Chinese 'Survivors' get taste of Bulgarian mountain village

Cast and crew member who filmed the first Chinee reality show "Survivor" in Bulgaria experienced the charm of the Balkan country. [Photo/Agencies]

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The main purpose of the reality show according to Hu is to introduce the healthy lifestyle of the Bulgarian village to the Chinese audience through the experience of seven Chinese survivors.

Nikova said that during the first week, seven Chinese stars had to survive in the home of a local family without an interpreter and with only a Chinese-Bulgarian dictionary, while in the second week all Chinese people were gathered together in a single house.

The seven Chinese experienced their first test before entering the houses of their hosts because they had to identify the right people when they were greeted at dusk at the crowded square of the village, Nikova said.

As early as next day, Nikova involved her Chinese guest, the 22-year-old Monica from Shanghai, in all household activities such as feeding the hens and the calf, and picking vegetables from the small garden in the small yard.

Nikova said that the Chinese were impressed by a tomato that weighed 1.1 kg.

"I did not know how they communicated with each other, but at one moment over 20 people came in our garden in our yard, to film carrots, tomatoes, the calf and the hens," Nikova said.

Monica had to harvest hay from the meadows near the village, Nikova said. But to be able to feel how the local people gathered hay in the heat years ago, the participant in the Chinese reality show was dressed in traditional Rhodope costume.

Monica also learned to cook traditional local dishes like patatnik, banitsa and stuffed peppers. In her last evening at the house, she cooked delicious Chinese food, Nikova said.