Kaka teaming up Gao Xiaosong to host Chinese online show

Gao, who shot to fame on the back of his hit song My Old Classmate, says that his musical works have been deeply inspired by Russian culture.

"I've grown up listening to Russian songs and watching Russian films. For me, Russia is like a familiar relative who has stayed with me for many years."

Su, who is also producer of the new show, says the crew toured four Russian cities to film some of the sequences. In some cases, filming was done in some pretty harsh conditions, for instance in temperatures as low as -25 C in Kazan, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

Last week, Gao and Su appeared at a promotional event in Beijing to unveil the trailer for the new series. Kaká, however, was conspicuously absent from proceedings, presumably because he was busy honing his table tennis skills.