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China's Greatest Treasures

The Art of Technology

Duration: 47 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC WORLD NEWS AfricaLatest broadcast: on BBC WORLD NEWS South Asia

In China's Greatest Treasures, BBC art critic, Alastair Sooke travels through modern day China to discover that much of what defines Chinese culture today can be traced back through thousands of years to some of China's most spectacular historic artefacts housed in museum collections across the country. In this episode Alastair explores the link between ancient Chinese art and the countries long established love of technology.

Alastair begins his journey in the North Eastern city of Shenyang, where he's invited to view one of the most iconic pieces of landscape art in China, A rarely seen, 10th century treasure by the master painter, Dong Yuan.

He travels to one of China's digital mega-cities, Shanghai, where he meets one of the most celebrated members of the country's modern art world, Yang Yongliang, who uses the ancient techniques of landscape painting in his cutting edge, virtual reality pieces.

And Alastair gets to see a 2000-year-old set of weights and measures that helped to prepare the foundations of Modern China.
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