Amazing Race 14
Episode Ten:
Having a Baby Has to be Easier Than This!
Previously on the Amazing Race, because of a non-elimination pit stop, five teams raced from Bangkok Thailand through Guangzhou China to Guilin…hair salon…the number twenty-four bridge…Cormorant fishing…complex choreography…copying calligraphy…and despite a pretty simple Speed Bump that required no additional travel off the Race route, the Stuntmen were eliminated.
As the teams prepare to leave Banyan Gardens, the ninth-pit stop on a race around the world, Phil reminds us that the teams were in Guilin China, which was first settled in 100 BC, and that the region is known throughout China for its breathtaking scenic beauty.
Again after a mandatory rest period, the teams are ready to take off on another leg. Kisha and Jen depart first at 1:48 PM, followed by Tammy and Victor who depart one minute later, and Margie and Luke, who depart one minute after that. Jaime and Cara depart last, at 2:12 PM, so only 0:24 separate the first and last teams. As Jaime and Cara are leaving the pit stop we see that the teams get $40.00 for this leg of the Race.
Route Info: Beijing China
Phil tells us that the teams now have to fly more than 1,000 Phil miles to Beijing China, home to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Once there they have to make their way to the ‘Liangzi Jian Guo Men Dian’ foot massage spa, where they will find their next clue.
The next flight that the teams can catch to Beijing is flight 3287 on China Southern Airlines at 5:10 PM. The time of this flight appears to have changed slightly since the teams took it, but for US$538.60, two people can fly from Guilin (KWL) at 5:50 PM arriving in Beijing (PEK) at 8:20 PM (on the show we see the teams arriving at 8:05 PM). This flight covers 1,095 miles and takes 2:30.
Tammy and Victor use their language ability to get seats at the front of the plane, and Tammy, after explaining the Race to the counter agent, has the agent put the other teams in seats at the back of the plane.
Two interesting things occur at the airport, although both are quite trivial. Margie and Luke are at a counter getting tickets, and Jen and Kisha are waiting behind them. The clerks tell Margie and Luke that at this counter they cannot process an international credit card. Kisha and Jen upon hearing this head to the counter the clerk directed Margie and Luke to. The Sisters arrive first at the counter that can process the credit card each team has to pay for travel, which causes Margie to complain that Kisha and Jen were not following the time-honored Race tradition of being ticketed in the exact order that the teams arrived at the airport.
The second interesting scene involves Jaime and Cara, and sheds light on what the teams do at pit stops; for example, how much they really talk to each other. It is when Margie and Luke, Tammy and Victor and the Cheerleaders are sitting at the gate that Jaime and Cara learn of the ‘Clue Box’ and the ‘Pit Stop Mat’ Incidents. Victor offers a defense of the Sisters.
This map shows the route from the pit stop to the airport in Guilin, a distance of about 10 miles, and the route from Guilin to Beijing airport.
View AR_14_29_Guilin_to_Beijing in a larger map
Once the teams arrive in Beijing, we’re back in the northern latitudes so it is cold again as the teams find taxis to take them to Jian Guo Men outer street. While they are on their way, let’s take a minor detour to look a little closer at Beijing. The official Beijing Web site has lots of good information, but it is not the easiest site to navigate. The ‘History’ page is worth a look for articles on the Chinese Lions, and Beijing’s history. A more organized description of Beijing is available at Wikipedia.
I should make a note on place names. Often we see place names during the show, either on ‘Route Info’ overlays or on clues, and the place name is spelt in a certain way, or implies that the place name is made up of several distinct words. This is one such example, for we see the address for the massage spa as Jian Guo Men, three distinct words. It appears that Lianzi runs several spas throughout Beijing and China, and they have a Jianguomen spa on Jianguomenwai street. Note that throughout their Web site the massage company uses the address as one word: Jianguomen. So why does the race do this? The only reason I can think of is this format helps people who do not know the language get the pronunciation correct. But that may be a supposition that is too much of a stretch.
It is approximately 19 miles from the airport to the spa. A Beijing Shopping Web site has a good description of the foot massage company, and I am sure this is the company used on the Race as the Chinese characters for the company match the ones shown in this episode.
Road Block: Who’s Feeling Manipulative?
A Road Block is a task…in this road block Phil tells us that after ten legs of the Race one person must take part in a traditional Chinese cure for a weary body: drink medicinal tea and a have a foot massage. First the team member will drink Chinese Medicinal Tea, then have a ten-minute therapeutic foot massage followed by another cup of medicinal tea.
Phil points out that the massage is a fine line between pleasure and pain, and if the team member must stop the massage due to the pain they can—but they will have to start the clock again.
The Chinese Holistic Health Web site has one of the better descriptions of the foot massage. They also have a map of where to massage, that appears similar to the one shown on the Race. Still I am not thinking of rushing out for a foot massage.
Searching for Chinese tea is a relatively scary thing to do, as many sites want to sell you various concoctions, but the Wikipedia entry on Chinese Herbology looks pretty interesting.
Once the team member has drank the two cups of tea, and endured the massage, they get their next clue, and continue with the massaged team member limping along.
It is also interesting that it is okay for Margie to laugh at Luke’s discomfort during the massage—especially in light of the fact that he insisted that he do the task when Margie had said first that she would do it. So apparently there are some cases were laughing at Luke’s over-the-top competitive nature is okay.
Route Info: Guangcai Natatorium
Teams must now make their way to the Beijing Muxiyuan Sports Technology School's natatorium, which is located on Guangcai road. This is about 7 miles from the spa.
We see a clue that reads:
Make your way to Guang
Cai Ti Yu Guan-Bei Men
You Yong Guan
Guangcai Natatorium
(Beijing Muxiyuan Sports
Technology School) and
follow the marked path to
the next clue.
Victor and Tammy with their knowledge of the language know that this is directing them to the north gate of the complex. Jen, perhaps with her fear of swimming, which we knew from the previews and commercials, appears to be the only one to connect natatorium with nautical and swimming.
Here is the description of the facility from the Beijing Municipal Sports Authority Web site.
Detour: ‘Sink’ or ‘Swim’
A detour is a choice…
In ‘Sink’ teams must try to master the skill of synchronized diving by jumping off the three meter (approximately 10 feet) diving boards to hit the water in unison. When teams get a passing score of five from both judges they will get their next clue.
This is a hard task, because you have to figure out how to coordinate when to jump off the board. Given the distance, it is not likely they have to account for different body weights, but they need to just step of the board at the exact same time. The teams that tried this task did not even appear to be counting or signaling each other about when to jump.
In ‘Swim’ teams must change into Speedo Fastskin LZR Racer suits, and swim eight lengths of the pool (four per team member). This distance is 400 meters, so the team members have to alternate every two laps. The producers give us Michael Phelps' time for the 400 meters of 04:03.84, but teams are only compared to this, they in no way have to beat, tie or even complete their laps within a multiple of his time.
‘Swim’ is the obviously better task to choose, with one assumption. Like learning to drive a manual transmission, learning to swim is a prerequisite of being on the Race as you know there will be some form of water-related task along the way. In fact there are three task elements you can count on: driving a car with a manual transmission, doing something in water that requires the ability to swim, and eating some form of disgusting local cuisine.
It looked like the hardest part of the ‘Swim’ task was for the woman on the teams to fit into the LZR swim suits. The suits should be skin tight, but Jaime, Cara and Margie all complain of how hard it was to breath in their suits.
We see an electronic sign showing the time was approximately 9:31 PM when Jamie and Cara enter the natatorium complex. They take 9:53.30 to complete swim, and get the next clue first. Margie and Luke, finish second with the fastest time (8:05.30). Victor and Tammy, who waste considerable time trying the diving task because of the Tammy’s poor swimming skills (she learned to swim for the Race), finally complete the swimming with a time of 10:29.30. The Sisters, who had trouble with both tasks, would have been done in less than twenty minutes (18:19.0) by just using the floatation devices and swimming from the beginning.
Mock Pit Stop: Gulou Drum Tower
The clue the teams get after completing their detour tells them to make their way to the pit stop, the north gate of the Gulou Drum Tower. The drum tower is about 4 miles from the Olympic pool. This map shows the locations the event passed in Beijing.
View AR_14_30_Beijing_01 in a larger map
We even see a portion of the clue that reads:
Make your way to the
next pit stop
the north gate of the
Drum Tower.
Jaime and Cara are in the lead heading to a pit stop for the first time, and as they approach the mat you see the first sign of trouble, there are no local greeters, just Phil—never a good sign.
He tells Jaime and Cara that they are team number one, but then he tells them “…but guys (maybe time for some glasses Phil), this leg of the Race is not over yet, you are still racing, here is your next clue…”
This makes Phil braver than the Pulibros, we aren’t willing to make Jaime mad, especially in a foreign country.
TO BE CONTINUED