Director's return to the source

Regrettably, due to altitude-induced stress, he was unable to walk the last few hundred meters to reach the source, and instead entrusted the task of filming it to a younger fellow cameraman.

"But I don't see that as a setback. If I reached there effortlessly, the documentary wouldn't have been able to effectively demonstrate how challenging our journey was," says the 45-year-old with a smile.

The documentary also reveals the great changes to the regions along the Yangtze River, reflecting China's transformation as a result of substantial economic development in the decade since he shot his first documentary series.

In 2010, Takeuchi sailed the river aboard a modest cargo vessel. When he reunited with the ship's owner, Jiang Hong, for the new film, he was impressed to discover that the ship had since been equipped with a Beidou Navigation Satellite System.