The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Michael joins the Qin family reunion, when 300 relatives gather to worship their ancestors.

Michael Wood tells the tale of China's first great international age under the Tang Dynasty (618-907). From the picturesque old city of Luoyang he travels along the Silk Road to the bazaars of Central Asia and into India on the track of the Chinese monk who brought Buddhism back to China.

This week the tale of China's most creative dynasty, the Song (960-1279). Michael Wood heads to the city of Kaifeng: the greatest city in the world before the 19th century. Here in Twin Dragon Alley, locals tell him the legend of the baby boys who became emperors.

The tale of China's most famous dynasty begins with the amazing story of Hongwu, a peasant rebel who founded one of greatest eras in Chinese history. The film takes us to his great capital Nanjing, with its 21 miles of walls, each brick stamped with the name of the village that made it.

China's last empire, the Qing, lasted from 1644 till 1911. It began in violence and war as the Manchus swept down from the north, but invaders became Emperors and three generations of one family ruled for 133 years, among them Michael Wood argues, China's greatest emperor Kangxi.

Michael Wood investigates three cataclysmic revolutions which shaped modern-day China. The film begins in Canton with the meeting of a US missionary and a Chinese student.