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The Qianmen No. 2 "dangdang" trolley resumes service on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. [Photo: Xinhuanet]
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The bells of one of the two "dangdang" trolleys rang once again Wednesday along Qianmen pedestrian street in downtown Beijing after the vehicle had been out of service for two months for repairs, Xinhua News Agency reports.
The other trolley is still undergoing repair work and is expected to return to service in the historical downtown area by the end of August. The 20-yuan (about $3) ticket price per ride remains the same as it previously was.
The trolleys are replicas of those used in Beijing from 1924 to 1966. At that time, trolley drivers had to ring copper bells to alert pedestrians of the approach of the vehicles. Beijingers started calling the trolleys "dangdang" because of the sound the bells made.
The city stopped using the trolleys in 1966 when the Cultural Revolution broke out, but brought them back only earlier this year, as part of the historical renovation of the Qianmen business area and pedestrian street.
