Until little more than a century ago, this place was unknown outside China.
直到一个多世纪前 这里还是个未为人知的世外桃源。
But then news reached the West of a mysterious, hidden world of the orient. Hidden among the mountains, a lost Shangri-la paradise.
然而有关这个神奇隐秘的东方世界的传言,却不胫而走传至西方。隐匿在群山中遗落人间的最后天堂 ——香格里拉。
Western high society, in the grip of a gardening craze, was eager for exotic species from faraway places. This gave rise to a new breed of celebrity adventurers, intrepid botanist-explorers known as "the Plant Hunters".
当时西方上流社会盛行园艺,渴望获得遥远国度的稀有物种。这也造就了新物种的探险家,无畏的植物探索家,世称“植物猎人”。
Yunnan became their Holy Grail. The most famous was Joseph Rock, a real life Indiana Jones.
云南成为了他们的圣杯 (Holy Grail是Jesus在最后的晚宴上使用的餐具 据称有不可思议的神奇力量)。其中最出名的便是Joseph Rock 真人版的 Indiana Jones(电影 "迷失方舟的侵入者" 中的英雄)。
Remarkable film footage captured his entourage on a series of expeditions, as they pushed into the deepest corners of Yunnan.
胶片出色的记录了他与随行人员的一系列,深入云南腹地的探险远征。
In glorious colour he recorded the plant life he found on special photographic glass plates.
他发现了千姿百态的植物,并将其记录于特制的玻璃质感光片上。
Sending thousands of specimens back to the West, the Plant Hunters changed the gardens of the world forever.
通过将成千上万的标本送回西方,植物猎人永远的改变了世界园艺。
Rock's success was born of a massive effort.
Rock的成功源自其不懈的努力。
For, to find his Shangri-la, not only had he to traverse endless mountain ranges, but some of the deepest gorges in the world. The Nujiang is called The Angry River.
为了找到他的香格里拉,他翻越了无尽连绵的山脉,征服了世界上最深的峡谷。怒江之名意为愤怒的河流。
This 300-kilometre stretch of raging rapids is as much a barrier to life as are the mountains above.
绵延三百公里的急流如同那些巍峨群山,成为了保护野生生命的天然屏障。