Nature-Watching and Affective Encounters with More-Than-Human Beings in Post-Reform Beijing

This study investigates ordinary Beijingers' urban encounters with more-than-human beings through the simple yet powerful act of nature-watching (ziran guancha 自然观察)—such as bird-watching and plant observation activities, and reveals how nature-watching practices foster affective bonds and cross-species relatedness. Drawing on multispecies ethnography and affect theory, the study unsettles the notion of cities as anti-nature spaces and reimagines Beijing as a vibrant, multispecies metropolis where humans and nonhumans co-create urban life. It is a fresh and compelling look at how seeing becomes a way of relating, cultivating new forms of ethical care, civic participation, and ecological sensibility in post-reform China.