Survivor: China, the fifteenth season of the Emmy Award-winning reality television series Survivor, will premiere on September 20 on the CBS Television Network. Survivor: China will mark the first time a major American television program will film an entire season in China.

"This fall, Survivor leaves the tropical islands for something completely different ... China, where the modern world meshes with 5,000 years of colorful history," Probst, the host, teased in the preview.  "The adventure will play out in the shadows of a sacred mountain on the shores of a remote lake in a land known for tigers, giant pandas, snow leopards and ancient tradition."

Filming began in June and finished in early August. The production required more than 400 crew members from the start to its current post-production.

Survivor: China began filming at Zhelin Lake in the Jiangxi Province in late June. The lake is a man-made reservoir formed by Asia's largest earth dam. This major event was preceded by Mission Impossible III and The Painted Veil shootings in China.

The producer hopes that people will have heightened expectations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after watching this season's show. Local people hope that the TV premiere will improve tourism around Zhelin Lake.

Survivor: China will feature a cast of 16 Americans. They'll begin the series amid the bustle of downtown Shanghai before moving to Huangpu Mountain's Mi Tuo Temple. During a Buddhist ceremony in the temple they will be instructed to leave all of their worldly possessions behind.

The castaways will then be marooned with the clothes on their backs on two separate islands around Zhelin Lake. They will split into two tribes, Fei Long (Flying Dragon) and Zhan Hu (Fighting Tiger). Each team will receive a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War for use in group motivation and strategic planning throughout the game.

CCTV, China Central Television, screened the first three seasons of Survivor. The three series: Survivor: Borneo, Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: Africa, were reviewed in their Earth Story column in 2001 and received enthusiastic audience response. CCTV has no current plans to introduce this season's Survivor into China.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin August 23, 2007)