PICKPIC OF THE DAY

THETH STORY OF CHINA, 9PM, BBC2

A ARGUABLY the oldest n nation on Earth, China is home to more than a b billion people. It’s also the wo world’s new superpower and and, to understand its prese present-day success, asserts historian historia Michael Wood, we must look to its past — the events that have shaped its history and the ideals that have made its culture ‘so distinctive and so brilliant for so long’. In this fascinating six-part series, Wood (pictured) travels across the country, exploring the landscapes, peoples, stories and cultures that have helped to forge China’s distinctive character and genius over more than 4,000 years. In the first episode, he focuses on one of the leading themes of Chinese history — ancestry.