“Legacy of China” will take you on a fascinating journey to China’s ancient past. The movie is based on the lifework of Cambridge scholar Joseph Needham, who arrived in China during World War II. Over the next fifty years of his life, Needham devoted himself to the study of ancient China whereby he revealed some China’s most extraordinary secrets.

China’s history goes back over 4000 years, during which time, the country developed an astonishing record of inventions and innovations. For some time, this made China the most powerful and scientifically advanced country in the world.

China invented a vast set of technologies and tools including gunpowder, cast iron, paper, money, printing, the compass, silk, the rudder, the umbrella, and the fishing reel.

As if the list was not already long enough, China is also responsible for the development of the seed drill, porcelain, use of natural gas, matches, lacquer, the suspension bridge, the seismograph, the mechanical clock, the kite, the rocket, the chain drive and even the humble wheelbarrow.

These are just some of the many discoveries made by China. What is even more impressive is that China made all these discoveries hundreds if not thousands of years before any other culture did.