Keeping the 'ding dings' ringing

Hong Kong

THEY'RE difficult to miss - narrow double-deck carriages standing elegantly tall amid your usual traffic, their signature bells ringing a familiar "ding ding" at each stop over the cacophony of otherwise impatient honking.

They are Hong Kong's iconic trams, affectionately known as "ding dings", running on a 112-year-old streetcar system that has been increasingly overshadowed by its more modern counterpart, the ever-expanding Mass Transit Railway (MTR) offering faster, air-conditioned travel by train.

Operator Hong Kong Tramways said last week …