Trams in Beijing

[1] In June 1921, the city government established the Peking Electric Tramway Co., Ltd. and used company shares to secure a 2 million dollar loan from the Franco-Chinese Bank[dubious – discuss] to fund the enterprise.

[1] A dozen street cars paraded along the 9-km initial tram route from Qianmen to Xizhimen.

[1] Five years later, the number of routes grew to five, which were distinguished by the colors red, yellow, blue, white and green.

[1] The street cars were for the most part well received by city residents, except rickshaw drivers whose business diminished considerably.

[1] The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident ceased tram service temporarily.

[3] On January 1, 1938, the 6th Route Branch Line began operating on the newly built tracks between Tianqiao and Yongdingmen.

In March 1950, the tramline's ring route from Pinganli through Xisi, Xidan, Tiananmen, Dongdan and Dongsi was restored.

[1] Yet, trams by then were considered slow and noisy compared to other motor vehicles and was more expensive and cumbersome to expand service into newly developed areas of the city because they required the laying of track.

In the 1950s, Chinese petroleum production was limited and trolleybuses like trams could be powered from electricity generated sources other than oil.