A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Peking Express | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality |
| Created by | Ludo Poppe |
| Theme music composer | Brian Tyler |
| Country of origin | Belgium Netherlands |
| Original language | Dutch |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 76 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Gert van Kerckhove |
| Production location | Various |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Net 5 (Netherlands) Play4, Q2 (Belgium) |
| Release | 14 March 2004 – 28 May 2017 |
| Related | |
| The Amazing Race | |
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; the following seasons are set elsewhere around the world). The series, first broadcast on 14 March 2004, ran for seven seasons from 2004 to 2008 and was revived in 2012 (as a sole Dutch production) and again in 2017. In the Netherlands, it was screened by Net 5 and in Belgium by VT4 during its original 2000s run before moving to Q2 in 2017. The game show concept has also been sold to a number of countries around the world since 2005.
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
Africa
Moroccan seasons
| Dakar Fès Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Hind & Abd el Hakim | Dakar to Fez | Senegal Mauritania Western Sahara Morocco | |
| 2012 | Samid Ghilan & Younès Lazrak | Sulawesi to Manado | Indonesia |
America
Colombian seasons
| Asia Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Jairo & Eliseo | Hai Duong to Bangkok | Vietnam Laos Cambodia Thailand |
Mexican season
| Abandonados Asia | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Gabriel & Guillermo | Hai Duong to Bangkok | Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand |
Asia
Israeli Seasons
| פקין אקספרס - מסלול הדרקון Peking Express - The Dragon Road |
Season | Host | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Oz Zehavi | Ram Strauss & Tal Eros | Siem Reap to Bangkok | Cambodia Laos Thailand |
Europe
Belgium/Netherlands seasons
| Peking Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Rani & Hans | Moscow to Beijing | Russia Mongolia China | |
| 2005 | Karla & Sophie | Beijing to Mumbai | China Nepal India | |
| 2006 | Yves & Wendy | Mekong Delta to Lhasa | Vietnam Cambodia Laos China | |
| 2006 VIP |
Chimène van Oosterhout & Bart Veldkamp | Gangotri to Kochi | India | |
| 2007 | Pascal & Miranda | Rio de Janeiro to Lima | Brazil Bolivia Peru | |
| 2008 | Mark & Marlinde | Mexico City to Caracas | Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela | |
| 2012 | Annebet & Quintin | Seoul to Manila | South Korea Philippines | |
| 2017 | Brecht & Cedric | Hạ Long to Angkor | Vietnam Laos Cambodia |
Denmark/Sweden/Norway seasons
| Peking Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Tyra & Stefan | Moscow to Beijing | Russia Mongolia China |
French seasons
| Pékin Express | Season | Season's
subtitle |
Host | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | La Route du Transsibérien The Transsiberian Route |
Stéphane Rotenberg | Fathi & Médi | Paris to Beijing | France Russia Mongolia China | |
| 2007 | La Route de l'Himalaya The Himalayan Route |
Nadine & Sylvie | Beijing to Mumbai | China Nepal India | ||
| 2008 | La Route des Incas The Incas' Route |
Gérard & Cédric | Rio de Janeiro to Lima | Brazil Bolivia Peru | ||
| 2009 | La Route des Dragons The Dragons' Route |
Albert & Laurence | Ha Long bay to Bali | Vietnam Cambodia Laos Thailand Indonesia | ||
| 2010 | La Route du bout du monde The Edge of the World's Route |
Cécilia & Mathieu | Equator/Amazon rainforest to Ushuaia | Ecuador Chile Argentina | ||
| 2010 VIP |
Duos de choc Shock duos |
Taïg Khris & Chloé (season 5) | Bhatwari to Pondichery | India | ||
| 2011 | La Route des grands fauves The Big Cats' Route |
Jean-Pierre & François | Cairo to Cape Town | Egypt Kenya Tanzania Lesotho South Africa | ||
| 2012 All-Stars |
Le Passager mystère The Mystery Passenger |
Ludovic & Samuel (season 7) | Seoul to Sydney | South Korea Philippines Australia | ||
| 2013 | Le Coffre maudit The Cursed Chest |
Linda & Salim | Habana to Miami | Cuba Mexico United States | ||
| 2014 All-Stars |
À la découverte des mondes inconnus Discovering the Unknown Worlds |
Caroline (season 4) & Sabrina | Man Lawae to Colombo | Myanmar India Bhutan Sri Lanka | ||
| 2018 | La Course infernale The Infernal Race |
Christina & Didier | Kuching to Tokyo | Malaysia Philippines Japan | ||
| 2019 | La Route des 50 volcans The 50 Volcanoes' Route |
Laeticia & Aurélie | lake Atitlan to Bogotá | Guatemala Costa Rica Colombia | ||
| 2020 All-Stars |
Retour sur la Route Mythique Return on the Mythical Route |
Julie & Denis (season 9) | Moscow to Beijing | Russia China | ||
| 2021 | Sur les pistes de la Terre Rouge (episodes 1-3) On the Red Soil's Tracks La route des 3 continents (episodes 4-10) |
Christophe & Claire | Entebbe to Istanbul[1] | Uganda Greece Turkey | ||
| 2022 | Sur les terres de l'Aigle Royal On the Royal Eagle's Lands |
Lucas & Nicolas | Son-Kul to Dubai | Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Jordan United Arab Emirates | ||
| 2022 VIP |
Duos de choc Shock duos |
Inès Reg & Anaïs | Negombo to Colombo | Sri Lanka | ||
| 2023 | Le choix secret The secret choice |
Xavier & Céline | lake Titicaca to Rio de Janeiro | Bolivia Paraguay Brazil | ||
| 2024 | Sur les traces du tigre d'or In the footsteps of the golden tiger |
Romain & Laura | Bali to Hanoi | Indonesia Malaysia Vietnam | ||
| 2024 All-Stars |
TBA | TBA | Agra to New Delhi | India | ||
| 2025 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
German seasons
| Peking Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Anja & Marc | Moscow to Beijing | Russia Mongolia China | |
| Star Race | 2012 | Jimi & Nino | Bolinao to Manila | Philippines |
Greek seasons
In this version, there are only celebrity couples.
| Asia Express | Season | Winning couple | Route | Visited countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Konstantinos Vassalos & Fipster | Angkor to Bangkok | Cambodia Laos Thailand |
Hungarian seasons
In this version, there are mainly Hungarian VIP couples.
