British broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle says his recent journey across China for a new documentary has fundamentally changed the way he views the country, challenging long-held stereotypes and revealing a side of China that many people in the West rarely see.
Having traveled to more than 100 countries during his career, Fogle admitted that the Chinese mainland had remained a major gap in his experiences.
“I had never been to China before,” Fogle said in an interview with China Daily. “I had always wanted to wait until I had a really good opportunity to see it properly. I didn’t want to do a fleeting visit that was just a few days long.”
The documentary, produced for Channel 5, followed Fogle as he traveled across the country by train, visiting cities, rural communities, technology hubs and historical sites. The aim, he said, was to present “a very different side to China” from the one often portrayed in the United Kingdom.
Reflecting on his expectations before landing in China, Fogle said some of the images he had in mind were exaggerated stereotypes often associated with the country in the West.
“We all have stereotypes in our heads about different nations,” he said, recalling that before the trip, he had imagined China as gray, smoggy and disconnected from the outside world.
But those assumptions quickly began to shift during his six-week stay.
“It took time,” he said. “I didn’t land and immediately think everything was different. It was through everyday experiences — going for runs in the morning, walking through neighborhoods, seeing families taking children to school — that I began to see a society I recognized.”
What struck him most was the warmth and openness of ordinary people. “People were very helpful, inquisitive and surprisingly honest,” he said.
Fogle traveled extensively by high-speed rail, something he described as one of the highlights of the journey. Comparing China’s rail system with Britain’s aging network, he praised the efficiency and accessibility of Chinese transport infrastructure.
“I am the biggest fan of your train network,” he said. “We took journeys of more than 1,500 miles (2414 kilometers) for a fraction of what a train ticket would cost in Britain.”
Among the destinations that left the deepest impression on him was the Great Wall.
“I genuinely thought the Great Wall of China is probably the most amazing man-made wonder that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It was even better than I imagined.”
The documentary also took viewers into less familiar corners of modern China, including factories, robotics companies and technology centers in Shenzhen. Fogle said the visit reshaped his understanding of Chinese innovation.
“For many people in the West, ‘Made in China’ still means cheap copies or inferior quality,” he said. “But what I saw was innovation. China is no longer an imitator — it’s becoming a leader.”
He recalled being particularly impressed by the country’s rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and e-commerce, as well as the creativity and ambition of younger generations.
“All the young Chinese people I met were so creative, dynamic and progressive,” he said. “There’s an energy there that’s really exciting.”
Fogle said he was also impressed by the convenience of traveling around China and the country’s rapid development.
“The main feedback I’ve had is that people didn’t realize how beautiful China was or how easy it looked to travel around,” he said.
He added that the experience has made him rethink many of the assumptions commonly held in the West about China. “Whenever I read news stories in our papers about China, I will read them with a slight cynicism, knowing that there is a very set narrative that the West still holds journalistically in how we report on China,” he said.
Fogle said he hopes the documentary encourages audiences to approach other countries with greater curiosity and openness. “It’s too simplistic and too binary to have one single vision,” he said. “My advice to people is that you have to be more open-minded and give places a chance.”
He added that he would gladly return to China in the future, this time with his family.
“I would love to go back,” he said. “If people have the chance to visit China, I would absolutely encourage them to do it.”
wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com
