Intermediate stage of "Moscow-Beijing express" TV project is under way in Novosibirsk

An intermediary stage of the TV project called "Moscow-Beijing Express" will be conducted on the territory of the Novosibirsk Region on August 2 to 5. The city of Novosibirsk, a regional center in Siberia, will be the main venue of the fourth part of this interactive TV game.

According to the project scenario, eight Belgian and Dutch couples, who do not know either Russian or Chinese and carry very little money with them, should reach Beijing from Moscow by hitch-hiking. During their voyage those taking part in the game completely rely on the hospitality and support of the local population. All along their way the couples will be accompanied by ten film-making groups of the Belgian Kanakna Productions TV company.

The idea of the program is that the participants in the TV game are to hitch-hike from Moscow across the European part of Russia and Siberia and further on through Mongolia and North China to the destination point in Beijing. The task is to be the first to reach intermediate finishing posts in large cities of the countries taking part in the project.

All sorts of contests and games will be staged on their way. For instance, a mini-game will be played on a farm in the Novosibirsk countryside. The participants of the project will be at the disposal of local farmers during 24 hours. During this time, on August 2 to 3, the couples are to learn to do work that is new to them but is customary for Siberian farmers - to weed vegetable beds, to milk cows, and chop firewood. The judges of their success will be not the Belgian producers, but the Russian farmers, who may influence the course of the program and help one of the couples to come closer to winning the main prize in Beijing.

The purpose of the project is to show Russian regions far remoted from Moscow and life in those places to the European TV viewers.