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)
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