratsnake (Ptyas dhumnates) in the daytime, and the turbo-rare Stejneger’s False Cobra (Psuedoxenodon stejnegeri) has been found here multiple times by us and some other local herpers. When it is cold but sunny, we will actively road cruise here during the day if the conditions are right. There is a large number of amphibian species that can be found here, the large and unique Chong’an Moustache Toad (Leptobrachium liui) are very common in this mountain range. We will hike and road cruise both in mid and high elevations in this mountain to ensure the species diversity we found.
In Longquan, we will be staying in a five-star hotel with large rooms and beautiful river views. Longquan is a city known for its fine ceramics and swords; this hotel has a small exhibition of both. It is also very close to our herping spot.
Included: Not Included:
Transportation Snacks and extra drinks
Daily meals and drinks Flights on arrival
Accomodation Visa
Difficulty & Comfortableness:
Mostly we are going to hike on the roadside and road cruise by vehicles, there is no difficult terrain in this trip, be prepared to hike 15-25k steps per day, but if you are tired, you can always jump in one of the cars to rest and join the road cruise instead. The weather in the first day in lowland might be a little hot depending on the weather, and day 2-3 in Jingning are usually around low 20 degrees with 90%+humidity, sometimes it can drop below 18 degrees below, also be prepared to get wet or get rained on in there.
Food & Accomodation:
We will have a combination of American fast food, Chinese food of your choice and local food, on day 1, 5, and 6 we will have a variety of food choices in the city, on day 2-4, we will stay in the mountain resort and have local food from the owner’s wife. The hotel rooms in this trip will be big, clean, and have everything. Mostly we will be staying in very good hotels, and you can expect to sleep well every single night. We will stay in two-bed room for the most part. If you wish to stay in a private room, please pay the extra cost.
Travel & Visa requirements:
Be sure to arrive in Hangzhou before 1pm on July 6th, 2026, or meet up at the Starbucks by 3 pm. We recommend that everyone arrive a day before the trip. We will return to Hangzhou around 4pm on July 12th, 2026. Usually, a Visa is required for traveling to Chinae, be sure to check on that for your country; it is the participants’ responsibility to get the proper Visa or meet the requirements to enter the country. WeWeb can help with obtaining the Visa if needed.