"All the clues have a geographical, historical or social angle, which means the competitors will learn a lot about China as they progress."
The Amazing China Face Race has developed out of the earlier Hastings District Secondary schools 2006 and 2008 Ultimate Challenges, competitions which were geographically based around Hastings' Chinese Sister City, Guilin.
"Hastings can rightly be proud of being the First NZ city to sign a sister Cities protocol with China in 1981, and I think we can again enjoy leading the way in these fun initiatives for our students," Watkins said.
"Lets hope all students will give it their best shot, teachers will join in, college will race college, the mums and dads and general public encouraged to join in the fun. We have been delighted to again attract and welcome valuable sponsorship supporting this year's Race."
Watkins said the purpose of these competitions was to create a fun way of learning more about Guilin, its people, its culture, its history and its incredible landscape.
All of the competitions offered a grand prize for the winning Hastings student to visit theSister City Guilin, to visit schools, engage with their Guilin peers, immerse themselves in a new culture, and share with those in Guilin, New Zealand culture and in particular their way of life here in Hastings.
The Grand prize allows a Hastings student an opportunity to visit a new country that otherwise may have been beyond their reach.
Students will be searching to identify one un-named face in China, and if all the clues and questions are correctly answered, the students will be lead to where the Face can be found and identified.
The first 30 clues will knock out the regions in which the "Face" does not live, after which the clues will focus on getting the teens closer and closer to the target person. Students are encouraged to use "all their wits" to be the first to identify the "Face", said Watkins.
The first student to make contact with the "China Face", get that person's name and a code word and submit that information to Hastings District Council wins a two-week trip to China.
The first three clues go out on Thursday.
For more information and to access the daily clues, visit https://theamazingchinafacerace.nz/ or facebook.com/theamazingchinafacerace