New Series Of 'Secrets Of China' Confirmed

BBC Three has announced a new series of Secrets of China.

The 3x60 series will be presented by Billie JD Porter and is expected to air this summer, from 25 August.

It follows Billie's first series, Secrets of South America, which was broadcast last year.

In these episodes, Billie discovers that it is like to grow up in the country with the highest population on Earth, as well as visit the famous Great Wall. She will also meet a number of China's young people to discuss what is important to them.

Episode 1: Fit In or Fail (Tuesday 25 August, 9pm)
Billie explores growing up in China, where respect for State and elders is drilled into the country's next generation. She spends a day in the life of the children at a special bootcamp deep in the middle of China. The children have been sent to the bootcamp for a nine-month course after they disobeyed their parents. Living away from their family, friends and everyday comforts, they must pass bootcamp.

Billie joins them on the camp's toughest challenge – two weeks of marching through the smoggy landscape. She also spends time with 16-year-old Qingyu, who has been running away from home and drinking. Meanwhile, a third of the boys in camp face addiction problems – they are obsessed with online gaming and their parents believe it is destroying their lives.

However, professional gaming is a phenomenon in China and the episode takes Billie to Shanghai to meet the superstars and their fans. For the players, it's an opportunity to make huge amounts of money in their teens and early 20s, but it is also a spectator sport.

Episode 2: Desperate for Love (Tuesday 1 September, 9pm)
Billie investigates the extremes people go to find somebody to marry in China; with marriage markets, dating bootcamps, and even plastic surgery being used by some to increase their marriage potential. She also looks at China's £50bn wedding industry where couples will spend up to three years of their salary to create elaborate wedding experiences from underwater wedding photography to group ceremonies on a paradise island.

However, in a country where marrying before you turn 28 is a national obsession and a matter of family honour, Billie talks to a group of young people who are standing up to the pressure placed on them to settle down young. She also discovers the consequences of rebelling in a country that has been built on loyalty and obedience.

Episode 3: How to Get Rich (Tuesday 8 September, 9pm)
Billie explores the Chinese economy as she tours the country's holiday hotspots at Chinese New Year.

Beginning in China's industrial heartland, Guangzhou, she discovers two sides to the country's recent boom as she meets a struggling migrant worker couple from the countryside and some super-rich supercar owners.

Billie also visits Hainan, a tropical island in the South China Sea, for the Chinese New Year celebrations. This place holds the key to China's continued economic expansion: leisure and tourism. She samples beach-life Chinese style, visits the world's largest duty free mall and second largest golf resort, and has a go at caddying alongside some of the thousands of workers for whom this is a new type of job.

Speaking ahead of the series, Billie said: "I will never forget my time in China, nor the real importance of the culture's three intertwined chief principles: wealth, obedience and marriage. The country's incredible history has shaped the nation to hold values so contrasting to ours, and it's been fascinating to see first-hand how different an experience growing up in China is compared to my own."

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre

(JP)