They may seem like ordinary tourists at first, but the numerous cameras and many stage-hands around them reveal their true identity. Some stop and look at them. “Look, it is Kay!” says a Chinese woman on the Ponte Vecchio, surprised to meet the star of her homeland half-way across the world.
Some Chinese stars have found their way to Florence to film the reality TV show Where are we going, Dad? According to The Atlantic, the show spotlights a new generation of Chinese fathers who are gentler and more directly involved in their children’s upbringing than the stereotypically stern parents of the past. The stars include Zheng Pei Pei, who was featured in the Academy Award-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hua Chen Yu, singer and winner of talent show Super Boy in 2013; Liu Tao, Li Fei, Xu Jing and Zhang Kai. The show, airing on Hunan Television, tells unscripted travel tales. Without a tour guide accompanying them, the protagonists move through the city like an average group of friends on vacation, with a crowd of cameramen following them closely. Shots are framed with famous monuments like the Duomo and the Palazzo Vecchio in the background. Their journeys throughout Italy include stops at Rome, San Gimignano and, of course, Florence.
