Temples, designed to honor the Gods, have been at the heart of cities since earliest times. Often they have been the biggest and most impressive buildings of their age. But mysterious ancient temples crop up across the ancient world. Why are so many of these monuments carefully aligned with the sun?

Follow British YouTube personality Chris Broad, as he treks across “the land of the rising sun” to document Japan’s crazy cat culture. He’ll discover unusual cat-centric destinations and activities, including cat-themed cafes, bars, temples…even entire cat islands!

Haleakala is a special place that resonates with both ancient and modern Hawaiian culture, and it protects the bond between the land and its people. Haleakala also cares for endangered species, some of which exist nowhere else on Earth.

Samurai swords have served as lethal weapons and as revered objects in Japan. But a sword’s true beauty can be only revealed by the polishers who bring out its splendid temper patterns. Today, there are only 50 polishers left in this traditional occupation and that number is dwindling.

How a simple ball of rice topped with a piece of raw fish has conquered the planet in just thirty years. On the banks of the Grand Canal in Venice, in Sao Paulo's Japantown or in the chic and not-so-chic districts of Los Angeles, London and Paris, people make light work of this first fast-food.

Over the mountains of Northern Mongolia lies the shadow of a mystery that generations of adventurers, scientists, and historians have tried to solve since the 13th century: the location of the tomb of the greatest conqueror of all time, Genghis Khan.

The culture of Japan is incredible, from bloom festivals to ultra-modern cities. But there are also more than 130 mammals and 600 bird species dwelling in Japan’s 6,852 islands. This island chain is long enough to span climate zones, providing a huge range of habitat.

Tracing the history of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism across India, Burma, Mongolia, and Japan. Stunning temples that showcase a seemingly impossible array of color and artistic wonder of both the divine and the enlightened.

This groundbreaking documentary explores the entire length of the river whose Hindu name – Brahmaputra – means “Son of Creation”.

Bali – The dream destination for tourists from all around the world. When Bali comes to mind, one may think of the dream-like beaches, wild jungles, volcanoes, lush rice terraces, captivating temples, and of course - yoga!

Did Marco Polo, the most illustrious traveler in history, ever go to China? A debate continues as to whether the Venetian’s book is a personal account of China’s 13th-century the Middle Kingdom and its marvels.

India is an exotic mix of wildlife, secret locations, epic landscapes and colorful beauty.

In this episode of "Planet of Treasures” Christopher Clark explores the cultural wealth of Southeast Asia: Angkor in Cambodia, the old royal cities of Hue in Vietnam, and Luang Prabang in Laos. Angkor once was the biggest city in the world, it was about the size of modern-day Berlin.

Since the end of the 19th century, Indochina has been a flourishing colony, the gem of the French Empire. However, the Second World War turns everything upside down. At the end of the war, the Viet Minh movement announces its independence.

TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is the site of one of history's worst nuclear disasters: the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. The decommissioning program in Japan learns from the Three Mile Island decommissioning in the US after the nuclear plant accident in 1976 in Pennsylvania.

Discover the mythical network of trade routes that for centuries linked the Far East to the West with Alfred de Montesquiou.

The I-400 was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Sen Toku-class submarines, which were the largest submarines ever built before the age of nuclear-powered subs. These massive vessels were longer than a football field and were used as submarine aircraft carriers.

In which Mike Rugnetta teaches you about Ma'ui, a prominent hero of many cultures in Oceania, aka the Pacific Island nations. Ma'ui is just the kind of hero we're interested in here at Crash Course. He's a culture hero, he's an adventurer, he has a divine birth, AND he's a trickster.

This two-part series sets off on a cinematic journey to people whose world is changing

After the success of her travels through Europe, host Ashley Colburn is off ƚo ƚhe East.

We journey to the heart of these beautiful lands to understand the relationship between the people and their monarchs.

Pete Trego travels to cricket-obsessed Sri Lanka uncovering the secrets of spin-bowling and how cricket is helping to heal wounds left by the recent civil war.

Deep within the Javan jungle, an expedition has set out in search of the last stand of the world’s rarest rhino. Once prolific across Asia, the Javan Rhino now exists only in Java, where photographer Toby Nowlan is on a mission to photograph the species in hopes of protecting it from extinction.

How did the events of his childhood shape the man who would become Genghis Khan? What impact did the Mongol invasions have on the history of Asia and on the psyche of Europe?

Destination China takes you to some of China’s most beautiful landscapes, home to 6,000 species of plant, 200 mammals and 500 birds.

The Khmer Rouge ran what is regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most brutal regimes. Yet the Killing Fields of Cambodia remain unexplained. Until now.

The Philippines has a greater variety of life per square mile than any other country.

The story of Irish missionaries in China between 1920 and 1954, at times of political chaos, famine, floods and war.

Awe-inspiring palaces are the legacy that demonstrates the brilliance of Islamic engineers, working centuries before Western Europe began its own engineering revolution. It’s a process that culminated in what is arguably the most beautiful building in the World – the Taj Mahal.

Since the earliest civilizations, humans have needed walls to protect them. From rudimentary walls around early towns and cities to vast fortresses and castles, culminating in one of the greatest engineering triumphs of all time – the Great Wall of China.

Travelling to Vietnam, China and Japan, Dr Amanda Foreman explores the role of women in Asia under the philosophy religions of Confucianism and Buddhism.

A unique journey of discovery through China, guided by the millenniums-old mythology of the colors.

China's emergence as an economic power and its communist/capitalist balancing act is part of its complex development as a nation.

The Irrawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar is home to the most diverse mangrove forests in the world. Its widely branching tributaries not only provide schools of fish and rich nutrients but also function as the most important transport route for the people living in the delta.

This three part series tells the story of the War in the Pacific.

The world’s biggest fish market is to make room for a highway during the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo. The closure of Tsukiji is a step towards modern digital real-time trading and we are the only foreign reporter with exclusive access to accompany this adventurous relocation.

Snakes are one of the most feared creatures on the planet and Asia is a hotspot for bites! But which is the deadliest? And should we be truly afraid?

In a mountainous region best known for pandas and earthquakes, there are no roads, no cars, no buses. But there is ... a train. We tell the story of the last working narrow gauge steam railway in China.

Centuries ago, from the centre of the greatest empire on earth, the Mongolian war machine was unleashed southward to defeat and conquer what today is China. This is the story of the will of a great Mongol Khan, of two unyielding adversaries and a siege that changed world history.

Even in times of globalization, some things remained different in the land of the rising sun. Despite all the hectic activity, the latest technology, and the mega-metropolis Tokyo, you can still feel the meaning of tradition that seems to have survived even in times of globalization.

The story of extraordinary global health leader Dr. MR Rajagopal, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee who is described by the New York Times as ‘the father of palliative care in India’. Dr. Raj is a small man with a big dream: a pain-free India.

He is revered in China as a Buddha, as the 'Schindler of Nanking'. But his deeds have barely been recognized in the West. The German John Rabe, a Siemens manager and fervent admirer of the 'Führer', saved the lives of more than 200,000 Chinese in 1937.

Five million people live in a land area smaller than New York City. To make such a small and highly urbanized place liveable, Singapore is embarking on its most ambitious project to date.

This is the unique and unpredictable story about Mr. Ryuichi Ichinokawa and his unusual way of life. Ryuichi owns a company called Hagemashi Tai (I Want to Cheer You Up), one of Japan's most peculiar companies where his staff members are hired to stand in for an assortment of roles.

This is an engineering story about building the world’s ultimate multi-function sports complex. Costing more than a billion US dollars, the ambitious project includes an ingenious indoor aquatics center that can hold up 6,000 people, a multi-purpose arena, water sports center, and retail facilities.

The sloth bear is the oddest and wildest looking of all bears. With his shaggy fur, long, gummy jaws and cavernous mouth he presents a strange figure shambling across the dry scrub of India. He was made famous as Baloo in The Jungle Book, and yet remains poorly known and rarely seen.

In May 1893, a man is thrown out of a train, on the platforms of the train station of Pietermaritzburg, a little city of South Africa, for daring to sit in a first-class compartment. This young Indian lawyer is named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

This is the mesmerizing odyssey of Holly Carroll, a passionate zoologist who explores the dense rainforests and remote jungles of Africa and Indonesia to study the lives of these intelligent and curious animals: the great apes.

Once considered to be the poorest region of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan is one of the most closed-off countries in the world. Today, oil and gas have made the country wealthy.

A king who offended the all-powerful Emperor, and then rebelled against him, but failed. How do these dramatic events in China's history link to the finding of 4000 buried terracotta warriors discovered in Jiangsu Province, China?

In August of 1945, as the world celebrates Imperial Japan’s surrender and the effective end of the second world war, the Americans make a puzzling discovery out in the Pacific. The US Navy has intercepted a Japanese submarine that’s unlike anything they’ve seen before.

The Philippines are a chain of around 7,000 tropical islands in the western Pacific. Plants-turned-predators line the edge of the forests, while rivers help carve one of the world’s most spectacular cave systems.

A story, told through the lives of China’s billionaires, of a country transformed into a global powerhouse. Capitalism was once a dangerous word but now China creates a new billionaire almost every day.

On this journey presenter, Christopher Clark visits highlights of the diverse and historic UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India and tries to answer the question as to what unites the 1,4 billion people on the subcontinent. His path leads him from the holy Hindu city of Varanasi to Mumbai.

Follow the epic trials of young men willing to pass amazing initiatory ordeals to achieve manhood.

In the province of Zhejiang, in Hangzhou, Dai Jianjun is passionate about preserving the ancient dietary doctrines of Chinese food knowledge - an art form he is seeking to salvage. Dai’s project involves protecting endangered farming produce, by setting up restaurants that serve traditional cooking.

October 24, 1944, the world’s greatest battle at sea begins in the Philippines. Japan’s navy gambles on a decisive victory against the United States to turn the tide of World War II. Instead, Musashi, its top-secret super battleship, ends up at the bottom of the ocean.

In this new observational documentary series cricketer Pete Trego will be travelling around the world to meet passionate players.

The choices that Kong Qui, known in the West as Confucius, made during his career as a civil servant and administrator influenced an entire civilization. What if Kong Qui had been as opportunistic and corrupt as other officials? How might the fate of China and its worldview be changed?

The shape of Japan's internal politics and the country's response to external influences for centuries can be traced back to the choices of two warlords and a decisive battle. What was the Edo Period and how did it mold Japanese society?

Lying like a teardrop in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is an island that defies convention. Poised just six degrees above the equator, it’s less than 75,000 km sq in size. But it has enough wildlife to rival a continent, and it’s all down to its complicated climate and geography.

Japan’s 7,000 islands stretch for over 2,400 kilometers and cover an incredible range of climates. Winter in the central and northern islands can be savage, but summer in the sweltering southern islands couldn’t be more different.

On the surface of Myanmar’s Inle Lake, unique floating gardens resemble a giant carpet of water lilies. Yet the water dries up almost completely during the summer, leaving the lake’s ecosystem in jeopardy. Now, the Burmese people must address this problem amidst political changes in their country.