Extreme China (2018) s01e03 Episode Script

1
I'm Ben Horton.
Come on, guys, hike, hike!
A National Geographic
explorer and photographer.
I'm traveling across China,
exploring its unique landscapes.
This is tight.
And the people who call them home.
This is epic.
But I need help.
And I'm teaming up with China's best.
You're safe, I'm with you, buddy.
-An Alpinist
-This is the top!
a diver
and an incredible rock climber.
Together, we'll navigate wild places
It's a whole different world down here.
-to learn from local communities
-Here.
to see how they survive and thrive.
That's a big drop.
Wow.
And have the adventure of a lifetime.
The whole thing is melting.
Got some traffic.
I'm in a remote part
of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province,
in northwestern China.
To explore this
the world's largest group of sinkholes.
The best part is
they're basically unexplored.
I'm hoping to get photographs
that nobody's ever taken before.
Sinkholes are formed over time
when water dissolves soluble rock,
like limestone,
creating holes that often lead
to underground caves.
There are 54 sinkholes spreading
across 5,000 square kilometers.
I'm going to explore one of the largest
Didonghe sinkhole and the cave beneath it.
But I need the right partner.
Liu Yongbang, or Abond for short,
is one of the world's top rock climbers.
He's discovered over 1,200
new climbing routes,
and his passion for adventures
makes him a perfect fit
for our expedition.
Abond.
-Hey, Ben.
-How're you doing?
-Very good.
-Good to see you.
Wow. That is a lot bigger than I imagined.
I expected just this flat landscape
with a hole in the ground.
I had no idea that there'd be these huge
limestone cliffs everywhere.
To really understand
what we're up against,
we need a drone's view.
This is ready.
Should we get a closer look?
Yeah. Let's check it out.
I wonder how far this cave system goes.
Such a rare phenomenon
takes hundreds of thousands
of years to form.
But researchers only stumbled across
this discovery in 2016,
when surveying the area.
It's going to be extremely challenging
once we start our journey
into the sinkhole.
Abond and I need to rely on each other
if we want to conquer our nemesis.
Dude, this riverbed is a bouldering mecca.
We're going to climb one of these boulders
and put our skills to the test.
Your idea of "not hard," though,
most people on the planet,
that's their goal.
On belay.
Nice.
Smooth.
This is the first time
I've seen Abond climb in person.
And the precision and the strength
that he moves across the rock with,
it really opens my eyes
to what's possible with climbing.
I'm gonna enjoy exploring
the sinkhole with Abond
because he has a lot of experiences
going into new, unknown places.
Nice, buddy!
-First ascent!
-Yes!
-Yes.
-Nice.
Now it's my turn to see how I rank
against this rock-climbing genius.
Climbing.
Thanks!
Thank you!
That's a cool route.
Now it's time to face
our real extreme challenge.
The sinkhole is difficult to access,
and incredibly dangerous to explore.
So we're using a specialized
safety team called Pangolin,
who've explored these caves before.
Hetao will be leading the expedition,
and we need a lot of resources
to camp inside the caves.
Yeah, they look pretty well-prepared.
Okay, I like shortcuts.
Steep and slippery.
We're walking through this forest
and we start to see
that there's fewer and fewer
trees below us.
So we know that we're getting up close
to some kind of a big drop.
Hetao's shortcut is to rappel
180 meters down this sinkhole.
That's a big drop.
Wow!
-My leg is shaking.
-Yeah, mine too.
-I'm excited.
-I'm nervous, yeah.
With a rappel of this size,
we really want to find some
sturdy trees we can put the ropes on.
I want a big one.
It needs to have a good
root system into the ground,
and not just on the surface.
The next step is crucial.
We need to build strong anchors
that will stay rooted and hold our weight.
One mistake, and we're in danger.
So I'm just using two carabiners.
You put them in opposed so that,
even if the gates were open,
the rope never has a chance to come out.
Good.
Yep, anchor looks good.
-Kiss the tree?
-Yes.
All right.
-I'm ready
-Okay, let's give this a go.
If it keeps me off the ground,
I'll kiss it.
Looking over that edge,
there's just this animal instinct
to keep yourself safe,
and knowing that we're
about to step over that edge,
and rappel into that abyss,
it's this really wild feeling.
This will be the longest single rappel
I've ever done.
This is intense.
All right!
It's really nerve-wracking
being that high up in the air,
no matter how many times I've done it.
Stepping out into that void is intense.
Man, this is cool.
Yeah.
I kind of want to stay here, but
the other part of me wants to get down.
Yeah.
Abond, one of China's top climbers and I
are rappelling 180 meters into
the world's biggest group of sinkholes
in Shaanxi Province, China.
This is one of the most
beautiful places I've been.
It's really rare experience
to get to rappel into a giant sinkhole.
I mean, this is where
the earth literally gave way
and collapsed into itself.
It's fascinating to look at the earth
layer by layer as we descend into it.
It's a good opportunity to take pictures.
The perspectives that I'm getting,
they're all totally unique
to what I would get
if I was standing
at the edge of the cliff itself.
Cool shots.
It's so beautiful looking down
on waterfalls, and whirlpools,
all these intricate little things
that I'm just excited to see up-close.
-Cool.
-This is awesome.
It took us 30 minutes to get down here,
and it's so different
from what we expected.
It looks almost like a fairyland
with ferns and all this greenery.
I can imagine where people
got their ideas or books about,
like, traveling to the depths
of the earth.
This is amazing!
The safety team leader, Hetao,
has caught up with us.
She will lead us
into the sinkholes hidden depths.
These sinkholes were
only discovered in 2016.
Just 12 kilometers
of Didonghe's cave system
has been studied so far.
No one knows how much more
might be hidden down here.
Oh, my God!
Everything's different
than anything I've ever seen before.
The rock and the patterns
and just the texture of the walls in here,
people couldn't build
something like this, you know?
Sometimes, I want to stand back,
not think about cameras,
just think about being here
where I am at this amazing place.
This is incredible.
This will be our exploration base
for the next few days.
I think dinner's ready
Chinese bacon.
Wow, that'd be really cool to see.
So people came in here years ago?
Saltpeter is potassium nitrate,
a white mineral that naturally collects
inside caves and on rocks.
In the past, locals would come inside here
to mine it to make gunpowder.
But heading deep isn't gonna be easy.
-To paddle?
-Yes
Okay.
Tomorrow is going to be
a serious challenge.
We have to navigate an underground river
to find the old mine.
-Good night.
-Good night.
We're exploring an underground cave
beneath the world's largest cluster
of sinkholes in northwestern China.
We're trying to reach
an old mine deep underground.
Sometimes the best places in the world
are the hardest to get to.
We're not sure if there's even
a way through right now.
Wow, it's insane.
I've never been in
an underground river before.
We paddle down the river
for quite some ways,
and we realize
that the water level is rising.
-Okay?
-Yup.
The problem is,
it's raining outside right now.
If that water all starts coming
into this cave,
we could get stuck in there
and could drown
because the water level's too high.
We're now attempting to reach
the mine via a different passage.
It's a big drop below us,
and it's just this
really loose, soft dirt.
Nothing really solid to stand on.
Got to be super careful through here.
Yeah.
It's really dangerous getting down it.
There's moments where I feel like
my feet are starting
to slip away below me.
Big rock.
Yeah.
The tunnel led us to an amazing cavern.
Dissolved limestone
drips through cave roofs
and solidifies into stalactites.
While the solution that drips onto floors,
form stalagmites.
These grow amazingly slow,
around 10 centimeters
every thousand years.
If the pair meet, they form these columns.
Look at the details in the ground.
It's so cool.
These are rimstones, or gours.
They collect dissolved limestone
and leave deposits on the edges,
forming step-like structures
and pearl-shaped balls.
This probably took
a really long time to form.
The thing that fascinates me is
there could be something
I've never known existed before.
There's these natural wonders.
That's why I love to explore.
I want a shot that'll show
that giant column
and these little gour pools,
and then put a person in it,
to show some scale.
Hetao?
It's so cool.
-Nice.
-Awesome.
Reflection of you in the pool.
Didn't plan that.
What I love about this kind of photography
is you can't see with your eye
what you're gonna get with the camera.
It's an image that's built up over time.
You're exploring something
that is outside of what's normal.
That's where the magic is found.
We keep pushing on to find the mine.
Wow!
Yeah.
I can see why
they call it "the Gates of Hell."
The way the stalactites are,
they look like they have
this evil quality to them.
And when you step through,
the air temperature drops,
and you just get this chill up your spine.
I figured out the other reason
why it's called the Gate to Hell.
Yeah.
So this comes out on another side?
There's too many things
working against us.
Saltpeter mines are becoming a challenge,
just because it's a destination
I haven't been able to reach.
I don't like being turned back
from a challenge I set my mind to,
and I know Abond doesn't either.
So we decide we're gonna
definitely try this third passage.
Even though we're sad
that we didn't make it through,
we have hope still.
Abond and I are exploring
Didonghe sinkhole
in northwestern China.
We've spent two days in vain,
searching for an old mine
located within its cave system.
Now we're heading to its second entrance,
near a village where
someone might be able to help us.
Yeah, there's a trail there.
It's just behind this house.
Cool.
Nice to meet you.
Mr. Zheng is part of
an ethnic group called the Qiang.
They have been living close
to the sinkhole for decades.
We're hoping their elders
might know the route to the mine.
So what did they use this saltpeter for?
This first-hand account
is a sign we're on the right track.
Before we set off for the caves,
Grandpa Zheng invites us
to join his family for a meal.
It's really strong.
There's nothing here
they went to store and got.
This is really good.
Eating with the locals at their home,
it's really a great way
to connect with people
and understand the unique culture
that's born from
living in such a remote area.
Do they have local traditions around here
that would be interesting
to see while in town?
That'd be amazing to see,
if they don't mind us being there.
Yes.
The water ceremony
is an ancient Qiang tradition.
Mr. He's family has been performing
this ritual for six generations.
I really like the fact that they
took the time to do this ceremony,
and bless our journey into the cave.
This was something totally unique,
not just to China,
but to this particular area.
My photos of it are actually
documenting something that
might be gone in a few generations.
I think it's important.
It's a piece of their culture.
I'm in a remote part of Shaanxi Province,
searching for an old mine,
deep underground.
To get there,
we're attempting this new route,
led by village chief, Zheng.
We have to crawl?
When they say it's tight, I mean
I am quite bigger than
most people I've seen out here
in this cave, so I don't know.
I start to get nervous.
How tight is this gonna get?
As someone with claustrophobia,
this is going to be one
of my toughest challenges yet.
Did he bring a hammer and chisel
to get me out?
I'm picturing somebody years ago,
carrying a heavy basket full of saltpeter
on their back through this.
And if they can do it,
I know that I should be able to do it.
-Yeah?
-Yeah.
Wait, this isn't the crawl part?
It's a crawl part for me.
Yeah. Not for me.
It seems like we reach a dead end.
But Zheng points out that
there is actually another way
that we can continue through this.
And this is what he has been
warning me about.
Does that even go through?
We try.
All right.
Zheng is a lot smaller than me.
So I'm wondering if I'm gonna be able
to make it through it.
But people have been doing this
for a long time, so I'll give it a go.
All right, buddy.
-Yeah, can you pull the bag out?
-Okay.
Yeah.
I'm extremely claustrophobic.
I used to have nightmares
about this as a kid.
Yeah, I'm good. Just give me a second.
Let me see if I can do it.
I've been in caves before
where I was in super tight spaces,
and I swore I'd never do this again.
But at this point,
there was no turning around.
This is tight.
When you're in
a stressful situation like this,
time really slows down.
I can see the end.
-Yeah, I'm on the other side.
-Nice!
I was probably only in that tunnel
for two or three minutes,
but it felt like I was in there for hours.
It's terrifying squeezing through
something like that.
I mean, if you really got stuck here,
there is nothing that
anybody can do to help you.
I mean, you're under hundreds
of meters of limestone.
That's it, you're done.
It's small.
You are going the right way.
Man, how did you get through? I feel
Dude, your shoulders are bigger
than mine from climbing. I think I'm
I don't know.
I managed to get the whole team through,
and continue to move deeper into the cave.
This is epic.
-Cool,
-Oh, man.
Yeah, look at that.
This makes everything worth it.
I see one of the most amazing collections
of stalactites, and stalagmites
and columns,
and it's all this beautiful white.
I think this is my favorite room so far
in all of the caves.
Me, too.
If we went through the gates of hell,
this looks like
Yeah.
So when I say go, everybody just
kind of waves their light around.
Okay. Go.
I'm using a long exposure
to capture as much light as possible.
This feels like the entrance to heaven.
It feels otherworldly and ornate.
It is absolutely beautiful.
I could've spent a whole day just
trying to photograph this one cavern.
But we still have to get to our
final destination, the saltpeter site.
The path takes us deeper underground.
And we've spotted a sign
that we're on the right track.
For the first time,
we see traces of the mineral.
We must be close to the mine.
Chinese explorer, Abond, and I
are underground in the world's largest
cluster of sinkholes in China.
It kind of reminds me of fiberglass.
This is a mineral called
potassium nitrate, or saltpeter.
Chinese alchemists in the 9th century
were tinkering with this mineral,
looking for a potion for immortality.
And this very mineral, refined,
ended up creating gunpowder instead.
We've found the mine face,
but where did the miners
refine these rocks?
We are faced with a 13-meter drop.
Lucky for us, we have
the equipment to rappel down it.
Sure.
-Locked and loaded.
-Nice.
Not every day you get to rappel in a cave.
It's cool!
Yeah, it's cool, right?
The journey has taken us
three hours into the cave.
Seems like we've been walking
through this tunnel forever.
The guys that were in here before us
are the real explorers.
We're exploring, just trying to get
to where they worked every day.
At the end of this passageway,
all of a sudden, it just opens up.
-Are we there?
-Finally!
Oh, yeah.
We've found the center,
where miners processed
the crystals into saltpeter powder.
We made it.
Yes! I'm happy.
The remaining dirt
from the boiling process
is piled high in this massive chamber.
It's a lot of work.
When humans put their mind to something,
they can accomplish a lot.
Potassium nitrate was as valuable
as gold until the 19th century.
Its demand dropped when
man-made alternatives were invented.
-Look at this.
-Nice.
-It is old chopsticks?
-Yes, those are chopsticks.
That's cool.
It's really crazy
to be this far underground,
and see not just evidence of humans,
but a place where somebody lived.
Can't believe somebody
walked in with those.
Yeah.
Looking at their sandals,
and then looking at my shoes,
it makes me think a lot about how
people can work
in such extreme environments,
hundreds of meters underground,
hours' hike in through some of
the toughest terrain on the planet
These people were the real explorers.
On any real adventure,
you're always gonna encounter obstacles.
Just to reach where they lived
and worked every day
is really humbling.
Sunlight.
It was rewarding to come here
and find out that it was
so much more beautiful
than anything that I expected.
It puts kind of exclamation point
on the end of every adventure.
When I first arrived here,
then I saw beautiful mountains
and huge limestone cliffs.
Now, knowing that there's so much hidden,
knowing that there's so much
left to explore,
the beauty of this place
is just amplified.
This grand adventure has brought me
to one of China's most remote regions.
And deep into an incredible
underground world.
Where locals once braved the darkness
in one of nature's extreme environments.