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Story of China
The Last Empire
Season 1
Episode 5
In the 18th century China was the biggest economy in the world, and with that prosperity came a fabulously rich culture. From China's favourite novel, to opera and storytelling houses, and all-women's mosques, it's an age full of surprises. But then came the fateful clash with the British in the First Opium War, the beginning of the end of the empire.
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57:33
Michael Wood conjures up China's first great international age, the Tang Dynasty.
