In Chinese art, cranes are paired with pine trees (
松鹤延年 sōnghè yánnián, 'pine and crane prolong years') as a birthday blessing for the elderly. The red-crowned crane (
丹顶鹤 dāndǐnghè) was nearly chosen as China's national bird, but the character
丹 also appears in the name Japan (
日丹), which caused controversy.
