Is this the world’s most expensive tram ride? Circus Tram rolls into Hong Kong
- Private members’ club on rails is available to guests enrolled in The Peninsula Academy – at a price
- Stay two nights at the luxury hotel and you can book a US$6,000 ride for up to five people; the same journey for five on a regular tram would cost US$1.65
Circus Tram offers a ride through Hong Kong like no other, for those who can afford it. While a handful of trams have been retrofitted with air conditioning, this one has a bar, lounge seating, a sound system and even a toilet.
The tram is divided into three sections: behind the bar on the lower deck, Chatham House has a clubby, tufted-leather ambience; The Freudians, at the front of the top deck, has an open-air balcony; and Darwin’s Garden, at the rear of the top deck, is “an urban greenhouse”, complete with plants.
During the two-hour round trip from Western Market to Happy Valley or North Point, two to five hotel guests get a taste of Hong Kong culture. On a recent media outing, harmonica player Kelvin Leung Shing-hei performed Canto-pop songs, such as Below the Lion Rock, and even a burst of Flight of the Bumblebe e, explaining that during the 1950s and 60s, cash-strapped locals often entertained themselves by playing the mouth organ; a fortune-teller gave Chinese tarot card readings; and Circus Tram co-founder Alvin Yip Cheung-on talked about the history of trams in Hong Kong, where they are nicknamed ding-dings.
“In the beginning, trams were imported from England, but […] in the 1950s and 60s, Hong Kong started to make its own,” said the architect. “They are practically the only large-scale vehicles made in the city.”