Still image in The Journey of Chinese Plants features sweet wormwood, from which artemisinin can be extracted, in Madagascar. [Photo provided to China Daily]

One episode－featuring rare plants such as Saussurea medusa that grow at elevations of up to 5,600 meters above sea level－was filmed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

"I feel so lucky that all of our crew members returned to Beijing safe and healthy," says Li about the risks they faced while shooting.

The shooting process also turned out to be a test of patience on some occasions.

To display the growing process of a dove tree, the seeds of which were spread by British botanist Ernest Henry Wilson across Europe and the US, the crew planted one in a greenhouse, installing scaffolding to hold cameras trained on each flower. As the branches grew unchecked, the crew had to make several attempts to capture the process.