This is from a series of films by Global Television shot all over world, giving well photographed introductions to various places, of which we will be focusing on the ones of interest to Buddhists.
The films are quite light introductions to their subjects, mainly good photography, well chosen soundtracks, and a reasonable, but sometimes inaccurate, narration giving a cultural and historical introduction to its subject.
This week the team visit Yunnan, the south-west province of China, which is home to one of the greatest ethnic diversities in the country, with scores of ethnicities resident and flourishing there.
We first visit the capital Kunming, which is now a large city, with over 4 million inhabitants, and we travel round to see some of the old and modern temples in the city; we also visit Xi Shan, a Forest Mountain Reserve, just outside the city, which houses the Longmen Grottoes, which are some of the most extensive Taoist caves in China (here mistakenly identified as Buddhist).
One of the most interesting segments is in the visit to Li Jiang, home to the ethnic Naxi people, which is along the southern Silk Routes going into Myanmar, and here we see some of the temples and customs of this traditional society.
Another area of natural beauty is the Yunnan Shilin, a rock forest, made from thousands of years of erosion carving the rocks into spectacular formations; and a number of other scenic locations are on the trip through this remote region.
to see a set of stills click on the date at the top of the embed below
