Wild China

Episode 1

The first episode of Wild China focused on an area in southern China called Guilin, where we got to explore the rice paddies and other farming methods used by the Chinese inhabitants there. We also learnt about some fishermen who caught their fish by means of some birds who had been taught how to catch fish and bring them back. In fact, the fishermen actually had to tie a string around the birds’ necks to prevent them from swallowing their catch!

Episode 2

This episode was about the subtropical rainforests of south-west China. In particular, we saw the hilarious dances of different exotic birds competing for a female mate, and even areas were wild elephants roamed around while tourists stood startlingly nearby.

There was also a rather disgusting (and extremely dangerous!) part where two Chinese banana farmers found a hornet on a tree somewhere. They went away and came back with a tiny string lasso that had a feather attached to the end of it, and also a stick with a dead grasshopper on the end. They held the stick up to the tree so that the hornet hopped on to eat the grasshopper, and then the two locals lowered the stick back down to their level and actually lassoed the hornet. Once the loop was tied around the distracted hornet’s neck (remember that a hornet’s sting is utter agony!), they let it fly off and then followed it to where its nest was. They didn’t lose sight of it because of the bright white feather that was now attached to the hornet. So they followed it back to its nest, armed with a log on fire, and smoked out the hornets. This was partly because the insects were ruining their banana crops, but the farmers had other motives on their minds too: they took down the hive and plucked out the wriggling, slimy white larvae from where they were embedded inside, and ate them with relish! 😰 Apparently, hornet larvae are considered a delicacy in that area of China.

Episode 3

This episode was centred on Tibet, and the culture of the Tibetan people and the weird and wonderful wildlife there. My favourite animals we saw were the Tibetan brown bear (because it was so cute yet so funny-looking!) and the tiny pika (they were so cute too – but they got eaten by the bear…)!

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But, as I said, the episode also covered the cultural aspects of Tibet, showing the different religious rituals of the people there, who are largely Tibetan Buddhists. (Tibetan Buddhism is a mix of Buddhism and some old shamanic beliefs.) One such ceremony involved the erecting of a large pole covered in flags on a vast mountaintop (an annual ritual which celebrated the Buddha’s enlightenment). The pole looked a little like a western maypole. There were also various rituals that involved prayer wheels, some beautifully designed spinning cylinders that Tibetans use to pray. There are hundreds of them in practically every street in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

It also showed the different landscapes of Tibet, from the vast Himalayan mountains – the glaciers of which contain one sixth of the entire world’s ice supply! – to the hot springs swept by a thick monsoon that travelled all the way up from the Indian Ocean!

Episode 4

This episode was largely centred in North China, specifically beyond the Great Wall of China. It started off looking at the Hujur people of the Black Dragon River, who have a very complicated way of fishing – usually with little to no result, because so much of this part of China has been overfished in recent years 😞

Even though this area near the Black Dragon River is incredibly cold and icy for much of the year, there are some species that live there that you would normally associate with warmer climates: in particular, tigers. There are thought to be less than 12 Siberian tigers left in the wild; the ones living near Black Dragon River are actually in captivity, kept purely for tourist entertainment (though I can’t see why any tourist would want to go that far up north!).

Further towards north-east China, near Beijing, stands the old tumbledown city of Xanadu (where Kubla Khan lived). Here, winter and summer meet two extremes: heat shimmers off sand dunes in the summer months, while it pours with frozen snow in the later part of the year. Not many animals can survive in both extremes – hence why so many creatures resort to winter migration – but some can: horses! The people living near Xanadu are famous for their horse racing competitions, for which the locals begin training in their mere infancy.

Further west lies the Taklamakan Desert, the biggest desert in China, which sports the tallest sand dunes in the world. “Taklamakan” translates to “You go in, you never come out” – need I say more?!

One creature in this episode of Wild China deserves a small shout-out: the Roborovski hamster. These tiny critters can be found in much of northern China and Mongolia. They are known for their remarkable stamina – every night, whilst out scavenging, they cover the equivalent of 4 human marathons!

Episode 5

This episode focused on the eastern coastline of China, and centred a lot on the birds of wild China. There was also a lot of emphasis on the balance between the environment and the preservation of it and the huge industrial boom which China is currently going through. In fact, there was a rather suspicious amount of emphasis on all the efforts that the country is going through to conserve and save the environment (and also on the “advantages” of Mao’s reign), which prompted Andy to find out that Wild China is, of course, sponsored by the Chinese government!! 😛

Episode 5 was the last episode in this documentary series. Apart from all the propaganda, this was a really fascinating documentary! Really insightful, sometimes filming beautiful but very isolated areas of the country never before seen to anyone outside of China. It was really interesting to see some of the people living in different areas and to see how they survive in some very extreme climates.