NARRATOR: The Great Wall of China  was built by the Han Chinese
to keep out the nomadic tribes  from the north.
They called these people barbarians,
and their lands were considered  barren and uninhabitable.
Northern China is indeed a harsh place  of terrible winters,
ferocious summers,
parched deserts.
But it is far from lifeless.
With colourful places,
surprising creatures,
amazing people
and strange landscapes.
The further we travel,  the more extreme it becomes.
So how do people and wildlife cope  with the hardships and challenges
of life beyond the Wall?
The northern limits of Ancient China  were defined by the Great Wall
which meanders for nearly  5,000 kilometres from east to west.
The settled Han people of the Chinese  heartland were invaded many times
by warlike tribes from the north.
The Great Wall was built to protect  the Han Chinese from invasion.
To meet those fearsome northerners  and the wild creatures
who share their world,  we must leave the shelter of the Wall
and travel into the unknown.
Northeast China was known  historically as Manchuria.
Its upper reaches are on the same  latitude as Paris
but in winter it is one of the coldest,  most hostile places on the planet.
Bitter winds from Siberia regularly  bring temperatures
of 40 degrees below zero.
Dense forests of evergreen trees  cover these lands.
And the rugged terrain is made even more  difficult by impenetrable ravines.
We start our journey on a frozen river
snaking between China's  northeasternmost corner and Siberia.
The Chinese call it  the Black Dragon River.
The people who live here  aren't exactly fearsome warriors.
They're too busy coping  with the harsh winter conditions
and they respond to the challenge  in some creative ways.
(TYRES SQUEAKING)
The Black Dragon River is home to one  of the smallest ethnic groups in China.
The Hezhe People.
It's not just bicycles that seem  out of place in this icy world.
Fishing boats and nets lie abandoned,  a long way from open water.
(CHATTERING)
Underneath a metre of solid ice  swim a huge variety of fish,
including 500-pound sturgeon,
enough to feed a family  of Hezhe for weeks.
But how can they catch their quarry?
First they must chisel a hole through  the ice to reach the water below.
(SPLASHING)
Then they need to set  their fishing net under the ice,
a real challenge.
A second hole is made,  20 metres away from the first
and a weighted string is dropped in.
Then, a long bamboo pole  is used to hook the string
and pull the net  into position beneath the ice.
After a few days, the nets are checked.
These days, almost nobody catches  a rare giant sturgeon.
The Black Dragon River has been  overfished like so many others.
But even these smaller fish  are a welcome catch.
Frozen within seconds,  the fish are guaranteed to stay fresh
for the wobbly cycle ride home.
The forests that lie south  of the Black Dragon River
are bound up in snow  for more than half the year.
It's deathly silent.
Most of the animals here  are either hibernating
or have migrated south for the winter.
But there is an exception.
Wild boars roam the forests  of the northeast.
Like the Hezhe people, the boars find it  difficult to gather food in winter.
To survive, they follow their noses,
among the keenest in the animal kingdom.
(GRUNTING)
They will eat almost  anything they unearth.
But one energy-rich food source  is particularly valued.
Walnuts.
When a lucky boar finds a walnut,  there's bound to be trouble.
(SQUEALING)
But despite the squabbles,  wild boars are social animalshibernating
and gather together in groups.
Staying close together may help them  to keep warm in the extreme cold.
But there is another reason  for group living.
More ears to listen out for danger.
Siberian tigers also live  in these forests.
But these days, only in captivity.
There may be less than a dozen  wild Siberian tigers left in China.
Though there are many more  in breeding centres.
This enclosure at Hengdaohezi  started breeding tigers in 1986
to supply bones and body parts for  the Chinese medicine market.
Trade in tiger parts was banned  in China in the 1990s
and the breeding centre is now  just a tourist attraction.
The forests of the northeast  stretch to where the Chinese,

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