Putting the dingdong into the dangdang

To Bian Jianguo, a trolley car animates a whole street.

Bian, 50, a Beijinger who grew up in Qianmen street, is delighted at being appointed driver of the trolley cars reinstated along Qianmen street after a 48-year hiatus. "I was so excited when I saw the trolley. It took me back to my childhood days of hearing the bell and getting on with my parents," says Bian, who gave up his job as a driver in a foreign company after being accepted for the trolley car job.

Trolleys were nicknamed dangdang cars by Beijingers of old on busy Qianmen street, in reference to the bell at the head of the car that was rung to alert pedestrians.