China’s unprecedented growth has placed it on the verge of overtaking the United States as the world’s preeminent power. But what type of power will China become? In today’s interconnected and globalized world, the answer effects each and every one of us.
At the legendary Jade Gate, we leave behind us Han China and enter the land of the Uyghur, the Muslim population that inhabits the North West of China. The most adventurous part of the journey awaits us: the exploration of the Taklamakan Desert with the tallest dunes in the world and the powerful sandstorms caused by the torrid Karaburan wind. The southern track of the Silk Road features a series of important Oasis-Cities that are irrigated by the water coming from the glaciers of the Kunlun.
Once we reach Urumqi, the capital of the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, our attention will be focused on the population that lives in this area of China, which is mainly Muslim in cultural and religious terms. Although the Han represent the majority, the Uyghurs insist on having their own state. The journey continues in the territory to the North of Urumqi and our encounter with thousand of oil wells shows the great race for the exploitation of the territory.
Overland’s journey starts from Beijing, which has now become one of the most modern cities in the world. With its peaceful daily invasion of tourists and visitors Tiananmen Square has changed radically, like it had on every previous occasion Overland passed through it: in 1985 with 3 fiat pandas in a sea of bicycles, in 1989 with the Itala shortly before the student protests, in 1999 with the orange trucks and in 2005 with the bicycles, in a square which was then full of motorised vehicles.
From Lanzhou, after passing the Yellow River, we head back up the Gansu corridor, an obligatory step to head West amongst the final dunes of the Gobi desert to the North an the snow-capped mountains of Qilian Shan to the South. There will be numerous historical and artistic testimonies, which were in part described by Marco Polo who lived here for a bout a year.
The journey on the Southern Silk Road continues from Hotan and ends in Kashgar, which in ancient times was considered the city with the largest open-ait market in the known world. Today the extraordinary bazar is relegated to a covered pavilion surrounded by huge buildings. Kashgar is the starting point for the Northern branch of the Silk Road that will lead us to Turpan over a series of new roads, modern cities and stretches of the ancient track with ruins of the abandoned ancient dwellings.
We continue along a route amongst the sand dunes of the Badain Jaran desert. Mongolia presents its most well known but most shocking side: in a single valley we counted 49 coal- fired power stations. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum tells the story of this great historic character, who played a huge role in China’s, while the Taoist monastery Wudang reveals the Buddhist religion of the population.
The Altai Mountains offers us forests, Kazakh tents, grazing animals, Siberian and Mongolian ethnic minorities. The Uyghurs, the ancient inhabitants of the territory, are mainly concentrated in the large cities and dedicate themselves mainly to trade and their families. The Kanas Natural Reserve, with its marvellous eponymous lake, has been transformed into a story of Chinese Switzerland, given the incredible similarity of the buildings in the vast pine forests.
With its splendid testimonies of grandeur, the city of Xi'an offers travellers the Terracotta Warriors and the Wild Goose Pagoda. Here Buddhism spread easily thanks to the enormous quantity of people who coexisted in a single territory, despite being of different religions. Even now Muslims organise markets full of culinary resources and trading stalls.
Foul Play takes us into the shady world of football match fixing across Asia, where government officials and corporate club owners conspire to ensure that the outcome of the game is determined long before the whistle blows. We follow the story of Simon McMenemy – an English football coach parachuted in to save an Indonesian team after shooting to fame in the Philippines managing their national team.
Foul Play takes us into the shady world of football match fixing across Asia, where government officials and corporate club owners conspire to ensure that the outcome of the game is determined long before the whistle blows. We follow the story of Simon McMenemy – an English football coach parachuted in to save an Indonesian team after shooting to fame in the Philippines managing their national team.
Foul Play takes us into the shady world of football match fixing across Asia, where government officials and corporate club owners conspire to ensure that the outcome of the game is determined long before the whistle blows. We follow the story of Simon McMenemy – an English football coach parachuted in to save an Indonesian team after shooting to fame in the Philippines managing their national team.
Samadhi is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “we are one”. Through seven extraordinary stories of pure love and friendship, this film shows that the only existing barriers between humans and animals are actually those we have created ourselves. From the forests of Germany, where Tatjana was “adopted” by a pack of wolves, to the junglesof Borneo, where Shaulé’s best friend is a tiger, we will discover the magic of these unpredictable but deeply moving relationships.
In this episode we visit Kawah Ijen´s active volcano in Indonesia to investigate the labour conditions that miners bear everyday in extracting its sulphur. In the mouth of the volcano labourers carry upon their backs over 70 kilos of sulphur blocks, double their own weight. We follow the trail of these men - suffering the worlds worse working conditions – in to ‘the gates of hell’.
In this episode we visit Kawah Ijen´s active volcano in Indonesia to investigate the labour conditions that miners bear everyday in extracting its sulphur. In the mouth of the volcano labourers carry upon their backs over 70 kilos of sulphur blocks, double their own weight. We follow the trail of these men - suffering the worlds worse working conditions – in to ‘the gates of hell’.
Join Carolyn for a relaxing Singapore tour. Let's travel with her in this very quiet and peaceful town.
«Bastion of the Giants» takes the world into an engrossing journey of the lives of Asian Elephants, and the stunning bio-diverse North Eastern jungles of India around the river Brahmaputra. The challenges of the survival of the Asian Elephant and other endangered species including Bengal Tigers, Indian Rhinos and more, with intense human animal conflicts as human populations explode around these ecological hotspots and ancient elephant lands.
A survey of World War II and the pivotal role propaganda played in it.
Anastasia Synn is a modern-day cyborg, pushing the limits of technology and her body as well as incorporating her implants into her magic performances.
«Bastion of the Giants» takes the world into an engrossing journey of the lives of Asian Elephants, and the stunning bio-diverse North Eastern jungles of India around the river Brahmaputra. The challenges of the survival of the Asian Elephant and other endangered species including Bengal Tigers, Indian Rhinos and more, with intense human animal conflicts as human populations explode around these ecological hotspots and ancient elephant lands.
«Bastion of the Giants» takes the world into an engrossing journey of the lives of Asian Elephants, and the stunning bio-diverse North Eastern jungles of India around the river Brahmaputra. The challenges of the survival of the Asian Elephant and other endangered species including Bengal Tigers, Indian Rhinos and more, with intense human animal conflicts as human populations explode around these ecological hotspots and ancient elephant lands.
