NOVA Online | Secrets of Lost Empires

Welcome to the companion Web site to the NOVA program "China Bridge," originally broadcast on February 29, 2000. The film, which is a part of the NOVA series Secrets of Lost Empires, documents a 1999 effort by a NOVA-assembled crew of scholars and timber framers to design and build a Chinese bridge known only from an ancient painting. Here's what you'll find online:

NOVA Builds a Rainbow Bridge
Get a glimpse of the alternately frustrating and thrilling efforts of NOVA's team as it builds an ancient style of wood-and-bamboo bridge over a river near Suzhou, China.
Bridge the Gap (Hot Science)
To successfully span various spans, you must choose the right bridge style. Your choices include beam, suspension, arch, and cable-stayed bridges. Good luck!
Nature's Miracle Material
"It sounds like a joke, but the list of things bamboo is not used for is shorter than the list of things it is used for," says Dr. Jules Janssen, a Dutch civil engineer in this feature on this most versatile grass.
China's Age of Invention
Printing, paper money, porcelain, tea, restaurants, gunpowder, the compass - the number of things Chinese of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) gave to the world is mind-boggling in its diversity.

NOVA Online is produced for PBS by the WGBH Science Unit
Major funding for NOVA is provided by the Park Foundation, The Northwestern Mutual Life Foundation, and CNET.com.