Bird spit coffee
Bird’s nests are a sure sign of spring, but they are also one of the world’s most expensive foods, selling for up to $2,500 a kg.
Prized in China for their alleged health benefits for hundreds of years, nests made from swiftlets' saliva are mixed into soups, coffee, cereals and skin care products as producers aim to broaden the delicacy’s appeal - and their profit margins.
Jin Hong holds a swiftlet tester to attract swifts.
Speakers on a roof of the Swiftlet Eco Park, play bird songs to attract swifts.
Swifts fly inside a building constructed to farm swiftlet nests.
Jin Hong harvests a bird's nest.
A worker holds a bird's nest at a processing plant.
Bird’s nests are seen before being cleaned.
A worker uses tweezers to remove feathers from a bird's nest.
Two styles of cleaned bird’s nests, Yan Zhan (left) and Su Zhan await repacking at a processing plant.
Bird's nest coffee is sold at an outlet in an airport in Kuala Lumpur.
