Reality show on heritage sites to produce second season

An acclaimed Chinese reality show on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China will premiere its second season later this year, as announced by its production team on April 29.

The first season of The Shape of Culture was released on Zhejiang TV in January, and the 12-episode production runs through early May. It gained 8.1 points out of a possible 10 on Douban.com, China's major film and TV review website. Relevant posts attracted over 1.35 billion clicks on social media platform Sina Weibo.

In each episode of the show, Shan Jixiang, former director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, leads celebrities to explore a World Heritage Site or a site on the tentative list seeking that status, joined by other experts and local people.

The first season includes famous sites such as West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, Fujian province and the ancient villages of southern Anhui province.

China has inscribed 55 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, tied with Italy as the country with the most sites, offering rich inspiration for producers of the show to continue their journey around the country.

Production of the second season will begin in September, and its first episode will be broadcast in December. The first site to be included in the new season is Zhoukoudian Peking Man site in Beijing, an archaeological cave site where a human skull from 600,000 years ago was discovered. More sites are welcomed to apply to join the show.