Svetlana Velmar-Janković

The fifth series of Race Across the World began airing on 23 April 2025. Each two-person team were required to complete the 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) route from China to India without using air travel with a budget equivalent to the cost of the air fare.

Start and end points

Huanghuacheng, China (top) and Kanyakumari, India (bottom)

The fifth series of Race Across the World was a 14,000 km race starting from the Great Wall of China, passing through Nepal and finishing at Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India. This series features the tightest budget yet for the contestants at £1,140 per person, the equivalent of £22 a day.^[1]

The winning team will receive £20,000.^[2]

Colour key:

  – Team withdrawn

  – Series winners

The checkpoints in the fifth series were:

Mode of transportation	Rail    Boat / Ship    Bus/coach    Taxi    Private car Cable car
Activity	Working for money and/or bed and board    Excursion that cost time and money

The race starts from a point along the Great Wall of China overlooking the village of Huanghuacheng, and the contestants head to the first check point in the village of Huangling in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi.

Order	Teams	Route	Time behind leaders	Money left
1	Elizabeth & Letitia	Huanghuacheng → Beijing → Shijiazhuang → Bengbu → Wuyuan → → Huangling	—	88%
2	Fin & Sioned	Huanghuacheng → Beijing → Qingdao → Shanghai → Hangzhou → → Wuyuan → → Huangling	2 hours 59 minutes	88%
3	Gaz & Yin	Huanghuacheng → Huairou → Beijing → Qufu → Shanghai → Wuyuan → → Huangling	6 hours 49 minutes	83%
4	Brian & Melvyn	Huanghuacheng → Beijing → Louyang → Longmen Grottoes → Nanjie → Wuyuan → → Huangling	21 hours 16 minutes	84%
5	Caroline & Tom	Huanghuacheng → Beijing → Jinan → Suzhou → Hefei →	25 hours 38 minutes	87%

The race restarted on day 6 and the checkpoint was revealed to be the city of Sanya on Hainan Island. Teams had to backtrack to Wuyuan HSR Station by cable car and bus in order to travel onwards. From there, all teams travelled onward to Shangrao Railway Station. They can then choose to either head inland, with lower expenses and more convoluted and slower travel routes; or hug the coast by city hopping, which has higher costs and faster travel routes in order to reach the city of Sanya on Hainan Island.

Two teams, Elizabeth & Letitia and Gaz & Yin chose to travel inland into rural China on slow overnight trains in the cheapest seats available. Gaz & Yin are headed towards the ancient town of Fenghuang in Hunan Province to work at Miss Zhou's Noodle Bar, with Gaz as an usher for customers and Yin as a dishwasher; while Elizabeth & Letitia upon arriving in Hengyang on a K-series train transfered to a bullet train to Guilin. They planned to overnight in Guilin and then board a bus to Longji Rice Terraces, Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, Guangxi to visit rice paddies.

Meanwhile, Fin & Sioned and –Brian & Melvyn on the other hand chose to travel via the well-trodden path, with Fin & Sioned setting their sights on the coastal metropolis of Xiamen in Fujian Province, and –Brian & Melvyn choosing to travel to the sightseeing spot of Chuxi Tulou cluster in Xiayang, Yongding County, Longyan, Fujian for work.

Gaz & Yin's work at the noodle bar has earned them ~£8/80 yuan and a free lunch. During Gaz's time in the picturesque town of Fenghuang, he reflects on his previous marriage with Yin and suggested that the reason behind the breakup was because he became lazy and took Yin for granted; and that he blames himself for the breakup. He also disclosed that he didn't cope with the breakdown of the marriage well and found it extremely tough. He described himself as becoming insular after separating with Yin, and turned to alcoholism as a way of coping instead of talking to people about it. He mentioned that during this time, Yin never gave up on him and was there for him during the dark times; and thus, he wanted to repay her by making sure he does not let her down during this race, as he has let her down too many times in the past and does not want a repeat of this.

Caroline and Tom aimed at catching up by sacrificing experiences. Caroline reflects on the purpose of joining this race with Thomas; she has a point to prove and wanted him to realise that she has a mother than can achieve things and do things rather than just be a mother. They decided to go to the cosmopolitan coastal city of Xiamen. They then found their way to Guangzhou. Upon arrival in Guangzhou, they only managed to book train tickets to Zhanjiang departing during the afternoon of the day after, so they decided to have fun that day and then work the day afternoon. The morning of the day after, they decided to work as a cleaner and learn Kung Fu at a gym (拳館) in Foshan, the birthplace of Bruce Lee's master Ip Man and the Kung Fu capital of China, before catching their train to Zhanjiang in the afternoon in order to earn budget. At the gym, both Caroline and Thomas reflect on Caroline's life as a stay-at-home mum and their thoughts on it.

Fin & Sioned bickered over responsibilities and who should be in charge during this leg at Xiamen railway station, with Sioned complaining about always having to take responsibility, and insisting that Fin is responsible for communication whilst she is responsible for planning. Fin & Sioned reflects on this, saying that it's just chopsing instead of a full-blown argument. Upon arriving on Zhuhai's beaches, Fin comforted and reassured Sioned who was struggling with homesickness.

Brian & Melvyn arrived at Mr Xu's in the beautiful mountainous village of Chuxi for work. Mr Xu and his family was extremely hospitable throughout, offering them plenty of food, beer, and 'Chinese vodka/rice wine/whiskey' and carrying their bags down the steps. The day after, Brian & Melvyn repaid the hospitality that they have received by helping to harvest bamboo shoots and Chinese herbal medicine.

Upon leaving Fenghuang, Gaz and Yin travelled to work on a family farm in Jiangtou ancient village in Jiuwu, Lingchuan County, Guangxi. Upon arrival, they spent the evening with Mr Lu and his family. Mr Lu had his family farm for 24 years and it was run along with his wife. Again Gaz and Yin reflected on their previous relationship and it was revealed that they have split up for three years and had one daughter named Autumn together. She is now 23 years old. The morning after, Yin and Gaz paid for their food and board by working on a paddy field digging up lotus roots before making their way to the checkpoint via Zhanjiang. All the other four teams also closed in on the checkpoint, making a final push to the checkpoint Sanya by making their way towards Zhanjiang and Xuwen.

Another twist of this episode was Typhoon Trami. The effects of this typhoon wrecked havoc during this leg, scuppering the travel plans of many. With long-distance coach services being preemptively cancelled before the typhoon started to affect the region, –Brian and Melvyn had to shell out for more than they wish for in order to pay for high speed rail services which were the only form of transportation that teams can still avail of in order to progress further in the race. Elizabeth & Letitia were the first to arrive on Hainan Island, yet the effects of the typhoon can already been seen bringing torrential downpours. They chose to take a bus from the ferry port in Haikou to Sanya despite it taking longer than the train, as they preferred to be on the road and moving as soon as possible instead of waiting around for the train. They later questioned this decision and felt a slight bit of regret because the bus seemed slow and they were afraid of being overtaken by the other teams which would have taken the faster option i.e. the train. While Elizabeth and Letitia were on their bus journey towards Sanya, –Brian & Melvyn and Fin & Sioned were approaching Hainan Island by ferry. Upon arrival, they did indeed take the train from Haikou to Sanya. Upon arrival at Sanya, the teams were given an instruction on their GPS to make their way to Sanya Qiche Zhan by any available means, either on foot or by taxi. The GPS then asked them to head west on foot to find the beach, and subsequently head across the bridge to find the checkpoint hotel located at Phoenix Island Resort. Eventually, three pairs managed to make it to the checkpoint hotel by the end of this episode, with Elizabeth & Letitia finishing first and arriving at the hotel first at 19:57 on day 12, followed by Brian & Melvyn at 23:51 on day 12, and Fin & Sioned at 01:26 on day 13. Two teams, Caroline & Tom and Gaz & Yin have still yet managed to reach the checkpoint by the end of the episode.

The intensity of the typhoon continued to increase and waves battered the shores; the typhoon was increasingly being felt on Hainan Island. two teams, Caroline & Tom and Gaz & Yin have still yet to reach Sanya, the checkpoint of this leg. The torrential downpour has stranded Caroline & Tom at Xinhai Harbour in Haikou. Unable to continue reaching Sanya until the morning, they were forced to overnight at Haikou instead. Still on the mainland were Gaz & Yin; this is because the ferry service they had planned on taking was also affected by the typhoon and it was no longer departing on time due to safety reasons.

Order	Teams	Route	Time behind leaders	Money left
1	Elizabeth & Letitia	Huangling → Wuyuan → Shangrao → Hengyang, Hunan → Guilin, Guangxi → Longji Rice Terraces, Guangxi →Guilin, Guangxi → Zhanjiang, Guangdong → Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang → Haikou, Hainan →Phoenix Island Resort, Sanya, Hainan	—
2	Brian & Melvyn	Huangling →Wuyuan → Shangrao → Chuxi Tulou cluster, Yongding, Longyan, Fujian → Guangzhou → Zhanjiang, Guangdong → Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang → Haikou, Hainan →Phoenix Island Resort, Sanya, Hainan	3 hours and 54 minutes
3	Fin & Sioned	Huangling →Wuyuan → Shangrao → Xiamen, Fujian → Zhuhai, Guangdong → Zhanjiang, Guangdong → Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang → Haikou, Hainan → Phoenix Island Resort, Sanya, Hainan	5 hours and 29 minutes
4	Caroline & Tom	Huangling →Wuyuan → Shangrao →Xiamen, Fujian → Guangzhou, Guangdong → Zhanjiang, Guangdong → Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang → Haikou Port New Seaport
5	Gaz & Yin	Huangling →Wuyuan → Shangrao → Fenghuang, Hunan → Hengyang, Hunan → Jiangtou, Lingchuan County, Guangxi → Zhanjiang, Guangdong → Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang

• Race Across the World series 5 at BBC Online