Loosely inspired immensely successful by British TV series Who do you think you are?, the London-based agency MerchantCantos produced a 6-part documentary format on the bank's historical ties with China. The idea: to have past and present collide in a mise en abyme by inviting current employees and personalities of the bank to reflect on the life of key characters and periods of the bank's history.

The Hong Kong Fixer was on board for this ambitious research, preparation, planning and production of the China part of the shoot. Our crew shot on the streets of Hong Kong, Beijing, Xiamen, Qufu (where Confucius comes from!), Shanghai (sometimes causing quite a stir in the neighbourhood), in skyscrapers and old Beijing alleys, in churches and old teahouses, and even in bullet trains and cemeteries.