“Even though the chilli oilconsumed by those two explorers was hot and spicy indeed, my grandfather once told me that drinking this was the only way to keep the Chinese Red Army soldiers'body warm when they climbed over Jiajin Mountain,” said Ma Hua, a Tibetan girl who lived byJiajin Mountain's foot in Sichuan with her family for generations. Jiajin Mountain is a bone-chilling, snow-covered place known as a “forbidden zone”. When the Chinese Red Army scrambled up this mountain in an attempt to break the siege by the National Revolutionary Army and the local warlords, Ma Hua's grandfather happened to meet with the Red Army and became their guide. After eight decades had passed, MaHuaalso became the guide for two explorers, Wallace Chung Hon-leung and Josh James, providing clues and help during the first episode of theJourney of Warriors.

As anadventure documentary aired on Tencent and WeTV, theJourney of Warriorswill be on Discovery Channel starting from December 13. Chinese explorers include Wallace Chung Hon-leung, Dou Xiao, Zhang Xinyu, and Yan Xujia. Together with Josh James, the famous host of the Discovery Channel adventure program and New Zealand explorer, these “warriors” will challenge to travel through five well-known perilous places in the history of the Chinese revolution, revisit the roads of the Long March of the Red Army, learn the hardship and willpower of those soldier through experiencing the revolutionary journey.

“The main reason why we wanted to produce such a documentary was that we expected to build a strong connection between the stories about the history of the Chinese revolution, heroic deeds of those great soldiers, and survival reality TV shows. Somehow there's a way we could find to turn that static information, like the history and stories, into a dynamic performance and real-life experience,” said Wang Ao, the Chinese director of theJourney of Warriors.According to Wang, the filming and production of the documentary was undoubtedly a “great endeavor.” As more and more adventure movies and survival TV shows drew massive attention and became popular among a large group of audiences, the rise of heroism instilled the idea of hero-worshipping into people's minds. The production team of theJourney of Warriorsaimed to localize these emotions, thoughts, and expressions common to all humankind and integrate them with Chinese culture and history smoothly and creatively. “There's no border in the definition of hero,” said Wang, “If a hero doesn't possess love nor honor justice, there's no way we should respect his bravery.” Meanwhile, people's understanding of the so-called “hero” has, in fact, hardly changed over time.

The treks and paths that heroes and warriors take are deemed out of the ordinary. About Jiajin Mountain, one saying goes, “Jiajinshan, Jiajinshan, birds can't fly, and people can't reach it. If you want to cross Jiajin Mountain unless the gods come to the world.” “Jiajin” has a meaning in Tibetan as “extremely steep, high and dangerous.” With an altitude of more than 4,500 meters, the mountain has a harsh environment as it is covered with heavy snow all year round. It is known as “one of the most difficult passes” on the Long March expedition. According to Wang and the producer Zhu Lexian, the filming on Jiajin Mountain not only brought significant challenges to those two explorers but also posed unprecedently challenging problems to the production team.Given the high altitude that led to hypoxia, the steep mountain, and the frosty, snowy weather, the expedition and filming proceeded with great difficulty. Even when Wallace Chung Hon-leung and Josh were climbing, the photographer could not follow them and had no choice but to let the two brave men hold the camera on their own.

“I really like outdoor activities and adventures. So after I knew this TV documentary had a deeper meaning as it asked us to retrace the path of the Long March, I felt the impulse to urge myself to be part of the team,” said Wallace. As a man over 46 but was still keen on exploration and adventures, he agreed that climbing over Jianjin Mountain was a great challenge. “We're going through the same path, having the same feelings of those soldiers. It's like we're having a conversation with them across time and space, which is amazing,” he recalled. It was the experience of severe oxygen deprivation, drinking spicy pepper water, and using water bags made of pig's bladders that gave him a physical and mental experience to know the Red Army's bravery and perseverance. At the same time, there's another crucial explorer who accompanied him to pass through these difficulties and hardships.

Supporting Wallace painstakingly as his best partner, Josh offered him tremendous help. Being a veteran adventurer, Josh had been to many corners of the world and overcame myriad obstacles. Yet, there were still problems that he had to tackle during this trip to Jiajin Mountain. “Altitude sickness and lack of oxygen were the biggest challenges...it was exhausting both physically and mentally,” he explained. Despite his fatigue, more heartwarming moments made him feel at home. “I really enjoyed the company of the people I met along the way. Everyone had a great sense of humor and were very generous and kind,” Josh recalled, “my most memorable experiences were the people’s kindness and friendliness and also the meals we ate.” Besides his good impressions of Sichuan’s food, people, and beautiful sceneries, he truly respected the strength and resilience of the soldier heroes under such extreme conditions back in time as well. “We are all in awe of the sacrifices that so many people made to fight for their country,” he said respectfully.

The Journey of Warriors has taken the first perspective as explorers, leading the audience to review the Long March of the Red Army; it paid tribute to the heroes and provoked deeper thinking: how to define the warrior or hero? How to become one? The audience can only find the answers after watching the documentary on their own. So let's follow their steps and find out our own answers!

“Cease to take theadventure,and you cease to live!”