With splendour, scale and romance, Wild China lifts the veil on
the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country, delving into
its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural
complexity. Journey across China from the glittering peaks of the
Himalayas to the barren steppe, the sub-Arctic to the tropical
islands, through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly
cold and see, in pioneering images, a dazzling array of
mysterious, beautiful, wild and rare creatures.
Contains the following episodes:
Heart of the Dragon
The improbable egg-carton hills of Southern China seem to float
in a sea of glistening rice paddies. This is a landscape full of
surprises. Next to peasants ploughing with buffaloes are rivers
concealing dwarf alligators and giant salamanders, trained
cormorants that catch fish for their masters, bats with unusual
tastes and monkeys that hide in caves.
But this isn't a nature park. Almost 300 million people live
here, with a tradition of eating wildlife. So what forces have
shaped this remarkable landscape and how do farmers and wild
creatures manage to coexist among the rocks and the rice fields?
Programme 2: Shangri-La
Hidden beneath billowing clouds, in China's remote south west,
are perhaps the richest natural treasures in all China. Immense
rivers carve their way south below towering peaks. The wind-swept
slopes are home to the highest-living primates in the world and
hidden in the valleys below are jungles with a diversity of
wildlife comparable to those around the .
Jewel-coloured birds and ancient tribes share forests where wild
elephants still roam. The mystery is that Yunnan's remote forests
stretch into northern territories where deserts would normally be
found. How can these northern forests exist? The rugged landscape
holds the key.
Programme 3: Tibet
The Tibetan plateau covers a quarter of China – an area the size
of Western Europe. This vast, windswept wilderness is one of the
world's most remote places, defined by the glacier-strewn
Himalayas. It's also home to some incredible wildlife such as the
rare chiru, brown bears, wild yaks and the highest-living
predators on Earth. There are more large creatures here than
anywhere else in China.
Defined by over a thousand years of Buddhism, Tibet has a unique
culture that has nurtured remarkable beliefs. The programme
discovers why this landscape and ancient culture is the life
support system for much of the planet.
Beyond the Great Wall
China's emperors built the Great Wall to keep their kingdom safe
from the hostile barbarians to the north. This is a land of
warrior tribes, bizarre wildlife and extreme weather, but also of
vast and breathtaking evergreen forests, grassy plains and
sweeping desert dunes, rich with history.
The legendary Silk Road drew traders and their camels across the
deserts in search of fabulous wealth, and fierce Mongolian
horsemen conquered the known world. Today, nomadic tribesmen
still race horses and hunt with golden eagles, while tiny
hamsters and Asia's last wild horses struggle to survive in the
world's most northerly desert.
Land of the Panda
China's heartland with its Han people is the centre of a
5,000-year-old civilization. This land contains the Great Wall,
the Temple of Heaven, and Beijing's Olympic Stadium and is home
to some of China's most charismatic creatures such as the giant
panda, golden snub-nosed monkey, and golden takin.
China has undergone significant development in the past 50
years, bringing many environmental problems. The programme
explores the deep, complex and often extraordinary relationship
between the Chinese peoples, their environment and its creatures,
and finds out what it means for the future of China.
Programme 6: Tides of Change
From the eastern end of the Great Wall, China's coast spans
14,500km and more than 5,000 years of history. This is a place of
huge contrasts: futuristic modern cities jostling with
traditional seaweed-thatched villages, ancient tea terraces and
wild wetlands where rare animals still survive.
Here Chinese white dolphins, red-crowned cranes, deadly vipers,
giant sturgeon and sabre-wielding monkeys struggle to eke out a
living faced by competition from 700 million people, widespread
and over-fishing. How China is managing such
conflicting pressures has lessons for us all.
From .co.uk
-----------
Beautifully filmed and soothingly narrated by
Bernard Hill (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Wild China takes an
expansive look at the fourth largest country in the world. Over a
period of more than six hours, the miniseries--which was
co-produced by the BBC and China's CTV--lets viewers into a world
that is straddling the line between modern-day efficiency and old
world traditions. Fans accustomed to travelogues with personable
hosts such as quirky Anthony Bourdain or perky Samantha Brown
leading them through far away places may get a little bored with
the hands-off approach here. But the beauty of this production is
in the country and the people, and the way the filmmakers present
them in crisply edited vignettes. We see the jumping spiders atop
Everest, the winding grace of the Great Wall, and of course
some shy pandas that many people equate with China. But some of
the best moments are the simple ones--children in a classroom,
fishermen working the waters, and monks meditating in
monasteries. As did the Planet Earth series, Wild China makes
viewers wish they were there. The film doesn't touch heavily on
the politics of China, but it isn't lacking because of the
omission. As it is, Wild China ends all too soon, leaving viewers
longing for more for a country that once didn't welcome
foreigners in. --Jae-Ha Kim