Starting every broadcast with the words, “Hello viewers, welcome to ‘Hongqi Talks Traffic’”, a plain-old traffic cop who became a broadcasting legend has made his retirement. Today, The Nanjinger salutes him for the countless ways he has made Nanjing’s roads safer.
17 years and more than 6,000 daily broadcasts. No weekends off. With a reach of 7 percent, Hongqi Talks Traffic (宏琪说交通) was one of the highest-rated programmes on Nanjing TV station, NBS. Its host, Wang Hongqi (王宏琪), retired today, 25 August, on his 60th birthday.
But what was this mini-cult show all about and why was it so popular?
Wang was essentially on a mission to civilise. Nanjing’s traffic, that is. Whether that be helping road users to put into practice new traffic laws, or pointing out the foolishness of some drivers’ actions for the benefit of others, Hongqi Talks Traffic was unmissable early-evening TV.
Born in Shandong Province, Wang served in the Chinese Navy for 6 years before becoming a traffic policeman. By the end of 2005, Wang had been a traffic cop for nearly 20 years, rising to become a senior member in the command room of Nanjing Traffic Management Bureau.
Therein, the constant monitoring of our city’s road conditions made him familiar with every twist and turn in Nanjing and an ideal candidate for a cop-hosted TV show.
Having got the job, Wang’s daily routine was very different from every other traffic cop. With a cameraman and a driver, the roads of Nanjing were his office, the tarmac his desk and the scene of an incident his library.
Wang’s day would begin by surveying the many altercations on Nanjing’s roads and deciding which one his show was going to cover that day.
There was no script. Upon arriving at the scene, Wang had to quickly judge the news value and educational significance of the incident, as well as sort out the applicable laws. And then make it all entertaining.
All in, episodes of Hongqi Talks Traffic have accumulated six billion views, attracting more than 100 million likes. To put that former figure in perspective, Wang would be number 4 on YouTube. The China Radio and Television Association awarded the show as a “First-class Programme” and Wang himself as one of the “National Top Ten Traffic Hosts”.
For interested readers who have not seen the show, several episodes are available to watch on the page that is Wang’s entry on the encyclopaedia, Baidu Baike.
Wang was also well known for his style of reporting. While not a professionally-trained broadcaster, the nature of his reports demanded an immediacy which could only be afforded by speaking directly. With his distinct Northern Mandarin, it was a style he made all his own.
This correspondent recalls one early broadcast in particular. In his own charismatic way, Wang stops a driver who has failed to obey the relevant signage, his conversation with the driver then going thus:
Wang: “You see that sign?”.
Driver: “Yeah”.
Wang: “What does it say?”.
Driver: “Stop”.
Wang: “Yep. And what do you think that means?”.
Driver: “I don’t know”.
