Joseph Needham set out to explore China’s vast northwest to better understand this country. This journey also changed the fate of two young boys and the famous Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

In 1943, Needham came to Sichuan where he met with some of the greatest minds in China’s modern history. The optimism, serenity, and persistence of these people inspired him for the rest of his life.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

Joseph Needham, one of the greatest versatile figures in Cambridge University’s recent history. He was a brilliant biochemist and a groundbreaking Sinologist. Here is what he found after venturing to war-torn China in the 1940s.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

Out of the ever-changing seasons and the rhythms of life, a new discipline developed, horticulture - the art of growing plants not for sustenance but for the sake of spiritual satisfaction. In Episode 2, we closely examine this ancient, intimate relationship with flowers via fine examples of Chinese and English gardens, examining how the efforts of flower breeders have shaped the world gardening culture.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

With knowledge of the botanical abundance of the East to the West, this episode talks about museums, libraries and botanic gardens across the world and finds out how the boom in plant discovery resulted in a massive global migration of flowers.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

In this episode, Alastair Sooke discovered how an abundant food supply in China created the conditions necessary for the flourishing of all the other great arts, while defining the identity of the ancient Chinese nation.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

How an ancient bridge is renovated in the present? A 360-degree panoramic digital imaging technology may hold the answer. The artistic odyssey by Alastair Sooke continues.

Editor:Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

In this episode, let’s get into a container port in the metropolis of Shanghai to find out the links between trade and culture, taking a closer look at made-in-China.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

Xi’an, an ancient capital city of China, witnessed the golden age of Tang Dynasty. Through this journey into Xi’an, you will understand how a cosmopolitan China first began to take shape some 1,500 years ago, marking its own indelible print on world culture and civilization.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou

How characters or the basic building blocks of written Chinese work. Follow Alastair Sooke’s journey into a calligraphy shop to discover how these “characters” have shaped the very character of a nation.

Editor: Luo Wen

Operation: Qiu Ruiqi

Producer: Li Xin

Chief Editor: Zhang Wan

Supervisor: Wang Feizhou