Coo the music, pigeons set city's tone
Beijing breeders keep tradition of whistling wings, ornamental and racing birds alive
Bred for racing
Ma now keeps more than 200 homing pigeons and works with the Beijing Racing Pigeon Association.
A national-level pigeon-racing judge, he has been involved with organized races since his teens, when he began helping at a local association.
Over the years, his passion has connected him with pigeon-keepers across villages in Fangshan district, southwestern Beijing. "I knew every household that kept pigeons," Ma said. "I could almost tell which family it was with my eyes closed."
The familiarity earned him the nickname "Village Chief Ma" among fellow pigeon-keepers.
Racing today is far more organized than when Ma was a youngster. Local associations now organize training and transport, judges oversee bird releases, videos and livestreams; and location data documents the process.
Large numbers of birds take part in the races. In April, a Beijing-wide spring race held in conjunction with a national race in Xinxiang, Henan province, drew 15,759 pigeons from Beijing, according to the Chinese Racing Pigeon Association.
Ma said the training regime for racing pigeons begins early.
"I usually get up a little after six," he said.
"I let the pigeons that can fly and race out for about half an hour. While they're flying, I clean the loft. When I'm finished, they're about ready to come down, and then I feed them."
As a child, Ma mainly fed pigeons corn, sorghum and peas. Today he uses mixed grains and supplements including vitamins, protein and calcium. "Pigeon feed now can be better than what people eat," he joked. "We raise them almost like athletes."
Chen Kuo grew up in Beijing's Daxing district where pigeons were kept under the eaves. He was fascinated with racing birds from a young age.
"Taking a pigeon far away, releasing it and then seeing it find its own way home — I thought that was amazing," he said.
His home is near Beijing Daxing International Airport and he keeps more than 100 pigeons. However, flight restrictions mean he can no longer train them near his home using traditional methods. He mainly keeps breeding pigeons and sends the young birds to specialized racing lofts for training and competition.
