User:Ellen Wallace/sandbox

Liam Bates is a performer, television host and adventurer from Switzerland, born June 28, 1988. Far better known in China, than in his home country, Bates' first appearance on Chinese television was during the 2010 Chinese Bridge language contest, in which he received first prize and the eloquence prize in front of a TV audience of almost 300 million, instantly propelling him to fame.

Television career
Following Bates' Chinese Bridge success in September 2010 he swiftly joined The Travel Channel China as their newest host, where he began a regular travel series filmed throughout the Chinese countryside. His first shows focused on rural life in Hunan, Guizhou and other Chinese provinces, where he would spend a week living with local farmers and learning about their local culture. In early 2012 Bates began a new series, A Love for Adventure (我爱大冒险) where he would travel around the world seeking out small tribes living in a traditional manner and spend time with them in order to learn their survival techniques.

In 2011 Bates and 'The Travel Channel China' team spent two weeks in his home country of Switzerland, filming everything from chocolate to the Swiss military. The resulting television show broke numerous records in China, the first 30-minute episode gathering more than 1.5 million views on video sharing website Youku alone.

Xiangsheng
Following Bates' success in the Chinese Bridge contest, he was formally invited to begin the study of xiangsheng (a traditional form of "crosstalk" comedy) by famous Chinese comedian Ding Guangquan. In February 2012, in a traditional ceremony at the Confucius Institute, University of Hawaii, Bates was formally accepted into the xiangsheng hierarchy when he took Ding Guangquan to be his Shifu. Today xiangsheng is still a large part of Bates' work, and his performances are regularly seen on China Central Television.

Current work
Bates' initial fame came from Chinese Bridge and his travel shows, but he has gradually expanded into a variety of activities, including hosting of live events and outdoors/survival instruction. He continues to be a popular performer and foreign personality on Chinese television, his Chinese micro-blog Sina Weibo gathering tens of thousands followers.