Peking Express
Peking Express was an adventure show, which aired from May to July 2005, RTL. Eight couples competed to cover a distance of about 10,000 km from Moscow to Beijing.
- 4.1 Russia
- 4.2 Mongolia
- 4.3 China
General
The race started in August 2004 and took a total of 43 days. The eight pairs had to reach into twelve stages from Moscow to Beijing. They had to cope with all sorts of problems. These included the lack of knowledge of the local language, the changing climate, diseases and the daily organization of a place to sleep. For the sparse equipment included maps in the local language, a Cyrillic alphabet, a paper on which their situation in the national language was declared and a budget of one euro per person and day.
The series was inspired by Jerry Bruckheimer's The Amazing Race, but which has a slightly abgeändertes concept.
Peking Express was moderated by Patrice Bouédibéla. The theme song is " Summon the Worms " by Brian Tyler from the album Children of Dune.
Game rules
Stages
In each subsequent one stage has been shown, which has been handled in three or four days. Players were allowed to exclusively during the day and move hitchhiking. At night they had themselves looking for a place to sleep with the locals. Each pair was accompanied by a camera crew. However, the employee could not communicate with candidates and not help them. At night, the candidates were alone with their respective hosts.
Who reached the milestone first, was the stage winner. Until the seventh stage there was a ranking. According to the order in which the couple arrived at the respective stage finish, points were distributed. This is also the order to start the next stage gave ( head start ). The couple, who at the end of a so-called " elimination stage " had the fewest points had to finish the race.
From the eighth stage was a simple knock-out system. Well had to go the team that arrived last at the goal at the end of each second stage ( 9th and 11th stage ). The last two remaining pairs contested the final in Beijing.
Amulets and bonuses
The amulet games that took place at a place in the middle of the stage, it was about money. In the first stages all still took place in the race couples in the games, later only the two pairs who reached the venue first. The last two amulet games took place at the finals in Beijing. Every amulet was worth € 10,000, were a total of ten amulets, ie up to 100,000 € to win. The money was paid to the couple who won the final in Beijing. If a couple who had amulets, go to retire, it had to give these to a pair of his choice. The couple had more than an amulet, it had to give up all on a single pair.
At the " bonus games " participated in the first two or three couples who arrived at the venue. The winning couple received a long-range projection.
Final
At the end of the last leg of the final was held in Beijing. The two pairs still in the game, it would thereby various clues across the Chinese capital follow. In two places at the last amulet games were held. Anja and Marc reached the target ( Drum Tower ) as the first pair, and thus won the race and 90,000 €.
Candidates
The following couples were involved in the race. They are ordered by their success.
- Anja and Marc from Cologne ( winner)
- Susanne and Meik from Dusseldorf
- Eva and Harald from Dusseldorf
- Pia and Janine from Sindelsdorf and Bergheim
- Eva and Hans Jörgen from Mönchengladbach
- Stephan and Steffen from Bad Season stone and Michelau
- Norbert and Klaus from Trendelburg and victory village
- Nadine and Kim from Mönchengladbach and Korschenbroich
Stages
The stages led by Russia, Mongolia and China:
Russia
Mongolia
- Stage 8: Sükhbaatar - Ulan Bator
- Stage 9: Ulan Bator - Tschoir
- Stage 10: Tschoir - Sainschand
China
Reactions
Peking Express was announced by the organizing RTL television as " the biggest adventure of their lives ." The same show ( with other candidates) was previously (2004 ) run in the Belgian and Dutch television ( in cooperation) with great success, where even a second season (2005) from Beijing to Mumbai and a third season ( Beijing Express - de Mekong route - 2006) from the mouth of the Mekong River in Vietnam that were implemented at the source in Tibet along with Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and China to the destination. The finale took place in the capital, Lhasa. The fourth season ( Beijing Express - VIPS ), studded with celebrities, went to India and was broadcast / autumn 2006 in the summer. 2007 was the fifth season, in which the candidates durchtrampten South America from east to west.
In France ran Peking Express 2006 with great success, and a second season, as in Holland / Belgium Himalayan route, ran 2007 now (as of June 2010). Aired the fifth season. Furthermore Peking Express is now running in Sweden, Denmark, Norway ( co-production) and Spain.
At RTL Peking Express had for the transmitter, however, only moderate ratings. An originally planned making-of was not broadcast. One of the reasons for this failure may have been a false expectation among the viewers. In recent years, reality shows through formats such as Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity had - get me out of here! obtain a negative image. The RTL format was compared to the seasons of the other countries on weaknesses in the implementation, since less the travel experiences of the participants, but more the clashes between the teams were placed in the foreground.
However, the candidate consistently attracted to a positive conclusion. In addition to many natural attractions such as Lake Baikal and the Great Wall, they were particularly impressed by the great hospitality and the support of the local population. The majority of participants were dissatisfied with the implementation by RTL.