…And We’re Off!!!

And just like that, the newest season of The Amazing Race China Rush is off and running…or racing!  Last Sunday, we’re premiered the first episode, and it’s been great to see how happy our fans are to finally get this show on the road.  I’m also excited to be able to finally share some pictures from the race myself.  As many of you already know, we chose to kick off the new season from the iconic Bund in Shanghai, and all the teams were amped up and ready to go!

As our intrepid eleven teams lined up together for the first (and last) time, this was their first real opportunity to assess and size up their competition.  But before they could initiate a “heart to heart” session with their potential adversaries, it was time to get moving…

…and before you could say “Intersection,” it was time to “Go!”  In an unexpected twist of fate, I announced that one unfortunate team would be eliminated at the starting line if they were the last team to complete the first challenge, which required every team to find the symbol for “One” in the ancient Hanci dictionary.  Rob and Jia Jia were the last team complete the task, and I had the unenviable responsibility of delivering the gut-wrenching news.  Sorry, Rob and Jia Jia!

From this exciting start, the teams headed towards Yang Cheng…

…and they knew better than to be monkeying around (unless their Road Block soon required them to build a swing with just the supplies given for a monkey!)

One by one, the teams raced their way as quickly as possible to the first pit stop of the season.  Here’s a shot of Ryan and Charlie going through what went down in the leg…

Henry and Jennifer were the last team to arrive, but this leg happened to be a non-elimination round so they were still in it to win it.  Of course, we just had to give them a small “Speed Bump” of a surprise for the next ep!

For the second leg of race, we went way way up north to the edge of China in Suifenhe, and I couldn’t even read the signs in the town…

Since we were so close to Russia, it was only fitting that we set up this next pit stop right on the last stop before you enter the land that brought you vodka, AK-47′s, and Matroyshka dolls…

Khai Shing and Khai Sheng were relieved to have completed this second leg of the race…

…especially when you never know whether your name is next on the chopping block!

And there you have it…a quick Wu-cap of The Amazing Race China Rush thus far.  I’ll try to post up another soon after the next leg.  In the meantime, here’s a shot from our next exciting episode…

Can you guess where we might be racing off to next???