Written by Alanna Parsons, CNN China, Written by James Morgan, CNN
Need a ride around town? There are enough luxury bus operators out there offering routes from Moscow to Shanghai to London to Monaco, but how does the everyday rider get around?
While “LapBus” may be more a novelty than a functional mode of transport, on Monday (pictured above), it will be debuting in Zhengzhou, capital of south-central China’s Henan province. The 650-mile (1,000-kilometer) journey will offer a fresh alternative to the capital’s grinding daily rush hour.
Dan Wei’s inspiration for the concept came from Chinese comedy
When the journey begins, riders will discover what a bit of luck might be behind some choices. In Zhengzhou, success could mean a seat in the driver’s seat, or it might depend on the order a passenger puts his or her requests. “Instead of putting them all on the same table, we put them on the left, right, center and left side of the bus,” Wei said in an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Lucky passengers will also be invited to sit down, as the bags of those who arrive late will be squeezed into the seats of passengers in the headrest. But speaking to Axios . If you’re anything like I am, you could just drop by while everyone else is sitting on the bus and take the view by yourself. But wait — I’m going to go to bed. Hey, I have my first idea for a novel:
Where’s my bus?
For those who want to try their luck at true luck, Wei will be letting passengers choose whether to tell their secret to the staff, make their request to the entire bus, or be sorted into one of the top 10 “lucky” bus groups. Wei has not yet provided details about how the lucky groups will be sorted.
This isn’t Wei’s first venture into commercial journeys. Inspired by a hit Korean format, Wei once launched his own show on China’s Leshan Satellite TV called “Second Best Luck,” which was an interesting departure for the television industry.
He said in the CNN interview that he sought to find the “still relevant aspect of something traditional and universal in Chinese culture,” and said that the South Korean program took “these natural problems” that the host faced in his own life, ” and using pop stars and comedy to resolve them.”