Previously: The Cursed Berzerk Arcade Cabinet.
Type: Subject displays elements of both PV (Phantom Vehicle) and CV (Cursed Vessel), although neither designation is 100 percent accurate: Although subject is often referred to as a “ghost bus” — indeed, its most frequently-used moniker is “the Beijing Ghost Bus” — its nature is not quite that of a PV; however, subject is also not a boat, making the CV designation not entirely appropriate, either. It is perhaps most accurately described as a combination of the two — that is, as a Cursed Vehicle — although this Encyclopaedia has not hitherto catalogued other Cursed Vehicles among which this particular Cursed Vehicle may find any fellows.
Period/location of origin: Debatable. The events which give the subject known as the Beijing Ghost Bus, or the Last Bus To Fragrant Hills, its reputation are typically said to have occurred in the 1990s; the date of these events is usually identified as Nov. 14, 1995. However, subject may have its roots in a different period; furthermore, it gained notoriety during a later period (the 2000s). Regardless, subject’s location of origin is always the same: The city of Beijing, China.
Appearance: Subject, aka the Beijing Ghost Bus, appears to be a bus within Beijing’s public transit system. The precise number of the bus and route varies by report; possibilities include Bus No. 375, Bus No. 302, Bus No. 330, Bus No. 331, Bus No. 333, and Bus No. 347. Currently, Bus No. 375 is the most commonly identified number, although all possibilities have one detail in common: They are night buses.
Subject’s passengers may not all necessarily be among the living.
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Modus operandi: Subject does not appear to have a modus operandi, per se; rather, it has had things done to it, rather than having done things to specific targets itself. See: Additional notes.
Containment: Subject has not been sighted since the mid-1990s. Whether or not the lack of sightings counts as containment remains to be seen.
Additional notes: Subject’s reputation comes largely from events that occurred involving it on a single night in the 1990s. At the current moment in time, these events are typically described as follows:
On Nov. 14, 1995, subject departed the Yuanmingyuan bus terminus in Beijing heading towards Xiang-shan, or Fragrant Hills. Subject is often identified as the last bus of the night, and sometimes described as having left the station at midnight.
Aboard subject at the time of its departure were the driver, the conductor, and a handful of passengers. The composition of the passengers is not clear; sometimes, it is said to be a young couple, a single young man, and an elderly woman, while others, it is identified merely as a vague crowd, although it is also said that its numbers included a single young man and an elderly man.
Regardless, the reports proceed similarly from this point:
After driving for some time, the bus driver spotted several figures by the side of the road. Although the driver initially hesitated to stop, due to the fact that the figures were not positioned at a bus station or stop of any kind, he did eventually decide to pull over and open the doors.
Three men subsequently boarded, although one of them appeared to be in bad shape; he was not independently mobile, and made it aboard only with the physical support of the other two. All three men appeared unusually pale; they were also all clad in clothing that appeared to date back to the Qing Dynasty.
It is worth noting that the Qing Dynasty spanned several centuries, from 1644 to 1912; during that period, clothing styles and regulations changed several times, as is wont to be the case. Generally, however, it is understood that the style of dress of the three men who boarded the bus at this point in subject’s timeline of events was traditional Manchu banner dress, qizhuang (旗裝).
The bus continued along its route, with passengers disembarking as it went. Eventually, the single young man, the elderly person, and the three strange men were the only passengers who remained.
At this point, the elderly person stood up and angrily accused the young man of stealing their wallet or purse. The young man protested, but the elderly passenger insisted that the driver stop the bus and so the two of them could resolve the situation at the nearest police station. The driver did so, and the elderly passenger disembarked, pulling the young man along with them. The bus then drove off, leaving the two of them at the side of the road.
The young man was frustrated to find that, on top of having been accused of theft, there was no police station in sight. The elderly passenger then informed the young man that they had just saved his life. When further questioned, the elderly passenger said that the three strange men who had boarded at the side of the road weren’t living men at all.
They were dead.
When the breeze from the open windows lifted the hems of the men’s robes, the elderly passenger had observed that they had no feet.
They were floating.
They were ghosts.
The next day — Nov. 15, 1995 — the bus failed to report to the station for duty. Neither did the driver or conductor report to work. A city-wide search failed to recover the bus, driver, or conductor, and although the elderly passenger and young man went to the police to report their experience from the previous night, they were dismissed out of hand.
The bus was located two days later, on Nov. 17, in the Miyun Reservoir — a substantial distance away from Fragrant Hills (95 to 120 kilometers, or about 60 to 75 miles, depending on the route; the driving time between the two points clocks in at a minimum of an hour and half, and can be as long as two hours). The bus had seemingly driven into the reservoir and was found submerged in the water.
When the wreckage was investigated, the heavily-decomposed remains of three people were recovered. Two of the sets of remains were accounted for; they were determined to be the missing bus driver and conductor. The third set, however, belonged to a man who could not be identified. All that was known about him was that he had long, unkempt hair.
Upon further investigation, several seeming impossibilities regarding the circumstances of the bus’ demise emerged:
First, the bus was known not to have had enough fuel to have made it all the way to the Miyun Reservoir following the disembarkation of the young man and the elderly passenger.
Second, when security footage of the entrance leading to the Miyun Reservoir was reviewed for the days following the bus’ fateful last journey, the vehicle was not present within it.
And third, the state of decomposition in which the remains were found was much more severe than it should have been — even accounting for the fact that they had been submerged in water.
Over the years, different versions of the story have emerged. In some, the bus is found not in the Miyun Reservoir, but overturned in a ditch; in others, it is never located at all. Some versions state that the remains of driver and the conductor — who is sometimes identified as a ticket-seller instead of a conductor — are discovered with their necks twisted. Sometimes, the third, unidentified man is absent from the story; the only remains located are those of the driver and conductor/ticket-seller. Occasionally, the bus’ fuel tank is said to have been full of blood, in versions in which the missing bus is located. And the year in which the events allegedly took place is not always the same: Sometimes, rather than in 1995, they are said to have transpired in 1992 or 1993.
The discrepancies between the versions of this story seem to suggest that subject and its history are, in fact, legend.
It is sometimes said, however, that even if subject’s history is not fact itself, it is a legend based on fact. This “factual” event is usually described as follows:
Late one night, a young woman boarded the last bus of the night. Present on the bus with her were an elderly man, and the bus’ driver. Soon, three other men boarded the bus, as well — one seemingly unconscious and supported by his two companions, who berated the unconscious one for having drunk too much. The elderly man then accused the young woman of spitting her gum on him, and demanded that the young woman be removed from the bus. The driver stopped, and the young woman and elderly man disembarked.
The young woman continued arguing with the elderly man, protesting her innocence, when he stopped her and apologized. He told her that he had to try to save her — because he had observed that the “drunk” man was actually dead, a victim of the other two men who carried him along.
It is worth noting however, that this story, too, is known to be a legend; it has appeared in a variety of other countries, including the UK, Australia, and the United States. So, whether this story is truly the genesis of subject or its history is… debatable.
Stories of subject seem to have begun spreading across the internet in China during the 2000s; according to one researcher, Ye Chenyuan (叶辰渊), the earliest known online version of the tale was posted to the Chinese internet forum and bulletin board system Tianya Club.
This researcher has also pointed out that it is possible that subject’s story originates in 1998, with writer and broadcaster Zhang Zhen (张震讲) on his radio program “Zhang Zhen Tells Stories” (张震讲故事). Zhang Zhen is as much known for his adaptations of well-known legends as he is for his original works, however, so, as Ye Chenyuan also observes, it remains a possibility that subject, too, is an adaptation.
The story remains popular today, with tales of subject — the Beijing Ghost Bus — re-emerging regularly around particularly eerie times of year.
Regardless: One would be wise to keep one’s wits about oneself when riding the bus late at night. If nothing else, subject teaches us this extremely important lesson.
Recommendation: If three strange people who do not seem of your era board your bus… disembark as soon as possible.
Because that bus?
It’s never reaching its intended destination.
And if you stay aboard… neither will you.
Resources:
Bizarre Beijing: The Last Bus To Fragrant Hills.
The Story Of Beijing’s Legendary Ghost Bus.
The Midnight Bus – An Urban Legend From Beijing.
The Last Run Of Bus 375 – Another Version Of “The Midnight Bus.”
What Is The Truth About The Mysterious Incident Of Beijing 375 Bus? (In Chinese.)
The Truth About The Beijing 330 Bus Incident In 1995. (In Chinese.)
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Photos via zhjsun/Pixabay; Wikimedia Commons (1, 2), available via public domain and a CC BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons license]
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