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— Series Producer Phil Chapman, writing in BBC Wildlife magazine
Wild China is a six-part nature documentary series on the natural history of China, co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and China Central Television (CCTV) and filmed entirely in high-definition (HD).
With wildlife filmmaking in its infancy in China, and a perception in the developed world of a country plagued by environmental problems, the producers hoped that the series would change attitudes in both the East and the West. Filming for the series took place over 16 months, and involved half a million miles of travel on 57 separate filming trips to some of China's most inaccessible and spectacular locations. The production team shot over 500 hours of HD footage in 26 of China's 30 provinces.
Despite being granted unprecedented access to many remote and protected areas, one of the main challenges faced by the filmmakers was finding wildlife. Although 15% of China's territory has some form of protection, this is not a guarantee of safety for wildlife, as reserves were often found to be under-equipped and under-staffed. In addition, they encountered a lack of local expertise and specialist knowledge, as few of China's zoologists were naturalists with an interest in observing wildlife. Producers even struggled to film the courting behaviour of one of the country's commonest creatures, the rice-paddy frog. Consequently, the team's attempts to find and film wildlife were not always successful.
With the support of local party officials, the producers found it easier to contact and film local people. They were particularly keen to record examples of traditional lifestyles which incorporate the natural world to give the series a cultural context. The episodes were divided by region to present the distinct cultural as well as ecological differences.
《美丽中国》是第一部表现中国野生动植物和自然人文景观的大型电视纪录片，也是中国中央电视台（CCTV）和英国广播公司（BBC）第一次联合摄制的作 品。该纪录片历时4年拍摄，使用航拍、红外、高速、延时和水下等先进摄影技术，记录了大量珍贵、精彩的画面，呈现出前所未有的立体角度，向世人展示了中国 “天人合一”思想的独特魅力。《美丽中国》曾荣获第30届“艾美奖新闻与纪录片大奖”最佳自然历史纪录片摄影奖、最佳剪辑奖和最佳音乐与音效奖。
《美丽中国》从技巧、内容、精神上都是纪录片创作的典范，它生动、深刻地展示了自然类纪录片应该如何从纪实的品格上升到思维的品格，引发人们对人与大自然 的重视审视与深刻反思。同时，作为普通观众，人们在欣赏自然类纪录片时，不能简单停留在一种表象的震撼上，应当怀有一种思维品格，站在一个更高的角度上来 欣赏和思考自然类纪录片所展现的美丽的、震撼的视觉语言。