CGTN Documentary

CGTN Documentary What’s happening in the world today? What are the latest trends, issues, and events? What are the struggles, hopes and dreams of people around the globe?

For visually stunning documentaries and gripping human stories, follow CGTN Documentary!

02/01/2026

A city in motion. A new landmark takes shape.
From the legacy of Kai Tak Airport to the rise of Kai Tak Sports Park, innovative design, urban life, and world-class sport come together in Hong Kong and across the Greater Bay Area.
Behind the scenes and on the field, every effort serves a single goal: building a space where sport belongs to the city.
“Game On, Kai Tak” premieres January 3 on CGTN and CGTN Documentary. Get ready. Get set.

02/01/2026

As Hong Kong’s Commissioner for Sports of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Kai Tak Sports Park has been one of George Tsoi's most significant projects. To ensure its success, his team ran around 20 trials with roughly 200,000 participants in total. The crucial information collected was then used to optimize traffic and operations, keeping the park running in sync with the city while handling large crowds safely.
George is particularly proud of the main stadium’s adaptable design. It can transform into a concert venue overnight and back into a world-class sports facility again within just a few days. This flexibility allows Kai Tak Sports Park to efficiently host a range of large-scale events — a huge win for the city’s diverse sporting, cultural, and tourism needs.

01/01/2026

The Shrine and the Sinners: Japan's War Criminals and the Unquiet Past
For many in East Asia, the terms Nanjing Massacre and Unit 731 are synonymous with wartime atrocities. Yet individuals prosecuted by an international tribunal and executed for their crimes are still honored at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. This documentary explores the uncomfortable contradiction between justice and remembrance, questioning what it really means for a nation to enshrine convicted war criminals.

30/12/2025

In addition to the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China is marking another significant anniversary this year; 120 years since the birth of cinema in the country.
I Will Be There After My Wandering has been produced to mark this important milestone. It tells the story of a man who, as a young student, left China in the wake of the Japanese invasion and went to study in the United States, where he eventually embarked on a career in film-making. His name was Wan-go Weng.
In the course of 40 years in the US, Wan-go Weng created dozens of documentary films, all of them focused on China. At a time when the world knew little about his native country, he was among the very first to promote Chinese culture internationally, using the medium of documentary to turn a spotlight on its rich civilization. Yet both his work and his life remain little known.
The 60-minute documentary took two and a half years to complete. It features interviews with 33 experts and scholars, and family members and friends of Wan-go Weng, as well as rare archive footage uncovered by the crew in the course of visiting ten cities in China and the US. Ultimately, I Will Be There After My Wandering tells the story of an exile who spent most of his life composing a cinematic “letter home”.

Making a "Magic Cloud” RealThrough 1560 test flights, Zhao Deli has taken the dream of flying and from it, created a dro...
30/12/2025

Making a "Magic Cloud” Real
Through 1560 test flights, Zhao Deli has taken the dream of flying and from it, created a drone motorcycle called the "Jindouyun", or “Magic Cloud”. From initial repeated crashes to safe takeoffs and landings, he has used his perseverance and courage to make fantasy come true in the tech era.

30/12/2025

The China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe conveys a sense of strength in their silent dance. In taking the "Thousand-hand Bodhisattva" to the global stage, they are acting as envoys of both culture and life, demonstrating that "where there's light in the heart, no road is too long".

30/12/2025

CGTN was embedded on China's most advanced destroyer, the Type 055, during a recent formation drill at sea. The Navy continues to build a comprehensive force capable of conducting multiple missions in blue waters. Here’s a hint of the strategies behind China’s naval transformation.

30/12/2025

As China's navy expands, there is an urgent need for more carrier-based pilots. CGTN was granted exclusive access to the training base and recorded how the Navy is developing its own cohort of pilots through different modes.

30/12/2025

The PLA Navy's helicopter units are transforming to meet the demands of the blue water missions. This means a transition from land-based to ship-based operations. CGTN follows a joint operation at sea.

29/12/2025

Connection is a fundamental human instinct. It is this impulse that draws China closer to the world, while also fueling vitality and prosperity at home. The second installment of the documentary series Apple Scent — Partnership in Khorgos turns its focus to industrial pairing assistance, telling moving cross-border tales that bridge East and West.
Titled “Connected,” this episode explores the mutual benefit shared by Chinese and Kazakh citizens. Bound by common professions and sustained by genuine friendship, their experiences bear witness to flourishing trade and deepening people-to-people ties.
Meanwhile, steel caravans of modern freight trains race across Eurasia as shuttle drivers navigate border crossings to bring products Made in China to global markets. From the launch of an intelligent fruit-sorting line to the rise of a new computing center, such milestones highlight shared empowerment and collaborative development between Suzhou and Khorgos. Through these ever-expanding connections, Khorgos is now boldly embracing a future of boundless possibility.

29/12/2025

Apple Scent — Partnership in Khorgos is a three-episode documentary series celebrating the fifteen-year legacy of the Suzhou-Khorgos pairing assistance program. It tells moving stories of living hand in hand, staying connected, and forming bonds of the heart.
The first episode, “Hand in Hand,” takes an immersive, observational approach to the impact of assistance efforts in Xinjiang through the lives of five ordinary individuals. Meet investment promotion officer Guli, who has transformed her uncertainty into confidence at the land port; photojournalist Lai Yuning, capturing the fragrance of time through his lens; grassroots worker Gugu, integrating the "Industrial Park Experience" into local development; vocational school student Baikerheni, whose dreams are ignited by the sparks of his welding torch; and Wang Yong, a flexible-term specialist who ventures deep into the Gobi Desert to trace the cultural lineage of the Apple City. Their individual threads weave together a vivid tapestry of transformation — from giving aid to building capacity, from project development to embracing new ideas.
Journey across mountains and deserts to honor a pact made hand in hand, listen to the echoes of growth in this rising desert city and experience the evocative Apple Scent that has lingered through the years.

29/12/2025

Millennia-old wisdom illuminates the path ahead for those who persevere. From "persistence prevails over hardship" to "accumulation achieves greatness", classical maxims inspire every dream chaser. In China, the courage to innovate and a commitment to pursing dreams are writing a new chapter in the nation’s progress.

Address

Beijing City
Beijing
1000

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when CGTN Documentary posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category