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In the bustle of Beijing's near-thousand bus routes, Zhang Queming is only an attendant for line 387. But he is in fact familiar with over 800 bus routes, and having committed it all to memory, is often referred to as the “human GPS” of Beijing's bus routes.
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Zhang Queming is a decorated bus attendant. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
A typical bus attendant would be aware of nearby subways, landmarks, and tourist sites within the vicinity of its stops, but Zhang's knowledge extends to the general city.
He remembers tens of thousands of stops, and if a passenger were to ask him for directions anywhere, he would gladly answer it with perfect accuracy.
"How would one reach the Communication University of China?” To this Zhang would reply, without hesitation, “Take this bus until Anzhen Bridge West, and from there cross the road and take route 731 to your destination.”
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Zhang often guides lost passengers to their destinations. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
His voice is always compassionate and warm, his answers clear and direct. This always gives his passengers a sense of comfort and security.
"I can remember about 90% of Beijing's bus routes,” Zhang says. “Not the newest ones, no, but my basic foundations are solid.”
He often studied bus maps before working at the company. Now, interacting with them at a much higher level of intimacy, it has “basically become part of [his] life”.
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Zhang spends a considerable amount of time consulting such bus signs. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
Zhang has also compiled his intensive knowledge into a book, published in 2006. It was released as an atlas-dictionary crossover, making it easy for readers to navigate and search places around Beijing.
In 2011, Zhang started up a Weibo feed for updates and tips concerning the public transport system. He has made hundreds of posts to date.
Zhang is currently working on a second edition of his book, doubling the amount of content from the last one, and updating old information. He hopes to come away with a bilingual book also released as an e-book, so users can easily download it onto their phones and search it anywhere and anytime.
Edited by Wang Zili
