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00:00THE END
00:35The history that we were all taught growing up is wrong.
00:39My name is Scott Wolter, and I'm a forensic geologist.
00:43There's a hidden history in this country that nobody knows about.
00:46There are pyramids here, chambers, tombs, descriptions.
00:51They're all over this country.
00:53We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites, and we're going to get to the truth.
00:57Sometimes history isn't what we've been told.
01:05It'sным.
01:17We are going to investigate these artifacts.
01:18We are essentially all기 sold out more than a populaire.
01:22We are easy to find out where we can't find it.
01:25Therefore, we can find a reality, they're probably nothing more than a living Kotlin.
01:28Of course, we aren't making things more awesome.
01:31Just outside of San Francisco, mysterious rock walls line the hillside.
01:39They are known as the East Bay Rock Walls, and they stretch for miles.
01:54I received a tip about the cryptic circumstances surrounding them.
01:59No one knows how they got here.
02:02If they were built by man, and if so, why?
02:11It's strange we know so little about these walls.
02:15As a geologist, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try and solve this mystery.
02:23Recently, I investigated another impressive rock wall down in Texas.
02:27After a closer look, that wall ended up being natural.
02:33But from what I've seen so far, I don't think that's the case here.
02:53Today, the rock walls are split up into different groups and stretch nearly 50 miles across the California foothills.
03:01A majority of the walls are two to three stones high.
03:05But the more impressive areas are up to eight feet tall.
03:12Based on the way the different segments are constructed, I think one group of people built the entire thing.
03:18But who were they?
03:20And what were these walls for?
03:24I can't help but think there's more to this than meets the eye.
03:29I tracked down somebody who may have more information.
03:32He's a local researcher who spent years trying to crack this geological phenomenon.
03:38Have a seat.
03:38Well, Olaf, I have to say this wall is mysterious.
03:43I looked at it and it runs for as far as the eye can see in both directions.
03:48Tell me about the archaeology that's been done here.
03:50One of the surprising things is not a lot.
03:52There was some work done in the 1980s by an amateur geologist.
03:56But beyond that, very, very little has been done.
03:59Really?
03:59Yeah.
04:00No archaeology that you're aware of?
04:02Not that I'm aware of.
04:03Well, that surprises me because, I mean, this is a very large feature.
04:07You would think that archaeologists would want to know who built this thing.
04:12It's roughly 50 miles in length.
04:14And it's funny because most people don't even know it's here.
04:17So it doesn't get any kind of attention.
04:19It's just up here.
04:20If I went down to the local grocery store, would people even know this is here?
04:23Probably not.
04:24I asked some people I knew that have lived here for a long time.
04:27None of them had ever heard of it.
04:29That's amazing.
04:30So how did you find out about this wall?
04:32Well, I read a column about things that are strange in our area.
04:36And I came across the rock wall and I wanted to write about it.
04:40It's definitely a huge mystery.
04:42Yeah, absolutely.
04:43It took somebody a long time to build this.
04:47I looked around a little bit and I did a few tests.
04:49And one of the things I figured out pretty quick is every rock that I tested here, it's all limestone.
04:54Well, you know, there's something I want to show you.
04:57Got a rock sample here that I collected.
05:00So I was given special permission by the Park Service.
05:03If you take a look at that sample, do you see the weathering rind around the core there?
05:08I do.
05:08That's limestone.
05:10And that weathering rind is very thick.
05:13It's up to a half inch thick, pretty much all the way around it.
05:16Because it goes all the way around, it looks to me that the weathering took place after the wall was
05:21built.
05:22This is just a rough estimate, but I would say that that weathering rind probably took at least two to
05:27three hundred years, if not longer.
05:29So whoever built this wall, it's been here for a long time.
05:33That's really important because up until now, we haven't really had any idea of how old it is.
05:38I mean, we hear stories and legends about this person and that person built it, but we've never had a
05:43definitive date on its actual age.
05:48There is one other thing I'd like to do.
05:50I brought a spade with me and I'd like to dig down at the base of the wall to see
05:55if the rocks extend into the ground at all or if they were just built up on the surface.
06:06I can't believe a rock wall this big stretching 50 miles along the California landscape has never been investigated by
06:14modern scientists.
06:18I'm curious to know just how far down these rocks go into the ground.
06:29How's it looking?
06:31Well, this big rock right here goes down about 10 inches and it's still going.
06:37This is a big rock.
06:38And so really, there's only a couple of possibilities here.
06:42One is this is natural.
06:43It's been here the whole time and they built the wall on top of it.
06:47The other possibility is they dug a trench here and put the rocks in.
06:51And then it just naturally filled in from higher elevation over time.
06:55Some of these others are definitely going down into the ground at least some distance.
06:59So the wall may actually be taller.
07:02Yeah, well, it is taller for sure here.
07:04You know, I think we've done all we can do here.
07:06Why don't we go check out another part of the wall?
07:08Sounds good.
07:32Well, Olaf, I know you've thought about this.
07:34What are some of the theories about who built this wall?
07:37Well, as with many mysteries, there are a lot of theories out there.
07:40It really runs the gambit.
07:43One theory says Native Americans living in the area are responsible, but the local tribes
07:49typically didn't build walls.
07:51Another theory says it was built by a group of people called Lemurians who made it to California
07:57from the mythical island of Mu.
08:01A final, even more explosive theory is that the Chinese built them.
08:07You know, there's a professor from Berkeley around 1900 who talks about the possibility
08:12that this wall was made by the Chinese.
08:16Many people don't realize it.
08:18But in the 1400s, the Chinese had the largest maritime fleet in the world.
08:23Their most famous admiral was Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He.
08:28But the Chinese had commanded massive fleets of state-of-the-art ships since the 11th century,
08:33trading all around the China Sea.
08:36The question is, did they go farther?
08:40And could these walls be proof?
08:45We know the Chinese began building the Great Wall of China thousands of years ago
08:50as physical barriers to protect farmers.
08:53If they made landfall in what is now the United States, did they build a similar structure here?
09:03What do you think?
09:04The idea that it could be the Chinese, you know, that's as good as any other.
09:07I mean, right now we have nowhere to start.
09:09And they did build walls.
09:11The idea of the Chinese coming to America before Columbus is not new.
09:15It's been around for hundreds of years.
09:17I've received a lot of tips from people who think there is evidence here.
09:21I've actually worked on a project where stone boat anchors were found off the coast of Los Angeles.
09:27The Chinese ships coming over here trading had dropped down and left.
09:32And some people think they were here in the 1800s.
09:34Some say these things are thousands of years old.
09:37Unfortunately, I wasn't able to prove definitively one way or the other
09:40because the sea urchins had chewed them up to the point where we just couldn't make that determination.
09:45I think starting with the Chinese, I think that's a great place to start.
09:49Well, if we can develop some tangible physical evidence that ties the Chinese to this wall,
09:55well, that would rewrite a whole new chapter of American history.
10:18I'm in California investigating mysterious rock walls just outside of San Francisco.
10:25The walls are incredible.
10:27They stretch for 50 miles and they're definitely man-made.
10:33But what I find even more interesting is that they've never been officially examined.
10:39Who built them? When? And why?
10:42One theory says the Chinese did, long before Columbus discovered the New World.
10:48But I still need evidence to prove it.
10:53If I could find some sort of artifact connecting the walls with ancient Chinese explorers,
10:58that would be the evidence I need to make my case.
11:15But first, I want to know who from China could have come here and how they could have made such
11:21an epic voyage.
11:24So, Gunnar, I understand you're the man to talk to about early Chinese exploration of the world.
11:30Yes. There were migrations across the ocean.
11:34They left artifacts. They left legends.
11:36But what is really important is the explorers that make maps.
11:40I understand that major historical events are basically categorized by which dynasty they're associated with.
11:47Which dynasty is associated with exploration?
11:51Well, the most important dynasty would have been in the 15th century and that would be the Ming dynasty.
11:56And it was referred to as the golden era of Chinese history.
11:59The main emperor was Zhu Di and he picked a navigator by the name of Zheng He to be his
12:05admiral to send fleets across the oceans.
12:09Admiral Zheng He was the greatest explorer of the Ming dynasty and went on to become a great diplomat and
12:16leader.
12:16He's remembered today as a symbol of China's ancient seafaring abilities.
12:21Tell me a little bit about those explorations and how big were these fleets?
12:25Well, there were seven expeditions in all.
12:27The largest fleet at the beginning was about 137 ships and 28,000 men.
12:3328,000?
12:3428,000.
12:34And the largest ships, the Beochuan or treasure ships, were approximately 400 to 500 feet long.
12:41That's well over a football field.
12:43Exactly.
12:43There might have been anywhere from 5 to 10 or possibly 30, some scholars say, in a fleet.
12:48I mean, this is a major undertaking.
12:50We're talking about what time period now?
12:52The first expedition was in 1405 and they went to 1433.
12:57Where did these voyages go?
13:00Well, they started out in Nanjing, which is sort of northeastern China.
13:06And they went down the China Sea to Vietnam, Sumatra, then the east coast of India.
13:13They went on from the coast of India to Arabia, Somalia, and then down to Kenya.
13:20So there was all the way down the African coast.
13:23How many miles are we talking here?
13:25I estimate about 11,000 miles.
13:2811,000 miles?
13:29Right.
13:30Do you think they made it to North America?
13:32I know they did because it's on their maps.
13:35The first one here is generally called the Shanghai Jing, which means the book of mountains and seas.
13:41There are elements within the Shanghai Jing that have a correspondence with real life.
13:46So there is a good reason to believe that this map was based on that geographical account.
13:52So I'm guessing that this circled area here is probably China.
13:56Yes.
13:57And I suspect that's Africa, that's Europe.
14:00Then this can only be North and South America, right?
14:03Right.
14:04Some of the territories on this map also reflect references to geography.
14:11One of those is the Great Luminous Canyon.
14:13And some people have said that it referred to the Grand Canyon.
14:16Is that mentioned here in the text?
14:18On the text of this map, it's called here the Bright Chasm Mountains.
14:22I recently investigated the legend of a buried treasure in a cave in the Grand Canyon.
14:27An early newspaper article attributed the treasure to the Egyptians.
14:31But the fact that we're talking about Chinese treasure ships and there are maps suggesting Chinese explorers were here definitely
14:38has me intrigued.
14:39There's a section that says high skies, mountains, and that might relate to the high mountains of Alaska, I think.
14:47And then in the southern part, there's a section that says depending on heaven mountains.
14:52And that could correlate to the Andes.
14:53Andes, sure.
14:54This is where we get into the situation of a Chinese map being an improvement over an earlier map.
15:02You can probably identify some territories on this map.
15:04Yes, I can.
15:05And we got Africa here.
15:07We got Europe.
15:09We've got India.
15:11We've got China.
15:13We've got Asia.
15:14And this over here can only be North America and South America.
15:19In a lot of cases, these ancient maps are like fingerprints.
15:23Right.
15:23They're the kind of proof that you'd look for at a crime scene that tell you exactly who did the
15:28map, what's on it, and when it was done.
15:30What's the age of this map then?
15:32The original was done by navigators that went with Zheng He in about 1435.
15:37Clearly it's Chinese, and it's got very good representations of North and South America.
15:43I mean, this is for Columbus.
15:45Exactly.
15:46What's going on over here?
15:47Well, this is a very important detail.
15:49You've got an improvement here that relates partially to the explorations of Marco Polo down the west coast,
15:55and then to the subsequent explorations of Ming geographers.
15:59So what would you identify that as?
16:01Well, if this is North America, this can only be the west coast, California?
16:07Exactly.
16:08Wait a minute, Gunnar.
16:08You're saying that Marco Polo, the famous Italian explorer, made it to what is now California?
16:15Not only made it to California, he was there spying for the Pope.
16:28After looking at impressive man-made walls outside of San Francisco, and a series of maps crafted by the Chinese
16:36in the 1400s,
16:37I'm thinking there's good reason to believe the Chinese beat Christopher Columbus to America.
16:43But a new detail on one of the maps has me wondering about the exploits of an Italian explorer who
16:49also shows up on the map, Marco Polo.
16:52I just learned his real job might not have been as an explorer, but as a spy.
16:58But what's his connection to China?
17:03Gunnar, let me get this straight.
17:04You're saying that Marco Polo, the famous Italian explorer, was spying for the Pope?
17:09The idea that he was an explorer was his cover story.
17:14Pope Innocent IV sent his father and uncle to China in order to pick up as much knowledge as they
17:19could about Chinese technological weapons.
17:22And when his father and uncle got too old to do the field work, they went back to Venice and
17:26picked up Marco Polo.
17:28So Marco Polo's real job was to go out on these Chinese expeditions across the Pacific Ocean and map the
17:34entire coast of North America.
17:36And so the maps proved that he served as a spy.
17:40Gunnar's theories are incredible.
17:42He's already shown me two maps that are strong evidence the Chinese beat Columbus to North America.
17:47Now he says Marco Polo, the Italian explorer who traveled throughout Asia during the 13th century,
17:54made it to the West Coast with the Chinese fleets while on a secret mission for the Pope.
17:59So do you have one of these maps of North America that we can trace back to Marco Polo?
18:04Yes, I do.
18:05This map by Abraham Ortelius that dates to about the 1580s and shows the entire West Coast along with the
18:16Mongolian territories in Asia.
18:18So this is the territory of the Grand Khan, the Great Khan, which would have been Kubla Khan, Marco Polo's
18:24boss.
18:24So what this map tells us is that there were some geographers that knew that Marco Polo was serving as
18:31a diplomat for Kubla Khan and acquiring all of these West Coast territories in North America.
18:38Well, how could he claim this land if he didn't know it was there?
18:41Precisely.
18:41Somebody had to have been there and mapped it.
18:43Exactly.
18:44So really what this map proves is that there was pre-Columbian exploration all the way down the western coast
18:51of North America.
18:52Exactly.
18:54That's amazing.
18:55It is.
18:56I was just in California.
18:58I looked at some very interesting stone walls just outside of San Francisco.
19:05They stretch for over 50 miles and nobody knows when they were built.
19:11These certainly weren't made recently and they could very well be hundreds of years old, maybe older than that.
19:17When Marco Polo traveled down the West Coast, he got to a region approximately where San Francisco is located.
19:22Your map evidence here is not only convincing, but it's conclusive.
19:27There's no question in my mind that early Chinese explorers definitely made it to what is now North America.
19:33And these walls that I looked at tell me that there could be more evidence over in China.
19:40The rock walls I saw in California stumped me at first.
19:44Who built them?
19:45Why?
19:47And more importantly, why don't we know anything about them?
19:52But maybe we know more than we think.
19:55The maps I looked at don't lie.
19:57It seems clear to me the Chinese were aware of North America before Columbus.
20:03And since they brought Marco Polo along on their voyages, he also knew about North America.
20:09A secret he relayed back to the Pope in Europe who he was spying for.
20:15But now I want to know, how do the walls outside of San Francisco compare to the largest wall of
20:21all time?
20:21The Great Wall of China.
20:24The Great Wall of China.
21:03The Great Wall of China.
21:13I'm in China looking for something, anything that connects the rock walls in California with the seafaring Chinese.
21:22What I find here could be the missing piece of evidence
21:24I need to turn this theory into historical fact
21:32Crystal, how are you?
21:34Good, how are you?
21:35Nice to finally meet you
21:36This is Mr. Dong
21:37Hi Mr. Dong, Scott Walter
21:41Welcome to the wall
21:42This is spectacular to say the least
21:45One of the seven wonders of the world
21:47I'm standing on a portion of the Great Wall
21:49Built during the Ming Dynasty
21:51Which stretches 5,500 miles
21:53But amazingly, long before that era
21:57Other dynasties had built smaller sections of the wall throughout China
22:01So, if you joined all these walls together
22:04They would stretch for more than 12,000 miles
22:08How long would it have taken to build all these walls?
22:11When did it start and when did it end?
22:152,600 years ago, the Chinese started to build the Great Wall
22:18From the very first Chinese dynasty that started the construction
22:22Through the end of the Ming Dynasty
22:24The total amount of building time spans more than 2,000 years
22:37Well, the obvious question that one has to ask
22:39Why did they build such a massive structure?
22:43The ancient Chinese had two main trades
22:46Hunting and farming
22:47The west and the south of China had natural barriers
22:51But the north had nothing
22:52The hunting civilization needed goods from the farming civilization
22:56And there were two ways they got these items
22:58Robbing or trading
23:01In order to avoid conflicts between the two civilizations
23:04The farming civilization decided to build these massive wall barriers
23:09So the wall ensured that people would trade fairly with each other
23:14And it kind of forced them to do things the right way
23:17Exactly
23:19This helped the ancient Chinese avoid conflicts over the centuries
23:29One of the reasons I'm here at the Great Wall
23:32Is to investigate the question of whether or not ancient Chinese
23:35May have come to what is now North America
23:37I'd like to show you a few pictures
23:40These are some of the walls right here
23:43And like here where the wall goes in the mountaintops
23:47These also go at the top of these mountains in Southern California
23:51And they go for over 50 miles
23:54You can see the construction is different
23:56Here you have stone and mortar construction
24:00This is drywall
24:02These have been stacked
24:03Do you have anything like this here
24:06As part of the Great Wall of China?
24:08Yes
24:09Actually we do
24:12Really?
24:13So you're saying there are portions of the Great Wall
24:16That look like these walls I saw in California?
24:35My investigation started in California
24:38Where mysterious man-made rock walls line the hillsides outside of San Francisco
24:44There is no historical explanation for why they're here
24:47But I'm determined to find one
24:51Map evidence suggests that the Chinese knew about North America
24:55Hundreds of years before Columbus
24:57And that famed explorer Marco Polo
25:00Could have landed here in the 13th century
25:03If that's true
25:04Is it possible that the Chinese and Marco Polo
25:07Are responsible for these walls?
25:11At first I didn't think so
25:13But the wall's unexplained existence
25:15Coupled with the map revelations
25:17Are too intriguing to ignore
25:21Right now I've still got more questions than answers
25:28Are there portions of the Great Wall
25:30That look like these walls I saw in California?
25:35I'm really impressed by the walls in your photo
25:37They don't resemble the Ming Dynasty wall we are standing on right now
25:42But they look very similar to portions of the Great Wall
25:44People were building here in China around 200 BC
25:49That's amazing
25:53A lot of the older parts of the wall
25:55Recently uncovered in Inner Mongolia and Northern China
25:58Look like the walls in these photos
26:01If you wouldn't have said these were in California
26:03I would have thought you were showing me photos of the walls in Northern China
26:09Well this is really encouraging to hear
26:11Is there anything around here that you could show me?
26:14Sure, no problem
26:21I can't believe there are walls in Northern China
26:24That look so much like the mystery walls in Northern California
26:28Hard evidence like that convinces me I'm on the right track
26:33I've gotten special access to see a so-called wild wall
26:37That demonstrates how many construction styles were used to build the Great Wall
26:43Unfortunately, it's not exactly like the walls in Northern China
26:46Mr. Dong told me about
26:48But it's easy to see the Chinese were using different building techniques
26:54Well, this is a lot different than what we saw with all the tourists
26:58This has not been kept up
27:00But it's still just as amazing
27:02It goes up and down the mountains
27:07This area is closer to where people live
27:10It's closed to all tourists in order to maintain and preserve what's left
27:14And what was this structure used for?
27:17This part of the wall is referred to as enemy defense
27:20They would store weapons here
27:22As well as soldiers to stand guard and watch for enemies approaching
27:27Like how many people?
27:28Typically, these structures would house 3-5 people
27:31But this one is bigger and would have held 10-20 soldiers
27:34During the day, the soldiers monitored the trading between civilizations
27:38But when enemies were spotted
27:41They would pass along signals from one station to another
27:44To warn other soldiers
27:49When an army would be invading here
27:51How did they tell the rest of their men that something was going down?
27:58One method was with flags
28:00Another method was with fire at night
28:02These methods of warning each other about approaching enemies
28:06Reaches all the way back to 700 BC
28:12This is fascinating because Native Americans would also use fire
28:16They would use smoke
28:17Body gestures to convey messages from mountaintops and hilltops
28:23The reason for this could be that great men think alike
28:26Or another possibility is that there was direct communication between the two continents
28:31And the people exchanged ideas
28:34Do you think ancient Chinese navigators made it to what is now the United States?
28:41Yes, I think it's very possible
28:43Maybe it was human nature to explore and communicate with different nations
28:55This case continues to grow
28:58First, did Ming Dynasty explorers make it to the west coast of North America in 1433?
29:04And if they did, were they actually following in the footsteps of earlier Chinese sailors
29:09Who brought Marco Polo with them?
29:11The evidence is mounting
29:13But I still need more proof
29:15Like a journal
29:16Or a Chinese artifact found on American soil
29:19Something that links North America with ancient China once and for all
29:46I'm investigating the theory that ancient explorers from China made it to the west coast of North America before Columbus
29:57Mysterious rock walls in California inspired my research
30:01And ancient maps from the Ming Dynasty and earlier suggest I'm on to something
30:07There are distinct similarities between the California rock walls and ancient parts of the Great Wall of China
30:14I now know Marco Polo who was spying for the Pope might have tagged along on a Chinese voyage 150
30:21years before another Chinese Voyager supposedly made the trip
30:38Now I need to learn about this explorer Admiral Zheng He
30:41I'm meeting an admiral from the Chinese Navy at a park that honors this great Ming Dynasty explorer
30:48We know he made seven epic voyages going as far as Africa and a growing number of scholars think
30:54He made it even farther to the shores of North America
30:58I've examined map evidence that builds a strong case in proving the Chinese beat Columbus to the new world
31:04All that's missing is physical proof
31:08This is massive
31:12This is a replica of a Chinese treasure ship from the Ming Dynasty
31:16When Admiral Zheng He made his seven epic voyages
31:21This ship is 20 jeng in ancient Chinese measurements, which is 230 feet
31:27How many people could this ship carry?
31:32There were around 400 people on each treasure ship
31:37Why did China want to build this replica here?
31:43Nanjing was actually the capital of China during the Ming Dynasty
31:46The shipyard was located right here on the Yangtze River, almost exactly where we're standing
31:52This is where Admiral Zheng He built all his treasure ships, 600 years ago
31:59What would this ship carry?
32:01What was the purpose of this ship?
32:04This type of boat always contained treasures, such as silk, that Admiral Zheng He would use to trade or give
32:10away as a sign of friendship
32:11How many ships were in a fleet?
32:21The fleet would have almost 200 ships of all different sizes
32:25The treasure ship was the flagship, the biggest in the fleet
32:30We're talking about a massive fleet
32:32How far could they go?
32:37According to ancient Chinese measurement, they sailed more than 100,000 li
32:41Which is 50,000 kilometers in modern measurement
32:4450,000?
32:46Yes
32:47If Zheng He went to Africa, why could he not have sailed to the east and gone to North America?
32:56We think Admiral Zheng He died at sea during the seventh voyage, so he himself didn't make it to North
33:02America
33:02But I think it's very possible his fleets could have made it that far, or even Chinese fleets before his
33:08time
33:13Chinese scholars continue to uncover historical evidence, once thought to be lost forever, about the epic voyages of Zheng He
33:22Many think one of the voyages could have made it to North America 60 years before Columbus
33:29Maybe they'll even find evidence from the dynasty before the Ming
33:33The dynasty of Kublai Khan and the Italian explorer and possible spy Marco Polo
33:41I'm absolutely convinced that ancient Chinese definitely made it to America
33:45This ship like this would have no problem making it
33:49But the scholars are gonna say, that's fine, you have an opinion, but where is the hard evidence?
33:55And I have to admit, it's a good point, so what I need to find is a tangible artifact that
34:01scholars can hold in their hands
34:03Something that will convince them that the ancient Chinese made it to America
34:10I am more convinced now than ever that the ancient Chinese had the know-how and the guts to make
34:17it to North America
34:20The map evidence is strong and the fact that the California rock walls match ancient parts of the Great Wall
34:27in northern China is undeniable
34:29But what I said to the Admiral is right
34:32I still need a physical piece of evidence to end this argument once and for all
34:38And I think I may know just where to look
35:03A while ago, a fellow researcher contacted me and said there was an artifact I needed to see
35:11It was found here in America
35:13But it seems to be of Chinese origin
35:17It's not widely known to the public
35:20And it's protected under lock and key
35:23The only way to examine this artifact is through its owner
35:27A man named Dr. Lee
35:32Could this small bag contain the huge piece of evidence I've been searching for?
35:44My investigation started with mysterious rock walls in California
35:49Some say they prove Ming Dynasty explorers beat Columbus to the New World
35:54And new map evidence says Marco Polo landed on the West Coast even earlier
35:59During the 13th century
36:01Traveling with the Chinese but spying for the Pope
36:07We know the Chinese built walls
36:09The question is, did they build the walls in California?
36:13At first I thought a link with the Great Wall of China was far-fetched
36:18But I was wrong
36:19There are parts of the Great Wall that do match the rock wall near San Francisco
36:25But I know scholars demand proof in the form of artifacts
36:30And that's what I'm hoping to find here
36:41There is a treasure hunter who found this buried in ground four inches down
36:48Wow, and this was how long ago?
36:51He found it in 1993
36:52Western part of North Carolina into the foothills of Appalachian
36:57So this was found in North America in the Appalachian Mountains, 250 miles from the ocean
37:05Right
37:06Do I see Chinese characters here?
37:09Yes, it says Great Ming Shen De commissioned or delegated to give
37:15Zhuang Di was the fifth emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty
37:20He ruled from 1425 to 1435 AD
37:24Which means he took over right before Admiral Zheng He's seventh and final voyage
37:30This reminds me of a peace medal that were given to the Native Americans to build strategic alliances
37:36It's given out along with a lot of gifts
37:40This is just the card, the emperor's card
37:43This was his business card that he was handing out
37:45This is his business card, telling everybody that, hey, I'm the new emperor
37:48How do you think this medallion got to that spot?
37:51How did that happen?
37:53Well, it's changed hands through different tribes
37:56They probably trade with each other
37:58Okay
37:59Trade was the impetus for all types of exploration
38:02It's what led people like Columbus, Magellan, Marco Polo, and Admiral Zheng He to voyage far beyond their borders
38:11Dr. Li believes that in 1433, Admiral Zheng He, or at least one of his ships, did make it to
38:19North America
38:19However, not to the west coast, but the east
38:25It's possible, and this medallion could be a clue
38:29But the provenance of it is a problem
38:31I'm a bit skeptical
38:33Until Dr. Li reveals his second piece of evidence
38:37A map
38:38Made public in 1602, but that was likely made long before
38:43It's always thought to be the work of an Italian Jesuit named Matteo Ricci, who came to China in 1582
38:56Okay, so they think that he was the one that made this map
39:00Yes, people always think that he got his information from European maps
39:05And translated that into Chinese
39:08But this map is not translated from European maps
39:13It is a map done by the Chinese 60 years before Columbus set sail
39:20Europe is very old
39:22It doesn't have Florence
39:23It doesn't have the Papal States
39:25As a Jesuit, Matteo Ricci could not have left out Florence and the Papal States
39:33Well, no, he wouldn't have left out
39:34It's just like a U.S. map today without Washington, D.C. and New York City
39:41Since this map makes no reference to some major European cities, like Florence
39:46It's likely it was created and translated much earlier than the 1500s
39:52Therefore, I believe Dr. Lee makes a good argument that the Chinese discovered North America long before Columbus
40:00And if that's true, what's to say Marco Polo didn't come with them as a spy for the Pope?
40:06Look at North America here
40:08What I see with all the rivers, the mountains
40:11I mean, you can tell immediately that that is North America
40:14This is going to take hundreds of years of mapping to get this level of detail
40:20This had to have been long before Columbus to develop a map of this detail
40:25I mean, this is incredible
40:27You can actually identify the places today matching the names on this map
40:32There's a name here, Apalchon, which is now Appalachian
40:36This name appeared in another Chinese map
40:39That predates Richie's map
40:42That's amazing
40:43The knowledge of western part of North America
40:46It's only started with Lewis and Clark in 1804 to 1806
40:51That's laughable now
40:52So it's 200 years before Lewis and Clark
40:55We already have the western part of North America in such detail
41:00To get that level of detail would have taken hundreds of years
41:03And according to established history, Europeans could not have done it
41:07So really the only other plausible candidates you have are the Chinese
41:12Because half of the names are not found on European maps
41:16Mean that the Chinese had to have been to these places
41:20Name them before Columbus made any of his four voyages
41:24That's absolutely true
41:25You realize what you're saying?
41:27You're blowing the lid off of all the scholars
41:29Absolutely
41:30Long-held beliefs of the history of America
41:35Did the ancient Chinese come to America?
41:38My answer is yes
41:40The question now is when?
41:43And was Marco Polo part of that voyage?
41:46There are rock walls in California that started me on my quest for the truth
41:50And the discovery that they look a lot like parts of the Great Wall of China
41:55There's a medallion that honors an emperor from the Ming dynasty discovered in North Carolina
42:01There are detailed maps proving an ancient connection to Admiral Zheng He
42:06And possibly even to the dynasty before him
42:09Could Chinese explorers have actually stepped foot on North American soil in the 13th century?
42:15And was Marco Polo with them spying for the Pope?
42:19Together, these things are all clues to an ancient Chinese connection to America
42:24We're just starting to understand
42:29Next time on America Unearthed
42:31The LeBron Great Party found an inscribed stone at the top of a pillar
42:35It was put at this place for a reason
42:37It was about claiming land and trying to steal America
42:40Not a biographer has written about this
42:44If you have a mysterious artifact or site I need to see, I want to know about it
42:49Go to history.com slash unearthed
42:52Thank you
42:52You
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