TV series probes mysteries of nature in Hainan

The fourth season of the television miniseries This is Hainan: Discovering Mysteries — a nature documentary depicting the natural and human geographies of Hainan province — premiered on Friday.

While continuing to delve into fascinating science, as in previous installments, this season will feature more in-depth explorations of the daily lives of the many species that call Hainan home.

Since the start of filming for the first season in May 2020, the Discovering Mysteries film crew has traipsed deep into the Yinggeling and Wuzhi Mountain areas of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and other wild places, and waded through all of Hainan's major wetlands. They have turned their cameras on a large number of iconic Hainan plant and animal species, including the Eld's deer, the leopard gecko, weaver ants, white-crowned forktails, phoenix damselflies, fragile wart frogs, and bamboo pit vipers.

What sets the fourth season apart, according to director Zhou Shengtao, is a more direct focus on the reproduction, habits, migration, symbiotic and hostile relationships and other instinctive behaviors of each featured species. Through this storytelling method, the characters and identities of the stars of each episode come to life, allowing the viewer to form a deep connection with the creatures depicted and experience the love, power, ferocity and tenacity of life in tropical rainforests.

"Ecological and environmental protection are common values of humanity, as well as being an important area for international dialogue," Zhou said. He noted that this season will continue to offer bilingual Chinese and English subtitles, as well as adding English language narration in hope of sharing stories of China's ecological and environmental protection with a wider global audience.