英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -4

But their attitude changed when the head of the village fell ill. They blamed the birds and were all set to destroy their nests, but the local government stepped in to protect them. Bendy bamboo may not be the safest nesting place, but at least this

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -1

The last hidden world---China. For centuries, travelers to China have told tales of magical landscapes and surprising creatures. Chinese civilization is the worlds oldest. And today, its largest, with well over a billion people. Its home to more than

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -2

It has transformed the landscape. Late winter in southern Yunnan is a busy time for local farmers as they prepare the age-old paddy fields ready for the coming spring. These hill slopes of Yunyang county plunge nearly 2,000 meters to the floor of the

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -3

The ideal date depends on what the weather will do this year, never easy to predict. But there is some surprising help at hand. On the ceiling of the Songs' living room, a pair of red-rumped swallows newly arrived from their winter migration is busy

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -9

Geng's net is a strange tubular contraption with a closed-off end. More than a hundred fishermen make their living from the lake. Its mineral-rich waters are highly productive and there are nets everywhere. The next morning, Geng returns with his son

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -5

The cave rivers course is channeled by the beds of limestone. A weakness in the rock can allow the river to increase its gradient to flow in, providing a real challenge for the cave explorers. The downward rushes halted when the water table is reache

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -8

If catching fish in the dark is impressive, imagine eating a slippery minnow with no hands while hanging upside down. Dawn, over the karst hills of Guilin. These remarkable hills owe their peculiar shapes to the mildly acid waters of the Li River, wh

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -10

Winding between Zhangjiajie's peaks, crystal clear mountain streams are home to what is perhaps China's strangest creature. This bizarre animal is a type of newt, the Chinese giant salamander. In China, it is known as the baby fish because when distr

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -7

As well as the school, the cave houses eighteen families, together with their livestock. These could be the only cave-dwelling cows on earth. With schoolwork over, its playtime at last. In Southern China, caves arent just used for shelter; they can b

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-9

Ailaoshan 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 b

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-6

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're found only in tropical and subtropical jungle. With a tiny home range of just a few

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-1

Beneath billowing clouds in Chinas far southwestern 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 colorful tribal cultur

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-4

In glorious color, 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

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-5

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

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-3

But it does share the giant panda's taste for bamboo. Southwest China's 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 t

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国：彩云之南-11

The Jinuo 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 workin

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -13

Smart ecology like this is what enables China to be largely self-sufficient in food even today. Back in the village, Yang has his own smokehouse, where he preserves his fish ready for market. Longshan carp have unusually soft scales and a very delica

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -12

The Chinese moccasin is an ambush predator with a deadly bite. This is one of China's largest and most feared venomous snakes. But the monkeys have lived alongside these dangerous serpents for thousands of years. They use this specific alarm call to

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -11

But the visitors are not what they seem. Zhe Shuzheng and her son live nearby. Zhe has been caring for her local alligators for over 20 years, so she had a fair idea when the eggs were likely to hatch. Back home, she's built a pond, surrounded by net

英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -6

Young infants have a vicelike grip, used to cling on to mom for dear life. As they get older, they get bolder and take more risks. Those that survive spend a lot of time traveling, yet experienced adults know exactly where to find seasonal foods in d