TV & Radio Guide 4 March 2019
China
Trains That Changed the World – The Supertrains
Yesterday, Thurs 7 Mar 2019, 7pm, Series 1, Episode 6
How China has developed one of the world’s fastest high speed rail networks, allowing 75 million people across the country to reach Shanghai within an hour.
Impossible Engineering – Wonderland Hotel
Yesterday, Fri 8 Mar 2019, 5pm, Series 4, Episode 5
The InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, a 337-room hotel that burrows 16 stories below ground level, clinging to the cliffs of an abandoned quarry.
Epic Warrior Women – Amazons
History, Fri 8 Mar 2019, 9pm, Series 1, Episode 1
The Amazons hailed from the ferocious nomadic Scythian tribes that controlled a huge swath of Central Asia and kept the powers of Greece, Persia, and China at bay. With the help of recent archaeological findings, their lives are revisited through the tale of Scythian orphan Alkaya, who grew to become a horse warrior and leader of her tribe in a defining battle against the Persians in the 6th century BC.
Ancient Assassins – Kung Fu Nun
History, Fri 8 Mar 2019, 10pm, Series 1, Episode 3
Recalling 1644, when Ng Mui escaped from Beijing. Taking refuge in a Shaolin monastery, she learned their Kung Fu and developed a new form of the martial art.
Impossible Engineering – The Shanghai Tower
Yesterday, Tues 12 Mar 2019, 7pm, Series 1, Episode 3
A look at the Shanghai Tower, which at a height of 632 metres is the second tallest building in the world. With a weight of 850,000 tons, it has been built to withstand winds of typhoon proportions.
Impossible Engineering – Qinghai – Tibet Railway
Yesterday, Fri 15 Mar 2019, 5pm, Series 4, Episode 10
A look at the Qinghai-Tibet line, the highest railway in the world, providing an insight into the engineering challenges faced at high altitude and in bitterly cold temperatures.
Japan
The History Hour
BBC World Service, Tues 5 Mar 2019, 12:06am
When Venezuela was rich; surviving a mid-air airline disaster; Japan’s Red Army militants of the 1970s, the origin of the swine flu epidemic and Iceland’s Beer Day.
Hidden Traces – Hiroshima
Yesterday, Fri 8 Mar 2019, 6pm, Series 1, Episode 4
A look at the downfall of Imperial Japan and the first use of an atomic bomb, featuring testimonies from survivors, archaeological findings, and CGI reconstructions.
Japan’s Tsunami: How it Happened
More4, Sat 9 Mar 2019, 10:20pm
Documentary exploring the scientific factors behind the magnitude nine earthquake and the resultant tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. Professor of geological sciences Roger Bilham views the effects of the devastation from the air, and journalist Callum Macrae travels to the north of the country, where survivors in the fishing villages of Sendai and Ofunato are struggling to cope in the aftermath.
The Art of Japanese Life – Nature
BBC Four, Tues 12 Mar 2019, 8pm, Series 1, Episode 1
Historian James Fox explores the country’s culture, beginning with the connections between Japanese culture and the natural world and the influence of the country’s two major religions of Shintoism and Buddhism.
Vietnam
The Mekong River with Sue Perkins
BBC Four, Weds 6 Mar 2019, 8pm, Series 1, Episode 1
The comedienne and presenter embarks on a 3,000-mile journey along the Southeast Asian river, exploring lives and landscapes on the point of dramatic change. She begins in Vietnam, where she meets traditional river people caught up in a new capitalist revolution, before trying her hand as a noodle saleswoman and prawn farmer. Continuing to Cambodia, she is moved by the tale of a survivor of Pol Pot's genocide, before bonding with the residents of a floating village whose survival depends on the bounty of Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Asia.
The Mekong River with Sue Perkins
BBC Four, Weds 13 Mar 2019, 8pm, Series 1, Episode 2
The comedienne embarks on the most emotional leg of her journey along the Southeast Asian river as she witnesses how deforestation and wildlife crime are stripping Cambodia of its last wild places. She goes on a raid with a rapid response rescue team searching for trafficked animals and bush meat, as well as helping the unit release macaques and a slow loris back into the wild. She also spends time with the women of the Krung, who live in the remote highlands of Ratanakiri and are one of the tribes most affected by rapid deforestation.
Thailand
Around the World by Train with Tony Robinson
Channel 5, Mon 11 Mar 2019, 9pm, Series 1, Episode 3
The actor heads to Thailand, where he emerges from the Chiang Mai train station to find himself amid a Buddhist ceremony in which the town’s citizens offer gifts to monks from the local temple, with Tony joining the monks to grasp what their daily life entails. Crossing the border into Malaysia, he instantly sees echoes of British rule everywhere, before ending in Kuala Lumpur, where he discovers a city of wild contrasts.
Cambodia
Expedition Unknown – Temple of Doom
Travel Channel, Thurs 14 Mar 2019, 10pm, Series 1, Episode 1
Josh Gates travels to the remote and landmine-riddled jungles of Cambodia to investigate the lost city of the Khmer Empire and search for a mystical relic that gave its God King the power to incinerate his enemies.
Ancient Megastructures – Angkor Wat
National Geographic Channel, Fri 15 Mar 2019, 10pm, Series 2, Episode 2
The construction of the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, which was commissioned as a monument to the Hindu god Vishnu by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century.
Sri Lanka
Safari Sisters – Leopard Love
Animal Planet, Tues 5 Mar 2019, 9pm, Series 1, Episode 3
Award-winning filmmaker Kim Wolhuter searches for the elusive leopard.
Bear Country
Animal Planet, Mon 11 Mar 2019, 6pm
Natural history and tribal folklore combine to give a unique insight into one of Sri Lanka's most endangered and charismatic mammals - the Sloth Bear.
Suggested Tours
If you've been inspired...
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View this packageChina Group Tour Rail
Private: China Rail Discovery
There are now many bullet trains in operation in China, which provide an interesting way to see more of the countryside and scenery away from the big cities.
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View this packageVietnam Tailor Made Cruise
Pandaw Mekong Cruise
Enjoy a relaxing cruise along the Mekong River from Vietnam to Cambodia
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View this packageSri Lanka & The Maldives Group Tour Culture
Sri Lanka Highlights
This 12 day tour of Sri Lanka includes history, wildlife, tea and beaches
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View this packageCambodia Group Tour Culture
Grand Indochina
A 19-day tour visiting the sights and attractions of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam
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