The production crew is ready to take the lens on the contestants who clamber over in search of a clue hidden somewhere in the sprawling Shanghai Film Park featuring a classic 1930s Shanghai street . [Zhang Suoqing]

In a helipad atop a 40-story hotel, or in the undergrowth of a city park, clues in a treasure hunt could be hidden anywhere across Shanghai's sprawling metropolis.

The hopes of 10 teams seeking to live out a dream in Shanghai rest on finding clues in a breathtaking winner-take-all race across 11 districts. Most of the 20 participants in two-person teams are foreigners.

The race, "Shanghai Rush," will hit local television screens on May 3 at English-language International Channel Shanghai (ICS). It will screen every Sunday night at 8-9pm.

The 12-episode saga is one of the most-anticipated reality television shows on Chinese TV and will showcase not only famous city attractions but also parts of the city of nearly 19 million that are rarely seen by the public.

"People are really psyched," says the show's director, Eric Ransdell. "Everyone wants to stay on the show and people are really going for it. It's great to watch and we have already got some great stuff."

After months of painstaking preparation, filming began last week and will continue through early April.

This is the first reality show produced by ICS and it screens exactly a year out from the World Expo 2010 Shanghai. It's made by Fly Films, an international production house.

The search for contestants began in February through online applications and then a string of auditions to select the 20 participants from more than 100 applicants.

The teams vie for prizes for finishing first at the end of each episode, with the last contestant team eliminated. The surviving winning team will get 12-month accommodation in a luxury villa.

Contestants come from Australia, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, the United States and other countries. They come from different professions and walks of life. There's a former Marilyn Monroe impersonator, a husband-and-wife business couple, a mechanical engineer, an English teacher and a singer-songwriter.

It is mid morning at the Shanghai Film Park and the production crew have set up on what looks like a classic 1930s Shanghai street. In the background is a soaring replica of a cathedral, just one of the bizarre sets contestants will clamber over in search of a clue hidden somewhere in the sprawling film park in suburban Songjiang District.

Norman Wong, executive producer of Fly Films, says settings like this will give viewers a fresh look at rarely glimpsed parts of Shanghai.

"We have been to places you don't normally get to see and filmed in locations the public generally are not allowed access to," Wong says. District governments are cooperating.

Director Ransdell says each team has a camera operator and assistant following their every move as they race across a district, searching for leads and then trying to complete daily challenges.

When Shanghai Daily spoke to Ransdell, it was the third day of filming. The crew also filmed at the F1 track at the Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading District and the helipad atop the Hilton Shanghai hotel in Luwan District.

Though the show was just beginning, Ransdell says competitive instincts were already starting to emerge.

American couple Josh and Anna Huddleston have a bit more at stake than most of the contestants, as they are pinning their hopes to stay in Shanghai on winning the show.

Huddleston, or "Hudd" as he is known to friends, is a victim of the financial downturn, recently losing his job that came with an expat package covering rent and travel.

The "homeless" couple who have been living on a friend's couch say they were enjoying their new digs at the Hilton -- that's where the teams stay during the shoot.