''Peking Express'' is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

–

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

game show that follows a series of couples as they

hitchhike Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads have ...

to or from Beijing (only in the first three seasons; seasons four and five are set in South America).

The series ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

has already gone through five seasons. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, it is screened by

Net 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aimed at ...

and in Belgium by

VT4 The VT-4 (), also known as the MBT-3000, is a Chinese third generation main battle tank built by Norinco for overseas export. Development During the development of Type 90-II/Al-Khalid (also known as MBT-2000) in the 1980s, the gearbox and e ...

. A German version was shown in 2005. The concept has also been sold to Scandinavia where it was broadcast for the first time in the autumn of 2007. The Scandinavian version is shown on Kanal 5 in Sweden,

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adver ...

in Norway and Kanal 5 in Denmark. A French version named '' Pékin Express'' is screened by M6, with twelve seasons aired so far from 2006 to 2019, and a thirteen and fourteen planned for 2020. It can be seen on TV5 outside France. In Spain, the first four seasons of local version '' Pekín Express'' aired on

Cuatro Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...

from 2008 to 2011;

Atresmedia Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A., previously Grupo Antena 3, is a Spanish media group, present in the television, radio and filmmaking industries. Significant shareholders include Grupo Planeta and Bertelsmann. On 6 Marc ...

acquired the rights in 2015 and has produced two seasons since. An Italian version has been produced since 2012 by RAI and shown on

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, talk ...

successfully. In Poland, the series has been broadcast on

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

since 2016 and was known for its first two seasons, which were set in Asia, as

Azja Express Azja Express (formerly known also as ''Ameryka Express'') is the Polish TV version of the reality show Peking Express. It was created by Ludo Poppe. It has been broadcast on TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse rac ...

. From season 3 onwards, it has been known as

Ameryka Express Azja Express (formerly known also as ''Ameryka Express'') is the Polish TV version of the reality show Peking Express. It was created by Ludo Poppe. It has been broadcast on TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse rac ...

, with its production location changing to

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; a fourth season premiered in spring 2020. In Romania, the series has aired successfully on

Antena 1 Antena 1 may refer to: * Antena 1 (Portugal), a Portuguese radio station *Antena 1 (Romania) Antena 1 () is a Romanian free-to-air television network owned by the Antena TV Group, part of the Intact Media Group. Its programming consists of tel ...

since 2018 as

Asia Express The ''Asia Express'' ( ja, アジア号, translit=Ajia-gō, ) was a super express passenger train operated by the South Manchuria Railway (''Mantetsu'') from 1934 until 1943. This limited express, which began operation in November 1934 and was M ...

for its first four seasons, with the upcoming season being titled America Express, following the changing of its production location into

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. In Greece, the series has started airing on Star Channel as Asia Express in fall 2022.

General theme

The theme of the show is to demonstrate how various couples deal with the challenges and pitfalls of attempting a long-distance hitchhike to a strange city, together with all the difficulties presented by trying to communicate in a language they don't understand. Tension was added by including couples who had broken up "in real life", but were willing to work together for the sake of winning the race. In somewhat similar fashion to ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'', couples that come in last at various checkpoints along the way are eliminated from further competition. In the second series, each of the couples was given €1 per person/per day as their stipend along the route.

Theme music

The music used during the opening sequence is "Summon the Worms" from

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle E ...

's soundtrack to the 2003

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune ''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels ''Dune Messiah'' (1969) and ''Children of Dune'' (1976). First broadcast in t ...

''.

Winning couples in the international versions

Africa

Moroccan seasons

America

Colombian seasons

Mexican season

Europe

Belgium/Netherlands/Flemish seasons

Denmark/Sweden/Norway seasons

French seasons

German seasons

Greek seasons

In this version, there are only celebrity couples.

Hungarian seasons

In this version, there are mainly Hungarian VIP couples.

Italian seasons

In this version, there are mainly VIP couples.

Polish seasons

In this version, there are only celebrity couples.

Romanian seasons

In this version, there are only celebrity couples.

Spanish seasons

International versions

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=tt0429410 2004 Dutch television series debuts 2012 Dutch television series endings Dutch game shows Hitchhiking Net5 original programming Play4 (TV channel) original programming