Abstract: The omnipresence of distinctive-looking buses (巴士) in Hong Kong has not only carved unique street scenes for the city, but also cultivated unique local cultures and eventually influenced the cultural, economic and physical landscapes of the rest of the world. In this article, we will look at these influences through a bus tours in virtual and real Hong Kong.
Go by Bus -- Hong Kong edition
To tourists, the icons of a place are usually gorgeous skylines, natural scenery, or landmark constructions. However to locals, they are much more likely what they see and meet in their everyday life. In Hong Kong, one such icon is probably the buses which many locals depend on for commute and travel.
Dominance of double-deckers
While the history of buses in Hong Kong could be dated back to the 1920s, the most significant milestone to-date was probably the introduction of double-decker buses in 1949. The buses were purchased from Britain which colonized the city and manufactured the first double-decker bus around a century ago (Scistoryan, 2013, February 23; Wikipedia, n.d.-d).
The first double decker omnibus. Source: scistoryan
The first motorized bus in Britain, around 1900s. Source: scistoryan
One of the first four Daimler CVG5 DD (Daimler A) buses in Hong Kong. Source: gakei.com
A Daimler bus reproduced in Oblige (Jocelyn Kim et. al. Microsoft Windows/OSX/Linux: 2017) which is based in 1979 Hong Kong.
Daimer buses in the Hong Kong stage of Wargame: Red Dragon (Focus Home Interactive. Microsoft Windows/OSX/Linux: 2014). The stage is set in the 1980s.
Since then, double-decker buses gradually flooded the streets and roads of Hong Kong. It was because to the bus companies, the double-decker buses was an effective solution to increase their capacity for the increasing ridership after the end of World War II and Chinese civil war (Wikipedia, n.d.-c). Once technical problems (such as overhanging advertising board and stability running over short, narrow and curvy streets) had been sorted out, the companies rolled out more and more double-decker buses to more and more routes. As of February 2017, there were 5707 licensed double-decker buses, which comprised the majority 94% of the companies' fleet (Transport Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, March 2017). Double-decker buses thus appear almost everywhere in the city, making themselves an inseparable part of Hong Kong street scenes. On popular commercial streets such as Nathan Road and Yee Wo Street, you can't help find not just one but multiple double-decker buses.
Buses found in the Jordan section of Nathan Road, at its intersection with Austin Road. Source: Wikipedia
Buses on both directions of Yee Wo Street. Source: Wikipedia
Video game developers probably notice such omnipresence and thus include double-decker buses in their virtual Hong Kong.
A double-decker bus running in the Hong Kong stage of Outrunners (Sega. Arcade: 1992, Sega Genesis: 1994)
A double-decker bus in the virtual Wan Chai of Shenmue II (Sega. Dreamcast: 2000, Xbox: 2001)
A double-decker bus in the virtual city modeled after Hong Kong in Resident Evil 6 (Capcom. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Microsoft Windows: 2012)
A double-decker bus in Hong Kong Ninja (Miniclip. Flash: 2013)
Double-decker buses in the Hong Kong stage of Street Fighter V (Capcom. PlayStation 4/Microsoft Windows: 2016)
Distinctive-liveried bus fleets
To add realism to their virtual Hong Kong, some game developers even references the theme colors of the common real bus companies. In the following, we will see what bus companies have been covered, and their impressive theme colors.
China Motor Bus (中華汽車): Buff and blue
Founded in 1923, China Motor Bus (CMB) is the first motor bus company in Hong Kong. Even though the company first served Kowloon Peninsula and New Territories in its first 10 years, it is much better remembered for its services on Hong Kong Island starting from 1933. With almost half a century of exclusive services on the Island, the company's double-deckers with buff upper body and a blue lower body, introduced in the mid-1970s, was once an indicator that a street scene was from Hong Kong Island but not any other parts of the city.
The logo of China Motor Bus
A CMB bus with a buff upper body and a blue lower body. Credit: Matty
A CMB double-decker bus in The King of Fighter '98 (SNK. Arcade et. el.: since 1998)
CMB started losing its right to monopolize on the Island when the company failed to maintain high-quality services since 1980s. With increasing complaints on service delays and even no show, the government gradually redistributed CMB's routes to other bus companies and eventually terminated its franchise in 1998 (Wikipedia, n.d.-a).
New World First bus (新世界第一巴士): Green, white and orange
The bus company that took over the majority CMB routes (88) was New World First Bus (NWFB) founded in 1998. It also took over quite a few CMB buses. These former CMB buses had their floor, handrails, lighting system and seating layout upgraded, and catalytic converters installed (Wikipedia, n.d.-e). The buses were also repainted with the theme colors of the bus company: green, white and orange.
The logo of New World First Bus
A NWFB painted in green, white and orange. Source: Wikipedia
A double-decker that looks like a NWFB bus in Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Microsoft Windows: 2012)
A NWFB bus stopped by a bus stop sign. Source: Wikipedia
A bus stop sign in NWFB style in Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Microsoft Windows: 2012)
A bus stop in NWFB style in GRID 2 (Codemasters. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2013, Mac OS X: 2014)
Citybus (城巴): Saturated yellow, red and blue
The remaining CMB routes were taken over by Citybus. Found in 1979, the company initially focused on non-franchised services such as company shuttle, residential bus routes, open-top sightseeing buses, bus rental for private events, cross-boundary bus routes and airport coach services (香港巴士大典, n.d.-a). In 1991, it took over 40 routes originally run by CMB, and eventually joined force with NWFB in 1998 to take over all remaining CMB routes. In 2003, Citybus was sold with the parent company of NWFB (Wikipedia, n.d.-b). Nonetheless, Citybus remains its own brand.
Its buses feature saturated yellow bodies with red and blue strips running at their bottom.
A Citybus double-decker open-top bus in Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2: 2004)
A Citybus bus with characteristic saturated yellow bus bodies with red and blue strips running at their bottom. Source: Wikipedia
A Citybus bus in Lupin the 3rd Rupin Zenigata ni wa koi wo game (Banpresto. PlayStation 2: 2007)
A Citybus double-decker bus in Battlefield 4 (Electronic Arts. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4/Xbox 360/Xbox One: 2013)
Citybus double-decker buses in Jump Force (Bandai Namco Games. PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Microsoft Windows: 2019)
Kowloon Motor Bus (九龍巴士): current - golden, old - either completely white, or red and yellow
Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) is the biggest motor bus company in the city in terms of fleet size and number of bus routes. It won the right to run buses exclusively in Kowloon and New Territories for over 50 years since its establishment in 1933.
Now all its buses are air-conditioned, just as those from the other current franchised bus companies mentioned above, and they are mostly painted golden. Back to the 1980s-1990s when these air-conditioned buses were first introduced, they were all painted in white.
The logo of Kowloon Motor Bus
A current air-conditioned KMB bus in standard golden body
An air-conditioned KMB bus in white paint which was the old standard, subjected to complete retirement in July 2017
A KMB air-conditioned double-decker bus (middle right) in WanChai Connection(Sega. Sega Saturn: 1995)
Even though all non-air-conditioned KMB buses were retired in 2012, they are still in the mind of many people of this generation as they had been running on the streets for around 30 years!
A KMB non air-conditioned double decker bus with bright yellow body and red top and bottom. Source: Wikipedia
A KMB non-air-conditioned double-decker bus in WanChai Connection (Sega. Sega Saturn: 1995)
A KMB non-air-conditioned double-decker bus in Metal Slug 2 (SNK. Arcade et. al.: 1998)
A KMB non air-conditioned double-decker bus in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (Activision. GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox: 2002)
Two KMB non air-conditioned double-decker buses in Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2: 2004)
A KMB non air-conditioned double-decker bus in 光輝歲月 (Lakoo. iOS/Andorid: since 2015)
Even though the characteristic red on KMB buses has all been replaced by golden yellow in the air-conditioned fleets, the color stays in many other KMB-related materials such as bus stop signs.
A KMB bus stopped by a KMB bus stop sign (year 2007 style). Credit: Martin Ng
A red KMB bus stop sign in Stranglehold (Midway Games/Success. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2007)
A KMB bus station sign in Resident Evil 6 (Capcom. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Microsoft Windows: 2012)
KMB bus stop sign (year 2009 style)
Special bus enthusiast culture
To the passengers in Hong Kong, buses provide economic and often point-to-point commutes. In 2016, the buses accounted for about one-third of the total daily public transport market of around 12 million passengers (Census and Statistics Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, March 2017).
Using the in general high-quality bus services nearly every day, some Hong Kong people gradually develop good feeling towards buses. A few of them even become fans of this public transport, participating in activities beyond looking up bus routes and schedules (Wikipedia, 2017, April 14).
Studying buses
The majority of these bus enthusiasts take part in activities that mark milestones in bus services. For example, when the non-air-conditioned KMB buses were retired in 2012, crowds were found taking their last trips and shooting photos with the buses.
The crowd that did a farewell with the last non-air-conditioned KMB bus on May 8, 2012
A few bus enthusiasts even go further, digging out every piece of information about the operations of the buses, including the current and historical routes, fare, schedule, vehicle models and jargon. Some of them publish books and websites (such as Encyclopedia of Bus Transport in Hong Kong 香港巴士大典 and China Motor Bus Memorial Page 中華巴士紀念館) to share their findings with others.
Hong Kong Buses Yearbook 1997 《香港巴士年鑑 1997》, a book written by a bus enthusiast to record the dynamics of bus service development in 1996. Credit: Encyclopedia of Bus Transport in Hong Kong
Some fans even turn their interest into business. Some of them start specialized stores that sell bus-related collectibles such as souvenirs and models.
Now, the bus companies realize such a market and join it themselves. They grant manufacturers' rights to create models of their bus fleets, and sell the models and other souvenirs in their own customer service centers (香港巴士大典, n.d.-b).
A KMB service center with bus models displayed on the front window
Driving buses
Some fans are not satisfied by being passengers only. They have the desire to drive a bus.
It could mean a career as a bus driver. In 2013, society was once talking about a top college graduate gave up his original financial analyst job and joined a bus company to earn the chance to drive a real bus (蘋果日報, 2013, May 19).
Few people even get crazier by illegally taking over a bus from a terminus (蘋果日報, 2009, June 21). However, if you do that, you may be jailed for a maximum of 7 years due to unauthorized use of vehicles (未獲受權擅取交通工具) and driving without third-party insurance (未有第三者保險下駕駛).
A video segment showing the consequence of illegal bus takeover
It is hard to give up your own career to take a new one, and it is totally not worthwhile to ruin our life by illegally taking over a bus. Then what could one do?
The virtual world is your friend!
Quite a few Hong Kong bus enthusiasts have created mods that work with certain driving simulator video games such as Midtown Madness 2 (Microsoft. Microsoft Windows: 2000) and OMSI series (M&R Software. Microsoft Windows: since 2011). Using these mods, you can get some experience on driving certain real bus routes in front of a computer screen.
A mod of Midtown Madness 2 (Microsoft. Microsoft Windows: 2000) that allows you to drive Hong Kong buses in the game
A mod of OMSI 2 (M&R Software. Microsoft Windows: 2013) that allows you to drive a Hong Kong buses in the game
If you still prefer taking over a bus illegally, you could do it without consequences in Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2012).
Taking over and driving a double-decker bus in Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2012)
Owning buses
If you still insist real bus driving experience, the last resort is to own your bus. Buses in Hong Kong are usually retired after around 17 years of services. Many of them are still in working condition. You could buy them and make them yours. Then as long as you have a medium or heavy goods vehicle driving license and necessary insurance, you could drive the buses you own on Hong Kong streets using a trade license plate.
Some restrictions apply though. First you cannot display any route or destination. Second, you need to show clearly at a specific place that the bus is not in service. Third, you could take at most four passengers at any one time (蘋果日報, 2006, January 14).
Going outside Hong Kong
The scope of Hong Kong buses is not only confined to inside the city. Besides their presence in photographs and video games that are digitally distributed across the globe, Hong Kong buses also have cultural, economic and physical influences to the rest of real world.
Culturally, it is the Chinese translation of the word "bus". At the beginning, Hong Kong people chose to use the homophonic translation of the English word "bus" called 巴士, while the rest majority Chinese communities took the sense-for-sense translation 公共汽車 which literally meant "public car". As time goes on, the homophonic translation is gradually recognized and even adopted by other Chinese users.
The use of 巴士 to refer to buses in the Chinese version of a Japanese bus website
Economically, it is the overseas expansion of the Hong Kong bus companies, thereby spreading management approach used in the city to other places. Citybus was the pioneer in running buses outside the city. The company began running buses between mainland China and Hong Kong in 1981, first as one-time private shuttle services and then regular public services from 1985 to 2001. From 1990 to 2013, it ran a few bus routes in the Greater London area. From 1997 to 2004, it operated a bus route in Beijing, China (香港巴士大典, n.d.-c). Other franchised bus companies followed suit years after. KMB has been operating cross-border shuttle service and passenger transport services in various part of mainland China since 1997 (Transport International, 2001, January 7). NWFB once ran buses in Kunming from 2003 to 2012 and Guangzhou from 2006 to 2009 (香港巴士大典, n.d.-d).
Physically, it is the sales of retired buses to overseas. Just as the one sold to the locals, these sold buses are usually still in working condition and thus used by some overseas buyers to run their own bus routes in their own countries.
The economic and physical influences altogether contribute to buses in Hong Kong style running on the roads of other countries. Sometimes it could be just the theme color. Sometimes it could be exactly the same bus that run in the city in the past. All the minute details, including the bus route sign, cabinet location and interior, could be intact. Reminding Hong Kong people of something that are forever missed in their rapidly-changing hometown, the discovery of these buses often stirs rounds of nostalgic discussions among the citizens.
The cover of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Yearbook 1987 (《深圳經濟特區年鑑 1987》) showing a Citybus double-decker bus running in Shenzhen, a city north of Hong Kong. Source: China Motor Bus Memorial Page
A Citybus running in Britain in June 1999. Source: Alzarian via Wikipedia
A NWFB bus running in Kunming. Source: hkitalk.net
A preserved CMB bus in Sydney in January 2007. Source: Wikipedia
By the way, seeing that buses in Hong Kong style can also be running in other countries in the real world, I shall also be cautious in judging whether a virtual scene is based on Hong Kong when I see Hong Kong buses running there!
A double-decker bus on a city street with lots of overhung Chinese advertising signs in Dirt Dash (Namco. Arcade: 1995)
A KMB double-decker bus in the Chinatown stage of Runabout (Yanoman. PlayStation: 1997)
Final remarks
Buses in Hong Kong have been distinctive-looking, abundant and penetrating into the mind of many citizens. They have not only become a visual icon of the city, but only cultivated some interesting and sometimes crazy bus enthusiast cultures among the locals. They have also taken part in influencing the cultural, economic and physical landscapes of the rest of the world. Whenever Hong Kong people find buses liveried in the way that they see or once saw every day, they can't help recall their lives with buses in their hometown.
References
香港巴士大典. (n.d.-a). 開篷巴士. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://hkbus.wikia.com/wiki/%E9%96%8B%E7%AF%B7%E5%B7%B4%E5%A3%AB
香港巴士大典. (n.d.-b). 巴士模型. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://hkbus.wikia.com/wiki/%E5%B7%B4%E5%A3%AB%E6%A8%A1%E5%9E%8B
香港巴士大典. (n.d.-c). 城巴. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from http://hkbus.wikia.com/wiki/%E5%9F%8E%E5%B7%B4
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蘋果日報. (2009, June 21). 網上播青年揸大膽巴士 . Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20090621/12903230
蘋果日報. (2013, May 19). 9A狀元揸巴士 26歲男唔做分析師. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20130520/18265592
Census and Statistics Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (March 2017). Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B10100022017MM03B0100.pdf
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Transport Department, Hong Kong Government (2017). Registration and Licensing of Vehicles by Class of Vehicles. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://www.td.gov.hk/filemanager/en/content_281/table41a.pdf
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