A passion for cross-country driving that even mom can support

"Cross-country drives bring me closer to Mother Nature and give me the thrill of life and a sense of achievement," said Fang Jialin, a fresh graduate and a die-hard SUV lover. "Anything but a girlfriend."

The thrill-seeker, in his twenties, joined the cross-country club almost as soon as he got his driver's license.

"Girls like racing cars, not cross-country sport vehicles," Fang said. With a pick-up truck and a Toyota 3400, he drives for cross-country fun, he said. "They (girls) think cross-country drives are too dusty, so the (cross-country) community is basically a gentleman's club."

But one man's trash is another man's treasure. The first time he managed to tackle the hurdles on the road with his truck and learnt first-aid - for both cars and drivers - he instantly fell in love with this sport, which is usually accompanied with long drives, heavy physical work, dust, puddles, emergency food kit, shovels, jacks - everything that can easily turn girls off.

"Luckily, my mother is no ordinary lady. I remember one time I took her into the Onnigud Desert and our car was stuck between the slopes, the front bar was shattered and I could smell the burning from the clutch. But my mom was like, 'let's do it', and I made it."

Seeing the country on SUV drives has been a growing obsession with Fang. He thought the adapted city version did not present what SUVs were originally made for.

"I think lots of people like SUV because it's bigger and comfortable to drive, not because what it is capable of," Fang said. He's fond of such vehicles because of their capability to handle difficult situations, potential for tuning and their "awesome appearance".

"In the cross-country circles, we say, 'if you haven't conquered Laozhanggou in Zhangjiakou city, you are not a real player'," he said. "It's extremely hard to drive, almost impossible especially if your car is not tuned. Last time we went there, we had to dig our way with shovels before driving through. We joked this sport was basically about paying to suffer."

He said most of his friends in the "circle" adore the Jeep Wrangler, the Toyota Land Cruiser and the Ford F-150, but he has set his sights on the Toyota Prado.

"This particular SUV is friendly toward my budget and very capable. My mother morally supports my passion but not financially," Fang said. "So, I'm saving very hard with my internship salary for a second-hand Toyota Prado so I can take my family on a two-month journey from Beijing to Tibet - I hope they will at least share the gas bill."