THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Behind imposing gateways looms a world apart, known as, 'the Great Within' - Beijing's Forbidden City. It is the largest palace complex ever built, dedicated to celebrating a sacred lineage, China's emperors, known as the Sons of Heaven. From their golden throne they acted out the tragedies and triumphs of the empire, and ruled over 4,000 elite souls who shared their vast gilded stage.

A vision of symmetry and harmony - the Forbidden City was born in chaos, from the mind of a man who sought to shift the centre of the universe. His name was Jong le. In 1402 he wrestled China away from his young nephew, and proclaimed himself the third Ming Emperor. To better guard his hard-won empire, this son of heaven moved the capital from Nanjing, north... to a site just 40 miles from the northern border. Then he began a barrier to protect the frontier from rapacious Mongol hordes. Atop existing walls he built the Great Wall of China. For a time, ancient rhythms could reassert themselves. China was safe from turmoil within and enemies without.

The wise Jong le turned his hand to designing the new fulcrum around which his Celestial Kingdom would turn. The home of his divine breed, the emperors, would echo their cosmic status. He called it: Zi...Jin...Cheng...Heavenly Forbidden City.

For now, a new kind of pilgrimage takes place here every day. Thousands pour into the inner court... not to kow-tow to a god, but to pay their respects to a monumental past...a spirit captured in stone and wood, known as the Great Within...

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

The Great Wall of China has held a mystical allure to foreigners for centuries... Ancient Chinese claimed it was a dragon, from whose mighty coils sprung the nation. Modern man declares that from space, it alone among all human monuments can be seen with the naked eye. Legends of China's Great Wall are numerous and colourful... but its true story is more remarkable than any fable.

The Great Wall stretches from the Bohai Sea in China's North-East, across its northern border with Mongolia, to the deserts of the north-west. At over 3,000 miles long, the Great Wall is many times the size of any other man-made structure. It is this wall-the true Great Wall of China- that is now besieged by battalions.... of tourists. Each will return home, and pass on legends of a wall that is unrivalled among human monuments, and undefeated ... by time.

PEKING MAN

More than a half century ago, an elite group of scientists launched in the hills known locally as Choukoudian - now known as the Peking Man Site - the largest archaeological excavation in history. It lies 40 kilometres south-west of China's capital, Beijing. - the hills around here have for centuries been a source of dragon bones. In these grottoes, they uncovered one of the most extensive fossil deposits ever found...which proved that early man once lived in northern Asia.

In 1921 Swedish geologist Johan Andersson was lured to Cho ko dian by the rumour that dragon bones could be found among its many limestone caves. After just one day of digging, Dr. Andersson made a remarkable prediction. "I have a feeling," he said, "that here lie the remains of one of our ancestors, and it is only a question of finding him." The hunt...was on. Andersson's team unearthed species that might have been food for early man - the petrified bones of birds, rodents...and then, proof. Two human-like teeth... Later excavation would reveal a jaw belonging to this mysterious man-like creature...and remarkably, evidence of fire.

What kind of man had made his home here? Was he Homo Sapiens, like modern man? Or something from the more distant past? While authorities urged caution, Andersson sent the teeth to the daring anthropologist and adventurer Dr. Davidson Black.

After thorough analysis, Black wrote that the teeth did not belong to man at all, at least not Homo Sapiens. Black proposed something utterly new...a different species. He called it...Peking Man.