星空瞰华夏（2020）

Inner Mongolia, China.
中国 内蒙古
I'm here on the trail of a 750-year-old legend,
我来此追寻一个流传七百五十年的传说
that began with tales brought home,
这传说源自一位无畏的欧洲探险家
by an intrepid European explorer.
带回家乡的故事
The main reason I've come here is because of this book.
我来这里 主要是因为这本书
These are the accounts of The Travels of Marco Polo.
《马可·波罗游记》中这样写道
"There at this place is a very fine marble palace.
一座精致无比的大理石宫殿耸立于此
The rooms of which are all gilt and painted with figures of men
所有房♥间都金碧辉煌 还用精湛的工艺
and beasts and birds all executed with such exquisite art,
绘满了人物和鸟兽的图案
that you will regard them with delight and astonishment."
令人心悦诚服 叹为观止
what he's talking about here is the great fabled city
他所说的正是这座宏伟的传说之城
of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis,
成吉思汗之孙 忽必烈的都邑
Xanadu.
上都
Now with the help of new technology,
借助新科技
I'm out to discover if Marco Polo's descriptions of such an
我要来看一看 马可·波罗笔下的惊世之城
astonishing city can really be true?
是否真的名副其实
I'm Allan Maca.
我是阿兰·麦卡
An archaeologist and expert in ancient civilizations.
一名考古学家 古文明专家
And I'm investigating China's distant past
我将以全新的角度
from a whole new perspective...
探究中国那遥远的过去
Space!
那就是太空
Today, state-of-the-art satellites see the world
如今 先进的卫星技术
in stunning detail.
让这个世界纤毫毕现
And reveal hidden archaeology, enabling us to recreate a lost
揭露隐秘的遗迹 让我们得以重建仅凭双眼
ancient world, invisible to the naked eye.
无法看见的 失落的古代世界
Working alongside leading Chinese experts,
与中国顶尖的专家共同合作
my team and I are traveling to some of the country's
我和我的团队将前往这个国家的
most remote and incredible landscapes,
几个最为久远和壮观的景观
and with cutting-edge science, investigating previously
利用尖端技术 探究过去不为人知的文明
unknown cultures, lost cities
遗失的古城
and devastating cataclysms.
以及天崩地裂般的灾难
This is ancient China as you've never seen it before.
这是你前所未见的古代中国
The vast steppe of inner mongolia.
内蒙古广袤的大草原
An open grassland in one of the largest and least
这是一片开阔的草地 是中国面♥积♥最大
populated regions of China.
人口最稀少的地区之一
And, if Marco Polo is to be believed,
如果马克·波罗描述属实
this wide-open wilderness once contained one of the greatest
这片旷野上就曾建有世上最宏伟的
cities on the planet.
城市之一
Two centuries before Columbus sailed for the Americas,
比哥伦比亚航向美洲还要早两百年
Marco Polo travelled from Europe along ancient trade routes,
马克·波罗从欧洲出发 沿着古代贸易路线游历
to explore the distant lands of the east,
探索遥远的东方之地
keeping detailed journals as he went.
随行留下详细的札记
In 1275, he arrived at the gates of a great city,
1275年 他来到了这座宏伟城市
Kublai Khan's Xanadu.
忽必烈的上都的城门前
Today, the only clues left on the ground
现今 地面上只留下了
are a series of mysterious mounds
一连串散落在平原各处的
rising from the plains.
神秘土丘
There's just a lot of grassland,
这里只有大♥片♥的草地
just a lot of empty space, it's hard to imagine that
宽广无垠 很难想象
there could ever be a city here.
这里竟也曾有过一座城市曾
I've been hearing about Xanadu all my life.
我从小就经常听说上都的故事
As an archaeologist I've studied and taught these periods
作为考古学家 我一直研究并教授这些历史
but I've never been here.
但却从没来过这里
Now I'm going to explore the mystery
现在我将以全新的方式
of Xanadu in a whole new way.
探索上都之谜
Amazing!
令人惊叹
Yeah it really sort of pops...
真的是惊现眼前
With cutting-edge technology,
借助尖端科技
can we bring this legendary city back to life?
我们能让传说之城起死回生吗
Look at this thing.
看这景象
This is a wild image!
简直超乎想象
Scouring China for clues,
寻遍中国 收集线索
what can we discover about the man who ruled over a quarter
关于这位统治了世界四分之一人口的男人
of the world's population?
我们能发现些什么
This is much bigger than I expected.
规模远远超乎预料
And how was Beijing,
我们又为什么说 北♥京♥
one of today's great megacities,
这座现代的超级大都市
born from Xanadu?
是脱胎于上都的呢
I think we'll get a great point of view from up here.
上来这里应该能看个清楚
What an expanse.
真是广阔无边
Close up, it's clear these mounds are man-made.
走近看 这些土丘显然是人为
Sighting straight down this east-west wall-line.
这条东西向的墙壁直通到底
It's a perfect 90 degree angle.
这是个完美的直角
This is cool.
真神奇
But could Xanadu really have been as
但上都真的像马可·波罗所描述的
magnificent as Marco Polo described?
那样富丽堂皇吗
A great medieval city filled with
她真的是一座充满惊世绝俗的建筑
astonishing architecture and lavish palaces?
和辉煌宫殿的中世纪城市吗
Down on the ground, these ruined walls don't tell us much.
从地面上看 这些残垣看不出什么蹊跷
But from space, 500 miles up...
但从八百千米的高空俯视
The shape of this lost city is revealed.
这座迷失之城的面貌得以揭晓
The remains of a series of massive walls.
巨墙的种种遗迹
Each one guarded by gates and corner watchtowers.
每面墙都有城门 并设角楼严加防范
The outer wall runs for 5 and a half miles enclosing an area
外城墙总长八千八百千米 墙内的面♥积♥
at the time, even bigger than London or Paris.
甚至大于同时期的伦敦或巴黎
And right in Xanadu's center, the faint outlines of buildings.
上都的正中心处 也有一些建筑物的残迹
Chinese archaeologists have surveyed and excavated
中国的考古学家也曾调查发掘过这片中心区域
this central area, but since becoming a protected site,
但由于是保护区域
further digging is restricted.
进一步挖掘是受限的
Yet, there are other ways for us to investigate.
我们仍有其他办法进行调查
Researchers Ma He,
马赫
Xi Yaqing and Ma Qinglong from Peking University
习亚晴和马庆隆是北♥京♥大学的研究员
are being joined by Eric Lo and Ryan Kastner from
我技术团队中的艾瑞克·卢及瑞恩·卡斯特纳
my tech team.
将加入他们的队伍
Together, they'll use hi-tech sensors on drones
一起合作 利用无人机携载高科技传感器
to conduct a whole new survey of central Xanadu.
对上都中心进行一次全新的扫描
So what I'm putting on is a multispectral camera
我现在安装的是一台多光谱照相机
which sees in other bands beyond the visible red, green and blue
它可以看到红 绿 蓝等可见光以外的
that we normally see and we're hoping
其他波段 希望能
that this will see some anomaly,
发现一些不寻常之处
that might indicate there's been a structure there in the past.
这或许就是这里曾建有一座城池的证据
While the multispectral camera looks for
这架多光谱照相机用来寻找
signs of buildings beneath the surface,
地面之下的建筑痕迹
a second drone captures hundreds of images to create a
而另一架无人机则用来拍摄大量照片
detailed 3D model of everything above the ground.
以建立一个细致全面的地上样貌的3D模型
Hey what's up guys?
怎么样
With the results in,
结果出来了
I'm going to take a look with Xanadu expert, Bao Lige.
我将跟上都专家鲍礼格一起来看一看
What have you got?
结果如何
With the drone imagery you can see a tremendous amount
通过无人机图像 你可以看到
more detail than you can see with the satellite imagery.
比卫星图像更详细的细节
So you can see some of the structures and obviously the roads.
可以看到部分建筑物 道路也很明显
And elevation data from the second drone,
第二架无人机的高程数据
reveals every slight bump on the ground.
显示了地面上每一处细微的凹凸
Oh neat, wow! Amazing!
厉害 真神奇
Yeah, it really sort of pops.
确实很了不起
Look at that, it's really really clear!
看看这图像 真的非常清晰
And look at all these buildings,
看看这些建筑物
I mean there's a lot going on here.
城里确实有不少建筑物
Yeah you can clearly see
是的 你能很清楚地看到
a bunch of different types of structures.
很多不同类型的建筑
Straight lines mean man-made structures
直线就是人工构造物
like walls and roads,
比如墙壁和道路
and boxes give us the outlines of buildings.
方块则代表着建筑的轮廓
Revealing these features in the central zone,
看到中♥央♥区域的建筑物
combined with historical records allows us to recreate
再结合历史记录 我们就能重建
the very heart of Xanadu.
上都的核心
A dense concentration of streets and buildings.
这里有着密集的街道和建筑
Most prominent of all, three mighty structures.
最为显著的 是三座非凡的建筑
Chinese experts have identified these as Kublai Khan's palaces.
中国专家已经确定 这就是忽必烈的宫殿