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A Slow Odyssey: The Great Wall of China

1 x 90 HD 4K
Broadcaster:  BBC4

This critically-acclaimed Slow TV production provides a spectacular aerial journey along the world’s longest man-made monument. Without narration but with informative captions, fly along the 2,300 year old Great Wall, from the Yellow Sea in the densely populated East, to the stark but dramatic Gobi Desert in the West.

 

A Slow Odyssey is a television first, showing the Great Wall as it has never been seen before - entirely from the air. In stunning 4K, we will explore 20 locations along 2,500 kilometres of the wall. Starting at Old Dragon’s Head on the East coast, we journey over the iconic stone walls, ramparts and watch towers, which rise and fall over mountain ranges. The wall is varied and ranging, as seen in the contrast between the famous tourist section of the wall at Badaling, which has seen visits from 500 heads of state, and the rarely-seen earth and mud section. More than a third of the entire Great Wall has been destroyed by nature and war over the last three centuries. We view a significant meeting of two Chinese icons as the Great Wall crosses the mighty Yellow River, known as the cradle of Chinese civilisation.

 

We end this epic adventure with a dramatic climax at the Jaiyuguan Fortress. Once the gateway into China on the ancient Silk Road trading route, the extraordinary fortress stands 80 metres above a roaring river, surrounded by the snow-capped mountains of the Tibetan plateau.

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