Top Gear is a Chinese television series about motor vehicles, primarily on cars, and is an adaptation of the British television series Top Gear. The show premiered on 13 November 2014 on the network Shanghai Dragon TV. Series 1 was hosted by Cheng Lei, Richie Jen, and Tian Liang, Series 2 by Cheng Lei, Ma Dong, and . The show also features a segment similar to Star in a Reasonably Priced Car (Ford Focus in Series 1 and Volkswagen Lamando in Series 2) and a Chinese Stig, whose identity is currently unknown.
Episodes TotalEpisodeReviewsFeaturesGuestsAir DateSeries 111Porsche 918 Spyder• Drive 310 kilometers from Zhangye to Jiayu Pass with a battery/fuel range of exactly 310 km left (Tesla Model S • Ford Mondeo)Qiao Zhenyu • Michelle Ye • Tiger Hu • Ma Tianyu • Alan Ko • Cica Zhou • Jiang Wu12 November 201422Ferrari F12berlinetta• Drive from Dali to Geladan (Jaguar XF • DS 6WR • Polaris RZR) to watch the night skyChopstick Brothers19 November 201433Jaguar F-Type R• Climb to Bilutu Peak in the Badain Jaran Desert (Toyota Tundra • Arctic Cat Wildcat)Zheng Kai • Gülnezer Bextiyar26 November 201444McLaren 650S• Race near West Lake (Volkswagen Golf • bicycle • public transit) • Parkour vs. BMX vs. Chevrolet CruzeZhang Liang3 December 201455Bentley Continental GT V8 SGary Chaw10 December 201466Aston Martin Vanquish Volante17 December 201477KTM X-Bow GT24 December 201488Maserati GranTurismo MC StradaleKevin Cheng7 January 201599BMW M235i • Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG • MINI Paceman JCW• "Triathlon" in a zoo with Land Rover DiscoveryWu Chun14 January 20151010Ford Mustang21 January 2015Series 2111N/A• Race across Shanghai during morning rush hour (public transit • bicycle • boat • Toyota Reiz) • Wingsuit flying vs. drifting (Subaru BRZ) in Tianmen MountainAarif Rahman19 October 2015122N/A• Drive ¥300,000 (about $45,000) sports cars (Porsche 996 Carrera 4 • Mercedes-Benz SL500 • Ferrari 360) across desertWong Cho-lam26 October 2015133BMW i8• Farewells to a to-be-decommissioned 14-year-old Volkswagen PoloMing Dao2 November 2015144Caterham Seven• Package delivery challenge (Arctic Cat utility task vehicle • Fengxian (奉贤) bus)Christy Chung9 November 2015155N/A• London tour (Jaguar E-Type Roadster • Peel P50 • Abbot self-propelled gun) • Travel to the Top Gear test track and Waddesdon Manor in vehicles with Chinese connection (Benelli electric bicycle • TX4 • Chang'an Eado)
• Race to Goodison Park in British lightweight sports cars (Morgan 3-Wheeler • Caterham Seven • Radical SR3)Pan Xiaoting • Jeffrey Kung16 November 2015166N/A• Uber driver challenge in ¥400,000 (about $60,000) cars (Audi A6 • Chevrolet Camaro • Ford Taurus (Chinese version) • hot hatch face-off (Volkswagen Golf R • Renault Mégane RS)Kelly Lin • Ho-Pin Tung23 November 2015177N/A• Race across Chongqing (Volkswagen Lamando • NIU eScooter • public transit) Part 1Jimmy Lin30 November 2015188Porsche 911 GT3• Race across Chongqing Part 2 • Off-road SUV challenge (Toyota Land Cruiser Prado • Ford Everest • Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara) on the Hulunbuir PrairieStephen Fung7 December 2015199Lamborghini Huracán • Volkswagen Golf GTI• Train for the CTCCLynn Hung14 December 20152010McLaren 625C• Race to Mount Putuo (Peugeot 308 • Roewe E50 • Maserati Quattroporte GTS) with ¥500 (about $75) for gas and tollsChang Chen21 December 2015
History The first attempt at a Chinese Top Gear was in 2011.
In May 2014, BBC announced that it has signed a deal with Honyee Media to produce a local version of Top Gear in China. On 13 November 2014, the first series of the Top Gear China premiered on Shanghai Dragon Television, presented by Cheng Lei, a veteran Chinese TV presenter, Richie Jen, a Taiwanese singer and actor, and Tian Liang, a former Olympic gold-medalist in diving.
Production started in July 2014. Filming took place in various locations, such as: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Chongqing, Guizhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and Wuxi.
Reception Season 2 has had a total audience of 217 million with 5 episodes.
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