SEG 330- Part 13 in a 16 Part Series on CHINA
SEGMENT 330
Guilin, China
Li River Cruises
Yangshou
Hello Market
Reed Flute Cave
Part 13 in the 15 part series on China
Segment 330 features the world famous scenery of the Li River Cruise, a 4 hour journey on board a comfortable, 3 storied boat with air conditioned compartments, and lunch service midway down the river.
Guilin is world famous for its karst pinnacles that rise like jade combs above the blue ribbon of clear tropical waters, according to a famous Chinese poetess, and filled with scenics of fishermen, cormorants, water buffalo, sleepy villages, bamboo rafts, and the most spectacularly photographed landscapes of China.
You'll see these scenics at the Olympics, on the 20 Yuan note, and on the most scenic location of China list of every Chinese citizen. These are the scenics made famous throughout the world on calendars, posters, and art galleries. Haunting, surreal peaks rise up in slender mist shrouded peaks, a floating gallery where every turn of the river is a photographic vista.
We are traveling in September, but here in the warm tropical sun, the steam and condensation that leaves the skin wet and shimmering is leaving my broadcast camera shuddering into a screetching halt of warning signals of condensation, and lock up of all the mechanical gears on the camera. It is impossible to record, the tape refuses to move, the screen has gone bluezoned, and I am forced to retreat with the Digital Video to below deck where in the air conditioned surroundings, I begin to open the camera and to fan it's internal organs in hopes of saving the $7000.00 camera from total annihilation.
I leave the broadcast camera amoung the other members of my touring group, another good reason for traveling with a group, when my production assistant is not with me, and instructions to come uptop to retrieve me, should the camera shudder back to normal, and the cassette drop into the down position, signally it becoming unfrozen by the condensation, and perhaps non damaged enough to film.
I have gone uptop to begin photographing with the backup high quality digital still camera I've brought along for just such emergency back up and begin to capture the fantastic scenics passing by.
One hour up river, as we begin to enter one of the most scenic areas of the river,
our tour guide comes uptop with the camera, outer door forced closed, and we begin the 20 minutes of filming along the river before descending back down into the air conditioned cabin to join the others with lunch nearing completion.
I would suggest choosing the driest and coolest time of the season for anyone planning to film this river scenic, or risk permanent and unrepairable damage to your camera, and miss the opportunity of filming altogether.
Fortunately, the footage was not damaged, the door lock on the camera, repairable, although the camera frozen with the last 60 minute tape in it unretrieveable, as it had been forced closed by an overly anxious tour guide wanting to get footage and not knowledgeable of proper camera operation procedures, and this segment records the efforts of the day.
We are porting in Yangshuo, where a famous "Hello" market is captured with it's fake antiques, not quite 100% silk ties, and other colorful wares, and then on to the surrounding area, local spots along the rivers and bridges, other moon shaped features in mountain rocks, pagodas, local fruits, and the Reed Flute Cave, a subterranean wonderland, beautifully lit in artistic colorful displays, culminating in the huge Crystal Palace chamber, which can hold more than 2000 people, and which provided shelter to many Chinese people escaping from the aggression of the Japanese Empire during World War Two. Fortunately for the world, and for the common people of Japan, democratic government has replaced the dangers of imperial rule in Japan, and the two nations are on the road to better relationship. All power must have the balance of forces to restrain it, or there can be no peace on earth. No dictatorship is saintly and wise.
The Reed Flute Cave is also moist inside, wet dripping from the ceiling, and the warning signal on the camera remains on, but the temperature is cooler, and more hospitable than the earlier conditions of the river cruise - which proved to be the worst filming conditions of the trip- partially saved through having an air conditioned cabin to retreat into for an hour or so.
Airing Schedule for
SEGMENT 330
Part 13 in the 15 part series on China
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
5:30 p.m. news primetime
and again at
2:00 a.m.
when all other programming goes off the air.
Friday, January 23rd, 2009
5:30 p.m. news primetime
and again at
2:00 a.m.
when all other programming goes off the air.
Labels: CHINA - 16 Part Mini-Series - GREAT GETAWAYS
posted by Tamara Lynn Scott @ 11:46 PM
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