Earlier this year Hunan TV persuaded Qinghai Satellite TV to carry some of its programmes.

But a local police commander in Qinghai told Chinese Central Television that authorities lack the proper equipment to respond to the disaster.

Though home to fewer plants now, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau possesses other attractions. West and south of the area shown above lies a multitude of jewel-toned lakes.

The new research confirms this link, and suggests that migratory ducks carried the virus to Qinghai after getting infected by poultry while they spent the winter at Poyang Lake in southeast China.

Qinghai TV's talent show Blossoming Flowers is also under fire for staging a young female student named Diao Yang to dress up like a bunnygirl.