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WITNESS CHINA'S EARLIEST AND MOST INTRIGUING ENGINEERING FEATS COME TO LIFE IN MAN MADE MARVELS CHINA

This December, Discovery Channel resurrects the splendour of ancient China's greatest engineering and architectural marvels in the MAN MADE MARVELS CHINA, featuring two hour-long programmes. Come along on an incredible journey to the past and learn about the ingenious architecture and military science of the ancient armoured city of Xian in MAN MADE MARVELS: CHINA'S FORGOTTEN CITY, and discover story behind the Giant Buddha of Leshan in MAN MADE MARVELS: GIANT BUDDHA. Please refer to the individual programme descriptions below for airing details.

A massive, near-impenetrable wall encloses the ancient city of Xian, the starting point of the Silk Road route from China into Europe. Made from a base layer of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract and further fortified by a layer of bricks, the strong wall snakes around the city at a length of 13.7 kilometres. Besides being an engineering achievement, the wall is also believed to be the world's largest and most complete ancient military defense system that remains intact today. MAN MADE MARVELS: CHINA'S FORGOTTEN CITY goes behind the walls of this fortress to provide invaluable insight into the military science and architecture of the Ming Dynasty. 

Leshan, in the heart of China, is home to the biggest stone-carved Buddha in the world. The centerpiece is the 1,200-year-old statue of Buddha that takes the shape of a Maitreya or future reborn Buddha. With its feet at the confluence of three rivers, legend has it that the Giant Buddha was built to protect boats which often came to grief in the fast-moving waters. The statue, chiseled from the side of the Lingyun Hill in the eighth century during the Tang Dynasty, took 90 years to be completed. Today, the Leshan Giant Buddha is currently being refurbished on a scale larger than that of any other renovation of its previous renovations. However, this 71-metre man made colossus is facing a dual threat: erosion by the slow attack of time and swarms of tourists, and India's ambituous project to build a Buddha monument that is even bigger with cutting-edge technology that is touted to make it last more than 1,000 years. Delve into the history and significance of this monument, and the efforts and challenges of ensuring its preservation on MAN MADE MARVELS: GIANT BUDDHA. 

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