The ancient town under the Qiandao Lake. (Photo/Coutersy of Dive the World)
Filming experience
Zhou and her team risked their lives to shoot some underwater natural scenes in some dark caves in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. One of the main attractions of these caves are blind shrimp, one of the rarest types of aquatic cave life.
Zhou had quite a scare while shooting the blind shrimp. She and another crew member were so excited to them, that they forgot they had entered a deep cave without a guide rope.
"I almost suffocated in that cave," Zhou said, noting that even talking about the experience still scares her.
"Our biggest problem during filming was a lack of historical information and materials," she told the Global Times.
To collect the information they needed, the crew read lots of related books and visited many institutions and diving clubs.
"We had to explore this completely unknown world by ourselves," Zhou explained.
Underwater shooting is greatly dependant on weather and other conditions, so it is one of the more difficult documentaries to shoot.
Zhou said she wants to record more underwater stories from China, such as the stories of the Three Gorges and other rivers and lakes.
"The documentary is a starting point to explore the unknown world of our country instead of a finishing line. I hope more people can come to better understand and respect nature through this work," Zhou said.
