Beijing to open 2nd bus tour near Tian'anmen Square

A second tourist bus route will open soon in Beijing, including such attractions as Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.

The 10 electricity-powered vintage buses will go into service next Wednesday. The 10-km circular route has 15 stops and mostly around Tian'anmen Square, the Beijing Public Transport Group announced on Friday.

Each bus can carry 28 passengers accompanied by Chinese/English interpreter. The buses will run between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from April to Oct., and from 8:30 a.m. for the rest time of the year.

Each trip costs 15 yuan (2.40 U.S. dollars) for ordinary people and 10 yuan for those with public transport cards.

This is the second such tourist route in Beijing. The first route opened in September last year and has carried 250,000 tourists.

These buses are modelled after trams that appeared in Beijing in 1924. They are painted red or green, with a wooden carriage floor and red leather upholstry.

Many old citizens in China's capital are quite fond of the trams, known to them as "dangdang" buses, after the sound of the bells drivers used instead of horns. The trams stopped service in 1966.