Jeremy Wade's Mighty Rivers - Full Episode 3 - The Yangtze

The [music] Yangzey is by far the biggest river in Asia.

According to scientific records, its depths conceal hundreds of aquatic [music] species, including some seriously large fish.

So why in a lifetime of monster hunting have I never been? More recent reports from China paint a really grim picture of the river. dead fish, industrial

pollution, all the needs and demands of millions of people. Even its unique freshwater dolphin has been allowed to vanish.

But are things really that bad and that hopeless?

Getting the kind of access I want from the Chinese authorities is proving tricky, but I'm determined to see for myself exactly [music] what's going on.

I'm starting at the mouth of the river in what was once a tiny fishing village.

Today, Shanghai is one of the world's largest cities and the glittering icon of China's economic success.

I'm having a slight communications problem. He turned to me and it sounded

problem. He turned to me and it sounded like it was saying go away or something.

I don't know.

Sure, man. You're good.

Just eating this makes me think of all human existence. Um,

human existence. Um, it's all about food, isn't it? It's all

about food and it's about water.

And you think of the Yangty historically those two things in abundance. But when

you concentrate so many people, how how do things not collapse? How is it that one river can support that vast number of people? The sheer numbers are just mindboggling. I believe it's

just mindboggling. I believe it's something like one in 20 of humanity are in the catchment of the Yangze.

For millennia, most of China's protein has come from fish.

But I wonder how many are actually coming out of the Yangze today.

With Chien, a translator, at my side, I'm heading to one of Shanghai's wholesale fish markets.

Although it's well past midnight, deliveries are still pouring in.

Instead of the usual stalls, though, there are trucks offloading industrial quantities of live fish.

We'll get you uh can come.

Lovely fish actually. Really nice. These

are grass car.

Although carp are not eaten in the US, they're a huge part of the Chinese diet.

Different carp species have always been the main catch from the Yangy.

But I've noticed something about these fish that seems too good to be true.

They're really nice condition, these fish. Hardly any tears in the fins. The

fish. Hardly any tears in the fins. The

scales are all perfect. What's

immediately obvious about all these fish is no way have these come out of the wild. I'm assuming these have been

wild. I'm assuming these have been farmed. The fact that they're in trucks,

farmed. The fact that they're in trucks, I'm assuming they've been trucked in from some distance.

Do you know um can you ask them how far away these have come from?

The seller confirms that the fish are farmed and says they're brought in from 200 miles away.

Given the huge demand, I'm not surprised to find farmed fish.

But is anything here actually coming out of the Yangze?

Is Is this man here a buyer? Is he um washer Jeremy and um [laughter]

Most buyers are in the restaurant trade, but it soon emerges that Mr. Fang is here for a different and rather surprising reason.

He is coming here to save the fish.

Yes.

Without saving the fish, those fish will be coming the food.

Yes.

But with him to be here, he is a saver for the fish.

I I can I can understand that. But what

is what is your motivation? Is is this a is this environmental point of view or or or what?

Mr. Fun says that if I want to understand, I should come and find him in the morning on the banks of the river.

The next day, I learned that Mr. Fun has purchased an entire truckload of carp.

And for reasons that aren't yet clear, he intends to set them free.

Fish are being offloaded from the trucks down into the crates and then the people pick those up and then Off they go to the river.

It's all a bit confusing. I'm feeling

like a fish out of water myself.

People always say to me, when you catch fish, you throw them back, don't you? I

go, "No, I don't throw them back. I put

them back very gently. I try and hold them in the water." Um, these ones are sort of getting dropped from a fairly uh substantial height.

Why are you putting the fish in the river today?

Buddhists believe that freeing captive animals brings you merit or good karma.

This is very nice to see, but I'm I'm I'm I don't know. I'm going to have to think about this for a little while. I'm

not sure what kind of future these fish face here. They just keep coming. the

face here. They just keep coming. the

sheer numbers of fish going back. I've

released quite a lot of fish in my life, but I've never seen this number of live fish go into the water.

Today, they're liberating more than 16,000 fish. Street value around

16,000 fish. Street value around $20,000.

Freedom awaits. Off you go.

It's time to get out of Shanghai.

The fastest way of traveling in China is by bullet train.

200 m in land, I'm curious to know if the mighty Yangy has any wild fish left.

I'd never heard of Uhu before I came here, but it's bigger than Chicago.

Down on the waterfront, some fishermen are using a very basic method. The line

is simply tied to the rod tip. There's

no reel.

Without a translator, I do my best to find out what's biting.

These tiny sharp bellies are actually fully grown.

Big river, but small fish.

Yeah.

Oh, right.

There we go. Quite a lot of work to get those. It's quite a good catch in terms

those. It's quite a good catch in terms of numbers, but um what does that tell me about the the river here? [snorts]

Lots of fishing pressure.

Okay. Fishing.

Oh yeah. Right. Okay. [clears throat]

Ah. Yeah. Oh, look at this. Look at

this. I've got two two at once.

[snorts] Well, actually a very significant day today for me. I can now say that I've caught a fish out of the Yangy as long as nobody asks how big it was. It's a

very serious question um emerging and that is well this is one of the biggest rivers on Earth. But why are people reduced to catching fish just a few inches long? I'm going to sneak this one

inches long? I'm going to sneak this one back. I'm not going to show him.

back. I'm not going to show him.

Thank you.

The Yangy here is around a mile wide to see what's living in the deeper water. I

need someone with a boat.

A few miles out of town, I find a small community of commercial fishermen.

What we got here is like a it's a floating village, but you wouldn't know it was here. It's hidden from the river.

You could drive past on a boat. You

wouldn't see any of this.

The fishermen here on the Yangy live with their families on their boats for most of the year.

So, is fishing a a good job? Is that a good life or or not so good?

So, how is the fishing right now? How is

that?

That was something about [music] uh so it's it's banned.

The fishermen tell me that to protect fish numbers, commercial fishing is banned for four months of the year.

Is the ban helping the fishing in in the rest of the year?

I'm surprised and encouraged to hear that they appreciate the need for regulation, but I have to keep in mind that what they say could be influenced by the

[music] presence of our camera.

I stop asking questions. I managed to talk my way into joining them on a fishing trip.

Once their 400 ft drift net is out, it's a case of waiting patiently and letting the river do its work.

It's got a stick. Okay. Lots of sticks.

Plastic bag. It's a bit of a workout.

This good for your arms. Not quite so good for your back.

We haven't got it all in yet, but I'm thinking this is pretty slim pickings considering.

Look at this. Look at this. Look at

this. Look at this.

Yeah. Finished.

Just one.

We've had 400 ft of net sweeping the bottom of the river for nearly an hour and this is what we get. Are you quite pleased with this or are you quite disappointed?

That's good. This is good for one hour for one hour.

Wild catfish such as this one are prized over farmed fish. They're said to have a better flavor.

Something like $60 for that for that fish, which is I was quite surprised.

That's that's a pretty high price, but I think that just reflects the rarity value of them here. He says he's satisfied with that.

[music] To me, the 4-month fishing ban appears to be having little effect.

I wonder how many consumers are aware of just how few fish are left in the river.

Thanks to fish farms, they're still getting fish on their plates.

And if the smaller fish, like carp and catfish, are so thin on the ground, then what hope have I got of seeing this [music] river's predatory giants, the Chinese paddlefish and the Chinese

sturgeon?

I'm continuing up river to Wuhan, one of China's fastest growing cities.

When they last counted the number of people here, this was 2 years ago, it was 10 12 million.

So that's comfortably surpassing the population of New York City. And it's

still growing. You've only got to look to see the cranes and the the skyline is almost growing as I speak.

What effect has this rapid population growth and industrialization had on the health of the Yangy?

I'm here to meet an environmentalist who's dragging the Yangy's dirty secrets into the open.

This is Mahun. He's one of China's leading activists and he's been trying to make China's water cleaner for over 20 years.

He tells me that the Yangy is facing unprecedented challenges.

China is now the workshop of the world manufacturing not just for our own need but for the world and 40% of the uh total waste water got dumped into the

Yansi River waterershed in China. Uh

we're talking about huge volume dumped in our backyard. You know the pollution problem is getting really really bad.

Mahun tells me that to fight back he's tapping into China's growing obsession with social media.

This is our uh our app which uh which is called the map app. So everyone can take a picture and uh our user can upload

directly into the platform and this is the very first time for this to happen in China. To to summarize really it it's

in China. To to summarize really it it's it's very much about information. It's

getting it's getting that information out there and people acting on that information and no longer having the excuse of not having any information.

What makes Marjun's app so powerful is that from the images he receives, he's able to follow the trail all the way back to the factory that's causing the pollution.

But here's where it really gets clever, because he doesn't just tackle the polluters directly. He finds out who the

polluters directly. He finds out who the international companies are who are buying goods from these factories and makes them aware of what's happening.

they ended up to be some of the world's most prominent uh smartphone manufacturer, smartphone brands and u

among them Apple decided to to take a very drastic action requiring that factory to either solve their problem or lose their business.

So this is really starting to work. Last

year alone, these companies have uh motivated more than 800 uh suppliers to take to to solve their violation problem.

Pollution can contaminate a brand, can't it? And as soon as there is a a whiff of

it? And as soon as there is a a whiff of something bad, Yeah.

Um that that doesn't play well for the brand. So

brand. So by harnessing social media and shining a spotlight on big global brands, Marjun is slowly turning the tide [music] on polluting factories.

But as I continue up river, I can see that it's not just over fishing and factories that are the problem.

I don't think I've ever seen this amount of shipping on a river, certainly this far up a river. I've been to the Amazon lots of times. There are big boats go a long way up the Amazon, but in nothing

like uh these numbers. Nothing like it.

When I look more closely, I see that one cargo seems to dominate.

I need to get on board [music] one of these massive barges and find out where all this sand is coming from. We'll

see if I can get it on board here. Can't

see anybody so far.

I just hope they don't mind me arriving unannounced.

Hello. Hello. Any help? Uh

here. Is that him asleep though?

Can I come in?

Yeah. How

How much have you got?

Yes. from Ding.

Doning fed directly by the Yangtsy, Donging is China's second largest lake, and its sand is in [music] big demand

from the construction industry.

All those bridges and skyscrapers in China's [music] expanding cities require concrete, and concrete is made from sand.

The problem is Donging is also home to an extraordinarily rare aquatic mammal.

The world's only freshwater porpus.

Donging Lake, now murky with stirred up sand, has become a battleground between progress and nature.

This is the town of Yui Yang.

This is right on the banks of Donging Lake. I'm on my way to meet this guy

Lake. I'm on my way to meet this guy called Haming. And he is this sort of uh

called Haming. And he is this sort of uh self-styled self-proclaimed protector of the Finless Porpuses.

Haming used to be a successful fisherman before his life was changed by a chance encounter.

[music] Do you think the mother realized that you were trying to help?

Amazing.

Mr. Haye was able to save that baby. And

along with others, he continues to save porpuses today.

We set out to find the species known as the finless porpus.

A huge dredger with its attendant barges looms above us. For any porpuses below the surface, these man-made monsters are a big problem.

As well as generating a lot of noise, they also turn the water brown and murky, making it hard for the porpuses to hunt their prey.

Mr. Hay remembers when this water used to be clear. Just look at it now. This

is the result of all this digging activity.

That's all sand off the bottom of the lake. And when you look at the skyline

lake. And when you look at the skyline of all these cities, starting with Shanghai, all that concrete has got to come from somewhere. And it's coming

from the lake bed.

People have got to have houses.

For the past 10 years, Mr. Hay and his friends have lobbyed the government [music] to scale back the dredging and their efforts have led to a significant [music] reduction in the

number of dredges from more than 100 to just eight.

I'm hoping we can find one of the few pods of freshwater porpuses left on the Yangy.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yeah. That was one. That was a splash.

[music] I think he's actually almost corraling them. He's almost trying to keep them in

them. He's almost trying to keep them in this space here.

Yeah. Oh, here. Yes. Yes. Here we go.

One here. [music] One here. And no, I think there might be two. There's two.

This is the only porpus thrown in fresh water anywhere in the world. So, this is an incredibly

the world. So, this is an incredibly rare sighting.

It's astonishing that this animal, unique to the Yangy, is only here because of single-minded citizens like Haming.

Mr. Hey tells me that after they successfully reduced the number of sand dredges, [music] he's seen many more baby porposes.

What's interesting is we're now at a point where the porpuses seem to be holding their own. So

there seems to be a coexistence between the porposes and these huge lake monsters.

[music] Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Hay and others. The finless porpus now has a

others. The finless porpus now has a future.

But what about the Yangy's other rare beasts? Do they also have a lifeline?

beasts? Do they also have a lifeline?

As I travel, I just can't help but wonder what it must be like for the all the nonhuman life below the surface, particularly the Chinese sturgeon and

the Chinese paddlefish.

These two giant predators have patrolled the Yangy for tens of millions of years, all the way from the river's mouth to their spawning grounds in the

mountainous upper reaches.

But today, the numbers of both these migratory giants are critically low.

And in the case of the bizarre Chinese paddlefish, it may already be extinct.

Scientists have blamed the disappearance of the paddlefish on many things, including over fishing and pollution.

But more than anything, perhaps their fate is being sealed by huge construction projects like this.

It's the largest concrete structure on Earth, better known as the Three Gorges Dam.

Construction began in 1994 and it took 17 years to complete.

Access is tightly controlled by the Chinese government.

Very few people are allowed on the top, but I've obtained permission to meet with one of the dam's engineers.

That's a long way down.

The dam stands 600 ft high and used around 950 million cubic feet of concrete.

[music] The still water reservoir above the dam extends for over 400 miles.

One reason it was built was to stop devastating floods, but its main purpose is to generate power.

I can feel the um it feels like the the dam is moving. Is

that is that it's normal?

It's normal and it is moving. It's not

just my imagination.

Yes. So the is the power of the water.

So that so that is the power of the water going through well this all of these all of these pipes.

Yes.

The huge turbines produce the equivalent energy of 18 nuclear power stations.

Although the dam spans the river, the engineers made sure that boats like this cruise ship would still be able to continue their journeys upstream.

Like everything else here, the mechanism that allows this is on a monumental scale.

So this is this is not a log. This is

this is an elevator. This uh this boat just drove in here.

The wall went up enclosing a volume of water and this is being taken right to the top of the dam where it will continue its

journey.

Amazing just the sheer weight of boat and water and what human ingenuity

can achieve.

I wonder though what effect this huge dam is having on the river's two biggest fish which for millions of years migrated to the upper Yangy to lay their eggs.

All the benefits of the dam we have uh the power generation.

Yes. the control of flooding.

Yes.

But one one disadvantage is is for the the fish. We can't see them, but they

the fish. We can't see them, but they they are in the river. I'm thinking that the the Chinese sturgeon and the the um the paddlefish, the b the bishon, they

can't they can't pass. Are there any plans for any mechanism for the for the fish the you to go from here to there

and from there to here or or not at the moment?

Uh at present it not have the uh have the way uh ch for the fish

despite a multi-billion dollar budget.

It seems no one considered the fish.

The construction of this dam in effect cut the Yangy River in two. The lower

river from here down to the sea and then the upper river on the other side. If

you're a fish, that is a dead end.

Then if you're a migatory fish and your spawning ground is the other side of this, it's actually a dead end for your species too.

The first year that the Three Gorges Dam began operating was also the last year that anyone saw a Chinese paddlefish.

The question is, does this legendary beast exist anywhere? person I've come to see has the dubious distinction of being the last person to see a Chinese

paddlefish alive.

15 years ago, Professor Kiwi Weii received news that a fisherman had accidentally caught a huge paddlefish.

Rushing to the scene, he did his best to revive the exhausted giant before tagging it and then releasing it back into the Yangy.

But to the professor's dismay, contact [music] was lost and the fish was never seen again.

Not far from the dam, at a government fish research center, Professor Wei takes me to a very plain looking building.

Where are we going? Up here.

Yeah.

Where he reveals something extraordinary.

This is really strange.

Don't forot this. This guy,

not a mother. This is a real fish.

This very rare 13 ft specimen died over 40 years ago.

It takes a leap of imagination to bring it back to life.

In life, the color is totally different.

This notes just like gloss.

You can see inside.

Oh, so it's semi-transparent.

Yeah. Yeah. Smells so beautiful.

It is a treasure.

casual.

You believe there are still some in the river somewhere?

I hope fully hope. Hope. Yeah.

fully hope. Hope. Yeah.

Professor Wei seems [music] haunted by a fish he last saw alive over 15 years ago.

It must hurt him that the techniques used to preserve this one have completely destroyed its DNA. Because

without this genetic blueprint, even the most futuristic science [music] won't bring it back.

This is a predator. You found fish inside the stomach.

Yeah, big fish. Not not some more fish. Big

big fish. Not not some more fish. Big

fish.

Predator.

We may have lost the Chinese paddlefish.

But for the other prehistoric giant in this room, there is still hope.

Chinese sturgeon can grow to a length of 16 ft and bulk up to half a ton.

Oh, this one looks about 10 ft long.

At the research center, Professor Weey tells me they've managed to breed millions of young hatchlings and they currently hold around 50 mature adults.

They need a crane and a swing to get it out of the water. This is just checking the health of the animal.

You've got a very large animal here.

So, we got a hose irrigating it all the time, keeping well oxygenated water flowing over the gills. And now

ultrasound. So, this is the body cavity.

This is a bit like a NASCAR pit stop.

In the river, the sturgeon's migration route is currently blocked. Yeah, it's

about seven or eight foot around. Very

solid animal.

But in case this problem is ever solved, then captive bred fish like these could be crucial for reestablishing the species in the wild.

I've got 158 kilos. Taking away the weight of the sling.

Just under 300 lb that fish. And

off it goes.

It seems like a very big challenge. Do

you feel optimistic? Do you feel there is a possibility of of these re reestablishing?

We need time that population should recover to the historic level

maybe next 30 years.

If the fish population is healthy then the river and environment

is healthy. This is uh very important.

is healthy. This is uh very important.

I'm struck by Professor Wei's emphasis on a healthy environment, but so far I've not seen much evidence of this.

The scale of human exploitation [music] on this river is like nothing I've ever seen. And as I continue my journey, it

seen. And as I continue my journey, it becomes clear that the Three Gorges [music] Dam is not a one-off.

Moving up river from the three gorgees dam, the reservoir, the still water backs up right to the city of Chongqing.

However, upstream from there, it's not really natural river. There's there's

there's more dams. One here, another one here, here, another one here, another one here. A cluster of them here.

one here. A cluster of them here.

There's so many. I don't have space for all these markers.

Today, much of the Yangty River no longer flows. It's a series of long,

longer flows. It's a series of long, deep reservoirs, but it could have been even worse.

I've arranged to meet somebody who is part of a group that a few years ago did something that's almost unheard of in modern China. They

took on a force almost as irresistible as the Yangzey itself.

A giant energy corporation backed by politicians was poised to build another dam across the river. This time at a

place called Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Around a 100,000 people stood to lose their homes.

But the developers hadn't reckoned on the fiercely held convictions [music] of a small band of villagers.

Determined to [music] stop the dam, Mr. Yao and his neighbors kidnapped five of the corporation's engineers.

In response, the army mounted a siege.

How many days were you keeping the engineers?

Three days. Weren't you afraid that this was going to end very badly for for you?

During the night, government agents freed the kidnapped engineers.

What the authorities announced the following morning, however, was unprecedented.

The victory achieved by these villagers continues to inspire others not just in China but across the world.

It's hard to imagine all this beauty disappearing under hundreds of feet of water or the bravery required to stand up to a billiond dollar construction.

But there are reports filtering through of a far greater threat to the Yangze than even dam construction.

The Yangze rises on the high plateau of Tibet, some 15,000 ft above [music] sea level.

Here the river starts life as thousands of small tributaries.

But if the reports are true, the springs that feed the Yangy are starting to dry up.

Buddhism suffuses this land.

Its symbols are everywhere and its rituals are still dutifully observed.

Buddhists believe that the river is sacred along with all animals that live in it.

[music] Not one but three major rivers rise in this region of Tibet.

The Yangy and the Mikong flowing south [music] and the Yellow River to the northeast.

[music] I'm on my way to meet Tashidori, a Buddhist and renowned environmentalist.

10 years ago, he started to notice that something might be wrong with the sources of these rivers.

He has since galvanized the support of a small army of nomadic volunteers to help him monitor the thousands of streams that feed these great rivers.

He wants to tell the world what's happening.

What do you do exactly with the rivers?

[music] [music] So understand so so so these people they are nomadic people. So they they move during the year and and what

they they follow the water and and so in recent years their their annual movement has been changing [music] and so some

places that used to have water nearby are now no good to you can't live there because the water is too far away. So if

if these streams are are drying up now, are people worried that that process will continue [music] and things will get worse?

[music] [music] This region is is like a is like a tap.

And and what's happening, [music] what you're telling me is that this this t this tap is slowly being turned [music] off. And and that doesn't just affect

off. And and that doesn't just affect you. You have not just the the Yangzey

you. You have not just the the Yangzey but other great rivers originate here.

There are huge numbers of people living along those rivers. And if you add all those people up in China, in India, in Bangladesh, in in Cambodia,

it's about half the population of the world. And so you have your group of

world. And so you have your group of people here. Um these people are

people here. Um these people are are are providing early warning for half of the world. Is that what that's that's what's happening?

What Tashi Dorji is shouting from the roof of the world is vitally important to billions of people. But getting his message heard is no easy task.

[music] Tashi is eager to introduce me to one of his nomad guardians, [music] who he says will take me to a very special place.

As we climb higher into the thin air, following a clear mountain stream, I can't help but think about the journey this water is going to make.

all the way down through multiple dams to the mega city of Shanghai.

[music] Right now, I couldn't feel further from that place.

Sarah, hello.

Aunt Sarah is taking me to a place that few people have ever seen.

one of the sacred sources of the Yangze.

This water beautifully clear and when you see it bubbling over rocks like this, you imagine that it's going to be really highly oxygenated, but here that is not

the case. This this is low oxygen

the case. This this is low oxygen water. The reason being this air is is

water. The reason being this air is is is really thin. There's very little oxygen in the air. Um, even walking up this slight gradient, I'm my legs are

cramping and I'm getting out of breath.

We are we're almost at 15,000 ft. And

actually, normally I'd be looking for fish. I'm sort of looking for fish, but

fish. I'm sort of looking for fish, but the Tibetans, they don't fish. Partly

it's their religion. It's partly because practically nothing survives in this water. I believe there's two small

water. I believe there's two small species and that's it. So this is this is not really fishing water.

[music] This spring is up here at last. Yeah.

[music] [music] The name of this place of this spring in the Tibetan language is penduk which means something like uh blessings

to everybody. If you think about it,

to everybody. If you think about it, this water here is going to make a journey of about three three and a half thousand miles all the way to Shanghai.

And and on the way, I mean, the significance of this water and the water from all these springs, the lives of so many people that it affects

the prosperity of China.

A wellchosen name, I'd say.

I give my own blessing to the spring.

Is this the source of the Yangy? It's

one of thousands of sources. Saying

there is one source sort of doesn't really make sense.

There's many, many sources, but it is still hugely significant as we can see.

It's springs like this that Anera and other Tibetan nomads have witnessed [music] drying up.

It's happening all over this region and could be an early warning for [music] a much greater catastrophe to come.

I'm ending my first visit to China with a profound sense of surprise.

surprised at how rapidly the Yangy [music] has lost its wildlife.

Big river, small fish.

And at how little is left, just one, but surprised too at the way people are prepared to stand up for wild animals.

You believe there are still some in the river somewhere?

I hope.

For clean water, we have to take action now and for a free flowing river.

China can indeed seem monolithic, but I found that it [music] has many faces, and that things aren't always as simple as they look.

Some very confused fish here.

It would be very easy to [music] pronounce this river dead, and maybe just as easy to be wrong.

Heat. Heat.

[music]