Peking Express


Peking Express is a Dutch–Flemish reality game show that follows a series of couples as they hitchhike to or from Beijing. :nl:Peking Express |The series has already gone through five seasons. In the Netherlands it is screened by Net 5 and in Belgium by VT4.
:de:Peking Express|A German version was shown in 2005. The concept has also been sold to Scandinavia where it was broadcast for the first time in the autumn of 2007. The Scandinavian version is shown on Kanal 5 in Sweden, TVNorge in Norway and Kanal 5 in Denmark. A French version named :fr:Pékin Express|Pékin Express is screened by M6, with twelve seasons aired so far from 2006 to 2019, and a thirteen and fourteen planned for 2020. It can be seen on TV5 outside France. In Spain, the first four seasons of local version :es:Pekín Express|Pekín Express aired on Cuatro from 2008 to 2011; Atresmedia acquired the rights in 2015 and has produced two seasons since. An Italian version has been produced since 2012 by RAI and shown on Rai 2 successfully. In Poland, the series has been broadcast on TVN since 2016 and was known for its first two seasons, which were set in Asia, as Azja Express. From season 3 onwards, it has been known as Ameryka Express, with its production location changing to America; a fourth season premiered in spring 2020. In Romania, the series has aired successfully on Antena 1 since 2018 as :ro:Asia Express|Asia Express, with three seasons so far.

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

America

Colombian Seasons

Mexican Season

Europe

Belgium/Netherlands/Flemish Seasons

Denmark/Sweden/Norway Seasons

German Seasons

French Seasons

Hungarian Seasons

In this version, there are mainly Hungarian VIP couples.
:hu:Ázsia Expressz|Ázsia ExpresszSeasonSeason's subtitleHostWinning coupleRunner upThird placedContinentRouteVisited countries
:hu:Ázsia Expressz|Ázsia Expressz2017A sárkány útja:hu: Ördög Nóra|Ördög Nóra:hu: Ambrus Attila|Ambrus Attila & :hu: Berki Krisztián |Berki KrisztiánKulcsár Edina & Szabó András "Csuti"Megyeri Csilla & Molnár ZsoltAsia, Hải Dương to, Bangkok
:hu:Ázsia Expressz|Ázsia Expressz2019:hu: Ördög Nóra|Ördög NóraHorváth Gréta & Meggyes DávidJanicsák Veca & Ladányi Jancsó ÁbelDemcsák Zsuzsa & Kandász AndreaAsia, Negombo to, Chiang Mai
:hu:Ázsia Expressz|Ázsia Expressz2020
:hu: Ördög Nóra|Ördög NóraTBDTBDTBDAsia, TBA to, Taipei

Italian Seasons

In this version, there are mainly VIP couples.
Pechino ExpressSeasonSeason's subtitleHostWinning coupleRunner upThird placedContinentRouteVisited countries
Pechino Express2012Avventura in OrienteEmanuele FilibertoAlessandro Sampaoli & Debora Villa Andrés Gil & Anastasia Kuzmina Costantino della Gherardesca & Barù Asia, Haridwar to, Beijing
Pechino Express2013Obiettivo BangkokCostantino della GherardescaMassimiliano Rosolino & Marco Maddaloni Francesca Fioretti & Ariadna Romero Daniel Moreno Mendoza & Laura Caratelli Asia, Hanoi to, Bangkok
Pechino Express2014Ai confini dell'AsiaCostantino della GherardescaStefano Corti & Alessandro Onnis Amaurys Perez & Angela Rende Eva Grimaldi & Roberta Garzia Asia, Mandalay to, Bali
Pechino Express2015Il nuovo mondoCostantino della GherardescaAntonio Andrea Pinna & Roberto Bertolini Christian Kang Bachini & Son Pascal Giulia Salemi & Fariba Mohammad Tehrani America, Quito to, Rio de Janeiro
Pechino Express2016Le civiltà perduteCostantino della GherardescaAlessio Stigliano & Alessandro Tenace Diego Passoni & Cristina Bugatty Lory del Santo & Marco Cucolo America, Bogotá to, Mexico City
Pechino Express2017Verso il Sol LevanteCostantino della GherardescaEma Stokholma & Valentina Pegorer Antonella Elia & Jill Cooper Achille Lauro & Boss Doms Asia, Pagbilao to, Tokyo
Pechino Express2018Avventura in AfricaCostantino della GherardescaPatrizia Rossetti & Maria Teresa Ruta Fabrizio Colica & Tommy Kuti Linda Morselli & Rachele Fogar Africa, Tangier to, Cape Town
Pechino Express2020Le stagioni dell'OrienteCostantino della GherardescaNicole Rossi & Jennifer Poni Enzo Miccio & Carolina Gianuzzi Ema Kovac & Dayane Mello Asia, Ko Phra Thong to, Seoul
Pekin Express2021 TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBATBA to TBATBA

Polish Seasons

In this version, there are only celebrity couples.
Azja ExpressSeasonWinning coupleRouteVisited countries
Azja Express2016Michał Żurawski & Ludwik Borkowski, Hai Duong to, Bangkok
Azja Express2017Antoni Pawlicki & Paweł Ławrynowicz, Sigiriya to, Mumbai
Ameryka Express2018Aleksandra Domańska & Dawid Domański, San Antonio de Ibarra to, Cusco
Ameryka Express2020Karolina Pisarek & Marta Gajewska-Komorowska, Antigua to, Cartagena

Spanish Seasons

Romanian Seasons

In this version, there are only celebrity couples.
Asia ExpressSeasonSeason's subtitleHostWinning coupleRunner upThird placedContinentRouteVisited countries
Asia Express2018Drumul DragonuluiGina Pistol and Marius Damian:ro:Raluka|Raluca Nistor & :ro:Mircea Baniciu#Familia|Ana Baniciu:ro:Liviu Vârciu|Liviu Vârciu & Andrei Ştefănescu:ro:Daniela Crudu|Daniela Crudu & Vica BlochinaAsia, Hạ Long to, Bangkok
Asia Express2019Drumul ElefantuluiGina Pistol, Liviu Vârciu and Andrei Ștefănescu:ro:CRBL|Eduard Mihail Andreianu & Ionuț Dongo:ro:Ruby |Ana Claudia Grigore & Adrian RobertAndra Gheorghe & Bogdan BoantăAsia, Negombo to, Mumbai
Asia Express2020Drumul ComorilorGina Pistol, Ionuț Dongo and Marius DamianSorin Bontea & :ro:Răzvan Fodor|Răzvan Fodor:ro:Speak|Ștefan Sprianu & Ștefania Codreanu:ro:ADDA|Ada Alexandra Moldovan & Cătălin RizeaAsia, Lucena to, Taipei
Asia Express2021 TBAGina PistolTBDTBDTBDTBATBA to TBATBA

International versions

Annual routes