Watch China's Secret Lands

In the far west of China, the remote and mysterious province of Xinjiang - once at the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road - is fast regaining its reputation as a place of influence and opportunity as China builds 21st century trade routes to take its goods to the world. In this culturally rich and climatically harsh region, the potential for growth appears as endless as the landscape.

Tibet is the rooftop of the world; the highest plateau on earth and an extreme high altitude environment where people have lived for five thousand years. Tibet is a place of ancient wonder and devoted spirituality but here an emerging modernity is now being woven into the tapestry of the region. These mystical people who live so close to heaven are beginning to open up and share their secrets.

Over thousands of years, the natural barriers in China's remote south-western frontier have created isolated pockets of culture, incubating some of the world's most extraordinary ways of life. 25 distinct ethnicities live in the province of Yunnan - from the buffalo-worshipping Wa to the water-splashing Dai.