'There is great store of gold and silver in the country and precious stones and pearls which the sea cast us up upon the shore. Here is silk enough to furnish all the world.'

Early in the 17th century, reports like this brought Europeans to the lands of South-East Asia. More than 1,000 years earlier, the promise of unlimited wealth in gold and spices brought Indian traders, and the Hindu and Buddhist religions.

For 2,000 years South-East Asia has been the battleground, but the civilisations which nourished there have left behind them an awesome legacy of temples, sculpture and paintings. These ancient cultures are still alive - the Khmer race which built Angkor Wat, the world's largest and most magnificent temple, are the forebears of the Cambodian people now fighting desperately for their life.
In this preview, David Attenborough goes to Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Indonesia in search of the cultures which lie behind the news headlines and introduces the new series, Spirit of Asia, which begins in two weeks - on 13 January.