Things to love about China: 35 of 100

You are winding your way up a mountainous road in the California dessert. Suddenly one of the cars swerves off of the shoulder. You stop. Other cars stop. You and several strangers run down the hill and see if the driver is still alive. He is, but badly injured. Blood and dirt cover his face and he is only able to get a few words out. “Three-Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars,” he says “Buried in Santa Rosita State Park…under a Big W,”

Then, the injured man kicks the bucket (literally) and you wander back to your cars. You all agree to slowly drive down to the Mexican Border to Santa Rosita. You sit back in the driver’s seat. At first, the line of five cars make their way slowly down the pass, but suddenly someone takes off. The race is on.

This is the plot of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963). The concept is simple, but genius. Several groups of pedestrians are racing through the world, seeking fortune. They must use planes, trains, cars, boats, and whatever other means to find it. They are out in the world, interacting with people who don’t know what they know.

The concept has been copied several times: From the American Films “Million Dollar Mystery” (1987) and “Rat Race” (2001) to Bollywood’s “Dhamaal” (2007). There is the short-lived Fox drama “Drive” and the long-running reality show “Amazing Race”. I even plotted out a version of this story when I was a kid… and again in college I wrote a similar story about my dorm friends.

Of all these versions (including my own), it is the “Amazing Race” who really turns this concept into something epic and exciting. I have to admit that I have only recently discovered the show, but it has quickly turned into my favorite reality television series. The series has run eighteen seasons, has seen seventy-six different countries, and won the first seven Emmys in Outstanding Reality Series.

Eleven teams of two people must race in the world’s biggest scavenger hunt. They must compete in challenges, solve puzzles, eat yucky things and the winners receive one million dollars. The race typically visits twelve countries in a season and has visited China in nine of its eighteen seasons, making China the number one raced-through country, other than the States.

And what’s not to love about China? It’s big and grand and there are so many climates, cultures, and cities that you can choose from. You can explore the Great Wall or wash windows in Shanghai. You can eat fish-eyes in Beijing or dodge Kung-Fu fighters in Hong Kong. Take a dive off the world’s highest sky-jump in Macau or light sky-lanterns in Taipei.

This past year, China even launched its own version of the “The Amazing Race” called “The Amazing Race: China Rush” in which teams of expatriates living in China raced around eleven Chinese cities. The show has been renewed for a second season and upon discovering this I thought, “Hey, I’m an expatriate who will be living in China, why don’t I apply?”

Of course this is just a dream, isn’t it? I mean, I have a job, I can’t stop teaching to race around China. But then I think QSI offers a year sabbatical after six years of teaching, which means I only have four years left. I could race around China or, maybe, even around the world. I could win a million dollars!

Or I could not win a million dollars. There are endless possibilities, really. My life is an amazing race. China might be but a pit-stop in that race, or it may be an extended stay, I don’t know yet. What is it that Doc Brown said? “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.”