Love seats on the Changchun trams

Has progress in China gotten that far ahead of us?

When I first went to China, Changchun had only one remaining tram line. Line #54 seemed to me to be a relic, perhaps left over from the days of the Japanese occupation.

In 1983, a foreigner took these photos of the Changchun trams. The people relied on tram lines and buses for public transist.

A farmer’s market in Changchun. There is a tram in the background. This is not the city I experienced when I lived in Changchun in 2008.

Changchun made astonishing progress over the next 25 years.

In this photo, we see a local bus, bicycles and a tram. We can compare this photo to the one below that I took in 2008.

The #54 tram runs beside a six-lane road. People on this street can now can ride the tram, buses and taxis. Private cars are common while bicycles are rare.

The tram arrives every few minutes. In the background to can see that the next tram is on its way.

I wondered when Changchun’s last tram line would be torn down.

Changchun was modernizing extremely quickly. By 2019, Changchun had several Light Rail Lines, its modern and comprehesive bus service was converting to electric buses and it had built two new subway lines. It also built a series of elevated expressways to carry the huge numbers of private cars.

But best of all, Changchun built a second tram line. Both lines have new air conditioned cars and are serviced in a modern maintenance shop.

Lines #54 and #55 both start at the same downtown terminal. It is near major shopping centres, hospitals, office buildings and parks. Commuters can transfer to a couple dozen bus lines that travel in all directions.

This map shows the original #54 route (in blue). The new #55 route (in green) runs through newly build residental districts and ends at the Changchun West high-speed train station, a huge bus terminal and a Line 2 subway station.

Here is one of the replica tram cars that are now in regular service.

This is the inside of one of the new trams. The drivers put soft covers over the plastic seats for the passengers’ comfort.

No pets are allowed on Changchun buses or trams.

I was surprised when I saw this “Love Special Seat” sign that was above a few seats on the tram.

Ann set me straight. These seats are not reserved for young lovers but for the elderly, the handicapped and pregnant women.

A part of me was disappointed to hear this. For a moment I thought that Chinese society was progressing far, far ahead of us.

I remember when I was in China in 1991.  It was all bicycles everywhere.
—a reader