BYG in China

BYG in China is a 2005 special produced by the Baby Einstein Company which originally aired on NBC on May 29. In the first international special based on School and the Backyard Gang, the Backyard Gang is inspired by a Chinatown scroll, and the story of the legendary Phoenix. After coaxing the shopkeeper into lending them the scroll, the kids take a slow boat to China. They soon make a new friend, little Ming Na, and receive enigmatic hints from the Goat King.
Filmed on location in Beijing and elsewhere, the Great Wall of China and Mao's Tomb are amongst the landmarks shown. Also featured are assorted street dancers, cheerful Communists, and a song about saying "Hello" in Chinese.
The special was adapted into a book by Jon Stone.
== Reviews ==
...But the Backyard Gang's voice, prattling all the way, began to grate on this viewer early in the extended travelogue.
Fortunately China, in the form of its landscapes, its culture, and the most delightful on-camera youngster since Shirley Temple tap-danced down the stairway with Bill Robinson, saved the day. Six-year-old Shiny Chen (sic) swoops down on the seven kids and flies off with the whole show...
If there is one lesson to be learned from this special, it is that kids should be served in small portions. And as Jasmine Woods herself might say, I have news for you, 'BYG,' your Season 10 cast simply does not have my charisma.
== Songs ==
* "Off to China"
* "Ni Hao"
* "Goat King Song"
== Trivia ==
* The DVD release cuts out all of the Backyard Gang's lines of dialogue in regards to "speaking American".
* A running storyline was written by Gumpel and Burr featuring Philip Miller, who would host a travelogue from various locations in China, but each sight would be blocked by an incoming Chinese water buffalo. At the special's end, the buffalo would follow Philip back to Studio C. The scenes were scrapped when Gumpel discovered "water buffalos stink to high heaven. They also aren’t field-trained. So David said he didn’t have the heart to ask Philip Miller to lie down in that slop."
* According to Liz Rose Andersen, a sequence with Carlos Juan Celi riding a unicycle down the street was filmed, but didn't make it into the final cut. 
== Cast ==
* Shiny Chen as Ming Na
* Isabella Wong as the Shopkeeper
* Hua Zhi-Ping as the Storyteller
* Quan She-Zhen, Liu Xia-Shen, Xiu Tien-Ed, Lu Fu-Hai, Wu Chu-Lian, Li Jiang, Chou Yi-Ping, Zhang Xin-Tien as the Goat Kings
* Wang Kwan-Wei and Ting Bao-Yi as Lion Dogs
* Lu Ja-Lin as the Dancing Phoenix
* Katherine Lakoski as the Singing Phoenix
* Duck Dancers from North Hsin Hua Street Kindergarten
* Jennifer Michelle Brown
* Philip Miller
* Lucia Becker
* Denise Dorn
* Carlos Juan Celi
* Sean Hanley
* Kelly Bixby
Category:Specials