鸟瞰中国-China_from_Above(上)(下)(脚本完整版)

鸟瞰中国-China from Above（上）

Script

The Living Past

China, a vast land, with one of the most diverse cultures on earth, is now revealed like never before. This epic journey from the air will discover how ancient traditions, engineering, agriculture and natural wonders shaped this great nation and continue to forge modern-day China. After centuries in seclusion, China is now revealed.

China, a land with nearly 1.4 billion people, ninety-two percent are Han Chinese, but across its 3.6 million square miles there are 55 other ethnic groups speaking 120 living languages. This areal journey will cross China’s immense interior of mountains and deserts, mighty rivers and great forests to reveal a hidden culture of great complexity, only now opening up for the world to see.

In the far southwest, bordering Myanmar and Laos, is Xishuangbanna known for its great river，home to the ancient Dai people. They observe a different calendar to the rest of China，and in April celebrate their own version of the new year in a unique way. The festival all revolves around water. At this their hottest time of the year, it all begins with an epic 2000-year-old Dragon Boat Race.

“I am Yan Honghan from Man Ching Village. We are preparing to head to the river to take part in the yearly Dragon Boat Competition. This year the boat from our village is the largest among all the participants. We also have the most hands on deck. We are confident that we will win the race this year.”

The whole festival kick starts in a distinctly Chinese Way with a bang. First prize is given to the fastest boat and that can be achieved with great wisdom and style. You could call it “showboating”.

“Everyone has to follow the rhythm and tempo of the rummer. He will guide everyone to row in unison. Otherwise, there will be chaos and confusion.”

Unfortunately, this year Yang’s boat was on the losing side.

“I will definitely take part again next year. Because the dragon boat race is something every Dai man should take part in.”

The festival continues the next day with the main event, perhaps the most epic water fight on earth. Some 100,000 people gather here for the battle. You could say it’s the ultimate Waterloo. Soaking your opponents on this grand scale has a religious basis, it’s to wash away the sorrows to past year and welcome the new. A tradition handed down for nine hundred years. By dusk the sorrows of the previous year have been well and truly washed away.

As night falls the mighty Lancang River is host to one final ritual. Lighting lanterns has long been a Chinese tradition to ward off ghosts.

Far to the north in Songshan mountain is one of the most iconic Buddhist monasteries in Asia. The Buddhism was’t always about peaceful meditation. More than a millennium ago, its priests had to learn how to defend themselves in China warlike past.

According to legend this secluded monastery is not only the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. Here trained the legendary Shaolin monks. This fifteen-hundred-year-old fusion of Kungfu and religion is kept alive by the neat order of monks that inspired over a hundred martial arts movies. And it still attracts Kungfu apprentices from all over China.

“I’m 18 years old. I come from Anhui Province. I have been in Shaolin Temple since I was 13. Since I was young, I have always wanted to become a Shaolin warrior monk.”

The origins of the order are lost in legend. But it’s believed the first two Chinese disciples to join the monastery brought martial arts skills with them. Those skills were blended with Buddhism and Shaolin Kungfu was born.

“The difference between Shaolin Kungfu and other schools of Martial Arts is that it encompasses Zen. Zen is cultivation of the mind, an inner mediation of the heart.”

This balance between mastery of the mind and body made the monks a key fighting force during the Tang Dynasty, helping Emperor Lee ShiMin to seize the throne in the early 7th century.

“The training is very tough, so tough to the extent that you almost want to give up. But I have to persevere. I must train harder and do better than my peers.”

“He (Yan Fei) is considered quite good, because he is able to endure hardship.”

Today Yan Fei has a crucial assessment sparring with his weapons master. He must prove proficient with complex San Jie Gun, also known as the triple stick. He’s already failed this once before.

“At first, it was really tough practicing with the triple stick. I couldn’t control it, it was making a fool of me. But after years of practice, I have learnt how to manage it.”

In the end Yan passes this most demanding of tests with flying colors.

“There is a saying in China that goes like: ‘Shifu (Master) brings you through the door but the practice lies within the man himself.’ I can only guide him, show him the way.”

Shaolin’s legacy is monastic dedication and focus. Today this ancient fighting tradition is not just part of Chinese folk law, but has seeped into western popular culture too. Shaolin monks are the inspiration for countless books, comics and movies like the Jedi Knights of Star Wars.

China’s 244 million Buddhists--the world’s largest population, have a long history in Chinese culture. This is symbolized best by the Leshan Buddha, an immense statue carved from a mountain. That took nearly a century to complete.

In the Southwest province of Sichuan, the soft red sandstone of the region became the foundation for one of the great ancient wonders of China. The twelve-hundred-year-old Leshan Buddha, at 233 feet, four times the height of the Mount Rushmore carvings, is the world’s largest Buddhist statue. It took three generations of workers and incredible 90 years to chip away into mountain and complete this colossus. The middle finger alone is the height of a three-story building. But why was this exceptionally large monument of Buddha built here.

“The Giant Buddha statue is located where the three rivers merge. The current creates a big whirlpool. In the past, boats that passed through often sank, causing a lot

of human deaths. So Monk Haitong decided to build the Giant statue there, opposite the Lingyin Temple.”

Carve to watch over and provide protection for travelers and sailors this edifice succeeded but not by design. During excavation million of cubic feet of stone were dumped into the water which inadvertently change the course of the river, making it safer. This millennia old engineering feat was built to the time when this ancient economy was booming too.

“Every era carries their own depiction of the Buddha. During the Tang Dynasty, the society was well advanced, the economy was flourishing and life was prosperous. Often in Tang paintings the subjects appeared plump and dignified. This is the characteristic of Tang Dynasty. Naturally. The Grand Buddha statue conveys these features.”

400 miles away, deep in the heart to the Hunan province is another epic holy site. But this time formed without human hands, a natural formation shaped by the area’s unusual geology. Tianmenshan known as heavens gate cave. To get here, you must first drive one of the world’s most dangerous roads, the Tongtian Highway. Marked by 99 short bends in just over six miles, it climbs over 3,000 vertical feet.

The first stop, the mountain forests of Zhangjiajie. Thousands of precarious peaks reach out up to three times the height to the Empire State Building. It’s a breathtaking mystical scene that provided inspiration for the alien landscapes of the movie Avatar, a wonder of geology that draws people from all over the world.

To cope with a 30 million annual visitors, the Chinese have built the world’s highest outdoor elevator. The 100 dragons lift, ascends a vertiginous one thousand feet to the top of the jutting stones.

“Here, as we can see, is a layer of quartz rock. The layer at the bottom is the soft layer here. The landscape of Zhangjiajie is formed by the stacking of these two types of rocks.”

To reach their final dramatic destination, the class catches the world’s longest cable way, a heart-stopping ride more than four miles long and then they climb 1999 steps to reach at last their final destination.

“This is the Heaven’s Gate Cave.”

This epic natural feature was seen to be a gateway to paradise.

“There are many similar formations in the world. However, this is a rarity given its height. You spend a lot of energy to get up here to see such a beautiful sight. It’s definitely rewarding.”

One great structure that didn’t rise naturally from the Earth is China’s Great Wall. This thirteen-thousand-mile barrier was built by China hands to protect the people from invading armies.

China wasn’t always the peaceful nation it is today. Once upon a time, it was all-out war between competing ethnic groups. It was destined to be a nation of constant war with itself, until one man decided to build the world’s largest man-made structure.

The Great Wall of China, the longest man-made structure on Earth, runs from the pacific ocean to the Gobi Desert. Laid out its individual sections it stretches for 13,000 miles longer than the length of North and South America combined.

In 221 BC, the first emperor of China decided to stop the constant conflict by uniting the country against foreign invaders. He ordered existing and scattered fortifications to be connected into one Great wall.

“The Great Wall has not much practical use in the modern age. But in the ancient times, it served as a defense fortress during wartime. Hence, one can sense the grandeur of the Great Wall.”

Today, the horde still descend on the wall, ten million annually. But the vast majority are Chinese tourists. As a local saying goes: “one who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a true man.” From all corners of the country they come to pay tribute to an ancient feat of engineering that shaped their nation.

“The entire world knows about this landmark and makes us as Chinese feel really proud. So for the people who work here, it is a real honor.”

145 miles west in Shanxi Province, another monument to China’s living past is hanging on. Clinging to this cliff for fifteen hundred years is the hanging temple of Hengshan. While millions visit The Great Wall at any one time, only eighty people are

allowed inside this temple. But why did the ancients build a temple that could be dashed on the rocks below? Superstition.

“In the past, this area often experienced floods. People lost their lives. Legend has it that the locals decided to build a temple to seek Buddha’s protection”

246 feet above the canyon floor, it was built beneath and overhang to shelter it from the elements. Horizontal and vertical foundations were hand chiseled into the mountain and a grid of hard wood beams inserted to support three buildings and more than 40 rooms.

“Our greatest challenge in ensuring the Hanging Monastery’s longevity is the high volume of visitors. To protect the Temple, we need to keep these numbers under control.”

Protecting this site from its own popularity is a seemingly impossible task, but Chang Shuiwen is undaunted: “The temple has accompanied me for half my life, I feel like the temple has played a big part in my achievements in work and life.”

Passing downs centuries-old knowledge has been critical to China’s incredible population growth. Feeding the growing millions over the centuries was only possible due to ancient engineering projects still use today for the nearly 1.4 billion who call this country home.

It’s the great Chinese riddle: how do you feed more than a billion people? Only 11 percent to the country can be used to grow food. Over the centuries those living in the remotest place have had to come up with an ingenious methods to make the most of the land. Turpan home of the Uygur people seem from the air to be a dry and desolate dessert dotted by thousands mysterious pock marks. Holes lead to a two thousand-year-old subterranean system that’s longer than the length of India.

The Karez canal network--a thousand horizontal wells have been sunk into the earth and then connected by canals over 3000 miles in length directing water from the Tianshan mountain glaciers 100 miles to the north to their fields and villages. It was cutting edge ancient engineering that still works today, irrigating a land that would otherwise be a giant dust bowl.

It’s not just about clean drinking water. Incredibly, this desert produces tons of grapes annually. Without the canals, the Uygur’s major export would wither on the vine. And the true scale of production is revealed from the air. They may look like honeycomb but these mud brick blocks are used to air dry millions of grapes into raisins. Without modern materials and technology, the ancients triumphed turning nature to their advantage.

1533 miles away in southeast Yunnan, the locals have their own agricultural mountain to overcome--how to grow China’s greatest staple: rice. Here there’s plenty of water, but stopping it draining away is the problem.

Thirteen hundred years ago the local Hani people miraculously transformed the landscape. To grow their crops, they hand carved rice paddies into the mountains to trap the water.

“We are able to enjoy such blessed lives today thanks to our ancestors’ hard work and endurance.”

Rising above 6000 feet and spreading over 30086 miles lager than the size of New York city, the terraces harness the power of the mountain’s natural ecosystem.

“The local here have a saying: ‘the higher the mountains, the higher the water source’. The water stored in forests forms natural reservoirs.”

It acts like a giant recycling machine. The water evaporates from the river valleys to form fog and cloud. The clouds are then trapped by the mountain forests, and then rainfalls and flows back down through the terraces in a never ending cycle.

“We are deeply connected to the terraces. Because of the terraces, we are able to have food, clothing and shelter. The terraces are the foundation from which we are able to reproduce and survive. And they symbolize the strength and the spirit of the tribe.”

This type of wet-field agriculture was invented in China. And using these ancient farming traditions passed down through the generations, is how China feeds the biggest population on earth.

Xiapu County on the East China Coast, has traditionally been home to a fishing community. But here some have turned to farming a crop that does not grow on land but well below the waves--the seaweed called giant kelp.

“This is how we do it rope after rope.The pulling is all done manually.”

In the warm waters of the East China Sea the kelp is grown through the winter and then in spring hung to dry on bamboo poles before being harvested.

“There is too much rainfall this year, so the seaweed has rotted. Our harvest this year is 30% less than that of last year.”

Despite this year’s rain adversely affecting the dry process, the industry is booming. As a food source, kelp a rich and sustainable crop is in demand. For the ex-fisherman of Xiapu, their returns justified the back-breaking work. For the country it is a way to feed the ever-growing masses without using the overpopulated land.

In some part of China farming wasn’t an option, so they turned to training animals to catch food. In the far northwest province of Xinjiang Qinggil County, building rice terraces is not an option due to the climate. In this rugged landscape, food is scarce made worse by the harshest winters. To survive the local Kazakhs depend on a tradition more than a thousand years old: to do something most would imagine impossible-- to train a wild eagle to hunt.

“Eagle Hunting is a tradition of the Kazakh people. It is a custom passed down from our ancestors. It represents the entire race of our people …our courage determination and will to move ahead. We have a duty to pass it on.”

The Golden Eagle is one of the world’s most effective birds of prey. They can spy a rabbit at 2000 yards and dive at a hundred and fifty miles per hour, the speed of a bullet train and its talents, grip with ten times the force a man’s hand. Catching their food in this ingenious way has kept small villages from destitution, but it also helps to protect the species that’s now endangered. Mature adults are released back into the wild and act as resonates with the Kazakh belief that eagles are a symbol of freedom and their numbers in the region are reportedly once again on the rise.

It isn’t just growing food, as a trial of ingenuity in some parts of China, it’s just living there. 1700 miles southeast in Yunan province is the three parallel rivers National Park. Here Asia’s three greatest rivers run side by side, creating a spectacular landscape. From alpine peaks to steamy valleys, it’s a beautiful but challenging place to live. But the locally Lisu people have been living here for more than a thousand years, adapting to living around these giant natural barriers.

“Today is the day of the weekly market, and it is also the day when I get to visit my grandson. I am going to sell my chicken today so that I can earn some money and treat my grandson to a nice meal.”

Here taking a trip to the market is not as simple as it seems. It involves at death-defying slide. Ziplining across several hundred feet of wild rapids doesn’t bother 60-year-old grandmother Pu. She’s been doing it all her life. This ingenious method now replaced with modern steel cable is the fastest way to make it across, and a thrilling ride over and the dangerous rapids.

“I am selling this chicken for 70 yuan, how is that?”

“70 yuan? Can you sell for less? 50 yuan?”

“50 yuan...take it!”

At the market grandmother Pu is rewarded with a quick sale. Life is very tough here. It’s a world away from modern city life that her grandson maybe one day like millions of others decide to join. And for grandmother Pu, ziplining to and from the village is one of life’s small pleasures.

The Chinese people aren’t just good at taming the landscape to their needs. The Kazak people were among the first humans to tame wild horses which they still do to this day.

China’s vast and varied land has helped shape a nation and its people. From the remote mountains Hani to the multitude Han in the cities of east, from the Dai of the steamy South to the desert dwelling Uygur. China’s culture and customs hidden from view for thousands of years are slowly being revealed to the world.

In the farthest reaches of Xinjiang Province is Zhaosu County. A land as remote as you could imagine with huge expansive plains covering four thousand square miles.

This is the home of the Kazaks and it was here 5,500 years ago the Kazaks began to tame wild horses.

“We Kazakhs lead a rural nomadic life. This lifestyle requires us to have good horsemanship skills from an early age.”

The Kazaks have a millennia old reputation for breeding some other Asia’s best war horses. Today, the horses are bred and trained for the highly competitive annual event known as the Heavenly Horse Festival.

This year Tuolueson will be racing for the first time.

“Form an early age it has been my dream to be in this race.”

The endurance event is a grueling and even dangerous three-day race.

“My only wish is that my son comes back safely. Winning is not everything.”

The race begins. on day one they cover 50 miles and on day three they endure a testing sixty-two mile final leg. For Ainiware and the Kazak people this is not just a race but a chance to proudly display their horses and their skill homed over centuries. After 62 miles in the saddle he finally finishes towards the back of the field, but next year he’ll return with dreams of winning.

Across the country, in the far northeast, people of Harbin aren’t practicing in age-old tradition like the Kazaks. They are creating their own history to pass on. Renowned as the ice city in China it can reach minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Nearly 10,000 workers have been dragging and cutting giant blocks of ice from the frozen Songhua river, 550-pound ice cubes. This is a new festival but based on the 17th century tradition, when fishermen carved lanterns from ice.

Over the next week, artists will race to transform this plentiful local resource into a giant frozen wonderland--the Harbin ice and snow festival.

“We should embrace this unique climate that God had blessed upon us. And open our hearts to the world, despite the cold weather.”

This event has grown into the largest ice festive in the world.

“The weather is our biggest challenge. We’re on tight deadlines. All the ice is sourced from the Songhua River. If the ice is not thick enough, we will not be able to