A natural storyteller

David Attenborough with a leatherback turtle in Trinidad and Tobago, in a photo taken by Gavin Thurston.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The Chinese version of the revised edition has been published this month by China CITIC Press Group and Chinese National Geography Books. The translation has been done by three nature lovers who have, over the period of six months, translated the book in their spare time. They are Zhao Jiangbo and Xia Xue, both of whom work at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Yunnan province, and Wang Ximin, who works at the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.

"Sir David Attenborough has been my idol since college, and I've watched his documentaries multiple times," 34-year-old Xia says. "It's such an honor to translate a book of his."

Attenborough has presented nine documentaries of his Life series on BBC, including Life on Earth, The Life of Birds and Life in the Undergrowth. His latest documentary is Seven Worlds, One Planet, which was released in 2019.

At the age of 94, he still shows no signs of slowing down and his lifelong commitment to teaching people about the wonders of the natural world continues unabated.