A wacky scavenger hunt is taking shape in Beijing and it's starting to look a lot like The Amazing Race.

On Sept 25, I Race Beijing will launch up to 25 teams of four in a mad-dash search across Beijing for clues that lead to a series of destinations. Each team will have to check-in at these venues with the Let's Powwow iPhone application, with a photo of themselves at the venue.

I Race Beijing (Ai Beijing) is co-organized by Beijing-based internet start-up Let's Powwow and events organizer Mashup.

"There's been other types of races out there," said Adam Guli, CEO and co-founder of Let's Powwow. "We've got the technology for this race to make something quite unique."

The Amazing Race, for those who have never seen the TV show which inspired the Beijing event, is usually a month-long race across the globe that is broken down into legs - each leg ending with a clue or challenge that leads to the next leg. The first team to reach the end of a leg is usually rewarded, and subsequent teams are given tasks or lesser rewards.

I Race Beijing will be on a much smaller scale, involving 11 venues for about five hours, in five major sections of the city. According to Guli, there will be Chinese venues as well as foreign venues, each providing a different challenge to the teams.

Kristen Lum, a representative of one of the race venues, says her stop will feature a blind taste test.

Apart from revealing a challenge and the next destination, each venue will provide vouchers and coupons redeemable after the race for arriving contestants.

The race starts at 11 am Sept 25 at Bar Blu in Sanlitun and ends back at Bar Blu; there is a 500 yuan ($78) fee per team to register. Each team must have one male and one female member, one native Chinese speaker, one English speaker, and at least one iPhone or iPad with an active data plan and the Let's Powwow application. The first team to finish all the challenges will win 4,000 yuan in addition to the venue vouchers they collect on the way.

You can contact the writer at ericjou@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/18/2011 page15)