The Amazing Race 1 (Chinese season)

Did You Know?

• Liu Chang and Jin Dachuan later competed in the third season in 2016 as a replacement for another team axed during production.
• Li Xiaopeng competed on Race the World in 2016.

Production

The first season was filmed from July 21, 2014 to November 23, 2014, with filming not consecutive due to celebrities' schedule problems. A task originally arranged after the Detour of Leg 4 was cancelled due to terrible weather, and the Pit Stop of Leg 8 was forced to be moved for the same reason. Previews on the official site originally cited Austria as a destination after Greece, but this was changed to South Korea during filming for unknown reasons. The Yield on Leg 6 was unaired. This season introduced two twists: the Save and the Versus. Infiniti was the main sponsor, along with Sohu, Satine, and Eastroc Super Drink.

Results

Eight teams participated. Zhong Hanliang and Jackie were subject to placement changes on the first leg: they drove off without their crew members, were the 4th team to the airport, received a penalty causing them to depart last, and were the 4th to the Pit Stop but got a 30-minute penalty for breaking traffic laws, dropping them to 5th. Chen Xiaochu and Zhen Yijian initially arrived 1st but received a 30-minute penalty because Chen Xiaochun performed both Roadblocks; this did not affect their placement. Bai Jugang and Guan Xiaotong were eligible for the same penalty but were eliminated as the last team. The final leg was a double-length leg, the first time in an Amazing Race franchise that an elimination occurred in such a leg.

Prizes

The first-place team on Leg 1 received two Express Passes. Leg 3’s winners got a year’s supply of Satine Organic Milk plus a personal driver and car for the following leg. For Leg 4, the prize was local currency equal to the amount needed for the next leg. Leg 5 awarded a trip covering Jordan, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea. A year’s supply of Satine Organic Milk and a GPS for the next leg went to the Leg 7 victors. Leg 8’s winning team earned a Save, another year’s supply of Satine Organic Milk, and a diamond ring for each racer. Leg 10 gave each winner an Infiniti Q50L, a charity donation, and two trophies. The Save must revive a previously eliminated team.

Race summary

The race began on October 17, 2014, at OCT East in Shenzhen. Teams searched among 50 balloons for one of eight car keys, then picked up an Infiniti Q50 and drove to Luohu Stadium. There, they found a taxi and driver to take them to Hong Kong International Airport, where they reserved one of two flights to New York. In New York, the first Roadblock required one team member to photograph themselves kissing three kinds of people (e.g., a lady with white hair, someone with a child in a stroller) with a polaroid camera outside the Plaza Hotel and exchange the photos for a clue.

The Detour offered a choice between Good Body (American football at East River Park) or Good Memory (memorizing and delivering three pizza orders from Lombardi's Pizza). The second Roadblock had one team member tied in a straitjacket, hung upside-down four storeys high, then freed themselves, climbed to a platform, and jumped onto a soft landing pad for the next clue.