Peking Express

Peking Express
	Official logo
Created by	Ludo Poppe
Theme music composer	Brian Tyler
Country of origin	Belgium; Netherlands
Original language(s)	Dutch
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	76
Production
Producer(s)	Gert van Kerckhove
Release
Original network	Net 5 ; VT4
Original release	2004 – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Amazing Race
External links
	Website

Peking Express is a Dutch–Flemish reality game show that follows a series of couples as they hitchhike to or from Beijing (only in the first three seasons; seasons four and five are set in South America). The series has already gone through five seasons. In the Netherlands it is screened by Net 5 and in Belgium by VT4. A German version was shown in 2004. 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 in Norway and Kanal 5 in Denmark. A French version named Pékin Express is screened by M6, with eleven seasons aired so far from 2006 to 2018, and a twelfth planned for 2019. It can be seen on TV5 outside France. In Spain, the first four seasons of local version Pekín Express aired on Cuatro from 2008 to 2011; Atresmedia acquired the rights in 2015 and has produced two seasons since.^[1] An Italian version has been produced since 2012 by RAI and shown on Rai 2 successfully.

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, 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's soundtrack to the 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.

Winning couples in the international versions around the world

Africa

Moroccan Seasons

Dakar Fès Express	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2011	Hind & Abd el Hakim	Senegal, Dakar to Morocco, Fez	Senegal Mauritania Morocco
	2012	Samid Ghilan & Younès Lazrak	Indonesia, Sulawesi to Indonesia, Manado	Indonesia

America

Colombian Seasons

Asia Express	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2016	Jairo & Eliseo	Vietnam, Hanoi to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam Laos Cambodia Thailand

Mexican Season

Abandonados Asia	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2016	Gabriel & Guillermo	Vietnam, Hanoi to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand

Europe

Belgium/Netherlands/Flemish Seasons

Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
2004	Rani & Hans	Russia, Moscow to China, Beijing	Russia Mongolia China
2005	Karla & Sophie	China, Beijing to India, Mumbai	China Nepal India
2006	Yves & Wendy	Vietnam, Mekong Delta to China, Lhasa	Vietnam Cambodia Laos China
2006 VIP	Chimène & Bart	India, Gangotri to Kochi	India
2007	Pascal & Miranda	Brazil, Rio de Janeiro to Peru, Lima	Brazil Bolivia Peru
2008	Mark & Marlinde	Mexico, Mexico City to Venezuela, Caracas	Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela
2012	Annebet & Quintin	South Korea, Seoul to Philippines, Manila	South Korea Philippines
2017	Brecht & Cedric	Vietnam, Hạ Long to Cambodia, Angkor	Vietnam Laos Cambodia

Denmark/Sweden/Norway Seasons

Peking Express	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2007	Tyra & Stefan	Russia, Moscow to China, Beijing	Russia Mongolia China

German Seasons

Peking Express	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2005	Anja & Marc	Russia, Moscow to China, Beijing	Russia Mongolia China

French Seasons

Season	Season's subtitle	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
2006	La Route du Transsibérien	Fathi & Médi	France, Paris to China, Beijing	France Russia Mongolia China
2007	La Route de l'Himalaya	Nadine & Sylvie	China, Beijing to India, Mumbai	China Nepal India
2008	La Route des Incas	Gérard & Cédric	Brazil, Rio de Janeiro to Peru, Lima	Brazil Bolivia Peru
2009	La Route des Dragons	Albert & Laurence	Vietnam, Ha Long bay to Indonesia, Bali	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand Indonesia
2010	La Route du bout du monde	Cécilia & Mathieu	Ecuador, Equator/Amazon rainforest to Argentina, Ushuaia	Ecuador Chile Argentina
2010 VIP	Duos de choc	Taïg Khris & Chloé (saison 5)	India, Bhatwari to Pondichery	India
2011	La Route des grands fauves	Jean-Pierre & François	Egypt, Cairo to South Africa, Cape Town	Egypt Kenya Tanzania Lesotho South Africa
2012	Le Passager mystère	Ludovic & Samuel (saison 7)	South Korea, Seoul to Australia, Sydney	South Korea Philippines Australia
2013	Le Coffre maudit	Linda & Salim	Cuba, Habana to United States, Miami	Cuba Mexico United States
2014	À la découverte des mondes inconnus	Caroline (saison 4) & Sabrina	Myanmar, Man Lawae to Sri Lanka, Colombo	Myanmar India Bhutan Sri Lanka
2018	La Course infernale	Christina & Didier	Malaysia, Kuching to Japan, Tokyo	Malaysia Philippines Japan
2019	TBD	TBD	?, TBD to ?, TBD

Hungarian Seasons

In this version, there are mainly Hungarian VIP couples.

Ázsia Expressz	Season	Season's subtitle	Host	Winning couple	Runner up	Third placed	Continent	Route	Visited countries
Ázsia Expressz	2017	A sárkány útja	Ördög Nóra	Ambrus Attila & Berki Krisztián	Kulcsár Edina & Szabó András "Csuti"	Cseke Katinka & Pallavicini Zita	Asia	Vietnam, Hải Dương to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand

Italian Seasons

In this version, there are mainly VIP couples.

Pechino Express	Season	Season's subtitle	Host	Winning couple	Runner up	Third placed	Continent	Route	Visited countries
	2012	Avventura in Oriente	Emanuele Filiberto	Alessandro Sampaoli & Debora Villa (Gli Attori)	Andrés Gil & Anastasia Kuzmina (I Ballerini)	Costantino della Gherardesca & Barù (Zio e Nipote)	Asia	India, Haridwar to China, Beijing	India Nepal China
	2013	Obiettivo Bangkok	Costantino della Gherardesca	Massimiliano Rosolino & Marco Maddaloni (Gli Sportivi)^[2]	Francesca Fioretti & Ariadna Romero (Le Modelle)	Daniel Moreno Mendoza & Laura Caratelli (I Laureati)		Vietnam, Hanoi to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand

	2014	Ai confini dell'Asia		Stefano Corti & Alessandro Onnis (I Coinquilini)	Amaurys Perez & Angela Rende (I Pérez)	Eva Grimaldi & Roberta Garzia (Le Cougar)	Myanmar, Mandalay to Indonesia, Ubud	Myanmar Malaysia Singapore Indonesia
	2015	Il nuovo mondo		Antonio Andrea Pinna & Roberto Bertolini (Gli Antipodi)	Christian Kang Bachini & Son Pascal (Gli Espatriati)	Giulia Salemi & Fariba Mohammad Tehrani (Le Persiane)	America	Ecuador, Quito to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro	Ecuador Peru Brazil
	2016	Le civiltà perdute		Alessio Stigliano & Alessandro Tenace (I Socialisti)	Diego Passoni & Cristina Bugatty (I Contribuenti)	Lory del Santo & Marco Cucolo (Gli Innamorati)	America	Colombia, Bogotá to Mexico, Mexico City	Colombia Guatemala Mexico
	2017	Verso il Sol Levante		Ema Stokholma & Valentina Pegorer (Le Clubber)	Antonella Elia & Jill Cooper (Le Caporali)	Achille Lauro & Boss Doms (I Compositori)	Asia	Philippines, Padre Burgos to Japan, Tokyo	Philippines Taiwan Japan
2018	Avventura in Africa	??? & ???	??? & ???	??? & ???	Africa	Morocco, Tangier to South Africa, Cape Town	Morocco Tanzania South Africa

Polish Seasons

Azja Express	Season	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
	2016	Michał Żurawski, Ludwik Borkowski	Vietnam, Hai Duong to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
	2017	Antoni Pawlicki, Paweł Ławrynowicz	Sri Lanka, Sigiriya to India, Mumbai	Sri Lanka, India
Ameryka Express	2018	"TBD", "TBD"	Ecuador, Quito to Peru, Cusco	Ecuador, Peru

Spanish Seasons

Season	Season's subtitle	Winning couple	Route	Visited countries
2008	La Ruta del Transiberiano	Fernando & María (couple in crisis)	Russia, Pskov to China, Beijing	Russia Mongolia China
2009	La Ruta del Himalaya	Carmela & Antonio (rural friends)	China, Beijing to India, Mumbai	China Nepal India
2010	La Ruta del Dragón	Sandra & Belinda (sisters)	Vietnam, Hanoi to Indonesia, Bali	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand Indonesia
2011	Aventura en África	Mar & Vanesa (sisters)	Kenya, Rift valley to South Africa, Cape Town	Kenya Tanzania South Africa
2015	La Ruta de los Mil Templos	Ángel & Bea (siblings-in-law)	Myanmar, Mandalay to Singapore, Singapore	Myanmar Malaysia Singapore
2016	La Ruta de los Elefantes	Matías & Nabil (geek cousins)	Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura to India, Mumbai	Sri Lanka India

Romanian Seasons

Asia Express	Season	Season's subtitle	Host	Winning couple	Runner up	Third placed	Continent	Route	Visited countries
Asia Express	2018	Drumul Dragonului	Gina Pistol and Marius Damian	Raluca Nistor & Ana Baniciu	Liviu Vârciu & Andrei Ştefănescu	Daniela Crudu & Vica Blochina	Asia	Vietnam, Hạ Long to Thailand, Bangkok	Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand

International versions

Name	Country	Host	Route	Channel	Website
Peking Express	Netherlands Belgium (Flanders)	Ernst-Paul Hasselbach (2004) Art Rooijakkers & Roos Van Acker (2005-2008) Sol Wortelboer (2012) Sean Dhondt & Rik van de Westelaken (2017)	2004: Moscow – Beijing 2005: Peking – Mumbai 2006: Rach Gia – Lhasa 2006: Gangotri – Kochi 2007: Rio de Janeiro – Lima 2008: Mexico City – Caracas 2012: Seoul – Manila 2017: Hạ Long – Angkor	NET 5 VT4 (2004-2008) Q2 (2017)	Official website Netherlands Official website Belgium
Pékin Express	France	Stéphane Rotenberg	2006: Paris – Pskov – Beijing 2007: Beijing – Mumbai 2008: Rio de Janeiro – Lima 2009: Ha Long Beach – Bali 2010: Equator (Nueva Loja) – Ushuaia 2010: Gangotri – Pondicherry 2011: Cairo – Cape Town 2012: Seoul – Sydney 2013: Habana – Miami 2014: Man Lawae – Colombo 2018: Kuching – Tokyo	M6	Official website
Peking Express	Germany	Patrice Bouédibéla	2005: Moscow – Beijing	RTL
Peking Express	Denmark Sweden Norway	–	2007: Moscow – Beijing	TVNorge Kanal 5	Official website Norway
Pekín Express	Spain	Paula Vázquez (2008) Raquel Sánchez-Silva (2009–2010) Jesús Vázquez (2011) Cristina Pedroche (2015–2016)	2008: Pskov – Beijing 2009: Beijing – Mumbai 2010: Hanoi – Bali 2011: Rift Valley – Cape Town 2015: Mandalay – Singapore 2016: Anuradhapura – Mumbai	Cuatro (2008–2011) Antena 3 (2015) laSexta (2016)	Official website (Cuatro) Official website (Antena 3) Official website (laSexta)
Dakar Fès Express	Morocco	Hicham Mesrar	2011: Dakar – Fez 2012: Wori – Manado	2M	Official website
A Grande Aventura	Portugal	Fernanda Serrano	2012: Manado Tua – Manado	TVI	Official website
Pékin Express	Belgium (Wallonia)	Michel De Maegd	2012: Wori – Manado	RTL	Official website
Abandonados Asia	Mexico	Paola Nuñez	2016: Hanoi – Bangkok	Azteca 7	Official website
Pechino Express	Italy	Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (2012) Costantino della Gherardesca (2013–)	2012: Haridwar – Beijing 2013: Hanoi – Bangkok 2014: Mandalay – Bali 2015: Quito – Rio de Janeiro 2016: Bogotá – Mexico City 2017: Padre Burgos – Tokyo 2018: Tangier – Cape Town	Rai 2	Official website
Asia Express	Colombia	Ivan Lalinde	2016: Hanoi – Bangkok	Caracol Televisión	Official website
Azja Express (1-2) Ameryka Express (3)	Poland	Agnieszka Woźniak-Starak	2016: Hanoi – Bangkok 2017: Sigiriya – Mumbai 2018: Quito – Cusco	TVN	Official website
Ázsia Expressz	Hungary	Nóra Ördög	2017: Hải Dương – Bangkok	TV2	Official website
Asia Express	Romania	Gina Pistol & Marius Damian	2018: Hạ Long – Bangkok	Antena 1	Official website

References

External links

Peking Express on IMDb

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[1] Antena 3 arrebata a Cuatro el reality 'Pekín express'

[2] ttp://www.pechinoexpress.rai.it/dl/portali/site/personaggio/ContentSet-21b5b54f-0f94-4147-8b80-be6470a3dac5-list.html?ContentItem-576cc03f-fa46-4159-828e-989ab209db81