Wild China Page #2

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to be transported to their new paddy

higher up the hillside.

All the Songs' neighbours have turned

out to help with the transplanting.

It's how the community

has always worked.

When the time comes,

the Songs will return the favour.

While the farmers

are busy in the fields,

the swallows fly back and forth

with material for their nest.

Many hands make light work.

Planting the new paddy

takes little more than an hour.

Job done, the villagers can relax,

at least until tomorrow.

But for the nesting swallows,

the work of raising a family

has only just begun.

In the newly planted fields,

little egrets hunt for food.

The rice paddies harbour tadpoles,

fish and insects

and the egrets have chicks to feed.

This colony in Chongqing Province

was established in 1996,

when a few dozen birds built nests

in the bamboo grove

behind Yang Guang village.

Believing they were a sign of luck,

local people initially protected

the egrets and the colony grew.

But their attitude changed

when the head of the village fell ill.

They blamed the birds

and were all set to destroy their nests,

when the local government

stepped in to protect them.

Bendy bamboo may not be

the safest nesting place,

but at least this youngster

won't end up as someone's dinner.

These chicks have just had an eel

delivered by their mum,

quite a challenge for little beaks.

(CHIRPING)

Providing their colonies are protected,

wading birds like egrets

are among the few wild creatures

which benefit directly from

intensive rice cultivation.

Growing rice needs lots of water.

But even in the rainy south,

there are landscapes where water

is surprisingly scarce.

This vast area of southwest China,

the size of France and Spain combined,

is famous for its clusters

of conical hills,

like giant upturned egg cartons,

separated by dry empty valleys.

This is the karst, a limestone terrain

which has become the defining image

of southern China.

Karst landscapes are often

studded with rocky outcrops,

forcing local farmers

to cultivate tiny fields.

The people who live here

are among the poorest in China.

In neighbouring Yunnan Province,

limestone rocks

have taken over entirely.

This is the famous Stone Forest,

the product of

countless years of erosion,

producing a maze of deep gullies

and sharp-edged pinnacles.

Limestone has the strange property

that it dissolves in rainwater.

Over many thousands of years

water has corroded its way

deep into the heart

of the bedrock itself.

This natural wonder is

a famous tourist spot,

receiving close to

two million visitors each year.

The Chinese are fond of

curiously-shaped rocks

and many have been given fanciful names.

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