“Wild China” is a breathtaking bio-documentary, which would gladden the hearts of all the species, who call The Peoples` Republic home. Of course, everybody associates the giant panda with China. However, not many people understood that there is a lot more to Chinese flora and fauna than the great Black-and-White. That is… …until one watches this intrusive documentary.
One line of discussion, which this series effectively settled is the fact that China is not just a big and populous nation. It is much more than that. The findings of this six-hour two-disc DVD video ascertained that China has got its fair share of breathtaking views, as well as bio-diversity. The splendor, as well as the scale and scope of these bring to mind those fascinating views from the savannah plains of Africa.
If you are not yet a documentary convert, and value that status quo, then I will advise: Keep well away from this one. If you don`t, it will change you for good! The scenery, the flora, as well as the fauna covered in this documentary has the kind of arresting aura that only live safari events could bring. It takes one all around China in just six hours!
“Wild China” is characterized by superb video, photography, and audio, whose superlative blending and mixing deserve twenty-one gun salute. From delving into the most vibrant habitats to unveiling some of the most latent and most complex interactions, this series succeeded in capturing remarkable and rare creatures, whose true existence was formerly in doubt, and in mere speculations. China is indeed a land of plausible contrasts.
The six episodes that make-up this beautiful series were designed to take its viewers to places that they`ve never known, including: the Chinese section of the Himalayas mountain range, barren and semi-barren steppe, searing deserts, thumb-numbing sub-arctics, as well archaic mycotic outcrops.
Those six stanzas of this film are as follows:
1. Heart of the Dragon: This comprises of the famous egg-carton hills of Southern China. They literally sail around in a sea of rice paddies. Heart of the Dragon is a landscape full of surprises. Its shallow waters conceal vicious dwarf alligators and giant salamanders. They also host trained cormorants, which catch fish for their masters. But this is not a nature park. More so, when about 300 million (i.e. the size of the entire U.S. population) people call it home. Well, the beauty of this place is better seen than described. And, “Wild China” did not fail to deliver in this respect.
2. Shangri-La: exposed what lay beneath the billowing clouds, in China's remote south west. Its terrains harbor some of the richest natural treasures in China. Rumbling rivers would not tolerate any opposition as they snake their way south below towering peaks. The recce slopes are home to some of the highest-dwelling primates in the world. And, the dark valleys below comprise of jungles whose eco-diversity compares to those of the Amazon (in South America).
3. Tibet: The flat-topped highlands known as the Tibetan plateau cover almost a quarter of the entire Chinese landscape. That is an area the size of Western Europe. This vast, windswept wilderness ranks among the world's remotest places. And, it is largely defined by the glacier-strewn Himalayas. Tibet is also home to some incredible wildlife such as the rare chiru, the perpetually-hungry brown bears, the wild yaks, and some of the highest-dwelling known predators. This habitat harbors more large creatures than anywhere else in China.
4. Beyond the Great Wall: Chinese 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. It is also the home of vast forests, breathtaking grassy plains, and sweeping desert dunes. It is 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 then 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.
5. Land of the Panda: This is the Chinese heartland. Its Han people are the centre of a 5,000-year-old civilization. This land contains the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, and the ultramodern Beijing's (2008) Olympic Stadium. It is home to some of China's most acknowledged and most charismatic creatures, such as: the giant panda, the golden snub-nosed monkey, and the golden takin. China has undergone significant development in the past fifty years; and this brought about a number of environmental problems. The program 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 the Republic.
6. Tides of Change: From the eastern foundations of the Great Wall, China's expansive coast spans a fantastic 14,500km (and more than 5,000 years of history). This is a place of uncanny topographical marriages and huge contrasts: modern cities jostle with (traditional) seaweed-thatched villages. In the same vein, ancient tea terraces rub shoulders with wild wetlands, where rare animals still roam about free. Here white dolphins, red-crowned cranes, venomous vipers, giant sturgeon, and saber-wielding monkeys struggle to eke out a living amidst competition from more than seven hundred million people.
This documentary series (“Wild China”) really did a good job in bringing China (as a whole) into topographical perspective. It achieved its aim of studying the often irascible interdependence between man and his delicate environment. It is comparative ecology—al a Chinese! Better seen than described!!
VALENTINE ODUENYI.
