Over half of China's plant and animal species live in Yunnan Province in the far southwest of the country. Nigel goes there to explore the ancient city of Dali and the surrounding mountains and forests. He meets some bizarre and deadly reptiles and amphibians, goes on a very unusual fishing trip, enjoys the fairy-tale lifecycle of butterflies and gets up close to highly endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys.

Over a third of China's land area is made up of deserts - in the northern province of Xinjiang, Nigel explores three of the biggest and most spectacular. He searches for the extremely rare wild Bactrian camel in the Gobi, rolls down the vast dunes of the Taklamikan, and hunts for the extraordinary long-eared jerboa in the Kalimaly.

Xishuangbanna Reserve in southern Yunnan is a land of giants. In the steamy jungles, Nigel comes face-to-face with China's largest lizard, the world's biggest species of moth, a super-sized serpent and a massive bamboo rat. But will he manage to track down the biggest giant of all, one of China's last remaining Asian elephants?

Beginning at Balangshan Pass, five thousand metres high in Sichuan’s Heavenly Mountains, Nigel embarks upon a journey to find one of China’s most captivating animals in the wild; the red panda. He plays with giant panda cubs at Chengdu’s world-famous breeding centre, meets cheeky macaques, and goes out spotlighting to find creatures of the night. Amongst the bamboo forests of Wawushan, China’s Table Mountain, he searches out singing frogs and slimy salamanders, but will he find the enigmatic little panda he’s looking for?

This episode sees Nigel exploring the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Steeped in history, these rolling plains were once home to Genghis Khan and his army of horse warriors. Today, the grasslands are inhabited by an elegant bird that Nigel is desperate to find; the demoiselle crane. Along the way the presenter takes to the sky for an aerial view, encounters an ancient tribe that has a close relationship with a surprising animal, has his reflexes tested by speedy lizards and venomous snakes, and witnesses the legacy of Genghis Kahn during a traditional grassland festival of sporting prowess - the Nadaam.

The final episode of Untamed China sees Nigel travelling on the highest altitude railway on Earth, in search of the rare and elusive Tibetan antelope on the roof of the world – the Tibetan plateau. This elegant animal once thrived on the high plains but has been hunted almost to extinction for a coat that produces wool finer than cashmere. Whilst revisiting some highlights from the series, Nigel also finds charming black-lipped pikas, herds of beautiful wild ass called kiang, watches a Tibetan fox and her cubs, and comes face to face with a massive wild yak.