Telling China's story

Host and architect Danny Forster visits some of China's ambitious projects in the documentary How China Works, which will be aired as the first program of Discovery Channel's new anthology Hour China. Photo provided to China Daily

Highlighted stories include Foster's exploration of China's tallest tower and high-speed trains, his visit to a smartphone app company in Guangdong that's changing the way more than 400 million Chinese communicate and his participation in the cast of a Chinese TV series at Hengdian, famous for its outdoor film studios, to talk to young extras on the sets.

Short stories on where China is going are already found in print and on social media, but this is the first time they are being presented through a visually stimulating narrative, says Vikram Channa, vice-president of production, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

The biggest challenge the production team faced during filming was gaining access to areas that aren't often open to foreigners, such as the world's largest radio telescope located in Pingtang county, Guizhou province.

"We told people clearly what kind of story we wanted to tell. In most cases they agreed with us. It means they believed we're objective," Channa says.

"We should see things with the eyes rather than the mind. That makes things universal."

Hopefully it will bring a different perspective from what they (foreign audiences) have seen before, says Enrique R Martinez, acting president of Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

Marnitnez attributes the successful launch of Hour China in part to their partnership with China Intercontinental Communication Center, a Beijing-based agency dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

He adds that the channel's high standards of programming were maintained for global screening.