Photo provided to China Daily

"So perhaps the hardest part is to get people talking to a foreigner in front of the cam-era, whether it's ordinary citizens or high-ranking officials or scholars. That's the biggest value of our Sino-US collaboration in this team," says Getzels.

The team is not afraid to push the envelope, says ICS vice-director Wang Lijun.

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Journeyman's stories

"When we moved on to the new-media topic, some people expressed concern that micro blogs can spread false information like a contagious disease. But in our view, the cure is more information, not less," Wang says.

The message we are delivering here is that microblogs are giving China a chance to create a system which is more open, fair and just, says Kuhn.

For its bold questions and sharp vision, the first season of China's Challenges won first prize at the China News Award competition, the country's top-ranked journalism award. Kuhn is now preparing to shoot the next season.

"For the second season, we will delve deeper into China by visiting different places other than top cities like Shanghai and Beijing. And we will try to address the questions and present possible solutions," he says.

If you look at the bigger picture, China's mission is to elevate the living standard of its people. And seeking hegemony would not help to achieve this goal, says Wang Jianjun, executive vice-president of Shanghai Media Group.

"We are going to make the series on an annual basis in order to track where China is heading," she says.