History explores the hidden cities

MANILA, Philippines - In and around Asia’s most bustling cities lay little-known worlds filled with forgotten palaces and temples, buildings with forgotten histories and disused underground fortresses that shelter unbelievable relics and untold stories.

With the help of local experts — from writers, photographers, historians, guides, archaeologists, to scientists, History, the leading destination for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event-driven specials, conducts an investigation to unearth these places and have them reveal the tales they’ve hidden for so long.

Premiering Oct. 24 at 10 p.m., Hidden Cities presents over four episodes wherein presenter Anthony Morse travels to a number of countries to dig deep within and discover their long-withheld secrets. In Beijing, he uncovers remnants of Mao Zedong’s Underground City; re-visualizes the Old Summer Palace using cutting edge 3D technology; explores the forgotten tomb of a Ming Dynasty eunuch; and experiences its multi-religion past by gaining access into Beijing’s oldest mosque.

Then, Anthony heads west of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, pushing off the coast of Penang to explore the remote island of Jerajak, once known as Malaysia’s Alcatraz. From there, he moves through a series of explorations, including the haunted Kellie’s Castle, an entire WWII “Trench City” in Kampar; to what could be one of Southeast Asia’s oldest civilizations in Kedah’s Bujang Valley.

Indonesia yields a hidden network of Japanese bunkers to spot Allied naval ships during WWII, relics of some of the biggest forts in the Dutch East Indies, traces of the 15th century Islamic Mataram Kingdom, the palace of the current Sultan of Yogyakarta and a Hindu temple buried for centuries under the volcanic ash of Mount Merapi.

Finally, in Taiwan, Anthony travels to Chiang Kaishek’s secret fortress to reveal the former dictator’s daring plans to retake mainland China; to an entire underground city in the Kinmen Islands; a forgotten Japanese prisoner-of-war camp dating in Ping Tung county; and a lost Japanese settlement in the mountains of Hualien, Taiwan’s largest province.

History is on SkyCable Ch 64; Cablelink Ch44; Dream Ch 27; Destiny Cable Ch 56.