| 
Global Nomad
CHINA
This is the second in one of the channel's
most popular series. Irish explorer Manchán
Magan heads for China and gets under the skin of one of
the world's oldest and most rapidly changing cultures. The result
is a 5* Travel Channel hit.
Episode 1: From The Great Wall to Ta'an
Irish writer/global traveller Manchán
Magan explores the modern face of China, the oldest surviving
culture in the world. Manchan travels from the awe-inspiring
Great Wall to the country's capital, Beijing, and then south
to Qu'fu, where Confucius was born. Here he attempts to get
to grips with Confucian philosophy that is the bedrock of Chinese
culture and perspective. He continues south to the town of Ta'an
and visits the ancient Buddhist monastery in Shaolin, before
beginning the long journey west - next stop the Yangtse River!
Episode 2: The Yangtze River & the Great Dam
Manchán
Magan arrives at the mighty Yangtze River, where he spends
a couple of weeks investigating the purpose and scale of the
Great Dam being built halfway upriver at the Three Gorges. One
of the most monumental projects ever undertaken by humankind,
he explores the Dam's potential effects for the people along
the banks of the river and meets some of the peasant population
who, numbering 1 billion, are the single largest disenfranchised
people on earth.
Episode 3: Yunnan Province & the Mosu People
Manchán
Magan continues west from the Great Dam and travels to Yunnan
Province, bordering Tibet. Bounded by the snow capped Himalayas,
Yunnan is the source of the Yangtze and also the home of 52
of China's 56 distinct ethnic groups. Manchán encounters 3 minority
cultures still thriving after centuries of persecution, including
the Mosu, one of the last surviving matriarchal cultures in
the world.
Episode 4: Xinjiang Province
Manchán
Magan heads northwest to Xinjiang Province, 3000 miles from
Beijing. China desperately needs to control this harsh region
and is shipping millions of people out there to colonise the
under populated Gobi Desert. But Xinjiang is as distinct from
modern China as one could get. Closer to Afghanistan than Shanghai,
the people are mostly Muslim Kazaks and Uighers. It is both
one of the hottest, and coldest regions on the planet, and Manchán
concludes that if China ever did break up, Xinjiang would be
the first province to pack its bags!
Episode 5: Taiwan
Manchán
Magan travels 4000 miles back towards the East and Taiwan,
which, despite having no real international standing, is the
18th wealthiest economy in the world. He wonders whether it
is truly another culture and country or simply a small local
province of China. Travelling south through the island he unearths
an extraordinary element of Taiwan's history - 1000s of years
ago she was colonised by Polynesian people whose ancestors still
live in underground typhoon proof dwellings and sing the songs
of their culture.
Episode 6: Tongli & Shanghai
Manchán
Magan visits Tongli, one of China's few remaining traditional
towns after which he heads for Shanghai, the most western of
all China's cities. Somewhere between Tongli and Shanghai lies
the real China of the 21st century. As China reaches out to
the rest of the world, she faces an internal struggle - between
the traditional forces attempting to sustain the country's ancient
culture and the ever-increasing capitalist tendencies of the
new Chinese generation. |