Amazing Race update – China marathon

After last week's elimination, we're down to the Final Four and we're still in China. Teams head from Guilin to Beijing where they need to find a foot massage spa. This seems to continue to help Team Esquire since Tammy & Victor both speak Chinese; at the airport, they ask for plane seats as close to the front as possible. Then they ask (in Chinese) to put the remaining teams in the back of the plane. There's a palpable chill between Team Sistahs and Margie & Luke, due to last week's run-in.

Team Ginger arrives at the parlor first and it's the Roadblock: one team member receives a foot massage. However, this traditional Chinese foot massage is very aggressive and clearly painful. Jaime of Team Ginger starts crying. Kisha chews on a towel because of the pain. Tammy embraces her zen and simply breathes through the massage. After the massages, teams head to a sports technology school or something.

The teams are bunched pretty close after the Roadblock and at the natatorium it's the Detour: Sync or Swim. Teams may either do a synchronized dive or swim eight lengths of the pool. Tammy & Victor arrive first and choose to do the dive since they can't swim very well. Kisha & Jen choose the same option for the same reason. However, the three meter board is too high for Team Sistahs and they back out to swim. Meanwhile, Team Ginger and Team Say What are putting on the advanced Speedo swimsuits for their swim.

At the Swim Detour, they keep showing the much slower swim times for the Racers vs. Michael Phelps' time in the Beijing Olympics. Team Ginger finishes first and heads to the Pit Stop at the Drum Tower. They're followed by Margie & Luke. Meanwhile, Tammy & Victor change from synchronized diving to swimming because they can't hit the water at the same time. Kisha & Jen (mostly Jen) are wracked with anxiety at either swimming or diving. It seems like either Detour is insurmountable for Team Sistahs. Team Esquire leaves as Jen is crouched on the floor, crying; so it looks like Team Sistahs is done. They're both doing the swimming Detour with life jackets on.

There's some dramatic Amazing Race editing where they try to make it appear the teams are lost in traffic or something, but Jaime & Cara (who left the Detour first) arrive to the mat first where Phil is waiting. Curiously, he announces that Team Ginger is "the first team to arrive" and not, as I've noted many times, "Team #1." Hmmmm... It turns out that this is one of those "continuation" legs of the Race and Phil hands them another clue envelope directing them to the next task.

Keep on Racin'!

Next week – Chinese food that isn't General Tso's chicken.