Don’t let his small stature fool you—he makes a big impression.
Ian Wright
● Host, traveler, painter
● Born on May 17, 1965, in Suffolk, England
● Has traveled to over a hundred countries and regions including Egypt and India
● Has hosted more than 50 adventure shows including "Globe Trekker"
● Currently working on the series "Ian Wright's Invitation"
He has been burned on the arm by volcanic lava, gotten up close and personal with a giant snake in South America, and visited over a hundred countries and regions around the world. He is Ian Wright, the award-winning host of the Discovery Channel. To his many fans in China, he represents a way of life: hitting the road with a backpack.
Adventure · Experiences
Rafting down a river on a homemade bamboo raft
Long before hosting "Globe Trekker," Ian was already a professional traveler. He participated in the "Raleigh International" expedition organized by the Prince’s Trust, traveling to Guyana on a homemade bamboo raft down unmarked rivers. He also spent three months traveling in Egypt, seven months in India and Nepal, and six months in Europe. Ian’s favorite place is the Arctic Circle. He believes the environment there is extreme and absurd, completely different from everyday life. Greenland is a marvelous place—about the size of Europe but with only 55,000 people.
Compared to the Arctic Circle, it seems there’s no colder place in the world, not even the snowy mountains. London has no mountains, and Greenwich is considered the “highest point,” but Ian loves mountain climbing. He climbs without a GPS, without a handheld computer or MP3 player, and even without branded luggage—just wearing a locally made handwoven jacket, he scaled a peak over 7,000 meters high in South America.
“Comfort isn’t for me,” Ian says. “I like traveling to the most natural and cheapest places, getting dirtier and dirtier.”
Nearly Hit by Volcanic Lava
Ian jokes that he has the physique of a ninja—he doesn’t need to prepare anything extra to face danger, and he often doesn’t even encounter any. But near the world’s most active volcano in Vanuatu, he was truly frightened.
That volcano is notorious for its “bad temper,” erupting lava from its crater every 10 minutes. If Dante had seen it, it might have been his vision of Purgatory in "The Divine Comedy." In such an environment, Ian and his team kept filming until the wind changed direction. A piece of lava landed just two meters away from Ian, and he ran off like a rabbit. For an ordinary person, that experience might have been enough to stop them. But not him—this London backpacker still brags in bars about the lava burn scar on his arm.
Adventurous people often love to show off, and Ian is no exception. If you ask him about the necklace he’s often seen wearing, he’ll proudly say, “I killed a crocodile and pulled out its teeth one by one!” Of course, that’s also a joke. “It’s a knockoff, I bought it for two bucks.”
Almost Wrapped Up by a Giant Python
In 2010, Ian traveled to Venezuela in South America. Starting from Zulia State on the border with Colombia in the north, he experienced the locals’ warmth along the way.
In Venezuela, he witnessed the largest Christian festival in South America and enjoyed kite surfing on Margarita Island. But what left a deep impression on him was something else—the python.
“There was one scene we filmed in a rice paddy,” Ian recalls. “The python was underwater and invisible. The best approach was to move your feet slowly, step by step, to feel if there was anything nearby. It was a dangerous situation—you often had to learn on the spot from the locals because there were many things you couldn’t anticipate in advance.”
Eventually, they did find a giant python by the rice paddy, one that took six people to lift. “We were trying to move it somewhere else, but the challenge was that everyone had to move in sync. In the end, everyone else dropped their end, and I was left holding the tail—and it had started to wrap around me. I was so scared I dropped it and ran.”
Female Vendor Chases Him for Ten Miles
During his travels, Ian enjoys chatting and joking with the people he meets, sharing their life stories. He finds the most rewarding part to be connecting with people from all over the world, acting as the glue that holds everything together.
However, not everyone is pleasant. The ever-present vendors can be quite annoying, constantly pestering you. “For example, in Kashmir, India, I had booked Hotel A. When I got out of the train station, someone came up and asked, ‘What hotel did you book?’ You say Hotel A, and they say, ‘Come with me.’ But they’re fake—Hotel A staff might see this and come over, leading to a tug-of-war.”
Some vendors profit from making tourists feel guilty—for instance, inviting you to sit and slowly drink coffee while looking at their carpets. If you don’t buy, they might say, “You drank my coffee and looked at my carpet, I spent all this time, and you’re not buying?” In some places, poor women might even chase you for ten miles, pestering you nonstop, “Buy it, buy it.”
“In Morocco, one thing people used to do badly was get physically touchy. In their view, we travelers are all rich and maybe deserve to be harassed like this. Verbal harassment is one thing, but physical pulling and tugging is really annoying.”
Adventure · People
A monkey that speaks English
“I'm just a monkey who happens to speak English.” Ian, born in Britain in 1965, introduces himself this way.
Loves humor and loves scaring people too
Exploring quality documentaries to a global audience
The Discovery Channel is the world’s highest-quality documentary series, broadcast in over 160 countries and regions in 35 different languages. And Ian is one of its most recognizable faces.
His first employer wasn’t the Discovery Channel but a British TV station. At the time, he filmed a short video introducing food in a bathroom—during which he was “beaten up” by a few friends. That piece got him work and also laid the foundation for his future hosting style: witty and exaggerated.
Though many think his tendency to “scare” audiences in his videos is a bit much, he says it’s in his nature—a trait given to him by London’s East End. “I wasn’t born in the East End, but I lived there for most of my life. The East End may not be as wealthy as the West or Central areas, and under such a suppressed living environment, people develop a tough character. They view their lives and the world with a unique sense of humor, which might have something to do with my later personality or career.”
Loves fighting and loves traveling too
When he was still in school, rock music was reviving around the world. Half of his friends were rough boys who sometimes felt like hippies, often hanging out in groups and fighting in the schoolyard. Perhaps it was this experience that made him unwilling to live the so-called “high-end” nine-to-five life and ultimately choose to backpack around the world.
Loves painting and loves performing too
Now Ian has been to over 100 countries and regions around the world, and the local customs and cultures have all been captured in his shows. But that’s not enough—“I make time to paint while traveling.”
No matter where he goes, Ian brings his sketchbook. The one he took to China has stickers bought in Venezuela and Mongolia. He once held a solo art exhibition at Chats Palace in London. He also enjoys performing and has hosted drama and art workshops at the “Children’s House” in Islington, London.
“My record is performing five plays in two weeks,” he says. This performing experience carries over into his shows, turning travel into a kind of performance.
Adventure · Dialogue
Traits — A good host depends on nature
Beijing Morning Post: How did you get your first job?
Ian Wright: Twenty years ago, it was always the BBC or well-educated, high-status people who were hosts. I never thought I’d become one.
There was a newspaper ad looking for hosts. I had shot a lot of fun videotapes with teenagers before. A friend persuaded me to send one in, so I made a video introducing food in a toilet, and then I got the job.
Beijing Morning Post: How did your collaboration with the Discovery Channel begin?
Ian Wright: My work with the Discovery Channel started more than 20 years ago. Initially, it was with Discovery (US), and now I work more with Discovery (Southeast Asia). The former has a more exaggerated style, while the latter lets us learn a lot more diverse knowledge.
Beijing Morning Post: Is it possible for some people to do similar work as you? What preparations are needed?
Ian Wright: Today’s technology allows everyone to become a host, but not everyone can be a good one. A good host depends on a person’s nature—for example, how you interact with others and describe things. Beijing has a history of over 3,000 years. Describing facts is something anyone can do, but expressing them vividly and communicating effectively is more about personal character. So opportunities do exist, but they’re not easy to come by.
Preparation — Starting to shoot when you arrive is fine too
Beijing Morning Post: What kind of planning do you usually do before shooting a video? Do you suddenly want to go somewhere, or do you discuss it with the broadcaster?
Ian Wright: Often, when working with the Discovery Channel, we have an idea, discuss it, and then talk it through. When the budget is high, we do a lot of preliminary research—for example, producers go to the site to check it out. But if the budget is limited, we basically start shooting when we arrive. Going straight to the location without a full plan can still yield great results.
Beijing Morning Post: Many of the places you go to are very dangerous. Have you had any special training beforehand? What do you do if you encounter danger?
Ian Wright: With a great body like mine, a natural ninja physique, I don’t need any special training or preparation.
But I have a friend who’s a producer. When we went to Afghanistan to film, we underwent specific safety training. But general travel shows basically don’t go into war zones. Of course, accidents can happen, but overall it’s not that dangerous, so maybe no special training is needed.
Equipment — If gear falls in the water, use your phone
Beijing Morning Post: What kind of team do you bring to shoot a video locally?
Beijing Morning Post: Is your filming equipment any different from others? For example, do you use infrared or waterproof cameras?
Ian Wright: Our equipment isn’t particularly high-tech; it’s all quite ordinary — we don’t even use lighting. Twenty years ago, we had to carry 15 heavy boxes when we went shooting, but now, thanks to technological advancements, our gear is much more compact. Everything fits into just three carry-on suitcases.
I remember once in Indonesia, our boat capsized and all our filming equipment fell into the water. We lost everything, so the director just filmed using his phone, then came over and talked to me for a bit — the result was actually great. So equipment isn’t really the issue; technology allows us to do many amazing things.
Duration — generally around five months
Beijing Morning Post: You throw yourself into different parts of the world. How do you communicate with locals and get them to show their everyday lives on camera?
Ian Wright: For most people, it’s easier to communicate with me if I can help them relax. My role is like glue, bringing all these fascinating people together. I once spoke with an atomic bomb survivor in Japan — after going through several such conversations, she became much more at ease. With people in other places, it might take a bit more time to make them feel that filming is just a normal thing.
Beijing Morning Post: How long does it take from wanting to go, to planning, to filming, to finally producing the finished piece?
Ian Wright: The entire cycle for the old "Long Way" series was about five months — including about two months of prep work beforehand, maybe a month on-site for filming, and one or two months for post-production. So, all in all, it was around five months. But this time, due to budget constraints, time was tighter, so we only had about three months to complete the entire production process for one episode.
Adventure · Impressions
“Found that Chinese people are lively, generous, and outgoing”
To film the latest series "Ian Wright's Welcome to...", Ian arrived in Harbin in early February to experience life in the Ice City.
Over 20 years ago, Ian visited China briefly, but this three-week shoot in Harbin gave him a deeper understanding of Chinese people. “I didn’t know much about China before — I thought Chinese people might be like Japanese, reserved, quiet, not so outgoing. But after arriving in Harbin, I realized that Chinese people are actually very lively, generous, and outgoing.”
On the first day of filming in Harbin, Ian tried winter swimming, and the tourists and locals around him cheered for his courage. He also met a “very unique” businessman. “That guy loves the movie 'Patton' — in the opening scene, Patton gives a 15-minute speech against a backdrop of the American flag, so he made his own little video like that. He recorded himself talking for 15 minutes, using the exact lines from the movie, which left a very unforgettable impression on me.” In the future, he plans to film in Shanghai as well.