Learn Chinese - This motoring mania is driving us all crazy

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






This motoring mania is driving us all crazy

By Patrick Whiteley (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-22 09:38



In the year 3 BC (Before China), I was a motoring writer working in
Sydney. After joining China Daily last year, a colleague suggested we
begin a Test Drive column. My 30-something friend was eager to learn
about the nuts and bolts of motor journalism and was just like a boy who
was given his first bicycle. He knew more about the brands, makes and
models than I did. He certainly could talk the torque.

After I passed my Chinese drivers' license test, we organize our first
test drive car - a little Ford Focus - but on the taxi ride to the
pick-up address, he made a startling confession.

"Patrick, just a little thing you must know. I can't really drive."

After a long pause, I summed up the situation.

"Mei wenti (No problem)."

I have always believed that if the details get in the way of a good idea,
you should run them over.

"Minor detail," I reassured him.

My cheerful friend had been licensed for five years, but had rarely
driven on the roads.

However his lack of hands-on experience had never hampered his teen-like
passion about the shiny new machines. My friend doesn't have pictures of
Gong Li or Zhang Ziyi on his walls, he has glossy images of the BMW X5
4.6L or the VW Touareg.

My buddy is no Robinson Crusoe. His four-wheel fascination is shared by
millions of my new neighbors of Beijing, a city in which 1,000 new cars
are added to the roads each day.

China's automobile industry made a $10 billion profit last year, up 46
percent from the previous year, and the car is a serious status symbol.

The "you-are-what-you-drive" philosophy is taking hold and the flashier
the car, the better. The prices can be astronomical.

The new Audi Q7 costs about 1.3 million yuan ($171,000), which can also
buy a very nice two-bedroom apartment in any big city. The same 257kW,
440Nm 4.2-litre direct-injection petrol V8 sells for $98,000 (751,000
yuan) in Australia.

Luxury-car import taxes and the rising yuan have driven up luxury vehicle
prices to almost double of what they are in the West. Dealers also
capitalize on exclusivity, and bump prices up even further.

If these luxury cars are forbidden fruit, then most people want a bite.

I've just finished test-driving the Audi Q7 and it is one sweet ride,
however the attention it received in the China Daily car park was as if
the circus had come to town. Children stopped playing, women swooned and
men marveled at this sleek machine.

After a little chuckle, I put China's motoring obsession into
perspective. In Sydney, a very nice two-bedroom apartment with a view
costs about $500,000. So if a guy parks his $510,000 Maserati in my
street, I would stop and stare and so would my neighbors. But would I be
awestruck by an Audi?

It's all relative. Curiosities attracting my fascination - doorways in
hutong and old men practicing taichi in the park - are old hat for
Chinese. I must look a bit silly as I stop, swoon and marvel at the
treasures.

To me, they are all new and shiny. It's just like the circus has come to
town.


(China Daily 06/22/2007 page20)










Top Entertaiment News




� "Citizen Kane" leads "Godfather" in movie poll

� Anna Nicole's daughter Dannielynn pouts like her

� Catherine Zeta-Jones makes family her main concern

� Hilton doing much better in jail, mum says

� Billboards Of bald Britney bounced





Today's Top News




� Nation set to substantially forgive Iraq debt

� New plea to save 'lost' kids

� Ban on use of corn for ethanol lauded

� US military: 14 troops killed in Iraq

� Shanxi governor makes self-criticism for slave labor





Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours








Learn Chinese, Learning Chinese, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,