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Bus 375 In Beijing: A Scary Urban Legend

王泥喜法介

王泥喜法介

Devoted Cultist
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If you ask me to name one of the most famous urban legends in China, I would like to introduce this story at first because almost everyone in China who was born after the 1980s has heard this story.

I have read many different versions on the Internet, and I would like to select one which seems more reliable.

In 1995, one night, a bus was running in the suburb of Beijing, and the number of this bus was 375. Around a gate of a high school, a young man was waiting for this bus because only this bus could take him home. When he found this bus, he started to wave his hands instantly.

After boarding this bus, the young man sat behind an old lady and found there were six people on the bus including himself, the driver and conductor. Quickly, the young man attempted to have a break because he was exhausted already. A few minutes later, the bus stopped again, and two men got up. The young man glanced the two men and found both of them were poker-faced. The two men did not talk, just sat down and kept silent.

However, at this point, the old lady in front of the young man stood up suddenly and grabbed the young man tightly. "Nasty guy, how dare you try to steal my wallet!"

This young man was confused but responded "I was sleeping just now and I never touched your wallet. Why you wrong me?"

The old lady did not buy this but asked the driver to stop the bus immediately, because there was a police station not far away from there. It seems that the driver was not interested in what happened but stopped the bust to let the old lady and the young man leave this bus.

After stepping out this bus, this young man asked innocently, "dear lady, I never touch your pocket, why you wrong me. I am just a student."

However, the response of this lady was so surprising, "Handsome boy, I have saved your life just now."

The young man did not understand, so the old lady continued to explain what happened and why she asked the driver to stop the bus. "Handsome boy, have you noticed the two men who boarded the bus at last." The young man nodded. The old lady then continued "when the two went through me, I found something strange. Neither of them has feet, do you understand. In other words, instead of 'stepping' on the bus, the two were floating just now. Therefore, I am afraid they were not human beings, you know what I mean."

The young man was scared and was determined to report this to the police. Because there was a police station around there, the young man told the police what the old lady told him. But, you can imagine, the police could not believe the young man's words. However, at this time, the radio in the police station reported news that a 375 bus went down a cliff not far away from there a few minuts ago, and there were four bodies on the bus, including the driver and the conductor.
 
That sounds like a variation on the story told in the 1945 British film Dead of Night, where the bus conductor tells the storyteller "Room for one more inside!" He is shocked because he recognises the conductor from a nightmare he had, where the conductor was a hearse driver and said exactly the same thing to him. After he backs away from the bus, it drives off - then crashes over an embankment, killing everyone inside!

Fascinating how there are versions of the same basic story from across the world.
 
GNC said:
That sounds like a variation on the story told in the 1945 British film Dead of Night, where the bus conductor tells the storyteller "Room for one more inside!" He is shocked because he recognises the conductor from a nightmare he had, where the conductor was a hearse driver and said exactly the same thing to him. After he backs away from the bus, it drives off - then crashes over an embankment, killing everyone inside!

Fascinating how there are versions of the same basic story from across the world.
Click to expand...

Theres also a version where a man dreams of seeing a man carrying a coffin on his back. Next day he is about to step into a lift when the lift operator says 'Room for one more!'
The man recognises him as the coffin-carrier and declines the lift, and it crashes, killing everyone including the operator.

I think that was in the Usborne Book of Ghost Stories that my kids had.
 
escargot said:
Theres also a version where a man dreams of seeing a man carrying a coffin on his back. Next day he is about to step into a lift when the lift operator says 'Room for one more!'
The man recognises him as the coffin-carrier and declines the lift, and it crashes, killing everyone including the operator.

I think that was in the Usborne Book of Ghost Stories that my kids had.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have read this story too.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Jan Harold Brunvand catalogs the ominous driver / operator, evading a deadly accident, and "Room for One More" tropes under his 'Phantom Coachman' category in his Encyclopedia of Urban Legends (pp. 315 - 316 in ...)

https://books.google.com/books?id=zpdvLYZX2kIC&pg=PR15&lpg=PR15&dq="phantom+coachman"&source=bl&ots=GEYgCBA_E9&sig=3cCw-k3EyRZnNTUA-VwmsYltUUE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjiz8GNt9zfAhVLOKwKHeBNBV8Q6AEwA3oECC8QAQ#v=onepage&q="phantom coachman"&f=false
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My friend, you are so erudite.
 
Some haunted buses and minibuses of Hong Kong:

From Reddit:
Bus stops marked with a black spot in HK. They tend to be in mountain areas where many accidents have happened. Bus drivers will stop and open the doors even if no one is getting on or off. This is done in order for the spirits to continue their journeys.
Spooky, especially late at night.
Click to expand...

Other sites tie this story to a specific place and accident

myhongkonghusband.com/2013/10/29/香港鬧鬼的地方-haunted-hong-kong/amp/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mang_Gui_Kiu
Ghost haunting stories related to the accident has never stopped after the accident. Ashen-faced children are said to wave to passing cars and hikers at night. Drivers claim to see white shapes flitting across the road nearby and mini-bus drivers said some of their passengers vanished once got off the bus. Some families living at the area also claim to see their children holding hands and playing with air multiple times.
Still, in tradition Chinese culture, it is believed one need not to be afraid of supernatural if he is an upright man who has never affront any spirits. It was said a bus driver was driving past the Mang Gui Kiu without any passengers on board. A woman with long hair and pale face got on the bus. But the driver only found joss paper in the cashbox. The angry driver shouted ‘Lady, please pay the fee!’ but received no answer. He found that there was nobody on the bus. He reckoned the woman was a ghost but stayed calm and kept on driving not to offend the spirit. When he drove to the next bus stop, the signal light was on. He stopped the bus and opened the door but suddenly heard a voice saying, "Thank you."
Click to expand...

According to my girlfriend, during the 80s and 90s, when buses still had open windows on the top deck, people would avoid sitting there due to a belief that there were already ghosts occupying the seats.

I'm sure I posted about the 90s KCR rail advert ghost hysteria somewhere but the search won't turn it up.

Edit: there's a 90s HK b movie called 'ghostly bus' about this type of thing, perhaps someone braver than me can watch it and report back

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0113232/
 
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James_H said:
Some haunted buses and minibuses of Hong Kong:

From Reddit:


Other sites tie this story to a specific place and accident

myhongkonghusband.com/2013/10/29/香港鬧鬼的地方-haunted-hong-kong/amp/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mang_Gui_Kiu


According to my girlfriend, during the 80s and 90s, when buses still had open windows on the top deck, people would avoid sitting there due to a belief that there were already ghosts occupying the seats.

I'm sure I posted about the 90s KCR rail advert ghost hysteria somewhere but the search won't turn it up.
Click to expand...
Wow, you know the urban legends in Hong Kong so well. Are you born there or have you visited this city?
I have watched that video you mentioned. Personally, I guess this video is scary because it is silent and so dark.
 
James_H said:
.Bus drivers will stop and open the doors even if no one is getting on or off. This is done in order for the spirits to continue their journeys.
Spooky, especially late at night.
Click to expand...

I'm also fairly certain I've heard this story relating to somewhere in the middle East, however there the invisible passengers are djinn. Someone told me - unfortunately I have no memory of who, or any further details.
 
escargot said:
Theres also a version where a man dreams of seeing a man carrying a coffin on his back. Next day he is about to step into a lift when the lift operator says 'Room for one more!'
The man recognises him as the coffin-carrier and declines the lift, and it crashes, killing everyone including the operator.

I think that was in the Usborne Book of Ghost Stories that my kids had.
Click to expand...

I remember cleary to read this one on a Reader's Digest book about hauntings and haunting stories.

Concerning the "Dead Of Night" film, I also remember cleary the scene. By the way, I love this film.
 
ghost cars, buses and other vehicles have been a corner piece of culture for years, i myself think there is no difference between such reports and reports of strange futuristic cars wich are sometimes seen by people, albert rosales made a list of such cases a while ago: http://web.archive.org/web/20160319151528/http://ufoinfo.com/humanoid/cosmiccars.pdf
it seens that the magonians adapt according to your techonology level, phantom airships turn into UFOs, phantom carriages turn into phamton cars wich chase people in UFO flap areas, etc
 
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