Traces of China: A Journey Through Centuries of Cultural Exchange
The acclaimed documentary series Traces of China returns to CGTN Europe this autumn, continuing its exploration of how Chinese aesthetics and tradition profoundly shaped European art, culture, and daily life across the centuries.
This captivating three-part series maps the remarkable cultural exchange between East and West, revealing an enduring legacy that continues to influence contemporary Europe.
Episode Highlights
Silk: The Golden Thread
This episode tracks silk's journey along the Silk Road and its lasting impact on European fashion and trade. See how this beautiful thread, first coaxed from silkworm cocoons in China 5,000 years ago, inspired and captivated the merchants of Venice becoming a commodity so valuable that three silk garments could buy a palace. In the darkened workshop of one of Italy’s oldest fashion houses the delicate thread is still woven as it was 300 years ago with the help of a machine designed by Leonard da Vinci himself.
Tea: Evolution and Revolution – how tea set root in British culture
Discover how tea evolved from the subject of reverence and ceremony in China to the world's second most consumed beverage. The episode explores how a British obsession with this humble brew and the demands of Empire and trade spawned an era of plant hunting and agricultural espionage, evidence of which can still be found in Cornwall, at the UK’s oldest tea plantation. Expert interviews reveal how Chinese tea super-charged the Industrial Revolution, absorbing the unique culture and traditions of each place it reached, becoming a powerful force of cultural and economic transformation.
Porcelain: Cracking the Code
An exploration of porcelain's captivating journey from ancient China to European courts, where it inspired Polish King Augustus the Strong to launch a grand quest that led to Europe's first porcelain factory in Meissen, Germany. Contemporary artists featured in the episode demonstrate how this cross-cultural artistic exchange continues today.
From Venice to Versailles, Chinese aesthetics spawned entirely new artistic movements across Europe. Today, this influence remains hidden in plain sight—in the blue and white porcelain plates we eat from, the revitalizing cups of tea we sip, and the vibrant silk fabrics that adorn our spaces.
Series II premieres October 6th on CGTN Europe
Yan Ai
China Global TV Network Europe
ai.yan@cgtn.com
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