All language subtitles for The Mekong River with Sue Perkins 4 China_Subtitles01.ENG

I'm not very good at steering.

OK, OK.

It's hard work.

This is the Mekong,
the mother of water,

the greatest river
in South East Asia.

It brings life to millions,

from the paddy fields of Vietnam

to the mountains of
the Tibetan plateau.

(I think I might be engaged
to be married now.)

I've travelled nearly
2,000 miles upstream,

exploring landscapes and lives
on the point of profound change.

They might want to stick up
a massive sign saying "For Sale".

When you think of
a spiritual experience,

this is pretty much it, isn't it?

Finally, I've reached China and
the source of this mighty river.

You get a real sense of it being
the turbulent river now.

It carves its way through
China's wildest

and most spectacular valleys,

home to some of the country's
unique hill tribes...

Oh, this is sexy hands.

..but change is sweeping
through these places

faster than any other
Mekong nation...

My head is exploding
already with questions.

..as China's economic miracle
transforms this remote region.

It's £120 a kilo?

No wonder he's smiling.

And they say money
doesn't grow on trees.

I want to understand how
this new revolution

is changing ways of life here.

Oh! Oh, oh!

And, as China surges
into a brand-new future,

what it will save of its past.

Oh, hello!

I have no idea who you are, but it's
wonderful to be in a photo with you.

All of China's 1.3 billion people
seem to be on the move,

charging forwards towards
a shiny, new capitalist future.

In cities all across the land,

a new skyscraper is built
every five days,

to house the rising middle class
and reflect their soaring ambitions.

It's a far cry from
Chairman Mao's communist dream.

And quite possibly a little
different to my own blinkered ideas.

I'm very mindful
that I've come to China

brimful of Western preconceptions,

namely that China is frightening
and austere and...

impenetrable.

Preconceptions about its people,
that they are phlegm-hawking,

soup-slurping, chain-smoking types
who are extremely good at ping-pong.

And so I suppose China's the place
along this journey

that I've been most frightened
of coming to,

but most excited about visiting,

because I think that I'm going to
get totally shaken up

and everything that I think is black
will suddenly turn out to be white.

In China, this amazing river
has saved its best till last.

For the next 1,500 miles, the
Mekong plunges through deep gorges

and huge mountains, from its source
high on the Tibetan Plateau.

But I'm starting here in Yunnan's
tropical region of Xishuangbanna

and its capital, Jinghong,

the centre of
a booming tourist industry.

So this party boat
is heading towards

Xishuangbanna's number
one tourist destination.

And this is a place
that the majority of Chinese

flock to every single year.

And they're visiting a theme park

which doesn't have log fumes
or roller coasters.

It has one thing...ethnic people.

This is the Dai Minority Park.

Just 20 years ago, there were five
small traditional villages here,

home to the indigenous Dai people.

Then China's economy exploded.

Now, tour guides like Wendy and Echo

show visitors like me what
their country used to be like.

So it's basically Universal Studios.

You've got the buggies,
you've got the boulevards.

These tourists are Han Chinese.

They make up 92%
of China's population

and want to spend their new money
exploring the riches

of their vast country.

After decades of communism,

when the Chinese were unified
under one dreary manifesto,

there's now renewed interest
in the colourful melting pot

of peoples that actually
make up modern China.

Groups like the Dai -
people of the water.

Look at you, with your flash car.

That's one of the Dai people
with that swanky car?

'It's not clear which bits
of the park are authentically Dai

'and which have been fabricated
for the tourist market.'

OK, now I'm clear.

So every year,
the Dai stage a water festival,

which is incredible symbolic.

But here in the park,

tourists can't wait just for
one festival once a year.

So they have regular water
splashings at 2pm

and 4pm daily and that's what
I'm going to get involved in.

I think it's fair to say this is
the first outfit I've ever worn

that my mother would
actually be happy with.

She is delighted right now,
she's lit up Croydon.

So these are splashing implements.

I mean, it seems a shame
to ruin such a nice outfit.

Originally, what is the
significance of the water festival

for the Dai people?

It relates to a story -

in memory of the seven
princesses in the past

who saved the Dai people
from a very bad guy.

They chop off his head
and is on fire.

I've very glad we don't do that
at 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock,

cos then we'd really reduce visitor
numbers massively with that.

I'm very glad.

When you think
of a spiritual experience,

this is pretty much it, isn't it,
really, when you just boil it down?

Just a man screaming
on a public address system

and a chained elephant tottering
around in the background.

Yeah, I feel relaxed, I feel good!

Whereas this is seen as a fun day
out for the Han Chinese,

water is considered holy
for the Dai people.

It is their source of life,
spiritual and physical.

During their annual water festival,

blessed water is poured
on family members to wash away

their dirt and sorrows, ensuring
good luck in the coming year.

And I am about to get very lucky.

That was right up the...

I was properly blessed then.

Yeah, I was blessed where
the sun doesn't shine.

Very complicated place, this park.

You've got a minority of people
living in a very traditional way.

The Han Chinese have come along

and want to find out about
the minority groups.

But in doing so, I think, it has
sort of started to create

a slight change.

You can't come here on mass
and not puncture the seal

and for things to suddenly alter.

Of course, they're going to want
what the Han Chinese has got.

They're going to want fast cars

and they're going to want
everything made of plastic.

And I wonder how long
this community can remain.

It's in the interest of the
Han Chinese that this way of life

is sort of preserved in aspic.

But their very venturing
into this place

means that that's
very unlikely to happen.

I'm leaving the theme park
and moving north up the Mekong,

through fertile valleys
and terraced fields.

The unique climate and soil here
provide the perfect condition

for growing a Chinese delicacy...

pu-erh tea.

The Aini, keepers of this land,
are animists.

At the heart of their ancient belief
system is a harmony with nature.

They tend the pu-erh tea bushes
with love and care and, in doing so,

keep their ancestral spirits happy.

It's just a thought,

but if the water people hooked up
with the tea people

and they met up with the kettle
tribe, they could rule the world.

This is Mr and Mrs Car.

Their families have been processing
tea here for generations.

Ni hao!

Ni hao, Mr Car. Ni hao!

Ni hao, good to see you.

Ni hao, ni hao.

Look, there it is!

HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE
Tea!

I am a frantic tea drinker
and I love it

and the smell of that...

Sweet and woody, it's gorgeous.

Go and pick some?

Fabulous, I'd love to, I'd love to.

It's a perforated bag.

It could be nothing less, surely,
for a tea picking excursion.

Look at this!

Somebody's making some money
out of tea, eh?

Pu-erh tea's popularity is growing.

China's newly wealthy professionals

are eager to connect with
their traditional past.

It's a far cry from
your average breakfast cuppa.

It's the only brew in the world
that's aged like fine wine

and, apparently, it's a marvel for
weight loss and reducing stress.

Sounds like my cup of tea.

Yeah, up I come.

I was never any
good at this as a kid

and suspect I'm going to be
even worse as an adult.

How did you get up, Mr Car?

Nearly.

Hang on.

OK.

OK, no pressure...

(Don't break it!)

So for one kilo of
tea from this bush,

how much yuan would
you get for that?

So it £120 a kilo?

No wonder he's smiling.

And they say money doesn't
grow on trees. Incredible.

I've seen a good one.
I'm going to a higher elevation.

Don't you be rocking that tree now.

Ancient trees like these provide
the very best pu-erh tea sold today.

It's got a bit of a cult status
amongst the connoisseurs.

I will have a bit of you.

10p.

I'll have you.

30.

I find it really relaxing,

but, then, I'm not doing it
for eight hours a day.

Oh, hello. He's on the move.

He's on the move.

That was pretty ungainly.

I'll lead the way with
my rather lighter bag.

The process is all done by hand
and takes a few weeks

to pick, roast and dry
to aromatic perfection.

You are the master.

Constantly turning it -
they are getting quite hot now.

When you started was there
a lot of money in tea picking?

No? So only now.

Now. You lucked out,
haven't you, sunshine?

The reason you are making
so much money now

is because there is greater demand.

These roasted leaves
will now be dried,

pressed and then drunk
by some lucky person...

Oh, that'll be me, then.

If you sit in England and do this...

SHE SLURPS

..very bad manners.

So when did you build this house,
this amazing house?

If it's not too rude a question,

how much did it cost
your family to build?

So £75,000 from...

And the money came from tea.

So in the wrong game.

If I come back in five years' time,

I think that tea prices
will have risen so much

that you will live in a palace
and walk on a gold floor.

I think so.

Bracing. Quite astringent,
quite bitter.

Oh, no, every time I put it down...

I'm not sure if my drinking is
creating the urge to pour more or...

I don't know any more.

See, I don't know if
it's rude to refuse.

I've now drank about four gallons.

Literally no moisture
left in my mouth.

So much tongue.

Oh, there's more coming.

Thank you. I am now going to
go and run a marathon.

That was my pleasure and my
privilege to have a day with you.

I really loved it. Thank you.

Well, I'm not going to sleep for
another six months, I'm that wired.

But that's been
an extraordinary day,

in the sense that I've learned
that a family can farm

the same tea bushes for 800 years,
getting a steady low income

and then, suddenly, as the economic
boom hits China and the rise

of the middle class, this huge spike
in demand which means they can move

from that very modest house
into this sort of

Grand Designs house behind me.

And to put it into context,
the middle class, now,

in terms of numbers in China,
is the same as the population

of the entirety of
the United States.

Just think of that many people,
sitting around, drinking tea, going,

"Of course, this is the
2007 Aini terroir."

So, yeah, very, very interesting.

As I head further up the valley,

China's transformation
becomes further apparent.

This vast country is on course

to become the world's
most powerful economy

and it's racing to modernity
at an astonishing pace.

But for some people, this manic rush
towards the future is threatening

what little is left of China's
ancient traditions and beliefs.

This morning, Wendy is taking me to
meet her friend from the Aini tribe,

Li Jin Mei, who is desperately
trying to hold back the tide

of tarmac and preserve what
is left of her culture.

So this is where Li Jin Mei lives.

she's got this little
traditional house

right on this massive road.

It's like having Anne Hathaway's
Cottage in the middle of the M1.

CAR HORNS HONK

It's a construction site.

Ni hao! Ni hao, Li Jin.

Ni hao.

The Aini are known
for their hospitality

and beautiful embroidered clothes.

Oh, that smells good.

She is preparing a traditional feast

and what can only be described
as a local delicacy.

Oh, God, what is that?

Is it there for luck
or is it actually a food item?

Food.

You eat... Will you eat it?

Chuan tong? Yeah.

So how many dishes are you
doing today?

12?

14. 14!

It's always the women
that cook in Aini culture?

What do the men do? Sit and smoke?

Hunting and bullshitting?!

Did she say hunting
and bullshitting?

Tell her it's the same
the world over.

And hunting is illegal, so it's
just left them with bullshitting.

An hour later, lunch is served...

in what feels a bit like
a motorway service station.

That is an awesome
little buffet going on there.

Gosh, what is this?
This looks ominous.

It is moonshine.

Lovely! Aini moonshine,
this is what every meal needs.

Let's call it a digestive.

Ah, bless you.

Gibaduo, Sese, Sese.

ALL: Sese!

Oh, down the hatch, there.

'I'm not sure if that face means
it's a good batch or a bad batch.'

OK, so I eat this, then the pickles.

Where's the pickles?

Quite ritualised this -

I'm being pointed at and you have
to eat things in a certain order.

She's secretly...
She's constantly topping up.

OK, if this is being Aini,
then respect.

Gibaduo.
ALL: Sese!

Oh, dear.

'Oh, that's definitely a bad batch.'

My liver is the size
of a pistachio right now.

Oh, God, no.

OK.

Li Jin Mei's interest in
her Aini culture began

when she was asked about it
at a dinner party

and couldn't provide an answer.

Ashamed, she decided to
dedicate her life there and then

to its preservation,
through championing its cuisine

and, most importantly,
its traditional embroidery.

So, for instance, explain to me
the meaning of this pattern.

Oh, this is the crab's eyes. Those
are the crab's eyes? Crab's eyes.

That is, yeah...

That's very interesting for me.

It sort of shifts completely
my view of culture.

It's been very enlightening
for me to hear that.

SHE SINGS:

Gibaduo.

ALL: Sese!

Well, I'm not surprised they
need to embroider their history,

because if everyone round
here drinks like Li Jin Mei,

no-one will remember a thing.

Sese!

Sese, Sese!

THEY SING TUNELESSLY

Incredibly, a good night's sleep
and two paracetamol later,

I'm ready to hit the road
and head north,

out of the smoggy city of Jinghong.

My head is exploding
already with questions...

mainly regarding culture.

What is culture?

What's important about culture?

I know what we've kept in the UK.

We've kept Shakespeare and
Dickens and Morris dancing.

But it begs the question,
if you know what you've kept...

how do you know what you've lost?

And that's what China is facing
at this precise moment in time.

It's trying to work out what is
significant from the past

that it can take with into
its busy and bustling future.

And it's looking and saying,

"Yeah, we can take the roofs
from Dai culture,

"that's nice and that's traditional.

"We can take the water festivities.

"We can take pu-erh tea because
it's commercially viable."

But just at the edge
of that precipice

and the edge of everything
interesting and diverse being lost,

you've got someone like
Li Jin Mei who's going,

"I've got this, it's embroidery.

"I don't have script,
I cannot write it down.

"And if you lose this
or consign it to tourist tat,

"then my culture that's been going
for hundreds of years is lost."

And all that is
just blowing my mind!

I'm travelling 600 miles north

to the town of Baisha.

In this region,
the Mekong has a new name,

the Lancang Jiang
or "turbulent river".

And look, there's the Mekong,
who'd have thought it?

I thought someone had drunk it,
I haven't seen it for miles.

But there it is, burbling away.

Baisha nestles in
the shadow of the Himalayas

and is home to the Naxi people.

Far from the concrete jaws
of Jinghong,

it now feels I'm entering a China
I didn't even know existed.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS

I've just stumbled across
this fantastic, colourful,

senior citizens line dance.

And what's magical about this
is that it isn't a tourist show.

This something that these
people do every Sunday

and have done for hundreds of years.

The fact that I'm here is
totally immaterial to them

and it's just magical to behold.

Hey!

That was so - mwah! Beautiful.

This one was great, what is that?

Oh, you've got the...? Oh, hello!

Oh, there's some sexy hands.

I'm not good enough!
You're too good.

THEY SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE
No, 72?!

You are...70?

71? No!

71!

How old are you?
One, two, three, four, five, six.

60? Six.

You all look so young! You move...

I'm surrounded by the most
excitable, brilliant,

robust pensioners.

I love them.

Baisha has been world famous for
its botanists and herbalists,

ever since Victorian plant hunter
Joseph Rock passed through here.

He became friends with renowned
Chinese herbalist Dr Ho.

His son, Dr Ho II,
now runs the clinic.

Hello. Hello.

Ni hao. Nice to meet you.

Very nice to meet you, Dr Ho.
I am Dr Ho.

So very nice to see you.
Nice to meet you.

It's my pleasure to see you.

How are you? Very well, thank you.

Of course you're very well.
All the friends...

All the friends are here.
Yeah, you all the friends.

So is this your garden?

My wife. This is your wife?
Of course this is your wife.

I'm 92, she is 91.

All strong.

You're 92 years old?!

Yeah, she's 91.

You look very well.
Very nice to see you. All strong.

Ni hao. Ni hao. Ni hao.

Dr Ho has been practising
herbal Chinese medicine

for over 70 years.

May I know your age?

44. 44.

Good. Good?

You're the first person
to say that's good.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine

believe that in order
to heal a sick person,

you must treat the individual
rather than their symptoms

and restore their natural balance.

It has long been
a fascination of mine.

If you...very bad day, you have

a very bad day, massage here.

Lift!

Suddenly, you go there

and you, "Wah-hey!"

Here...

Oh! Oh!

Oh, what was that?!

Feels like being electrocuted.

Very bad day. Yes.

Also made my lips bleed
quite badly as well.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE
Yeah, you're a genius.

You OK?

Yeah.

'Dr Ho has hit a pressure point
that has immediately made me

'a little frightened of him, but
it has given me mental alertness,

'which may come in handy
when I'm up in the mountains.'

Now I'm going to go
to the herb garden,

but I'm being taken by
the third and fourth Dr Ho,

cos, as we know, Dr Ho
does like to regenerate

so these are the
next reincarnations.

So will you take me to the...
Please.

Yeah, I'm going to follow you, OK.

Look, you've got
the white coats and everything.

60% of Yunnan's plants are used
in traditional Chinese medicine.

The Ho family are masters and
were collecting these powerful herbs

way before the Victorian plant
hunters came trundling through.

Ah! It's medicine.

I want to live here.

It's medicine. All medicine.

The Hos have over
1,000 plant species here...

and that is species,
not individual plants!

What is this one good for?

It's good for the arthritis.

But it's the pollen...

The pollen is good.

The pollen is good, but some time
pollen is, for some people, allergic.

If you have no allergy,
the pollen is good for the energy.

Good for chi.

Pollen. I shall bear that in mind.

Seeds, flower, root part.

Can I eat that?

Yes. Not poison.

But this you can eat,
this is good for...

It's like cinnamon,
it's actually really delicious.

It's really delicious.

This is more delicious.

What is this one?

More delicious, good for diabetes,

good for high sugar of the...

for goat.

For GOUT? Goat, yeah. Big pain.

Big toe, yeah.

Henry VIII would have loved
this. Oh, that's sweet.

This is our displaying plant species.

One, two, three, four -

is all one family, chrysanthemum.

These are all chrysanthemum?
Chrysanthemum family.

One, two, three, four.

So why are they good for health,
chrysanthemums, what do they do?

Oh, chrysanthemum family.

The family of chrysanthemum,
with chrysanthemums.

Different plants
have different effects.

So what about this massive one here?

The Vladimiria beradioidea.

It's good for cancer, good for
stomach-ache, for many things.

You've got more plants here

than anywhere else
pretty much in the world?

I'm very sorry to say...
I'm very sorry to tell you...

Are you out of plants? Yeah.

Some plants is maybe lost plants.

Destroyed very fast.

Really fast.

Who's destroying it?

There are many, many people.

China's new money has increased
demand for herbal medicine.

Now it's a $60 billion
industry and still growing.

Businessman use machines!

They take everything.

HE IMITATES MACHINE

It's very easy to destroy,
disappear. It's a pity.

It's a pity.

Ah, this makes me very sad.
It's the same everywhere.

Very sad.

It's a highly competitive market
and changing fast,

like everything else in China.

I'm leaving Baisha and heading north
towards the source of the Mekong.

The landscape is getting wilder.

But its beauty is somewhat tainted
by this brand spanking new road.

The river is wild here, too.

No good for transporting freight
or even fishing.

But there are other uses
for turbulent rivers.

Unfortunately, we can't stop here
and shoot anything

because the government have
expressly forbidden us from filming

any of the dams in China
on the Mekong.

But you can see the devastation
on the landscape.

That is a major blot,

the sort of thing that would give
Prince Charles an embolism.

The six dams already in service here

generate approximately
15,000 megawatts.

That's enough to light up London
for three years.

But power like this comes at a cost.

More than 100,000 ethnic people were
displaced to make way for the dams.

And the ecological damage to
people and habitats downstream

in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
has yet to be calculated.

The village of Cizhong is
home to Tibetan people.

Over the centuries, they have
come down from the plateau

along the ancient horse tea route

and settled in these
Himalayan foothills.

Other travellers have arrived
here, too, from further afield,

bringing different
cultures and beliefs.

SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE

It's been a very long time
since my last confession.

Slightly feeling it now, I feel bad.

Once they've got you,
they've got you forever.

SINGING CONTINUES

French missionaries arrived
in Yunnan in the 1850s,

bringing the Catholic gospel
with them.

And, over time, 80% of this village
converted to Catholicism.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

I was brought up a Catholic,
but lost my faith a long time ago.

Maybe it's the altitude,
but I rather like this fusion

between the Bible-bashers
and the Buddhists.

Today, I'm visiting Mr Xaio,

a man I met in church last night
with a truly humbling story to tell.

When the Communist Party
came into power in 1949,

all foreign missionaries
were expelled from China.

Catholicism, along with all
other religions, was banned.

Ni hao. Ni hao. Nice to see you,
darling. Nice to see you.

Ah, look!

Look at these little beauties.

They're looking extremely plump.

Under Chairman Mao's regime,

Mr Xaio, along with
20 million other Chinese,

was imprisoned in one of
the many "re-education" camps...

which is the party phrase
meaning "hard labour".

The Bible teaches you to forgive.

Do you forgive the people
involved in your re-education?

Do you forgive that
period of history

and what it meant to you personally?

So this is the certificate that
exonerates you from all...

Wow! That's some certificate.

"Thank you for all your
hard labour in prison(!)"

That speaks volumes.

THEY SING TOGETHER

Mr Xaio's faith has carried him
through dreadful hardship

and I'm glad he has finally
found his peace.

HE SINGS IN OWN LANGUAGE

HE COUGHS

Oh, dear! Please
don't let us lose you.

As well as the Bible and church,

the missionaries left
a very French legacy...

vineyards.

Ni hao! Ni hao.

I'm not convinced that
modern-day China's legacy

will be quite so palatable.

Five years ago, construction work
along the banks of the Mekong

made this valley ridge unstable.

And what would your
worst nightmare be?

Your worst vision of Cizhong
in ten years' time,

what would be the most terrible
thing that could happen to it?

Come on!

Just looking at this landscape
tells the story itself.

Cos it's either terraced farms
and vineyards

of the 19th century
French missionaries...

You can see in the distance
the sleek new concrete road

and the ensuing landslides
of modern China.

And running through it all,
despite the change in weather,

despite falling rocks,
despite overfishing...

the Lancang Jiang, the Mekong River,
it just flows timelessly

and quietly through it all.

LITTLE GIRL GIGGLES
Except for you!

You're not very quiet,
you're actually really loud.

You're infernally loud.

They can hear you all
the way to Cizhong.

Sometimes this journey up the Mekong

has felt like reading
a book backwards.

I know how it ends 3,000 miles
away in Vietnam,

but I've yet to experience
the very first chapter.

We're climbing higher now,
into the Himalayas,

where the Mekong starts its story.

That is an awesome drop.

That is one of the biggest gorges
in the entire world

and that is stunning.

Look down there!

It is so spectacular.

Look at that.

And you can see an entirely
new perspective on the river.

I've always sort of
trundled along it,

and now, this amazing
bird's- eye view.

BREATHLESSLY: You can hear
that the altitude

is just starting to bite now.

We're about 3,500 meters
above sea level.

And my chest has gone
a little Darth Vader.

But the good news is...

I've got Dr Ho's special
acupressure point here.

So any point I'm feeling queasy...

bosh!

I get that electrocuted feeling.

Ooh, I am really feeling
the nip of altitude.

Slight desire to run
for no good reason,

or do a dance, or sing,
or cry, or something.

I'm ready to go to the next level.

I want to go above 4,000.

See what happens then.

I reckon at 4,000, you could
put a Jim Davidson DVD on

and I would cry with laughter.

Maybe 5,000.

As we approach Tibet, Buddhist
prayer flags fly along every ridge.

The Tibetans believe
they pacify the gods,

as the wind lifts their prayers
to the heavens.

So, now I've arrived at the
threshold, where China meets Tibet,

but, sadly, due to well-publicised
political "differences",

I'm not allowed to go through.

It's incredibly frustrating,
but I suppose the only good thing

is I get to see
the Khawa Karpo mountains,

beautifully bathed in sunlight
with snowy peaks,

that have such spiritual
significance for Tibetans.

What do you mean - cloudy?

The ancient kingdom of Tibet
came under Chinese rule in 1951

when the Communists marched in.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama, was forced into exile.

To this day, Tibetans
are still persecuted,

as the Chinese seek to marginalise
their unique culture.

As a result, Tibet is off-limits
to foreign film crews.

So, instead of following the river,

I have to take three flights,
manoeuvring around Tibet -

which is now officially
part of China

and renamed the
Tibet Autonomous Region.

These flights will take me
to Qinghai province,

where I can rejoin the Mekong
and get close to the source.

So, I heard that there are
approximately twelve million yaks

in this area
and six million Tibetans

Twelve million! Twelve million yaks,
six million people,

which means that
if the yaks get together...

it's over for you guys.

I've come to China's north eastern
part of the Tibetan plateau

and I'll be staying with a family

that lives by the banks
of the river.

Like most Tibetans in this remote
corner, they are yak herders.

During the winter,
they graze their yaks here,

but in the warmer months,
they're nomadic,

following their animals
across the high plateau.

Will I be the first western face
that this family has seen?

I think so, yeah.

I feel bad that it's me.

They could've...I don't know...

We could have found someone
blonder or glossier, maybe.

Ah, tashi delek.

Ah, demo, demo.

Oh, that's quick. Gosh, hello.
Nice to see you.

'This is Aba and his wife Ama,

'who live here with their extended
family.'

Hello, darling. Hello.

Oh, thank you.

What were you expecting

when you knew somebody
from the west was coming?

What did you expect?

What did you think?
What did you imagine?

I think you're thinking
of Bonnie Langford,

but I don't think she's due here
for a while.

The yaks are already on the move.

They must be brought in
for the night,

safe from the wolves and bears
that prowl the mountains.

These gentle beasts are essential
to life at this altitude.

Perfectly adapted to the thin air
and biting cold,

they provide everything
for the family -

from food and clothing
to fuel for their fires.

Their butter is offered to the gods

and their wool is woven
into the prayer flags.

Of all the experiences I've had,

this is the one
which feels so timeless.

You come up this mountain
and you immediately feel the rhythms

of thousands of years
working through you.

Of course you'd believe in God.

Look at it! Look at your office!

Look at it!

I want to come and work with you.

THEY COAX YAK IN TIBETAN

Deftly done.

Come on. Oh, you are really strong.

It's not so bad.

Come on, it's better
than being eaten by a wolf.

TIBETAN RECITAL

Every evening before bed, Ama and
Aba recite their Buddhist mantras.

The hypnotic chanting
reverberates through the room.

It's the perfect lullaby.

TIBETAN RECITAL CONTINUES

Oh, that's good.

A faint tang of yak on the mattress,
if I'm honest, but...

I'm that tired, it doesn't
matter. Plus, I love the yak.

This is comfortable.
I'm living here, I'm moving here.

Good night, everyone.

Demo ni.

Demo ni, yaks.

Demo ni. Demo ni, demo ni.

If this goes on all night,
there will be no demo ni.

Believe it or not,
this is the start of summer.

They just know.

Right.

I'm not going to be
squeamish about this.

Ah, look!

Yeah. Victory.

I'm getting there.

It's a bit slow.

Oh, my knees went then. Oh.

Ooh.

There are very few things
I'd enjoy getting up for,

but this would be one of them.
Just...

..total sense of calm, nothing
is rushed, the animals are at peace.

What an amazing way of life...

It's hard, though.
It's very hard.

One mustn't romanticise.

Nothing wasted.

Oh, that's great.
That's like a Frisbee, that one.

'That one needed Imodium,
I tell you.'

Yak dung is the family's
main source of fuel

and has to be spread
out on the ground to dry.

Ama has been blessed
with seven children,

but I wonder if they'll want
to carry on

living this ancient way of life.

Do you think they'll want to be
yak herders

when they finish school?

You look after them
very beautifully.

Hai.

There's quite a lot of eyes on me
for this moment.

This is a real east-west
cultural handshake.

So, this is yak butter tea.

It's gravy and then you get
the real dairy kick.

And a sort of faint Assam
back note.

It's very good. Ya buddha.
Ya buddha.

Ya buddha, ya buddha, ya buddha.

The landscape here
is sacred and revered.

Tibetan Buddhists, like Ama and Aba,

believe that everything
is alive and has an immortal soul,

whether it be animals,
the rocks, or the land itself.

The Mekong - now known as Dza Chu
or Rocky Waters - is no exception.

There she is.
She's never looked so good.

When collecting water,

three blessings must be
given to the gods as thanks.

If you came out onto this river
and it was two miles wide,

black with diesel fumes,

and everywhere you looked
there were plastic bottles

and food cartons,

how would that make you feel?

So, on this trip, I've come down
to the river a million times

and it's really painful to have done
this journey this way round.

It's really painful to know the
end before you know the beginning,

to slowly have that innocence
drained from you,

and then to be confronted by
somebody who only knows the start

and present to them the idea
of this river as black and angry,

and polluted and corrupt.

There's something so profound about
the husbandry of the environment

in its entirety here...

that get slowly lost the further
you go downstream.

Wherever I go, it will never be
as beautiful as this, in every way.

Thank you. Bless you.

I will come back here sometime.

Tashi delek. Tashi delek.
Tashi delek.

Tashi delek.
Tashi delek. Tashi delek.

Bless you.

My Mekong journey
is very nearly at an end,

but I have one more place to visit
before I head for home -

the river's spiritual source,

where the water first touches
the lives of people.

As I push higher and higher
into this sacred landscape,

I suddenly realise...

I've been on a pilgrimage.

This is Negyama Monastery,

a spiritual site close to the
geographical source of the Mekong -

and my final destination.

Nuns, like these, have lived
here for generations

under the shadow of these
holy mountains,

chanting and meditating
by the waters of this river.

GONG CRASHES

GONG CRASHES

If I say hello to the nuns,
will they be able to say hello back?

Tashi delek. Hello.

I've never met an shyer group.

Hello, hello. How are you?

Hello. I'm good, how are you?

GONG CRASHES

Welcome to our monastery.

Thank you for having me in your
monastery. Thank you very much.

I've arrived at a rather
auspicious time.

The nuns are heading to the river
to make an offering

to the water gods, or Nagas.

The Nagas are worshipped
all along the Mekong,

but here they have
a very special significance.

There's incredible wind.

If you are going to go all this way

and see all this magnificence,

and encounter these
once-in-a-lifetime experiences,

one after another, after another,

this surely has to be the way

to end.

CHANTING IN TIBETAN

The Naga gods are powerful,

often depicted as wise and great
serpents or dragons.

But they are also vulnerable
to human stupidity and greed,

and are easily angered.

Offerings must be made
to appease them.

And, in return, the people
are given protection,

creating an eternal bond between
humans, gods and the mighty river.

CHANTING IN TIBETAN CONTINUES

BELLS CHIME

HE CHANTS IN TIBETAN

This is genuinely one of the most

overwhelming experiences
of my life, in every sense.

It feels like so many whirling
questions I had about myself...

..don't matter any more.

It's about experience
and joy and peace,

and community and landscape

and sky and whatever you perceive
God to be

and that's all come together...

here with these total strangers.

My journey up the Mekong

has come to an end.

I've travelled more than
3,000 miles

through four countries

along a river that's on the point

of extraordinary change.

If I'm honest, I never expected
to be so very moved by this trip...

which perhaps says more about me
than I'd like.

But I feel blessed to have been
so profoundly affected

by the Mekong and its people.

Number one! No, you are number one.

You are the Queen.

Yeah. She's saying I'm weak.

Moy, moy, moy!

You could lose the entirety
of your arm.

Hup. Oh, yeah!

CROWD CHEERS

ALL: Whoo!

These people are so poor.

I just feel really torn!

She's saying someone has farted
and they have.

I was too polite to say anything,

but she just went like that
and was like, "Yeah."

I have not felt this profoundly
peaceful in such a long time.

The Mekong is about to change
for ever,

as the dams take hold
and the wild river is tamed.

I'm a great fan of green energy,

but if it's at the expense

of nearly 50 million people,

you've got to wonder
where the balance is.

If I've learned anything
on this trip,

it's that the people of the Mekong
are all in this together...

and it's their stories that bring
this great river to life.

It's not just thanks to the Mekong

that I've had this
extraordinary adventure,

but it's thanks to them,
so thank you.

Tam biet, cam on,
khop chai lai lai,

xie xie, gai daan jai...

..tashi delek.