美丽中国英文剧本2.doc

大家论坛影视英语 /forum-466-1.html NARRATOR: Beneath billowing clouds, in Chinas far south-western Yunnan Province, lies a place of mystery and legend, of mighty rivers and some of the oldest jungles in the world. Here, hidden valleys nurture strange and unique creatures and colourful tribal cultures. Jungles are rarely found this far north of the tropics. So why do they thrive here? And how has this rugged landscape come to harbour the greatest natural wealth in all China? In the remote southwest corner of China a celebration is about to take place. Dai people collect water for the most important festival of their year. The Dai call themselves the people of the water. Yunnans river valleys have been their home for over 2,000 years. By bringing the river water to the temple, they honour the two things holiest to them, Buddhism and their home. The Dai give thanks for the rivers and fertile lands which have nurtured their culture. Though to some, it might seem just an excuse for the biggest water fight of all time. Dai lives are changing as towns get bigger and modernise but the Water Splashing Festival is still celebrated by all. The rivers which lie at the heart of Dai life and culture flow from the distant mountains of Tibet, southward through central Yunnan in great parallel gorges. The Dai now live in the borders of tropical Vietnam and Laos but their legends tell of how their ancestors came here by following the rivers from mountain lands in the cold far north. Lying at the far eastern end of the Himalayas, the Hengduan Mountains form Yunnans northern border with Tibet. Kawakarpo, crown of the Hengduan range, is a site of holy pilgrimage. Yet its formidable peak remains unconquered. Yunnans mountains are remote, rugged and inaccessible. Here the air is thin and temperatures can drop below minus 40 degrees. This is home to an animal thats found nowhere else on earth. The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. Its found only in these few isolated mountain forests. No other primate lives at such high altitudes, but these are true specialists. These ancient mountain dwellers have inspired legends. Local Lisu people consider them their ancestors, calling them the wild men of the mountains. During heavy snowfalls even these specialists cannot feed. It seems a strange place for a monkey. Between snows, the monkeys waste no time in their search for food. At this altitude there are few fruits or tender leaves to eat. Ninety percent of their diet is made up of the fine dry wisps of a curious organism. Half fungus, half plant, its lichen. How have monkeys, normally associated with lowland jungle, come to live such a remote mountain existence? This is not the only remarkable animal found within these isolated high peaks. A Chinese red panda. Solitary and quiet, it spends much of its time in the tree tops. Despite its name, the red panda is only a very distant relative of the giant panda. It is actually more closely related to a skunk. But it does share the giant pandas taste for bamboo. Southwest Chinas red pandas are known for their very strong facial markings which distinguish them from red pandas found anywhere else in the Himalayas. Like the monkeys, they were isolated in these high forests when the mountains quite literally rose beneath them in the greatest mountain-building event in recent geological history. Over the last 30 million years, the Indian subcontinent has been pushing northwards into Eurasia. On the border between India and Tibet, the rocks have been raised eight kilometres above sea level creating the worlds highest mountain range, the Himalayas. But to the east the rocks have buckled into a series of steep north-south ridges, cutting down through the heart of Yunnan, the parallel mountains of the Hengduan Shan. These natural barriers serve to isolate Yunnans plants and animals in each adjacent valley. While the huge temperature range between the snowy peaks and the warmer slopes below provides a vast array of conditions for life to thrive. Through spring the Hengduan slopes stage one of Chinas greatest natural spectacles. The forests here are among the most diverse botanical areas in the world. Over 18,000 plant species grow here of which 3,000 are found nowhere else. Until little more than a century ago, this place was unknown outside China. But then news reached the West of a mysterious, hidden world of the Orient. Hidden among the mountains, a lost Shangri-la paradise. Western high society, in the grip of a gardening craze, was eager for exotic species from faraway places. This gave rise to a new breed of celebrity adventurers, intrepid botanist-explorers known as the Plant Hunters. Yunnan became their Holy Grail. The most famous was Joseph Rock, a real life Indiana Jones. Remarkable film footage captured his entourage on a series of expeditions as they pushed into the deepest corners of Yunnan. In glorious colour he recorded the plant life he found on special photographic glass plates. Sending thousands of specimens back to the West, the Plant Hunters changed the gardens of the world forever. Rocks success was born of a massive effort. For to find his Shangri-la, not only had he to traverse endless mountain ranges, but some of the deepest gorges in the world. The Nujiang is called the Angry River. This 300-kilometre stretch of raging rapids is as much a barrier to life as are the mountains above. But the Plant Hunters werent the first people to travel here. Along the Nujiang, less than 30 rope crossings allow locals passage across the torrents. Tiny hamlets cling to the slopes. This morning its market day, drawing people from up and down the valley. Hanging from simple rope slings, people have been using the crossings for many hundreds of years. In such narrow precipitous gorges, its by far the easiest way to get around. Once across, the steep sides mean its still a hike. Many trek for hours by foot before they get to the market. The immense valley is home to over a dozen ethnic groups. Some, like the Nu people, are found only here. The markets bring the mountain tribes together. To continue his expeditions, Rock had to get his entire entourage across the giant Yunnan rivers. He commissioned especially thick ropes made from forest rattan and filmed the entire event. With yak butter to smooth the ride, 40 men and 15 mules made the journey. Not all made it across. On the far side of the great Nujiang gorge, the Plant Hunters made a remarkable discovery. Far from the tropics, they seemed to be entering a steamy vibrant tropical jungle, the forest of Gaoligongshan. The flora here is unlike anywhere else in the world. Next to subtropical species, alpine plants grow in giant form. Crowning the canopy, rhododendrons, up to 30 metres high. In April and May their flowers turn the forests ruby red, attracting bird species found only here. Constant moisture in the air means that the branches are laden with flowering epiphytes, fiercely guarded by tiny sunbirds unique to these valleys. Nectar feeders, these are the hummingbirds of the Old World tropics. The forests of Gaoligongshan are home to some of Chinas rarest wildlife. This is a female Temmincks Tragopan. She has a colourful male admirer. Hes hoping to woo her with his peculiar peek-a-boo display but shes not about to be rushed. His colourful skin wattle reflects more light than feathers do. To her, this is like a neon sign. Seeing his chance, the male makes his move. Constant moisture in the Gaoligongshan forests means that throughout the year there are always fruits on the trees. Such abundance of food encourages a high diversity of fruit eaters more commonly found in the tropics. The black giant squirrel is found only in undisturbed rainforest. At close to a metre in length, its one of the worlds largest squirrels. The mystery is that these forests are growing well outside the tropics. By rights, none of this jungle, or its animals, should be here. These are bear macaques. They are found only in tropical and sub-tropical jungle. With a tiny home range of just a few square kilometres, they depend on the abundant fruit that only true rainforests can provide all year round. To the European Plant Hunters, these northern rainforests must have seemed a fantastic and mysterious lost world. Yet when they came here, they would have found beautifully constructed ancient stone pathways on which the forest could be explored. Winding westwards into the hills, these were once some of the most important highways in Asia, the south-western tea and silk road. Built thousands of years ago, the south-western tea and silk road gave access to the world beyond Chinas borders, carrying tradesmen and travellers from as far away as Rome. Wars were fought over access to this tiny path, the only sure route in or out of China that was guaranteed to be clear of snow all year round. So what causes Gaoligongshans strange and remarkable climate? In late May gusts of wind arrive, bringing with them the key to Gaoligongshans mystery. The winds are hot and saturated with water. They come all the way from the Indian Ocean. Channelled by Yunnans unique geography, they bring with them the moisture of the tropical monsoon. The giant river valleys, created millions of years ago, act like immense funnels. The gorges are so deep and narrow that the moist warm air is driven right up into the north of Yunnan. (THUNDER RUMBLING) The result is rain, in torrents! Four months of daily rainstorms sustain luxuriant vegetation. The arrival of the monsoon awakens one of the forests most extraordinary moisture-loving inhabitants. The crocodile newt is one of the most unusual of the many amphibian species found here. As the rains arrive, they emerge to mate. The newts are said to leave an odour trail that potential mates can follow. The crocodile newt gets its name from the bumps along its back. These are its defence. If grabbed by a potential predator, the tips of its ribs squeeze a deadly poison from the bumps. The deluge wakes another forest inhabitant. This one is particularly astounding in its vigour. It can grow up to a metre a day, fast overtaking the other plants around it. The taller it grows, the faster its growth rate, so that in a matter of days it towers above the undergrowth and continues reaching for the sky. Not bad for what is essentially a grass. Its bamboo. Given the chance, bamboo will create immense forests, dominating entire areas. Bamboo forests occur across southwest China, all the way to Shanghai. But probably the highest diversity of bamboos in the world is found on the hills and valleys of Yunnan. Though incredibly strong, bamboos have hollow stems, a perfect shelter for any creatures which can find a way in. This entrance hole was made by a beetle, but its being used by a very different animal. A bamboo bat. The size of a bumble bee, its one of the tiniest mammals in the world. The entire colony, up to 25 bats, fits into a single section of bamboo stem, smaller than a tea cup. Its quite a squeeze. Half the colony are babies. Though barely a week old, theyre already almost as big as their mums. Feeding such a fast-growing brood is hard work. The mums leave to hunt just after dusk each night. Back in the roost the young are left on their own. Special pads on their wings help them to grip on the bamboo walls, most of the time. The young bats use the extra space to prepare for a life on the wing by preening and stretching. Packed in like sardines, they would make an easy target for a snake. But the snake has no chance of getting in. The entrance is thinner than the width of a pencil. When the mothers return, they can push through the narrow entrance only because of their unusually flattened skulls. But its still a squeeze. Bamboos are exploited in a very different way by another forest dweller. Fresh bamboo shoots are an important forest crop. Ai Lao Xiang is of the Hani tribe, from the mountain village of Mengsong. Roasted, the tender shoots he gathers will make a tasty dish. The Hani have many uses for the different bamboos they grow and find in the forest around. Though flexible enough to be woven, bamboo has a higher tensile strength than steel. Succulent when young, in maturity its tough and durable, ideal for making a table, and strong enough for a pipe to last a lifetime. The people of southwest China have found an extraordinary number of ways to exploit this most versatile of plants. Part of bamboos phenomenal success is that its so tough that few animals can tackle it. Yet bamboo does come under attack. A bamboo rat. Feeding almost exclusively on bamboo, they live their entire lives in tunnels beneath the forest. The thinner species of bamboo are easier to attack and pull below. She has a fantastic sense of smell and can sniff out the fresh growth through the soil. Bamboo spreads along underground stems. By following these, new shoots are found. Once a shoot is detected, she snips it free and drags it down into her burrow. This female has a family. At just a few weeks old, the youngsters can already tackle the hardest bamboo stems and are eager to try. Bamboos tough reputation is such that another bamboo specialist was known by the Chinese as the iron eating animal. The giant panda is famous for its exclusive diet. Giant pandas are thought to have originated in southwest China millions of years ago, but theyre no longer found in Yunnan. Recently, their specialised diet has had dire consequences. Bamboo has a bizarre life cycle. Flowering infrequently, sometimes only once every hundred years or so. But when flowering does occur, its on a massive scale, and is followed by the death of all of the plants. Sometimes an entire bamboo forest may die. In undisturbed habitat, pandas simply move to another area where a different bamboo species grows. But as human activity has fragmented their forest home, pandas find it increasingly hard to find large enough areas in which to survive. Wild pandas are now found only in the forests of central China, far to the east. But in the hidden pockets of lowland jungle in Yunnans tropical south, live one of Chinas best-kept wildlife secrets. The wild Asian elephant. Elephants once roamed across China as far north as Beijing. But its only in the hidden valleys of Yunnan that they have survived. Elephants are the architects of the forest. Bamboos and grasses are their favourite food, but saplings, tree leaves and twisted lianas are all taken, with little care. As they move through the forest, the elephants open up clearings, bringing light to the forest floor. This has a major impact on their home. The richest forests are now known to be those which, from time to time, experience change. The Jino people are incredibly knowledgeable about their forests and claim to have uses for most of the plants that they find there. They have names for them all, those good for eating and some which even have strong medicinal qualities. By working here, the Jino play a similar role to the elephants, opening up the forest, bringing space, light and diversity. Green fast-growing species are encouraged. Insects are in high abundance here, together with the animals that feed on them. Knowledge of the forest enables the Jino to find not just plants but other tasty forest food too. Forest crabs are common here, feeding on the abundant leaf litter. This will be a tasty addition to the evening meal. Flowing through Yunnans southern valleys, the once angry rivers are now swollen, their waters slow and warm. These fertile lowland valleys are the home of the Dai. The people of the water live along streams which originate in the surrounding hills. Each family keeps a kitchen garden, modelled on the multi-layered structure of the surrounding forests, which the Dai hold sacred. The gardens are made more productive by interplanting different crops. Tall sun-loving species give shelter to plants which thrive in the shade. As companions, the plants grow better. Yunnans forests are home to more than a dozen wild banana species and banana crops grow well in most Dai gardens. The huge banana flowers are rich in nectar for only two hours a day, but its enough to attract a range of forest insects, including hornets. With their razor sharp mandibles, they find it easy to rob the flowers of their nectar. But hornets are predators, too. They hunt other insects and carry them back to their nest. An ideal target. But this grasshopper is no easy meal. There