A time for tea

Shot in 4K high-definition resolution, the documentary's Chinese version is narrated by Liu Cong, a voice actor known for the animated series The Silver Guardian, and the international version is narrated by English actor Hugh Bonneville, known for Downton Abbey and the Paddington franchise.

"I am incredibly proud of the series (documentary). It's an unbelievably sumptuous piece of work with really high production value. We're best known for our work in natural history and science, but I think tea is a brilliant example of what we can achieve when we're working closely with a broadcast partner like Migu," says McDonald.

He adds that more than 20 teams were sent to different places to shoot the documentary, with each locale having around 25 members to help the photographers find the best subjects.

Ding Ke, senior vice-president for Greater China of BBC Studios, says the documentary will run on the BBC Earth channel for Asia during the 2022 Lunar New Year holiday, as an attempt to promote tea and its culture to overseas audiences.

She adds that the creators from Britain and China had initially listed a lot of themes, such as traditional Chinese medicine, new technologies and infrastructure construction, but tea was finally picked as the subject as both sides felt the audience from different countries would relate to it.

The documentary has already won praise from audiences in China. A netizen comments on Douban, a popular Chinese review aggregator, that the visually arresting scenes reflect the beauty of Chinese tea culture, hooking him to yearn for a slow-paced life.