CBS ANNOUNCES 16 NEW CASTAWAYS FOR "SURVIVOR: CHINA"

15th Installment of the Hit Television Series Premieres on Thursday, Sept. 20

CBS today announced the 16 new castaways who will compete in SURVIVOR: CHINA when the 15th installment of the Emmy Award-winning series premieres Thursday, Sept. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SURVIVOR: CHINA will feature a cast of 16 Americans who will begin the series amid the bustle of downtown Shanghai before moving to HuangPu Mountain's Mi Tuo Temple for a Buddhist ceremony where they will be instructed to leave all of their worldly possessions behind. The castaways will then be marooned with the clothes on their back at two separate islands on Zhelin Lake (translation: the Land of 1,000 Lakes) located in the Jiangxi Province. They will split into two tribes, Fei Long (translation: Flying Dragon) and Zhan Hu (translation: Fighting Tiger), and will each be given a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War for tribe motivation and assistance throughout the game.

SURVIVOR: CHINA will once again afford each tribe the opportunity to obtain a Hidden Immunity Idol which may save someone from elimination at a future Tribal Council. This time, two Hidden Immunity Idols will be in plain sight (one at each camp), although the castaways will not realize this at the start of the game. Each week, the winning tribe of the Reward Challenge will be allowed to kidnap someone from the losing tribe. The person who is kidnapped will receive a note from host Jeff Probst before departing for the enemy camp and will be instructed to give it to one member of the enemy tribe (the kidnapped victim will decide who receives it) in private. The clue will inform this person of the Hidden Immunity Idol located somewhere at their camp. This person must then decide if they wish to share the information with their tribe or keep it to themselves. The kidnapped victim will return to their original tribe at the following Immunity Challenge.

Castaways competing in SURVIVOR: CHINA (in alphabetical order) are:

JEAN-ROBERT BELLANDE

36

Las Vegas (originally from Long Island, N.Y.)

Professional Poker Player

JAMES CLEMENT

30

Lafayette, La.

Grave Digger

DAVE CRUSER

37

Simi Valley, Calif.

Former Model

JAIME DUGAN

22

Columbia, S.C. (originally from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)

Student

TODD HERZOG

22

Pleasant Grove, Utah

Flight Attendant

ERIK HUFFMAN

26

Nashville, Tenn. (originally from Greenville, S.C.)

Musician

AMANDA KIMMEL

23

Los Angeles (originally from Kalispell, Mont.)

Hiking Guide

PEIH-GEE LAW

29

Marina Del Rey, Calif. (born in Hong Kong)

Jeweler

SHEREA LLOYD

26

Atlanta (originally from Pontiac, Mich.)

Elementary Teacher

DENISE MARTIN

40

Douglas, Mass. (originally from Revere, Mass.)

School Lunch Lady

ASHLEY MASSARO

28

East Northport, N.Y.

Professional WWE Wrestler

CHICKEN MORRIS

47

Marion, Va.

Chicken Farmer

LESLIE NEASE

38

Tega Cay, S.C.

Christian Radio Talk Show Host

AARON REISBERGER

32

Venice, Calif. (originally from Belmont County, Ohio)

Surfing Instructor

COURTNEY YATES

26

New York City (originally from Boston)

Waitress

FROSTI ZERNOW

20

Chicago (originally from Traverse City, Mich.)

Parkour Athlete/Student

SURVIVOR: CHINA is hosted by Jeff Probst and produced by SEG, Inc. Mark Burnett is the executive producer. Doug McCallie, Kevin Greene and Teri Kennedy are co-executive producers.

For more detailed information on SURVIVOR: CHINA and the 16 new castaways, log on to www.cbs.com/survivor.