Seeing change up close

Produced by the China Intercontinental Communication Center and the two broadcasting platforms, the documentary invited three US TV hosts-Bashinelli, Kimi Werner and Dennis Nieh-to travel to nine far-flung villages across eight Chinese provinces, including Shanxi and Fujian. Their trips ranged from a visit to a herder's tent on the grasslands of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to an ethnic Nu village in Yunnan province to a primary school in rural Guizhou province. The documentary was made to mark the 70th anniversary this year of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Every episode starts with a voice-over stating that China has lifted more than 700 million people in rural areas out of poverty since 1978, and is targeting the remaining poor families in an effort to wipe out extreme poverty by 2020.

"China has made remarkable progress in fighting poverty, but there are only a few documentaries that have featured the theme. So we wanted to make one that reflects the country's latest efforts," says Wang Yuanyuan, the executive producer of the documentary.

But it proved a major challenge to translate government policy initiatives on poverty alleviation into human interest stories that could cater to the international audience. So, the crew reached out to the three US TV hosts, in the hope that following their journeys on camera would appeal to Western viewers.

"Werner was born in Hawaii. She is a skilled diver, fisher, cook and an artist. She loves nature and knows how to make friends with those that live close to nature," says Wang, who is also head of the film and TV division of the China Intercontinental Communication Center, as she introduces the US TV hosts in the documentary.