Producer-presenter GREG GRAINGER explores China in the new millenium, sailing from bustling Shanghai, up the Yangzte River, in search of the mythical kingdom of Shangri-la.

In the soon-to-be-flooded Three Gorges, he encounters near-naked trackers hauling sanpans upstream.

There are face-to-face encounters with China's unique Pandas, and the colourful ethnic minorities of Yunnan province, with a concert of music, centuries old, performed by 80 year old maestros.

Other highlights include:

* Ballroom dancing at dawn.

* Ancient villages (Zhouzhang) a maze of canals that are accessed by sanpans.

* Shanghai's Old Town, drinking tea in the five-sided Huxinting Tea House.

* Youngsters at a Children's Palace, playing instrument five centuries old.

* Teams of workers carving a two million dollar jade sculpture.

* A military spectacle in the City of Nanjing to celebrate National Day.

* The Ming-style Mausoleum for Dr Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China

* The legendary Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain, shrouded in mist.

* Performers aplenty, from opera in a local park to street musicians.

* The Hubei provincial museum: Bronze bells unearthed and played.

* Work on the new and controversial Three Gorges Dam.

* The spectacle of the Three Gorges, with its towering mountain peaks.

* The treachorous rapids of the Three Gorges, & towns to be flooded.

* The haunting chants of semi clad trackers as they haul a sanpan upstream.

* The spectacular Wanxian acrobatic troupe.

* Daju County, famous for its great Buddhist cave sculptures.

* The international horticultural exposition in Yunnan¹s capital of Kunming

* The wedding parlours full of brides-to-be, and a modern wedding.

* The natural wonder: The Stone Forest, led by Bai from the Yi Tribe.

* Lijiang, an 800 year old town, filled with scenes from another era.

* Guide Angela from the Naxi tribe, with her very bright clothing.

* Naxi children being taught in their traditional dialect.

* Extraordinary system of pictographs developed over the past thousand years

* Colourfully adorned young Yi women singing the sounds of Shangri-la.