1、The last hidden world China最后的隐世净土 中国For centuries, travelers to China have told tales of magical landscapes数世纪来 旅人传诵着关于这片神奇土地and surprising creatures以及那些神奇生物的传说Chinese civilization is the worlds oldest中国文明是世界最古老的文明and today its largest而如今是最宏博的with well over a billion people那数十亿的人民Its home to more t
2、han 50 distinct ethnic groups现存超过五十个民族and a wide range of traditional life styles以及各式各样贴近自然的often inclose partnership with nature传统生活方式We know that China faces immense social and environmental problems我们都知道中国面对着着众多社会 环境问题but there is great beauty here too但这里也存在着令人窒息的美丽China is home to the worlds hig
3、hest mountains,中国有着世界最高峰vast deserts ranging from from searing hot从无垠的炙热沙漠to mind numbing cold到麻木大脑的寒冷地带steaming forests以及那蒸笼般的森林中harboring rare creatures隐匿的各种珍稀生物grassy plains beneath vast horizons天际下广阔无垠的草原and rich tropical seas以及富饶的热带海洋Now, for the first time ever现在 我们第一次有机会we can explore the who
4、le of this great country深入探索这片伟大的土地meet some of the surprising and exotic creatures that live here接触栖息于此的珍奇生物and consider the relationship of the people and wildlife of China目睹中国这片神奇土地上to the remarkable landscaping which they live人与野生世界的羁绊This is wild China这就是最原味的中国Our exploration of China begins in
5、 the warm subtropical south我们的中国探索之旅始于南方的亚热带On the Li River fishermen and birds perch on bamboo rafts漓江的渔人和鱼鸟栖坐在竹筏上a partnership that goes back more than a thousand years这个组合已延续千年之久This scenery is known throughout the world这景致已为世人所熟悉a recurring motif in Chinese paintings那是中国水墨永恒的主题and a major touris
6、t attraction和旅人永远的胜地The south of China is a vast area中国南部是片有英国国土eight times larger than the UK九倍之大的广阔土地Its a landscape of hills这里but also of water是山雨的国度It rains here for up to 250 days a year这里一年之中有 250 天在降雨and standing water is everywhere到处都是积水In a floodplain of the Yangtse River在扬子江的涝原black-tailed
7、 godwits probe the mud in search of worms黑尾鹬在泥泞中寻索着虫子But it isnt just wildlife that thrive in this environment并非只有野生动物在这样的环境下茁壮成长the swampy ground provides ideal conditions for the remarkable member of the grass family沼泽般湿润肥沃的土地为作物家族最显著的成员提供了最理想的环境rice这就是稻米The Chinese have been cultivating rice for
8、at least 8 thousand years中国有着至少 8000 年的稻米种植史It has transformed the landscape他们改变了这块土地Late winter in southern Yunnan is a busy time for local farmers对云南南部的农民而言 冬末是个繁忙的季节as they prepare the age-old paddy fieldready for the coming spring因为他们要为即将来临的春天整顿这片古老的稻田These hill slopes of Yuanyang county元阳县的山坡以
9、2000M 之势plunge nearly 2000m to the floor of the Red River Valley斜插于红河谷地的河床each contains literally thousands of stack terraces carved out by hand using basic digging tools包含了上千由原始刨掘工具所创造出的梯田Yunnans rice terraces are among the oldest human structures in China云南的梯田是中国最古老人类耕作痕迹中still ploughed as they al
10、ways have been依旧被耕种使用的土地by domesticated water buffaloes正如千百年来的习俗一样 whose ancestors originated in these very valleys源自云南河谷的家养水牛承担了耕作的重任This man-made landscape is one of the most amazing engineering feats of preindustrial China这片人力开拓的土地是工业化前中国最惊奇宏伟的壮景It seems as if every square inch of land似乎这里的每一寸土地h
11、as been pressed into cultivation都被打上了农耕的痕迹As evening approaches当薄暮降临an age-old ritual unfolds另一场古老的仪式上演Its the mating season现在是交配的季节and male paddy frogs are competing for the attention of females雄禾田蛙们为了吸引异性而卖力高鸣But it dosent always pay to draw too much attention to youself但这并非总能为你吸引来关注的目光The Chinese
12、 Pond Heron is a crapulous predator中国池鹭是个饕餮掠食者Even in the middle of a ploughed paddy field就算在耕作过的稻田中央nature is red in beak and claw也会上演喙与爪的血腥剧目This may look like a slaughter或许这看上去像一场屠杀but as each heron can swallow only one frog at a time但每只池鹭一次只能吞噬一只蛙the vast majority will escape to croak another da
13、y此时剩余的多数派得以逃生并获得了明日再度高歌的机会Terrace paddies like those of YunYang county are found across much of southern China元阳县这样广泛种植水稻的This whole vast landscape is dominated by rice cultivation梯田横贯中国南部In heated Guizhou province the Miao minority have developed a remarkable rice culture苗族人在炎热的贵州发展了高度发达的水稻种植With e
14、very inch of fertile land given over to rice cultivation苗族人把木屋建立在陡峭低产的山壁上the Miao build their wooden houses on the steepest and least productive hillsides用其余每寸丰饶的土地来种植水稻In Chinese rural life everything has a use所有东西在中国农村都自有其用处dried in the sun manure from the cowsheds would be used as cooking fuel牛棚里
15、的肥料在太阳下晒干用作煮饭的燃料Its midday and the Song family aretucking into a lunch of rice and vegetables中午时分 宋家人正饱餐以米和蔬菜为主的中饭Oblivious to the domestic chitchat老祖父宋古永置身于天伦之乐外granddad Guyong Song has serious maters on his mind寻思着重要的事情Spring is a start of the rice growing season春季是稻禾生长的伊始时节the success of the crop
16、 will determin how well the family will eat next year庄稼的长势决定了来年宋家人的生计so planting at the right time is critical因而选择合适的时机进行耕作是至关重要的The ideal date depends on what the weather will do this year时机的选择取决于当年的天气情况never easy to predict而这些却是永难估料的But there is some surprising help at hand但是身边就存在着贴心小帮手On the ciel
17、ling of the Songs living room a pair of red-rumped swallow newly arrive from their winter migration宋家厅堂房梁上的是一对刚从冬季迁徙中归来的金腰燕is busy fixing up last years nest他们正在为装潢新一年度的宅邸而忙碌In China animals are valued does much for their symbolic meaning as for many good they may do在中国 动物们被赋予独特的象征意义并被细心呵护Miao people
18、 believe that swallow pairs remain faithful for life苗族人笃信成双燕终身相伴不离不弃so their presence is a favor and a blessing因此他们的存在被视为bringing happiness to a marriage and good luck to a home幸福生活与美满婚姻的象征Like most Miao dwellings, the Songs living room windows look out over the paddy fields如大多数苗人一样 宋家起居室的窗子可以眺望见成片的
19、梯田From early spring, one of these windows is always left open to let the swallows come and go freely从早春起 一扇窗子便为了方便燕子往返穿飞而敞开Each year granddad Gu knows the exact day the swallows return古老爹知晓每年燕子归来的确切时间Miao people believe the birds arrival predicts the timing of a season ahead苗族人坚信这些鸟儿的归来预示着春季的来临This
20、year, they were late然而今年 他们姗姗来迟so Gu and the other community elders have agreed that rice planting should be delayed accordingly因而古老爹和其他族中长老一致认为今年的插秧应当推迟As the Miao prepare their fields for planting当苗族人为了插秧而整备田地时the swallows collect mud to repair their nests燕子们或搜集修整巢穴用的泥巴and chase after insects acro
21、ss the newly ploughed paddies或穿越新耕的稻田追逐昆虫Finally, after weeks of preparation最终 经过了几周的准备the ordained time for planting has arrived这个预定种植的时刻来临了but first the seedlings must be uproot from the nursery beds首先 秧苗必须从苗床上连根拔起and bundled up ready to be transported to their new paddy扎成捆移植到高处山地higher up the hil
22、lside那崭新的苗床上All the Songs neighbors have turned out to help with the transplanting宋家邻里乡亲全员出动帮助移植Its how the community has always worked这是一直来他们的集体协作方式when the time comes, the Songs will return the favor当然一旦时刻来临 宋家人也会做出相同行为来报恩While the farmers are busy in the fields当农户们忙碌在田埂间时the swallows fly back and
23、 forth with material for their nest飞燕们则衔着修整巢穴的材料来来往往Many hands make light work人多力量大planting the new paddy takes a little more than an hour插秧的整个过程只持续了仅一个多小时Job done, the villagers can relax当工作完成 农户们得以休息at least until tomorrow至少在明天来临之前But for the nesting swallows, the work of raising a family然而对这些筑巢的飞
24、鸟而言 修筑家园的宏大工程has only just begun才刚刚开始In the newly planted fields新耕种的田地里little egrets hunt for foods白鹭在寻找食物The rice paddy harbor tadpoles fish and insects稻田成了虫 鱼 蝌蚪的乐园and egrets have chicks to feed而白鹭正好以此哺育幼鸟This colony in Chongqing province is established in 1996重庆自然保护区建立于 1996 年when a few dozen bir
25、ds build nests in thebamboo grove behind YanGuang village当成群的鸟儿安家在阳光村后方的小竹林Believing they were assigned of luck当地人将其视为幸运的使者local people initially protected the egrets and the colony grove他们最初小心保护这些白鹭和他们的栖息地But their attitude change when the head of the village fell ill但当村长病重后他们的态度发生了转变They blame the
26、 birds and were all set to destroy their nests当政府开始介入保护鸟群时when the local government stepped in to protect them他们开始敌视鸟群并着手摧毁巢穴Bendy bamboo may not be the safest nesting place易弯曲的竹子或许并非安家的最佳场所but at least these youngsters wont end up at someones dinner但至少这些小家伙们不会成为捕食者的腹中餐These chicks have just had a m
27、eal delivered by their mom这些小家伙刚从母亲嘴里分得美食quite a challenge for litter beaks对新生的小嘴着实是一大挑战Providing their colonies are protected介于他们的栖息地是受保护的wading birds like egrets are among the few wild creatures which benefit directly from intensive rice cultivation像白鹭这样的候鸟是少数直接从发达的水稻种植中获益的鸟类Growing rice needs lot
28、s of water水稻生长需要大量的水but even in the rainy south, there are landscapes where water is surprisingly scarce但即便是在多雨的南方 有些土地也面临缺水的危机This vast area of southwest China相当于法国和西班牙国土加起来那么大the size of France and Spain combined的中国西南的广阔土地is famous for its clusters of conical hills因为宛如被干燥中空的谷地隔离开来的巨大蛋盒般like giant
29、upturned egg cartonseperated by dry empty valleys连绵的锥形山脉而闻名于世This is the karst这就是喀斯特地貌a limestone terrain which has become the defining image of southern China石灰石地貌俨然成为南部中国的标志性特征Karst landscapes are often studded with rocky outcrops喀斯特地貌通常以突起的裸岩状态分布forcing local farmers to cultivate tiny fields这迫使当地
30、农民只得在破碎的小块土地上耕作The people who live here are among the poorest in China当地人是中国最贫穷的居民之一In neighboring Yunnan province在毗邻的云南省limestone rocks have taken over entirely遍布着石灰石This is the famous Stone Forest这就是著名的石林the product of countless years of erosion无数年侵蚀作用的产物producing a maze of deep gullets and sharp-
31、edged pinnacles造就了无数的狭道与巅峰Limestone has a strange property that is dissolves in rain water石灰石有一个独性 那就是能被雨水分解Over many thousands of years, water has corrode its way deep into the heart of the bedrock itself在数千年的漫长光阴中 水的侵蚀深入到岩床的心脏地带This natural wonder has a famous tourist spot这一自然奇观成为了著名的旅游景点receiving
32、 close to 2 million visitors each year每年的访客数量多达 200 万人The Chinese are fond of curiously shaped rocks中国人特别喜好奇形怪状的岩石and many have been given fanciful names并以为嶙峋怪石冠上千奇百怪的名字为乐No prices for guessing what this one is called但没人来猜测这个块怪石的名字But there is more to this landscape than meets the eye但百闻不如置身这片奇妙山地亲身一见China has literally thousands of
