Wild China字幕.docx

NARRATOR: The last hidden world,China.For centuries, travellers to China have told tales of magical landscapesand surprising creatures.Chinese civilisation is the worlds oldestand today, its largest,with well over a billion people.Its home to more than 50 distinct ethnic groupsand a wide range of traditional lifestyles,often in close partnership with nature.We know that China faces immense social and environmental problems.But there is great beauty here, too.China is home to the worlds highest mountains,vast deserts ranging from searing hotto mind-numbing cold.Steaming forests harbouring rare creatures.Grassy plains beneath vast horizons.And rich tropical seas.Now for the first time ever,we can explore the whole of this great country,meet some of the surprising and exotic creatures that live hereand consider the relationship of the people and wildlife of Chinato the remarkable landscape in which they live.iThis is Wild China./iOur exploration of China begins in the warm, subtropical south.On the Li River, fishermen and birds perch on bamboo rafts,a partnership that goes back more than a thousand years.This scenery is known throughout the world,a recurring motif in Chinese paintings.And a major tourist attraction.The south of China is a vast area,eight times larger than the UK.Its a landscape of hills but also of water.(THUNDER RUMBLING)It rains here for up to 250 days a year,and standing water is everywhere.(THUNDER RUMBLING)In the floodplain of the Yangtze River,black-tailed godwits probe the mud in search of worms.But isnt just wildlife that thrives in this environment.The swampy ground provides ideal conditionsfor a remarkable member of the grass family.Rice.The Chinese have been cultivating rice for at least 8,000 years.It has transformed the landscape.Late winter in southern Yunnan is a busy time for local farmersas they prepare the age-old paddy fields ready for the coming spring.These hill slopes of the Yuanyang County plunge nearly 2,