A natural storyteller

The Chinese translators of the book Xia Xue.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Attenborough's words are simple but precise, which is quite readable for the public without any specialized terms, so when we translate, we want to keep the essence," Wang says.

Zhao, 37, was also quite impressed by the fluent writing style of Attenborough when he translated the book.

"I recommend that my friends who like the Chinese version of the book to also read the original one as his writing is so beautiful," he says.

As well as translating high-quality international books for the popularization of science, the next step is to write original content about the biodiversity in China, he adds.

"As the biological resources in Xishuangbanna are quite abundant, we are planning to write a manual illustrating the nocturnal creatures here, as we have been collecting photos and information from our tropical botanical garden for a couple of years," Zhao says.

He explains that night tours of the garden are popular because people can see many natural sights that are not available during the day, such as the breeding of flying frogs and the fireworms.

"We hope to attract more people to visit at night and explore the beauty of nature by themselves," Zhao says.