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Li Yi has collected more than 1,400 model commercial vehicles over the past two decades and built the China Commercial Vehicle Models Museum in Jiading district. [Photo by jiading.gov.cn] |
Li Yi, an entrepreneur in Shanghai, has built a museum for his collection of more than 1,400 commercial model vehicles in Jiading district.
Li, 55, adored model cars and trucks since he was a child. While working in a company supplying van hardware, he sometimes received custom-made van models as gifts and has been collecting model commercial vehicles for more than two decades.
"I dreamed of building such a museum since 1996, since I attended auto shows around the world and was fascinated with trucks made in different countries," Li said.
Last August, the private China Commercial Vehicle Models Museum opened to the public. The 2,000-square-meter museum is in a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) style building with a large lotus pond in front of the house.
Entering the museum, visitors are first faced with a long-head semi-trailer model branded “King” made in the US. Li spent 4,000 yuan purchasing it at a flea market in Japan in 2011. It was made according to the original vehicle with a proportion of 1:14. With batteries, the trailer could run like a real truck, its headlights lit and its diesel engine roared.
"Though it is a model, it has impressive power and torque. It can even withstand the weight of an adult man," Li said.