Original subtitles

This programme contains some strong language

HORN BEEPS Ooh, sorry!

I'm soaked! Oh, my God.

We need to get across that road together. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, there's the beach!

Ooh! Cold.

Come to China, they said. Enjoy the weather.

Hainan Island.

Still defying the tail end of Typhoon Trami.

It's so steamy, innit? Two drowned rats.

Yin and Gaz are the last team to arrive at the second checkpoint.

I hope it's the closest one. I hope it's the closest one.

And not the... not the furthest one away.

Nearly there.

Come on, Gazza, we can do it. Yeah.

At the same time...

Checkout time!

..Elizabeth and Letitia are preparing for imminent departure.

Oh, here you go. Please, dear God, let it be the reception.

Please be a hotel.

TRANSLATION APP: You are going the wrong way.

Oh, for BLEEP.

Not here - where is it, man?

Ooh! Oh, my goodness. Where are we going next?

Right, I can see a sign!

From here to the station?

Yes! Yes, come on!

Yes! Yes!

Finally, here.

Hello, ladies!

BOTH:Ahhh!

Hello. You all right? Hello!

Come on, put your hand on it!

Yay!

What do you reckon? I don't know. Just do it.

OK. It is what it is.

Hi. Ni hao. Ni hao.

Oh, they must... They're checking out.

Oh. I thought they were signing in...

Never mind. ..not leaving.

Can't believe we saw Yin and Gaz!

I was actually worried about them. So was I.

So they've got some catching up to do.

We knew we were going to come in last,

but I didn't think the gap was going to be as big as it is.

Yin and Gaz will start the third leg almost two whole days

behind the race leaders,

and a challenging 26 hours behind their closest rivals,

Caroline and Tom.

Opening the book and seeing, like,

everyone's names in front of you,

that was really quite demoralising.

Our hearts just... Oh. Yeah. Yeah. We are bad at this.

Yeah, we are bad at this.

We've got... We've got each other, though, it's all right.

Well, nobody thought we'd get to second place, did they, on this leg?

We'll plod along. We'll keep doing what we're doing.

Hi. Hiya, mate.

Brothers Brian and Melvyn are the second team to check out.

Thank you very much! Go on.

"Your third checkpoint"...

Shangri-La. .."is Shangri-La." Shangri-La.

Like the singer from the '60s, Shangri-La.

# Da doo ron-ron-ron Da doo ron-ron... #

Da do...ron...ron. No?

Lying on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau,

over 10,000 feet above sea-level,

in the heart of the Hengduan mountain range,

the third checkpoint, Shangri-La.

For centuries, this frontier city was known as Zhongdian,

but in 2001, it was renamed after the fictional paradise

in a government bid to drive tourism.

"The team that arrives in fifth place will be

"eliminated from the race." That's what I didn't want to see.

Right, let's get off this darn island.

This is the leg I was dreading from the start.

Yeah. The kick out. Yeah. I think we were all slightly nervous.

It's important just to keep doing what we've been doing - but quicker.

Yeah.

To reach the third checkpoint,

teams must journey through southwest China,

climbing from the tropical coastline

towards the foothills of the mighty Himalayas.

They could head north through the untamed beauty

of the Guizhou Province and its newly built ecocities...

Because it's an elimination leg, we've got to be direct, haven't we?

We both agree that.

The direct route... Is west. Yeah.

..or teams could veer west into Yunnan Province,

utilising the region's best connected transport hubs but forced

to travel alongside the millions of tourists who visit each year.

So, we do the overnighter.

Then you go and bang out the home stay. It's got to be that.

Overnight travel paid off on the second leg,

so we're hoping it does a similar thing this time.

Stuff the cost, we've got to be direct.

It'd be nice to go outside now. It's quite warm, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, wow! The sea!

Ah! I can get my sunglasses out!

I do like being by water.

After travelling the length of Hainan Island yesterday,

Elizabeth and Letitia have caught an early ferry,

sailing back across the Qiongzhou Strait to the mainland.

I'm feeling so good today, but it is daunting to see elimination.

People can catch up and they're not too far behind us.

But we want to make the most of our time in China.

I feel like we need to stick with the same strategy.

Home-stay accommodation and...

Continue to make memories together.

We're approaching - I see a port there.

As soon as we get off, we'll get on a bus.

Once on the mainland, the sisters plan to forge a scenic route north,

away from the tourist trail.

Would you like one of these? Yes, please.

Having left the checkpoint five and a half hours behind...

Urgh, cardboard. Like a hard powder.

These were expired... March 2024.

That's literally... March 2024. ..the day after you turned 18!

..Fin and Sioned are en route to Haikou Port.

If we head north, there's meant to be wildlife and nature,

and we can also use the big transport hubs again.

It's achievable.

It is achievable, if things go our way.

Like, I really, really, really don't want to get eliminated. Yeah.

We're definitely not city people.

The amount of stress it was putting on us on the last leg -

it was either me pushing his buttons, or he was pushing mine.

There is a crossing there, Fin. Let's go that way.

Say again? Oh... Crossing there. So, I think this leg,

it's more of a priority to kind of keep that calmness.

I feel like I'll always be in charge, to be honest.

But communication is key.

I do feel pressure to get off this island really quickly

because we just need to gain some distance.

It is beautiful. It's boiling now!

Do you think we'll get some kip on here?

We might be able to, yeah. Plenty of legroom, anyway.

I'm going to take my shoes off.

Yeah, I'm going to take mine off when we get to ferry.

With elimination looming,

Brian and Melvyn are gaining crucial momentum aboard overnight transport.

We've got to keep on going west now. Yeah.

Their 11-hour journey will see them board

and alight the ferry by bus, which then continues west,

propelling them to the major transport hub of Nanning.

But the good thing is, it's a nonstop journey.

This is all in one package, isn't it? Yeah.

This is one go, isn't it?

I've always been a very competitive person.

Not always won, not always succeeded,

but always been extremely competitive.

And I know Brian is, as well.

If we're going to do this, then we give it 100%.

So I think we're going to end up going further

than anybody else today. Obviously, we'll soon see.

As the brothers try to get ahead of the other teams...

Time will tell.

Ni hao. Hello!Ni hao.

Hello. Um, to check out, please.

Leaving the checkpoint in fourth place...

"The team that arrives in fifth place will be

"eliminated from the race."

Mother and son Caroline and Tom...

OK. Wow! Oh, my God. That's going to add so much pressure.

..19 hours after race leaders Elizabeth and Letitia.

Do you know where Shangri-La is?

Here. That's Shangri-La, is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

OK, right. Good start.

I was feeling gutted when I realised

there was going to be an elimination.

However, it won't stop me fighting like mad

and going the fastest we possibly can.

I would imagine off overnight for the longest journey we can.

OK. I feel nervous.

The thought of getting eliminated is scary.

Really scary.

When the chips are down, that's when I come into my element.

I'm feeling a little more ballsy, I think, is how you would say it.

OK. Thank you. Xie xie. Xie xie, thank you.

Tickets. Yeah. Time is of the essence,

so our plan is to go northwest towards Nanning.

We think that's the quickest.

Perfect timing. Ah, here's the train.

Like Brian and Melvyn, they hope to take a direct overnight bus

to Nanning to gain ground on the three teams in front of them.

Hello. We're trying to go to Nanning. Tonight.

Tomorrow?

No, just give up.

No, we can't give up. Thomas, no.

Any...any...any bus at all?

No.Nothing? No bus?

So infuriating!

I think I'll rely on Mum just to cheer me up,

because Mum's really good at that.

She just has a way of making me feel like everything is OK.

Aww.

We'll be there soon.

OK?

Because mums somehow just know everything, which is

really annoying, but they just do.

The last bus for Nanning was 5:00. We must be able to get the ferry.

It means we get off the island tonight.

Would you consider that? Shall we pursue it? Yeah.

I feel more comfortable with Thomas beside me,

I suppose because my role is as his mother.

We did so well trying, Thomas. Yeah.

Come on. I just can't deal with the thought of going home.

I know, I know. I'm gutted too.

Inertia will never lead to progress. OK?

I don't want to come across as weak in front of him.

I always want to come across as confident

and I know what I'm doing, and he can trust me.

But that's not really true when I'm on my own.

If we get eliminated, Mum,

that would be the toughest pill to swallow, probably in my life.

Look, all we have to do is stay in, OK?

We'll just get through it together. Yeah?

I think because your role as a mother

and protector takes over from your actual inner fears, and you overcome

them, you don't think about things that would normally affect you.

You see that? I just want to stay.

I know, I know. So, we just try our best anyway.

I didn't know we're waiting three hours. That's so long.

This is a bit of a setback.

So it's annoying that things are not going to plan.

Waiting for their connection to the city of Liuzhou,

Elizabeth and Letitia.

Because we had a lead as well. Yeah.

Oh, it's the right place! Ah, it's the right place!

Also hoping to head north...

There has to be a train tonight, surely.

Hopefully.

Oh, my God, Sioned! Sioned!

Ahhh!

No way!

Is that them?

No!

We have caught up! Yeah!

Ahhh!

I was expecting to see someone.

You kept on speaking it to the universe.

Look, you speak it out and it happens.

Oh, we have done well. We have done well. They're fuming.

They're fuming. They're fuming. Oh, we have done so well!

They are fuming. Oh, we have done well. Hoo!

I feel like they're getting on this one.

They're getting on this one for sure.

They were what, six hours ahead of us?

Yeah, we've made up six hours already.

Ah! This is amazing.

Oh, look at the aerodynamic on that!

UNTRANSLATED

Is this 15?

Oh, my gosh, Fin and Sioned are in carriage 15.

They're literally up there.

We can see them!

It's a first for us, really, to have a competition.

Yes, of course, when you're in the lead,

if you're seeing anybody, it's not a good sign.

Because now we're not leading. I don't want to feel stressed.

I'm worried about you not going to enjoy it as much, because like...

This just makes me go into race mode.

Oh, gr-reat!

We could be in worse places, couldn't we?

Well, we have. That's the problem.

I think we've got a chance of winning it

if we're still in it tomorrow. Yeah, well, yeah.

Everybody's got a chance of winning.

That worked, didn't it?

Having capitalised on overnight travel, Brian and Melvyn

have made the hop from transport hub Nanning to Puzhehei,

home to the indigenous Yi people.

Obviously, when you see pictures of China, this is the kind of view...

What a place, eh?

The only high rise is...are the hills.

Beautiful hills.

In return for free accommodation,

they're assisting in the removal of dead lotus plants from the lake.

See? Technique, mate.

Yeah, well, this is easy.

Piece of piss. Break it up...

No, I missed that.

Yeah, it works every time, your method, doesn't it?

The difference of East China to now we're in Western China -

it's quieter, pretty, peaceful.

The sun... You can hear the birds singing.

And the sun is just trying to pop out.

A bit nutty. Cucumber. No, not cucumber.

And I don't like cucumber. I don't like cucumber.

Do you not like cucumber either? No, I don't like cucumber.

Our relationship was always fun when we were young.

We went off in two totally different trajectories,

and things just grew apart.

Now our relationship is distant.

And the friendship that we had, we lost over the years.

Argh! Don't...do that!

You can't just turn round in the middle of a boat and half stand up.

Lotuses provide breeding grounds for wildlife to flourish

and throws light upon the meaning of the name Puzhehei,

lake full of fish and shrimp.

When was the last time we went fishing?

Oh... No, I can't remember that.

I remember many time on a Sunday morning.

That was, what, two miles walk?

Oh, it was more than that. That's what we used to do.

Set the alarm, wasn't it, 4:00? Mm.

And then get up there for about 6:00.

I think our mother wanted us to go to Sunday school. Yeah.

And we didn't like it.

They wanted us out the house on a Sunday.

Well, I think so, when you think back on it now.

Mum was quite hard work.

We weren't a particularly loving family.

So, how old were you when you went to boarding school?

Well, that's what I'm trying to remember.

It'd be ten or 11, I should think.

We don't know to this day really why I was sent to...sent off to school.

And Melvyn went to a secondary school.

And then joined the army.

I didn't feel as though, "Oh, I'm special, I'm privileged."

It was probably the opposite.

It was, "Why am I being sent away?"

I tell you what I couldn't understand,

and I still can't get my head around to it to this day.

I was never told that you were going to

go to private school or boarding school. Really?

Yeah, you just went.

It wasn't, "Oh, your brother... Your brother's going there,

"and this is that, and that's happening."

It just happened.

The way it made me feel was, well, they must be looking

at the way I'm turning out and they don't want Brian to turn out

the way I'm looking, so we're going to send him over there.

They're taking my brother away.

Probably my best friend at the time... Yeah. ..away.

Right. Right? I was never told.

Did you miss me, then? Yeah.

Did you? Course I bloody did!

It's very difficult to talk about your relationships,

your upbringing and everything else,

and it's something that we don't normally do.

I think this is quite nice in that in our latter years, that we can...

we can reflect on this, talk about it.

The shared adventure.

This is crazy. It is crazy. This is literally crazy.

I'd like to think that we can... we can get rid of the ghosts.

What's in the bucket near you, then?

Just a bucket for the fish. A bucket for the fish!

That's bloody optimistic, innit?

BIRD CHIRPS That's a bird laughing at us.

800km behind...

That's a bit limp.

..after missing the direct bus to Nanning...

Nanning? This bus is to Nanning? Number 13?

..Caroline and Tom are bus-hopping city to city.

I think, after yesterday, I felt we didn't succeed much.

This is a very important leg, and there's a lot at stake.

We need to move towards the checkpoint fast.

630km north in Liuzhou,

known for its green parks and sustainability initiatives...

What's the address?

Oh, wow! Quad exhaust in the centre.

Wow!

Come on, concentrate, please.

..Fin and Sioned are on waste management...

Do I get gloves to do this or...?

..working for local currency at the Xingnao Chafu Salon...

Urgh! Eww!

Oh, look at that, it's a bum cleaner.

It's quite powerful.

Why didn't she tell me to use this instead of the hose?

Yeah.

Yeah, work smarter, not harder. There we go.

Me and Fin are getting along fine, to be fair.

Ugh!

I feel like, because it's not been so stressful,

we've actually been all right.

What?

You don't look happy!

I'm brushing around the rim of a toilet, Sioned!

I offered to do the toilets. But, I mean, she took you there,

so she clearly wants you to do it, not me.

Oh, hang on.

"The team that arrives in fifth place will be..." Oh, great.

Back in Sanya...

Let's go. Thank you very much. Bye. Thank you!

Xie xie. Xie xie. Bye-bye.

..and 44 hours after the race leaders departed...

We've always been underdogs. 100%, yeah.

Everyone's always written us off, haven't they? So... Exactly.

I think we'll catch them. Yeah.

..Yin and Gaz are the last team to leave the checkpoint.

Jump in, Yin.

Me and Gaz have, like, a real in-built resilience.

Like, right, OK, we're in fight mode now.

We will give, like, the next leg our all.

We need to figure out what is going to be fast.

There is, like, a railway that goes all the way to come here,

get an overnight if we can.

The motivation is just to try and race hard and fast,

make quick decisions but the correct decisions.

I don't want to just rush, make the wrong decision

and we end up in Hong Kong.

Could - you never know with us!

First, they must secure a way to the mainland.

All right. Can you take the lead on this?

Yeah, OK. What we need to know is, like,

what's the quickest way off the island?

Is it via the bus station or via the train?

Yeah. OK.

So, the relationship I have with Gaz now is...is amazing.

Before I go, any more questions? I don't think... I think that's it.

OK. You could even ask how much roughly the price is,

if you wanted to? Oh, OK.

I am so grateful that coming out of the marriage where it wasn't

pleasant, that we managed to retain that relationship.

Do you speak English at all? No?

Hello. Do you speak English at all?

With Gaz, he probably goes in for, like, a softer approach.

He's just got a lovely, friendly way about him.

He smiles and, like, you know, he laughs.

Can you, can you... Slowly?

Yes. Yes, sorry.

The last year has been a tough one for me.

It's definitely you've been there for me.

After the marriage break-up, I started seeing someone new,

a new partner.

Um, and he was amazing.

He was kind, generous.

He also had this wonderful sense of adventure,

and I thought my life was with him.

September last year, he passed away very suddenly.

And I was devastated.

You just don't know how to deal with that.

You know, no-one tells you how one minute they're there,

the next minute they're gone forever.

My first concern was Yin. She was on her own.

She was going through a really, really tough period.

So, I just said instantly, "Come with me," and, you know,

within an hour she was moved in with me, and she's been there ever since.

What you got for me, soldier?

When I moved over to Gaz's, it was just such a relief. Mm.

And what more do you want from a friend, really?

The timings look good.

We could be in Nanning by tomorrow morning, which would save us

an immense amount of time. That's the dream.

With him passing has made me really question,

"Why am I putting things off for another day?"

That is one of his legacies that I want to carry on living.

Go out and have an adventure! Just do it!

We're going to cut it fine.

Oh, you little sneaker!

Yin and Gaz are the third team to head for Nanning,

but are looking to catch up by train.

Hello! Ni hao.

Where are you going?

We want to go to Nanning.

Where, the... What ticket can we get?

Maoming? Maoming. OK.

OK, so we can go to...

Can we go to Maoming today? Today?

On a sleeper one? Yes.

Perfect. That's fine.

Well, let's just book it and pray for a miracle.

Maoming isn't on here. No, it's on the map. Right, OK.

What she's saying is, like, there's a train that leaves

in 16:48 to Maoming, wherever the hell that is. Yeah.

It will arrive at 1:22am. Yeah.

We can't get a direct route.

We can only go far to a place called Maoming or something like that,

which is not even on the map.

I think that's probably our best option at this stage.

Oh, we have to go down that way.

We know we need a miracle to stay in the game.

We're desperate to get off the island because the island,

not only did it not want us to get on the island,

but now it doesn't seem to want us to leave the island.

Going to Maoming, we'll be at least heading in the right direction.

Ah, we love popcorn, isn't it?

Yeah, I do miss popcorn, actually.

Uh! Oh, gosh. Lost one.

I'm loving this! Look at that, Letitia!

In Liuzhou, before their pre-booked sleeper train, Elizabeth and

Letitia have squeezed in an evening cruise on the Liujiang River...

It's like synchronised swimmers, isn't it?

Yeah.

..to see the world's largest floating musical fountain.

Oh, people are impressed. Oh! Because look how high it's going.

Look... Whoa, ho-ho!

It's such a strange form of entertainment.

That's what I love about China. Everything's a spectacle.

They go full out.

It's magical, really.

Coming in now.

Gosh.

Ideally, we would have had our bags on here already.

So we need 20 minutes to get to the hotel,

20 minutes to get to the station.

Oh, my gosh. We're not going to make it.

We're trying to get a taxi. Look, there's a taxi over there.

Can you see? Yeah. There's...

Here, here, here. Yeah, yeah.

OK.

Vienna Hotel.

We need to go quickly! Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick!

OK, he doesn't know. Does he know?

It's a hotel. It's just... Yeah, but there's many chains.

These are all of them.

Oh, shit!

So, what can we do?

I feel like we should just go, because we're far anyway.

At least we are on the move, do you know what I mean?

OK. Fine. Just choose one.

That's the furthest one.

Yeah, furthest one.

I didn't think about there being a chain.

Neither did I.

And I'm worried that we could miss our train.

It was already a rush.

If it's the wrong hotel, I doubt we'll make the train.

That looks really familiar. I feel like it's there. Is it?

It's here! It's here!

Where? It's up... Here!

No, it's not that.

Fuck's sake. Yeah.

This is where it's stopping?

That's not the right hotel.

Yeah, it's the wrong one.

Shit!

Yeah.

Feeling very bummed right now.

I can't believe we missed the night train.

Now we're a day behind.

We've also spent money on that, so that's money gone.

Um, and we'll probably have to spend money again,

here, for accommodation tonight.

So, we need to get our bags

and now think about accommodation for the night.

The sisters must wait until morning to continue their journey north.

Of all the legs for this to happen,

it's the one you don't want it to happen, you know?

This is such a big mishap.

It could cost us a lot.

Do you want me to carry the bag? I feel bad.

Everywhere is selling something to eat. Yeah.

Nestled in the verdant hills of the Yunnan Province, Funing County.

The area is a tapestry of ethnicities, co-existing with

different languages, cultures, and culinary traditions.

Seems a lot more open and green.

Calming. I don't know. It's really relaxing.

Ooh, fruits!

I love how they just sell it in the back of these tuk-tuk things.

How many do you want, Mumma?

Four would do, would be lovely, if we can get four.

Ni hao.

UNTRANSLATED

Two? Wow! Two yen!

I don't have my money belt.

I left it on the side of the chair in the hotel. No, you didn't.

You're joking. I promise you.

Unless you picked it up, I promise you, I left it on the side.

Um, do you want me to run back?

I can't with this.

The cleaner will be there, remember.

If they don't have it, the cleaner's going into the room. I know. I know.

If we lose the money belt, we're buggered, basically.

Xie xie. Thank you. Bye.

Ah!

Oh, it's not here!

I left it on the back of that chair.

Oh, no!

He went to Switzerland on his own first,

and actually left his bag on the train.

What do I actually do?

When he was in South America,

he left his bag in the taxi with passport in it and everything.

Hi. Um, in 609...

UNTRANSLATED No, I, I left a money belt.

I was hoping he'd be a bit more careful

and would have learnt by his mistakes.

It has to be here!

I'm really worried.

It would hugely affect us. It was a lot of money.

It's, uh, a black...

With yen.

Oh!

Oh!

GASPING WITH RELIEF

THEY LAUGH

Thank you so...

I was an idiot for leaving it, a massive idiot,

and I will never do that again.

But we've got it back. That's a lesson well learnt.

Hi.

Found it.

OK. Let's go. Right, we need to get on.

We have to taxi now.

And it's on you now? It's on me.

And how did you not remember it? I don't know.

550km east...

We're already late. We just wanted to get a train straight away.

..Elizabeth and Letitia are also having money troubles.

I still love it here.

I just want to leave now.

Ni hao.

Yeah.

Ah, OK. Xie xie.

These past two days,

we've spent way more than we expected to spend.

Before travelling to tonight's home stay in the remote

outskirts of Anshun, they need to exchange pounds for yuan.

We can afford the latest train, but we can only afford that journey.

We'll end up arriving at our destination with no money.

OK.

Oh, here it is! It does look shut, though.

Oh, gosh.

Let's go to ABC Bank. Yeah.

Where are you seeing the bank?

It's that blue thing, there.

It's closed, isn't it? Look.

They're all closed, basically.

I feel like we've had it quite smooth for two legs,

and it feels like you can easily just lose your first place. Yeah.

Isn't it? Just with a few mishaps.

After exhausting their options for changing money,

the sisters head to the train station they failed to reach

last night, ready to spend their last yuan on tickets out of town.

We have got 12 yuan left on us.

Literally equivalent to, like, £1.30.

That's risky.

There's no point of us staying here,

so we might as well just be moving forward.

Hello. Hello.

I'm worried about being eliminated from not having money now.

Whilst moving, we'll feel like we're still in the race, kind of.

Still in Funing...

We used to have you helping in the kitchen

when you were little as well.

While waiting for their train to Kunming,

Caroline and Tom are working a shift at Miss Lee's restaurant...

And do you remember having to sit on the naughty step? Yeah.

I remember once I said the word "bugger". Oh! I remember that.

Oh, ah! And what was the only word you were allowed to say?

Golly-gosh. Golly-gosh. That was a really rude word. Hmm!

..chopping fragrant Laurentiu mushrooms for her signature hotpot.

Good?

You do it OK.

Just one of 800 varieties harvested across the region.

My first-ever proper job was a kitchen porter.

It was one of those jobs that you do when you're young,

you know? It just kind of taught you to work a little bit.

I think it was more probably the lesson that it was teaching me,

rather than the actual job itself.

Learning how to hold a job down. I think so.

I'm a labourer.

You know, I have to lift heavy bags of cement and bricks on my shoulder,

so it keeps you fit and it keeps you active.

I don't think I could do an office job.

Yeah, I'm just hoping I'll find a thing I get really passionate about.

And do you feel under pressure from Daddy and I to try

and forge a career or anything?

Well, no-one wants to purposefully let anybody down, do they?

I don't wish anything for you apart from absolute health and happiness.

Did it ever bother you that I didn't finish GCSEs?

I obviously would have preferred you to have had qualifications,

and a grounding aged 16. Yeah.

I'd say probably one of the hardest things I've dealt with is

probably getting kicked out of school.

Me and my friends started smoking a bit of weed at school,

thinking, "Ah, this is cool."

We got called into the office.

And from there, we basically got kicked out of school.

I think you might just have been drifting. Yeah.

What happens if I never find that thing?

Because there are people who don't.

Never let fear of failure prevent you from starting something.

It's a lot easier said than done, though. I know.

And it's something I've suffered from. Yeah?

I'd hate to see you do the same.

I think perhaps he lost a sense of direction,

and he probably lost confidence as well.

That's another reason for us dreading the elimination.

It would be lovely if this race helped him

discover more things about himself.

And I think that's just the best opportunity,

and I so hope we can make it.

Guizhou, a province carved with deep gorges, Miao villages,

and one of Asia's largest waterfalls, Huangguoshu.

We've not really been to this kind of China yet, have we?

I like it! I'm enjoying the peace and the fresh air.

Escaping the cities, Fin and Sioned

have made it to its heart,

Qianling Park.

Home to a thriving troop of macaque monkeys.

I just want to see the monkeys!

Look at that little turtle.

Aww! Cute!

Hello! It's a very different feel today.

Look how high we've got.

This is so nice!

It's also a nice way for us to make memories that'll last forever.

Look at it! It's beautiful.

I'm well aware that this race is going to make or break us,

and I'm hoping it obviously makes us.

Because the next steps in our lives are such big steps.

Oh, there's monkeys, Sioned! Really? Where?

Yeah, there's loads of them there. Aww, look at that baby one!

Don't go too quickly towards it, Sioned.

Aww!

That is so cute!

I want one.

You can't.

I've always wanted to marry young,

wanted to have kids young.

I'm hoping for engagement and marriage in the next five years

with one child, a stable income, a house.

This is the wildlife I've been craving.

My childhood was, like, the best thing you could ever want.

Family really matters to me because of how I've grown up.

They've got very red arses, don't they?

They do.

Trying to get the perfect bum shot. SHE CHUCKLES

My childhood was definitely a lot different, compared to Sioned's.

Oh, wow, this is actually well worth it.

Look at that! It's lovely.

My dad left.

Then it was just me and my mum and my brother.

When your parents get divorced at a young age, you don't necessarily

know what's going on, you just kind of think they're splitting up.

Just one house, another house.

Kind of look for the positives, I think. Two Christmases.

And then you grow up and you realise it's...

really not like that.

The idea of marriage doesn't scare me,

it's just I know things can go wrong.

Just have to make sure it is definitely with the right person.

Do not want to be going home in the next few days.

I'd rather be here with you just enjoying this.

I want more challenges to see if you are the one I want to be with.

I mean, I don't really question it,

so I'm pretty certain that you're the one I want to be with.

But I know it's not easy for you.

I mean, obviously sometimes you do wonder,

like, is our communication ever going to be right?

I do think we've started to understand how to get further

and actually succeed in the race and succeed together, I think.

DISTANT HORN

What is it? It's a train, I think.

A very loud train.

Let's go! Time to get back into the race.

What's that? Is that a wolf? Is it a dog?

As Fin and Sioned head to the station...

We are, we're from England.

We're taking part in a race.

OK? A race? A race, yeah.

Brian and Melvyn are travelling by train to Kunming,

the last transport hub before the checkpoint.

Where's the train to Shangri-La?

Is that from this station or the other one?

No, it's from the Cen... Central...

Central Station? Yeah.

So the plan is get off here, we get a metro... To Central. Yeah.

We can catch the train to Shangri-La in the morning. Yeah.

That sounds like a plan!

What a bit of luck meeting you.

Yeah, it's brilliant! Excellent.

Thank you very much. My pleasure.

And if any of this is wrong, we'll come back and tell you!

We're like brothers.

Similar haircuts.

Yeah. Yeah!

On their long-haul train to Maoming...

Maoming, I'm trying to find it.

Is it that way or that way on the map?

..Yin and Gaz need to locate their destination.

Excuse me, do you speak English?

A little. A little. Ah!

I'm trying to find Maoming on the map, but it's not written down.

Could you roughly show me where it is on the map, if that's OK?

You think it's about there?

Maoming. On that line there?

Yes. Oh, shit.

Here. Yeah.

Oh, sorry.

All right, thank you very much.

Thank you, thank you.

Right, yes, spoke to some young chap.

He showed me where we are, where we're heading to on the map.

We're heading there. OK.

I feel a bit concerned in that we've, kind of,

almost heading the wrong way.

Their earlier decision means they are heading 250km

northeast in the opposite direction of the third checkpoint.

I don't know, it's hard because it just seems to be... Every time

you talk to someone, it's a different story.

We're fucked, basically.

The gods are against us.

It does feel like that, yeah, it does feel it a little bit.

We've been sinners in our past life. HE LAUGHS

Do you think that's what it is? Let's give it a shot.

Going into a rural area with hardly any money, it's not ideal.

Out of local currency, Elizabeth

and Letitia are on a train heading

north to their planned home stay.

Ni hao! Do you know Anshun-si?

Can we get cash there?

I don't have cash.

Let me... Oh.

Let me have a try.

BOTH:OK. Thank you.

"Let me have a try"? OK.

How is he going to get cash?

I don't know where he's going.

Where could he have gone?

Where did he go?

What did he say? "Let me just check"?

Let me try. Let me try.

Oh, he's coming back.

Has he got anything on his hands?

And we're like... oh, my gosh, I see a flash of red.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, wow! Wow!

Wow. OK. Wow. OK.

Sorry, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

We're just very emotional right now. It's been a long day.

How much do you have?

350 yuan.

350 yuan? We can give you 40.

Yeah. Yeah? OK.

Aww! Xie xie!

Thank you so much!

That's so good! Oh, my God!

I've literally got tears in my eyes.

Literally. This whole day, this is all we wanted.

Innit?

We were able to get some money.

Minutes... What are the odds? ..before getting stranded. Yeah.

But today we took a risk, you know? And it paid off.

It really paid off. It's a good feeling.

BOTH:Back in the race!

1,100 kilometres from the checkpoint, the sisters have made it

to the remote Shuiyuan village.

Hello! Hello!

Welcome my house!

Ah, thank you!

Staying in Miss Hei's countryside home.

Ooh! You can...you can eat now.

You can eat now. Yeah? Wow!

It's a feast! It's a feast!

Don't be shy.

Thank you.

Don't be shy. Just eat. Thank you.

Where are you from?

Sichuan. Sichuan. Oh! Really?

Sichuan. You know? Yeah!

And when did you come here?

This summer. I don't like live in city.

I like countryside. Yeah.

The air is more fresh

and, uh, and more free.

I want to find some new lifestyle.

Slow? Yes. Slow lifestyle.

Yeah. Slow life.

Compared to the city, yeah?

Wow!

Honestly, if this doesn't make you fall in love with China,

I don't know what will.

The people here are just so hospitable.

They really extend their welcome, and, yeah,

they just share their love so openly.

Our lead has pretty much gone.

I'm just more worried about being eliminated

because I share this journey with my sister.

I feel like we're just getting started to, you know, get

to know each other, and I want to continue on that journey.

DISTANT HORNS HONKING

I can't see anybody.

I'd be a bit gutted, if I'm honest, if I did see somebody now.

Because I do think we've done all right.

Could do with the train moving now, couldn't we?

I know we could.

Come on, move.

Kunming, a pivotal transport hub

for all routes from southern China

to the northwest part

of Yunnan Province.

Here we go. The doors are shutting, Brian.

They've just shut the door.

Right, we're in.

As Brian and Melvyn depart...

We're away.

..winding their way 600km up the mountains

to the third checkpoint...

A little bit anxious at the minute.

..Elizabeth and Letitia are trying to pick up the pace after

leaving their home stay.

This has been a very difficult, long leg. Hmm, yeah.

Quite possibly have lost our lead.

We're just trying to stay in the game so we're not eliminated.

We're still going to push right until the end.

Shangri-La Railways.

Well, I'm guessing this way, because everybody's heading that way.

Oh, go, go, go, go, go!

Shangri-La.

Sitting at an altitude nearly 4,000 metres above sea-level...

..dominating its skyline,

the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery,

once home to 2,000 monks.

Close by, the Songtsam Linka Hotel,

the third checkpoint,

where only the first four teams to arrive will continue in the race.

Shangri-La, Brian. Shangri-La.

Good God, look at that! That's pretty.

Yeah, it's OK!

A few hundred feet above sea level.

If you feel yourself getting light-headed, just ease up.

BEEPING

"On foot, head towards the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery

"and find the Twin Deer Dharma Wheel."

That's got to be the monastery up there, hasn't it?

Got to be! There's a gate there.

Put on a bit of weight, you've had it, ain't you?

HE SNORTS

SNIFFS Smell that air! It's good!

Keep this pace. You're happy with this? Yeah, yeah.

That's where we're heading.

Well, here's the entrance, Bri.

OK, right.

Hello? Do you know where the Twin Deer Dharma Wheel is?

Wheel, what? Twin Deer Dharma Wheel.

The wheel? Twin Deer Dharma?

No idea.

How do we get straight to Shangri-La?

Straight to Shangri-La. We are here.

How do we get here?

More than 1,000 kilometres east in Guiyang...

Go to Kunming. Kunming?

Oh, we have to go to Kunming. OK.

..Fin and Sioned are planning their next steps to the checkpoint.

There's a train from Kunming to Shangri-La? Shangri-La.

Straight to Shangri-La? Straight to Shangri-La?

Yes, OK. All right. There we go.

Sioned, stop going in a strop. No, I'm not.

I just want to go quickly. Well, slow down, then.

Well, no, I'm not walking like a slug.

As they forge ahead,

Caroline and Tom make their march.

So, immediately we get off, let's look at tickets.

Onward travel. First thing. OK.

Do you feel nervous? God, yes.

This is our last chance. This is like make or break, yeah.

Yeah, to stay in the race.

BRIAN:Does anybody know where the Twin Deer Dharma Wheel is?

Twin Deer Dharma Wheel, there's no clues.

Twin Deer, there's two bloody deer!

BEEPING

"Travel through the Xiaojiezi village

"and find the checkpoint hotel, Songtsam Linka."

Is that the village? Or is that the village?

Right, we need to ask, don't we?

There or there?

There? Xie xie. Thank you!

This way, yeah?

That's what the young man said, pointing up here.

There's a couple of buildings on the right there that could be hotelable.

No.

Further on.

Travel through the village.

We're not through it, are we?

Absolutely knackered.

Further on.

It had to be uphill, didn't it?

Oh, 'ey up, mate! Bloomin' 'eck!

Do not charge at me.

COW BELLOWS

I was thinking the same myself.

Brian, there's a big grey building.

Where? It could look hotelly.

Ah, yeah.

Hello? Reception? A buggy?

Hey up, Mel, it's a buggy. That'll do.

That'll do.

What a place!

That's beautiful!

I think we are here.

Ah, ha-ha-ha!

Hello!

Hello!

Please sign here.

You ready?

"Congratulations.

"You have successful reached your third checkpoint.

"Please sign in overleaf." You ready?

Yeah.

Oh, shit!

Oh!

Totally, totally gobsmacked.

Ah... Can't speak. Yeah. Unbelievable.

Can't speak. And it's not because I'm out of breath.

Well, it is for me. I am out of breath!

Oh, massive relief, really.

Massive relief.

A couple of old blokes.

Yeah. There you go. My kids will be so proud.

Yeah, they will, won't they?

They said, "Dad...

Tell them.

"..don't get kicked out." So, yeah, extremely proud, aren't we?

Firm British handshake!

Yeah. Well done.

It's on this one? Yes? Ah, OK.

See?

I can't see it.

Need to take off my bag. Take it off.

TOM:Nervous, that's how I'm feeling. Very nervous now.

Exit. Right, let's go.

Sioned?

Three teams arrive in the ancient city.

What do you want? Bus or taxi? There's one there!

Xie xie. Thank you. Xie xie. Thank you.

Xie xie. Bye-bye! Thank you.

Oof! Adrenaline's pumping!

I know. Oh, my God!

We're here.

What? Shit! Shit! Another team, Sioned and Fin. OK.

Oh, my gosh, no! There's Tom and Caroline.

We've got to go. Go, go, go, go! Right, let's go.

And the little one? Yeah, yeah. Well done.

There we go! Xie xie. Bye-bye. Bye, thank you!

BEEPING

"On foot..." Lovely.

"Head towards the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery

"and find the Twin Deer Dharma Wheel."

Dharma Wheel. That's nice.

Twin Dharma Wheel. Where?

I don't know. Get up, we can have a look.

A dharma wheel? Maybe a symbol.

Twin deer. So we're looking for two deers.

Oh, Sioned! Sioned! Sioned! Go! Run, run, run, run, run!

Shit! Start running, start running. Start running. This way?

This way, Thomas! No, can't go that way either.

Fin, what if they're going the wrong way?!

Sioned, go far right.

Go far, go straight ahead.

Dharma wheel? Dharma wheel?

Isn't that the twin deer? That's two deers.

Feel like we're racing for fifth place.

Please, can anybody help us?

Twin Deer Dharma Wheel.

Fin! That looks like a wheel with deers on top.

Thomas! Thomas!

Fin?

Sioned?

Thomas?

Fin?

Sioned!

BEEPING

"Travel through the Xiaojiezi village

"and find the checkpoint hotel, Songtsam Linka."

OK, let's go.

Ni hao. Songtsam Linka?

UNTRANSLATED

Ah, OK. Xie xie.

The hotel might be that big one up there. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh, there's a cow on the road!

Can see the gate. Can you?

Ah, now we've got signs.

Come on, just rest when we get there.

We're here. We're here. Oh, my gosh!

We're finally here.

Hello! Please sign here.

Ready?

Ah! Ah!

Second! Oh, my goodness.

Feeling so relieved.

Um... Such a big sense of relief.

Oh, my goodness. Yeah, such a big sense.

We made it! Better than what we thought.

A lot better than what we thought.

Yup. Let's go and relax.

Let's go and take a shower.

Twin deer! There's two deer.

This is it, isn't it? We saw it as we came in!

BEEPING

"Travel through the Xiaojiezi village

"and find the checkpoint hotel, Songtsam Linka."

Look, Mum, this isn't going up.

This is going... Right, we need to go up to the top.

We can get across here.

Oh, Mum, if we get this wrong, we could be going home.

BELLOWS

Songtsam Linka Hotel?

Oh, in here.

Down here? Yes.

Thank you!

Let's go, come on.

Push yourself. Come on!

PANTING

Please don't be last. Please don't be last.

Ah, go on! Hurry!

Ah, it's here, it's here!

Ni hao.

Welcome to the Linka Hotel.

Please sign here.

Oh, my God! No way!

Mum! Oh, my...

Oh, well done! Oh, God! Thank you!

We are over the moon. Absolutely over the moon.

Just feels amazing.

It feels like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Absolutely.

Wow!

I'm happy we're, you know, we're not getting eliminated,

but I'm a little bit gutted that we

obviously couldn't be, you know, a little bit higher.

We're still in the race. We're not going home.

We absolutely scraped it.

In the city of Maoming, Yin and Gaz's race has come to an end.

Every time we turn, there seems to be a block against us.

You know? China's trying to tell us something.

Yeah.

There have been some really, really lovely moments from people.

No. No... No, there has.

It's a bit raw now, but I do think as time goes on,

we will look back at it and we will laugh about it.

We were hoping it would make us stronger, and I think it has.

Ultimately, it's not the journey that was destined for us, I think.

Mm.

The race has given me a zest for let's explore a bit more.

Let's go a bit more off the beaten track,

like we used to when we were together.

Actually live life a little bit before we get too old.

I hope that all the other teams have an incredible time

because I think, you know, that would make up for our journey.

Yeah, I agree.

ALL:To Gaz and Yin!

I do feel really bad for them.

I do. I know. Same. I feel for them.

Something obviously went amiss, didn't it? Yeah.

Something has gone amiss, hasn't it? It's actually really sad.

You don't want it to be anybody, do you? No.

Well done to everybody for getting here.

You two have gone from fifth...

Fifth. Fifth to fourth, to third. ..to third!

Oh, wow!

We're coming!

Yeah, we've gone the opposite. We've gone second, third, fourth.

But you're still here. Still here.

So, now there's three of us, really close. Anything can happen.

I mean, there's still a lot at stake,

but I think now the elimination's out the way... Yeah.

..I think everyone can probably relax a bit more.

Yes, but you guys just relax a little bit more than us two!

LAUGHTER

We're going to Nepal!

Wow! I've got goose bumps. Yeah.

It's an opportunity to experience something new.

Oh, shit!

Yeah, Mumma!

THEY SING

The bus is going.

Bye, darling!

Wow! Look at this!

This is very surreal.

I'm getting really overwhelmed.

Oh, my God!

How are we doing? This is so cool!

Oh, my gosh!

India's going to be full of surprises.

It's just all too much.

Actually quite relaxing.