behalf of the whole team here in berlin thanks for joining us. first day at school in the jungle. for 1st climbing less of a minute door as grand the moment arrives. joining a regular jane on her journey back to freedom. in our interactive documentary story and already getting returns home on t w dot com a tank. china's

legendary silk road was one of the wonders of the ancient world now this trade route is being brought back to life. the new silk road is a vast undertaking and a demonstration of power and might. hundreds of billions of euros are flowing into new infrastructure right away lines harbors streets bridges and tunnels in 65 different countries it's a project the likes of which the world has never seen. it's a powerful vision and for many an inspiring one for some it brings opportunity for others misery. the new silk road a testament to china's revived ambitions on the global stage.

just 40 years ago this was a market town today shenzhen is a high tech metropolis with more than 25000000 residents china's silicon valley. the cratering metropolis brimming with confidence is the face of the new china an ambitious china with eyes clearly focused on the west. and the way there is the new silk road we retraced 2 routes over land and sea from the chinese city of shenzhen to the german city of do sport.

what lies behind china's grand ambitions what transformations will face root bring and how will these changes be felt in germany in western europe. i boarded a train from shenzhen headed west through the night in my restless sleep the sound of the wheels on the tracks conjures up the plot of the camel caravans that once traversed this route. the train is scheduled to arrive into one at 6 30 in the morning. but it pulls into the station half an hour early. china has taken many by surprise in its hurry to reach the west.

as day breaks in doing the sand dunes slowly emerge on the horizon as though they are born anew every morning. a lizard searches for warmth the daily throngs of chinese tourists are about to arrive. there are camels here too an echo of the ancient trade route. they greet the crowd with patient indifference . laden with chinese vacationers the caravan heads out toward the do. for tourists this is like a journey into the glorious past a time when china was a global power. centuries ago traders brought silk jade spices and gold along this. route the old silk road link the east and

west on what was a perilous journey inside these caves frescoes tell tales of the old silk road one shows traders from central asia being ambushed by bandits. the traders prey to buddhist gods and are saved. the frescoes are a distillation of the influences along the historic trade route the goods came from some are conned the style of painting from ancient greece and the buddhism from india. fungi and she directed the conservation of the caves and their friends goes and has spent her life learning from them. the exchange along the silk road in rich arjun life in china it's good to learn from each other and be open that's how the world should be today to. see their hunting. but doing

not only recalls china's former greatness it also reminds us of one of the country's greatest humiliations. in the early 20th century european colonial powers robbed the caves of important manuscripts and scrawled paintings which are now held in museums around the world. for kai's who thought at the time the chin dynasty was in decline and because china's government was so weak the european researchers simply ignored the order not to remove the treasures from the caves so. for china it was an arduous ascent from the plaything of the west to a new global power that is now extending its reach westward. in doing plung we see the ideological foundations of the new silk road

a longing for the past grandeur and superiority over the west that was taken for granted by china's rulers for thousands of years. our trek continues following the path of this mega project that china plans to extend halfway around the globe. we passed the jade gate the past that was once at the frontier where china ended and central asia began. the tang dynasty poet wang wei once wrote if you go further west you will see no more friends. for centuries china's harbors have been its gateways to the wild those cake ways

have a negro. we want to shift to embark on the next stage of our journey along the maritime silk route. the harbor is enormous spot it's just one of many in the country of the world's 10 largest harbors 7 are in china. some $25000000.00 containers pass through sham gens harbor each year filled with goods headed around the world. chinese tourists are flocking to new destinations too as we discover on our 1st stop the city of sihanoukville in cambodia i've. it's become popular with chinese looking for a beach vacation. it's

a leisure paradise with all the sun sea and shopping they could hope for. playing. for many locals the sudden tourism boom in sihanoukville is a very mixed blessing people like sri german and business say they now feel like outsiders in their own have. been born when it's terrible with all the chinese here they're so badly behaved they tell me that much but nobody that our friends don't want to come here anymore there are too many chinese in just one year everything changed i'm a templemore the chinese have taken over our city how mom how much now. it does appear that a takeover is underway chinese construction projects are transforming the city old see a new pill has practically vanished. the

workers materials and plans for new projects are all imported from china. how did this happen. political scientists diviner of chang is one of the few cambodians willing to speak openly about the topic. and the chinese they may bribe the local government in order to get a license to get the says through certain. points in a t. and so on the process is not really spare. time to make. a joke we don't know much what. the chinese are here in force and locals are being crowded out we need business in the center of the city he used to run a small restaurant here but recently he had to give it up a chinese investor is building

a hotel in its place. rents downtown are soaring but the prices the chinese compay are unaffordable for locals like this now everyone he talks to has bad news for him. i saw your side of the road. i thought $30000.00 a month. there's no way i can pay that kind of road not to mention water and electricity on top of it and i still haven't paid my children school fees only chinese can afford these rates soon there'll be only chinese restaurants for chinese customers that we can't audience don't stand a chance to. see in oakville used to be a sleepy place. it's all changed actually at night.

the mood has shifted in the city there are more drugs on the streets more violence and a sense of unease disputes around between locals. and chinese. authorities prefer not to acknowledge the situation directly but they have put more police on the streets. and. in the presence of our camera team the police don't treat the locals and the chinese any differently but rumor has it that a small bride can help brush matters under the carpet. but the problem is on the rise that's true but we have things under control and response with lee when there's a problem cambodians and chinese don't really trust each other but that's not a big deal but sometimes there's a brawl and some chinese drive when they've been drinking. along with drinking

there's a lot of gambling gambling is illegal for cambodians for chinese as well but only in china so some 80 casinos have sprung up overnight in c. and fill huge sums of money are changing hands little of it trickles down to the locals which adds to the tension. by the reasoning issue in say i don't feel it's there they still. there nationalist sentiments again china. and this has been spreading very fast because chinese the new chinese to cambodia similar to other parts of the world they don't adapt to local culture different from my chinese. 19th centuries which are willing to learn local language. create it to a local culture there's little sign of that here. i

. see a new film is becoming the backdrop. locals are just extras. all the leading roles are played by the chinese here they enjoy freedoms that are often denied them at home. in china life is stricter and more regimented especially in the weaker region the city of cash car was once a major hub on the ancient silk road. for the caravans ghar was a fabled stopping point marco polo praised the city's size and great beauty catch cars traders he wrote travelled the entire world to cross the karakoram mountains to the south and the t. on shan mountains into central asia cush car was always special and it still is.

the region is part of china but the majority of people are weak or a muslim minority that is deeply mistrusted by beijing. in front of one of the gates to the old city some people are performing a traditional weaker dance it's popular with visitors from the rest of china. after the performance we approach one of the dancers and ask what he thinks of the city carter countries and all the ha ha ha ha ha. he tells us that life is good here but then we were interrupted a man comes over and stands in front of our camera to prevent us from talking. about the elderly man is intimidated by him and leaves.

the cosmopolitan cashcard of old has become a city where mass surveillance is the norm our car is followed constantly. police and state security forces monitor our every step and. everyone we want to talk to. china's leaders say religious extremists lurking everywhere they shut down mosques and when allowed to remain open then only as museums. some of the old city has already been demolished with more to follow. for weaker culture it's a terrible loss. we were here 2 years ago and seen in this footage surveillance was widespread even then but we weren't permitted to film in the old city now it's off limits. back then we saw how much care went into maintaining the old mud brick buildings. but. we also met a potter who lived and worked in

a 400 year old house. shaping the local clay on the wheel firing it in the kiln is a skilled craft and has a long tradition here. 6 just sit there with i started here when i was 5 and in the meanwhile i spent 50 years of my life in this workshop my family has been doing this for 6 generations. tore soon soon told us that the chinese authorities planned to demolish the old buildings here all in the name of progress. that it was going there are rumors that they want to change the district which they told me that i'll get a modern building and i told them that won't work but i can't make my pottery in a modern building. on this trip we're not permitted to visit him and his family we don't know if his house is still standing

or how he and his grandchildren are doing the grandchildren he hoped would follow in his footsteps. air. everywhere we look the old weaker city is being torn down to make way for a new chinese one. human rights organizations estimate that up to 1000000 we are being held in so-called re-education camps anyone who gets too close to one of these camps is forced to turn around or. china is venturing even further into other lands but it fears the influence of anything they see as different or foreign the country wants the free exchange of goods and capital but not of people and ideas what is happening in cash garbos poorly for china's plans along the new silk road.

china is seeking what is in short supply at home like wrong materials for its burgeoning industry that greed is difficult to quench on board a ship filled with $15000.00 containers we continue our journey along the maritime silk road. the next destination is myanma for decades it was a reclusive country that shunned outsiders but now it has become to draw more visitors keen to explore what the country has to offer for example from the app. that played out in place.

the wide expanse that i'm files beneath us testifies to a rich history one of ancient kings and lost empires. we continue from. along the irrawaddy river to mandalay another city steeped in history. life here can be a struggle coach o. who wants to sell vase rock for the equivalent of $50000.00 euros it's wrong jade a coveted natural resource. man man has the world's riches jade mines in the north of the country jade miners work on the often desperate conditions that's not important to the bias here they care only about the stones quality. pastoralism much of the truck you can buy hope you enjoy are not going to have

a career by cutting back that the get it off. color that out of them out of the belt they drive a hard bargain they always give you a rock bottom bed want to ask 410-0000 they are 20000 at most not a little bit and they won't go higher than $30000.00 they never lose they always win that's how it is we lose they wind up. here by day he means the chinese man delays jade market is in chinese hands from the wrong stones to the finnish jewellery jade has been an important part of chinese culture for thousands of years. coach or who is a middleman he won't reveal who sent him or how much he earns from the deal. he tries a 2nd set this time with rings. but here too he's turned away. the chinese buyers are usually operating as middlemen to the actual customers are back

at home in china. the rising chinese middle class is a hungry for status symbols the bids come by smartphone the all. trade is a ducati business. was an intruder imo we have a direct link to china that's good because the people in line don't know much about jade and can't judge quality we bring the jade with us when we fly home but taxes are high and that gets to ducted from our profits if we're wearing the necklaces or rings when we arrived we don't have to pay any taxes it's a coach who finally manages to celebrate split but he has mixed feelings about the business. was the owner of the hello book and of course it's sad i got for selling our country's treasures but there's no other way. they're very strong and

we're weak we need money and the chinese have money like that. in china jade is a symbol of good fortune as we watch the trading it does almost seem as though good fortune is leaving me a model for more prosperous shores. we go north to the catching hills they're rich in jade mines and other resources that are highly sought after by myanmar's powerful neighbor entire villages have been displaced and the lives of local people disrupted. the i. that's what's happened to da job she's brewing a traditional drink that's believed to ward off colds menstrual complaints and impotence but it's useless against dan john's current situation. well i know that much but that will come no medicine can fix our situation if we

had a medicine that could do that fully for me i would brew it every day. you know they gave a damn i would give it to everyone free of charge he should know yeah it isn't about a god but it's not that simple needing to be paid on. instead local people have launched a protest movement. that signed some posters say no dam. tells them what. china has back to the construction of the launch dam projects near the source of the irrawaddy river many local people oppose it. you know genius or somalia or what he really were is our lifeline to you that looks as though our own blood flows through it the list really has to survive that no one should be allowed to destroy it. we're fighting for the river and for ourselves the want the. battle is directed at this enormous concrete and

steel structure rising from the water. it's the 1st stage in what was to be a major dam project 90 percent of the hydro power generated by the dam was to have been exported to neighboring china. the final cost of the project would have run into the billions. in the face of vehement opposition yet man's government agreed to suspend the project march to the dismay of beijing. entire village was resettled to make way for the dam so i've come back to take a look. the pain they feel about being forced to leave their homes is still fresh.

not isa c one no no no. well this is where we lived going back generations in peace and quiet. then they made us leave they still won't let us return because no one knows what will happen to the project. i'm afraid will never be allowed to come back you know the chinese won't give up until they get their dam one day all of this will be underwater and gone forever. i you know. china is an economic powerhouse the country will miss enormous financial clout and money brings political influence it's hard for poor countries to assert their interests trying to is another case in point. at 1st glance all seems peaceful at this beach resort. with the breeze coming off the indian ocean the days seem to pass at an unhurried pace.

down below pushback amati is walking through his plantation. he's always been a melon fama but he too was forced to move. i mean the middle of the jungle this is where i'm supposed to farm my fields in the middle of nowhere i used to have a good piece of land now it's a harbor if. his life has been turned upside down along with many others who used to live in. the harbor expansion projects. one adopt their farms the villages protested to no avail and the promises to compensate them came to nothing.

and. they never told us the truth. they took our land and said we'd get jobs and import. but the chinese have no work for us farmers they only have jobs for their own people. they are in control here no. i don't know that it also like the. sri lanka is heavily in debt it gave china control of hambantota on a 99 year lease in return the chinese cancelled a dent worth $1100000000.00 the deal is controversial and rife with rumors some say beijing is planning to build a military base at this strategic location we are unable to find out more about what's happening at the port the visitor's station was recently declared off limits to foreigners most open money when we go to the viewing point it's very clear there's a viewing point but here in tokyo. that's ok that is your family it's ok to god

that's over here but the port is big but it's not as busy as china had hoped that's why a new directive was issued as a job creation scheme every car imported by sri lanka must enter through the port of hambantota. even if the destination is on the other side of the country. i've one man is behind much of this mind rajapaksa. during his tenure as president of sri lanka he promoted deals with china. roger pax i was born in a small town and the hambantota district. he initiated many expensive infrastructure projects with little oversight now his home district has freeway overpasses with next to no traffic and roads that the rest of the country can only dream of with more livestock than vehicles on them.

there's a convention center that lies on used. at the hospital with doctors or patients all paid for with loans from china. to iran or cooler to me has been studying this situation for years he's dismayed by water lanka has done for example they are giving us that on. say 100 rupees and they are taking $92.00 pieces of that back to themselves and on top of that we are paying in interest it's like i go to the bag i take a loan in the band me look i'll give you a 100 piece but you have to build your house according to this this and this and he had to buy all the bricks from me to take my people then. what it that's what is happening and then the 20 percent interest on top of that is where it is not really. equipped to build a business. the projects are big and christers

but they're not much of a calling card and this man is the manager of what's being called the world's emptiest international airport also builds with the help of a huge loan from china. everything here is new it's hardly been used we've never seen an airport like this before there are no lines at the check in counter no chaos at the luggage pick up no crowds. travelling to this airport could be a relaxing experience if any flights came here. this says. 1000000. it will extend. within the years but so far we don't see any presently.

we are using this a out war in this. country like. in future. fights. they've been waiting patiently since the airport opened in 2013. it's a theater of the absurd with an extract waiting in the wings the airport may soon follow the path of the local point the chinese debt is a millstone around frank his neck and now they're looking for foreign investors to take over. they are not giving anything to us simply because as i said before because they just want to help she lived there no days obviously commercial plus particular interest in there. so what. the problem is what do we do. we need the cash we need investments and nobody is coming. true lanka has become

a crossroads for the world's major economic players. and that is having a profound impact on the lives of its people. the new silk road is forging ahead at a rapid pace it's even cutting a path through the world's highest mountain ranges we go to the karakoram highway in pakistan. at more than 4600 meters above sea level the pass is situated at the border between pakistan and china. the border gate looks like it could be part of the great wall of china but that's far away. still the border here gives off an air of impenetrability. we compare our watches mine shows pakistan time to the chinese soldiers are on china standard time. even after a 3 hour difference just

a few steps away. and. security is tight here. china believes it must protect itself against islamist extremism from pakistan. but chinese officials cross the border here as a matter of course the us. just thought oh. ok yes somewhat implausibly the chinese customs official claims he's not responsible for the crossing. the chinese v.i.p.'s don't want to be filmed while they have their photographs taken and. it's as though we are still in china. the official also refuses an interview. the next chinese truck returning from pakistan doesn't arrive until the afternoon. this is supposed to be a hub on a major trade route but the new silk road doesn't seem to be living up to its billing you know where we're not greenback any good so you bet they don't have anything usually our truck is empty when we come back with me.

on the way to pakistan lease songs container was full of clothing and electronics now it's empty it's a risky route for such a small return and you know there are dangerous spots there are very tight curves along the way where our containers practically graze the clips sometimes there are falling rocks it's dangerous the u.a.e. give a shit maybe. the truck bears traces of the hazards of the karakoram highway. the truck continues on board to china we stay in pakistan. we have a police escort as we continue on to an enormous construction site. with the 1st western television crew that's been permitted to film here.

it's a long drive through a beautiful but dangerous landscape. and. china and pakistan have been building this road for some 10 years now but it's not clear what purpose it will serve a few empty trucks hardly seem to justify it it's a very tenuous strand on the new silk road. the karakoram mountains also seem to prefer their isolation falling rocks off and damaged the road which then has to be repaired. in january 2010. a massive landslide killed 20 people in the village of out of body . it blocked the loser river creating a large lake a section of the karakoram highway ended up under rocks and water. from the highway

was rerouted through the mountains before setting out to cross the alps with a team of elephants cannibals supposedly said i shall find a way or i will build one his goal was to conquer rome is the new silk road part of a modern day plan for conquest. in the past only the most courageous travelers attempted to cross the car core mountains. even today time seems to have stood still in the remote villages of the hundreds of valley. many traditions are kept alive here but the villagers fear that when the highway is finished their way of life will be under threat.

we don't see a lot of trade along the route and what we do see is more reminiscent of the caravans of the ancient silk road. there are a few trucks on the road many are painted and decorated as is custom here. the road has come at a very high price pakistan is deeply in debt to chinese banks and construction firms. but china is also paying a price. this cemetery holds the graves of chinese workers who died on the construction sites. it resembles a military cemetery these workers were chinese soldiers is that another sign that a conquest is underway. after

600 kilometers we reached the construction site where another stretch of road is being carved into the mountains. the drills carving out space for the next blast are extremely loud but none of the workers wear ear protection perhaps that's the least of their worries the tunnel is not stable and the danger of falling rocks is ever present. in the judo show hall i often have a hard time sleeping especially when something unexpected has happened and i can't sleep at the same holds for everyone else here at the construction site in our bosses in beijing vocal in 2000 a large about. 7000 pakistanis work here and 1200 chinese there's chinese food in the canteen and chinese state television but their families are thousands of kilometers away and the internet connection is unreliable they go that low.

aren't you asleep yet can you hear me this time that is a. bad connection let's just get it of course i miss my home but we have no choice john is to be back i can't go home until i'm finished here. and the managers who are overseeing this enormous construction project live and work in a former hotel it's been turned into a fortress. pakistan's government is worried about the safety of the chinese. you know in the morning we meet wong who in the head engineer he's been working on the project for 10 years now confucius said the man who moves the mountain begins by carrying away small stones that's what beijing is demanding of one week day after day. while the service it's

a race against time what did you hear me hardly get any breaks till we work from early morning to 11 at night and never get a day off to it don't get shemale shushi it up. long cui wants to show us a special construction site. this is where we finally realize why china is bothering to carve a road into the mountains. they're building a corridor through pakistan. the head engineer brings us to an enormous bridge 60 meters above ground. but even he was going to get it right. this section of bridge being brought in weighs 140 tons eventually this bridge will be part of the new road piece by piece bridge by bridge china is approaching its goal direct access to the arabian sea. just like the roman empire consolidated its power with the imperial roads china is building. for its own

empire. the view from this height is dizzying as is the plan to build a road over some of the highest mountains on earth the for the dido would. one day i'll show my son and daughter where i fought and struggled to college i built this road and that will be a very proud. they only do it all the. china is determined to forge ahead and have the father. of 2000 years of kilometers still live before us. thousands of north to go miles all the way to europe. as the new silk road reaches westward it brings hope and begets protest. in part 2 we continue our journey along the new silk road from ca to stomp to do spoke.

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mines. and. play. this is d w news live from butler and she has been called a hero and a criminal captain coupled up actually to is in hiding but says she has nervous reds about the finally bringing rescued migrants into an entirely in course another rescue boat is currently trying to adopt an insulated and the w. speaks of those on the boat also coming up southern california is ruffled by one of its biggest fights in 2 decades a magnitude $7.00 quake shakes buildings cuts power supply is clean.