Fortuitously there is a high tower featuring a viewing platform accessible by elevator, or visitors can walk up. This provides extensive panoramas across lakes and recently reforested areas. This tower is also useful for bird spotting as Tianjin is on a bird migratory highway. Large flocks of gulls from northeastern Russia and Mongolia head south to warmer climates in central China during late autumn, returning north in spring. Tianjin's lakes become a resting point on the journey; the attraction of watching the birds around the Haihe River during daylight hours is increasingly a local tourist attraction. The flocks head back to the surrounding waters for overnight stays.