The Amazing Race China Rush Press Conference

Here is an article from yesterday’s press conference:

http://english.eastday.com/e/ics/u1a6033459.html

SHANGHAI, August 3, 2011 -  “The Amazing Race: China Rush”, held its conference and screening ceremony.  Mr. Chen Qiwei, Deputy Director of Information Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and representatives from the Walt Disney Greater China, Dragon TV, and International Channel Shanghai (ICS) attended.

After the huge success of “The Amazing Race: China Rush”, this year ICS joins with Dragon TV to broaden its scope to produce “The Amazing Race: China Rush” (Season Two).  The format is taken directly from Disney ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Amazing Race. Now the shooting of “The Amazing Race: China Rush” (Season Two) has finished and it will premiere on 7 August both on ICS and Dragon TV.

Aiming for a much more exciting and higher quality program, “The Amazing Race: China Rush” (Season Two) retains the strengths from last season while making qualitative change. This year, the race continued last season’s style — compact rhythms and stimulating games. In order to provide a premium quality visual effect, high-definition equipment was used during the whole production process.

Response to the first season was huge, but it is insignificant compared to this season. Now 11 teams of two have passed the tough audition, and they come from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ghana, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Ukraine, and China.

Instead of having all foreign contestants like last season, this year 50% of them come from China: “Canadian Cousins” Cecilia and Mary from Nanjing are both considered part of the “post-90s” generation, giving them a unique perspective on China and the race; Hao Fei’er, a participant in the 2006 singing-reality competition “Super Girl”, forms the team “Rockers” with Sun Bin (Shanghai), willing to show the world another side of recording artists and performers.

Different from Chinese participants’ home advantage, foreign candidates not only need to conquer the trick spots created by the race itself, but also have to deal with language barriers, cultural differences, and unfamiliar surroundings. With the purpose of creating a relatively egalitarian situation for all teams, the cities involved in the journey are strictly confidential, some of them are comparatively remote, making them unfamiliar both for Chinese and foreign teams.

Certainly among all the foreign contestants, there are exceptions. Howie and Rhett (USA) have been living separately in China for over 30 years, and are fluent in Mandarin. Known by other teams as the “Wise Guys”, being strong championship contenders do not stop them from enjoying the fun of the race; Jan and Lily from Germany and the United States started dating and eventually living together during their time in Shanghai. Both work for large, international companies and are very driven, self-made people. Lily’s fiery personality and Jan’s competitiveness make them a formidable team. Eventually, who will be the last team to win the trip to Hoh Xil provided by Snow Beer? The mystery will be resolved in the 12th episode.

The Race hopes to attract a wider audience, so two separate versions will be produced, Chinese and English, for the first time. On 7 August, the Chinese version will be launched on Dragon TV at 14:10, and the English version with Chinese subtitles will premiere at 20:00 on ICS. During the airing period, an IPAD application on “The Amazing Race: China Rush”, jointly developed by Disney ABC and International Channel Shanghai ICS will be launched, making it easier for the audience to learn more about the race.

The filming of “The Amazing Race: China Rush” (Season Two) not only gets support from the Third Bureau of Information Office of the State Council, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, relevant Information offices of local Municipalities, but also sponsorship from its business partners: Snow Beer provides the grand prize - a Hoh Xil tour valued at four hundred thousand RMB; New Balance provided all the sportswear; Hilton Hotels and Resorts is the designated hotel partner of the race, and Hamilton Watch provides the one and only official timer for The Race.

The host of the upcoming “The Amazing Race: China Rush” (Season Two) will still be the reknowned Chinese-American TV sensation Allan Wu, who has hosted all four seasons of “The Amazing Race Asia”.

For detailed information, please visit  http://www.chinarush.