The Amazing Race: China Rush 1

The Amazing Race: China Rush 1 (Chinese: 极速前进：冲刺！中国; pinyin: Jísù Qiánjìn: Chōngcì! Zhōngguó) is the first season of The Amazing Race: China Rush, a Chinese reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. It featured 10 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across 11 cities in China to win a world tour provided by Travelzen. It is the third Asian version of the franchise, after The Amazing Race Asia and HaMerotz LaMillion. The host of the show was Allan Wu, who also hosted the Asian version as well.
The Amazing Race: China Rush premiered on ICS on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. (UTC+8).
Australian and American "flirtatious friends" Charlie Gale and Rachel Chen were the winners of this season.
In 2010, the Chinese TV network International Channel Shanghai acquired the rights to produce a version for its territories. The show was produced by Shanghai-based production company Fly Films. International Channel Shanghai had previously attempted to make their own version of the show entitled Shanghai Rush.
Filming took place between April 28 and June 3, 2010.
In this season, instead of flipping an hourglass, teams that have been forced to Yield had to wait until a spiral of incense finished burning, which took 15 minutes. This season was the first time an Amazing Race franchise had three non-elimination legs in a row, as the American and Asian editions have never had more than two in a row. It was also the first one to not offer any Fast Forward clues (the 14th American edition had an unaired Fast Forward was the first season to do so, and 18th American edition was the first American season overall not to offer any Fast Forward clue).
Applications for the first season ended April 16, 2010 (extended from the original deadline on March 29, 2010).
Episode 2 which scheduled to air on August 15, 2010 was delayed to subsequent week due to National Mourning Day in China for Gansu mudslide victims.
The Amazing Race: China Rush had eight official sponsors: CIIC, Double Tree, Hamilton, Hilton, New Balance, Organic Food, Travelzen and Shanghai International Automobile City.
The 10 teams, all composed of expats living in China, were announced in a press release on April 27, 2010.
Karen is currently the first ever Canadian to be on any of the Amazing Race seasons representing Canada (Canadian citizens Tisha Silang, Natalie Glebova and Vince Chung from The Amazing Race Asia 3 were representing Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong respectively). Rick, Joshua and Charlie are the first Australians to represent their country (similarly, Australian citizens Brett Money of The Amazing Race Asia 2, Henry Chan and Bernie Chan of The Amazing Race Asia 3 were representing Indonesia and Malaysia respectively), Paul & Francis are the first team from an African country (Kenya), and Janis, Aleksandra (Latvia) and Sarah (England) are the first Europeans to represent their home countries (British citizens Andy Lawson, Laura Kluk, Francesca von Etzdorf and Howard Bicknell from The Amazing Race Asia 1 represented Thailand, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka respectively and Frenchwoman Aurelia Chenat of The Amazing Race Asia 2 represented Hong Kong).
Janis Vaisla died on January 9, 2016, after being diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis and while waiting for a heart transplant in Berlin, at the age of 46.
The following teams participated in the season, with their relationships at the time of filming. Note this table does not necessarily reflect all content broadcast on television due to inclusion or exclusion of some data. Placements are listed in finishing order.
The prize for each leg is awarded to the first place team for that leg. All trips are sponsored by TravelZen.
Airdate: August 8, 2010
In this series' first Roadblock, one team member had to eat a turtle, leaving nothing but the shell, to receive their next clue.
Airdate: August 22, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to choose a brick and find its matching halve from 1000 different bricks to receive their next clue.
For their Speed Bump, Paul & Francis had to each make a clay tea cup before they could continue racing.
This series' first Detour was a choice between Warriors Strength or Warriors Skill. In Warriors Strength, teams had to take a boat to an island, perform a ladder climb, and rappel from other side to receive their next clue. In Warriors Skill, teams had to hit a bullseye using spears and arrows from the distance of 10 metres (33 ft) to receive their next clue.
Airdate: August 29, 2010
This leg's Detour was a choice between Rock or Roll. In Rock, teams took a boat across a lake and climbed to the top of the climbing wall to receive their next clue. In Roll, teams located a bicycle cart with a skateboard. One team member then had to take control of the bicycle and cycle around the park to the skating park while the other rode on the skateboard. Once at the skating park, they will receive their next clue.
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to navigate a boat through currents to the other side of the jetty, retrieve a flag and return the boat back in order to receive the next clue.
Airdate: September 5, 2010
This leg's Detour was a choice between Blade or Brush. In Blade, one team member had to cut out the shape of Haibao, the mascot of Expo 2010, while the other team member traced and cut out the background. In Brush, one team member had to correctly write out a specific Chinese character, while the other reproduced a painting of a bamboo grove.
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to finish a 1.5-kilogram (3.3 lb) serving of Yangzhou's famous fried rice to receive their next clue.
Airdate: September 12, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to properly carve a Peking Roast Duck to the head chef's satisfaction to receive their next clue. If the duck was improperly cut, team members had to chop 10 leeks before making another attempt.
This leg's Olympic Games-themed Detour was a choice between Go for Gold or Go for Goal. In Go for the Gold, teams had to search amongst thousands of seats within the stadium's first and third levels to find one of seven gold medals to receive their next clue. In Go for the Goal, one team member had to execute a penalty shot with a soccer ball, while the other team member had to rebound it into an unguarded goal using only their head to receive their next clue.
Airdate: September 19, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to scale the Dragon Reservoir Dam and make their way to a nearby pavilion to receive the next clue.
This leg's Detour was a choice between Trees or Keys. In Trees, teams had to plant a sapling tree to receive their next clue. In Keys, teams had to use one of the keys to open a lock to receive their next clue.
Airdate: September 26, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to scuba dive in Polar Ocean World's tank and search for seven red letters (A, B, A, L, O, N, E). Once done, that team member had to spell out the word on paper to receive their next clue.
This leg's Detour was a choice between Buried Metal or Carried Metal. In Buried Metal, teams had to search a compass in the sand using a metal detector to receive their next clue. In Carried Metal, teams had to make their way to the Qingdao Beer Street, once there, they had to transport six full kegs from one end of the street to the other to receive their next clue.
Airdate: October 3, 2010
For their Speed Bump, Karen & Lisa had to both have their ears cleaned using traditional ear cleaning tools, which are, in essence, pieces of cotton on sticks of wire, before they could proceed to the Detour.
This leg's Detour was a choice between Hot Pot or Tea Pot. In Hot Pot, teams traveled to the Hot Pot Restaurant, where they had to eat a family-sized serving of meat, cocoa, lettuce, which was dipped in Sichuan's famous fiery Hot Pot soup, and a side serving of diced red peppers. Finally, they would have to find a Face-Changer to receive their next clue. In Tea Pot, teams traveled to a historic part of the area and then, with the assistance of two tea masters, had to properly pour tea into seven teacups per team member using ancient tea pots with long spouts to receive their next clue.
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to search the entire 24-acre (97,000 m) area of the Du Fu Cottage to find a scroll which could be traded for the next clue. For the task, the cottage was in complete darkness, and that team member could only use a single flashlight to navigate.
Airdate: October 10, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member would have to wash 10 kilograms (22 lb) of bamboo leaves to clean it and then bring it all to the panda feeding area to receive their next clue. If at any point the leaves drop to the ground along the way, the racer would have to start over.
For their Speed Bump, Deepak & Naresh had to learn and recite a song about Dujiangyan, before they could proceed to the Detour.
This leg's Detour was a choice between Face Detection or Face Detention. In Face Detection, teams received a partial picture of a child's face, whom they had to find in one of the classrooms and then bring to the headmaster's office to receive their next clue. In Face Detention, teams had to copy a sentence in Chinese 50 times onto a blackboard without making any errors to receive their next clue.
Airdate: October 17, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to play golf. They would pick up a club and some tennis balls and hit them towards the hole. If all of the tennis balls landed in the water, they had to retrieve them and try again, but if they could get at least one to land on the island with the hole, they would receive their next clue.
For their Speed Bump, Charlie & Rachel had to help a local farmer and use two water buffalo to plow a field and complete three laps, before they could proceed on to the Detour.
This leg's Detour was a choice between Fish or Float. In Fish, teams had to catch two fish in a rice paddy with their bare hands. In Float, teams would given some bamboo and rope and had to build a raft. They then had to paddle it across Wild Duck Lake without sinking to receive their next clue.
Airdate: October 24, 2010
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to rappel down a large waterfall and swim through a small platform to retrieve the next clue. They then have to swim back to complete the task.
This season's final Detour was a choice between Crags or Cranes. In Crags, teams made their way to an ancient cave. They would find tablets with numbers and Chinese characters. The Chinese characters would translate to an island in the park that contained 500 statues. Teams would have to use the numbers to find the correct statue to find their next clue. In Cranes, teams had to find another island in the park dedicated to the protection of the red-crowned crane. They would then have to herd seven cranes into a pen for the next clue.
Airdate: October 30, 2010
In this season's final Roadblock, one team member had to climb to the top of a giant metal wheel to retrieve their next clue and then rappel back down to the ground.