GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
07 April 2026. CHINA POST #618
CHINA AND THE FOREIGN MEDIA
THIS CHINA POST – #618 – IS DIFFERENT.
THE WORDS ARE NOT MINE.
THEY COME FROM TV’S DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKER BEN FOGLE.
THEY ARE TAKEN FROM “CHINA WITH BEN FOGLE”.
IT CAN BE SEEN ON CHANNEL 5 AT 9PM ON;-
MONDAY 5 APRIL
TUESDAY 6 APRIL
WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL.
Regards
GRAHAM PERRY
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WHAT FOLLOWS ARE EXTRACTS FROM FOGLE’S NARRATIVE;-
“I think the world order is changing rapidly before our eyes, and China, whether people like to hear it or not, is becoming increasingly relevant. We thought that 2026 was the moment to try and scratch beneath the surface.
I’d read all those headlines over the years that effectively cast China as a repressed, oppressed, depressed nation. And what I was able to do was spend two months travelling the length and breadth of the country,
getting a real feel for the place.
It’s important to add that we did have a government observer. It’s not uncommon; I’ve had government observers when we’re filming in many communist and socialist nations. We put in our request for what we wanted to film and why, so there was editorial control in some ways from the Chinese ahead of our filming, but I was actually surprised by how much flexibility there was in our itinerary and where we could go.
With the cameras down, I spent a lot of time wandering around cities on my own, going for runs, and going to cafes and restaurants on my own, and the China I saw away from the cameras looked pretty similar to the China we saw in front of the cameras.
Every tourist I met said the same thing: they couldn’t believe how warm, generous, and easy it was to travel around. They felt a great warmth from all the people they met, just as I did. The food, I thought, was extraordinary. The fast train network; they’ve got 50,000 miles of bullet train. So yes, I think as a tourist, if you went there, you would feel safe, you would feel comfortable, and I think, most importantly, you would feel incredibly surprised.
I was of the generation that read Wild Swans, so I expected that cultural revolution, soggy cabbage, everyone wearing the same tunic, misery, and depression. And obviously, that has not been the case for a very long time.
But I was expecting a colder reception, and it couldn’t have been further from the truth. I found people were interested, were warm, and it felt to me like they had agency to say what they wanted. Now, with the caveat, we obviously had an observer with us, but that observer was not always within earshot. I think that there was much more freedom of expression than I anticipated.
And incidentally, when I went out on walks on my own, I was often canvassed by members of the LGBTQ community asking my thoughts on sexuality in the West compared to sexuality in China, and they were openly gay individuals, and I saw that away from the cameras. So, I think China is perhaps more flexible and bows more than people realise.
They are modernising fast, aren’t they?
Shenzhen is off the scale. The haste and the speed of development and creation there is astonishing. I hadn’t realised quite how far ahead the rest of the world, China, is when it comes to innovation and technology. You know, I think I certainly grew up during a period when China and Chinese-made products were synonymous with cheapness, copycats, and counterfeiting. And they have had a huge policy to change that narrative. And they’ve done that.
Lastly, what would be your top tip to a reader on where to go or what to do when you go?
Travel by train. The train travel really enhanced my whole experience. The train stations, the technology, the speed, that for me was a real highlight, and as difficult as it was travelling by train with a film crew and all of our boxes and everything, it really lent itself to enhancing the experience. So that would be my number one piece of advice.”
China with Ben Fogle airs Monday 6th – Wednesday 8th April at 9pm. Watch | Stream on 5.
