Xiamen's car culture
By Ronald James
Photos by Xiao Qin

新年的第一天, 厦门日报车友会与本刊英语读者俱乐部组织了 "元旦永春牛姆林自驾游". 来自WECL学院的美国外教Ronald James也兴致勃勃地参与了此次共21部车、70余人的自驾游. 在享受了牛姆林美丽原始的风光之余, Ronald也过了一把车瘾, 参加了趣味驾驶比赛. 几天下来, 首次参加中国自驾游的Ronald, 对厦门的"汽车文化"别有一番感受.

Vocabulary
caravan 旅行队
mania 狂热
excursion 远足
hatchback
有仓门式后背的汽车
mock combat 模拟野战
paintball 彩弹球
ravine 峡谷

Nowhere is China's exploding new car culture more evident than in Xiamen. The city's large middle class is taking advantage of its newfound affluence to get behind the wheel and "go mobile". Recently, a group of Xiamen car enthusiasts established a club; The Freeland Auto Association (FAA), whose mission is to give people who love cars a chance to share their passion for driving with others who have a common interest. Over the three-day New Year weekend, the FAA sponsored an overnight excursion to the Hong Zhu Shan Zhuang Resort located in the Niumulin Forest Preserve. A caravan consisting of more than a dozen privately owned cars, a tour bus and a van made the trip, transporting the seventy-plus participants along the scenic, winding road that ascends into the Fujian mountains.


Ronald is ready to have a try

For many people in Xiamen, the love affair with the automobile is proving to be passionate and irresistible. As an American, I tend to take cars for granted because cars are everywhere back in the USA. I grew up with automobiles and have been driving since my early teens. Where I come from in the Rocky Mountain West, a car is a necessity. When I first came to China in 2000, there were few private cars; bicycles ruled the streets of Shanghai. But virtually overnight, auto mania has swept across China. The Chinese car market is red hot with more than two million new cars hitting the highways last year. Sales of autos in China rose more than 34 percent in 2003 and China is now the world's number three auto maker after the USA and Japan. The Chinese government now estimates that by 2020 China will have more than 156 million cars on its roads.



So tagged along with the FAA's overnight excursion to observe firsthand China's new car culture. We were accompanied by Li Zhiping, a Xiamen racecar driver who drove a feisty little five-speed Citroen ZX hatchback, which he has customized and refitted, into what we Americans would refer to as a "stock racing car". The parking lot at the Hong Zhu Shan Zhuang Resort was converted into a makeshift racecourse and Li Zhiping was able to demonstrate some of his impressive driving skills to an appreciative audience.

Saturday evening he also gave an after-dinner talk on "how to save gas", a topic of great concern and importance to FAA members who are paying expensive fuel bills in order to drive. He also shared tips on how to handle dangerous curves and passing other vehicles safely.


A group from the tour poses happily in front of their cars

Driving wasn't all that was on peoples' minds. During the course of the weekend excursion, we explored the Forest Preserve by hiking some of the mountain trails, went grass skiing, engaged in mock combat using paintball guns, and rode the thrilling cable ride across a 135 meter deep ravine. The food at the resort restaurants was excellent and Hong Zhu Shan Zhuang Resort also features a comfortable and charming teahouse.

For Americans, cars have always symbolized freedom and mobility. Now, many Chinese want to realize similar dreams. For more information on the Freeland Auto Association, check out their website at: http://www.faachina.com.

A brave off-roader
By Enid Chen
Photo by Liang Wei



Vocabulary
limousine 豪华轿车
off-road 越野的
feat 壮举
abominable 恶劣的
treacherous 危险重重的
leech 蚂蟥
traverse 横穿
blizzard 暴风雪
indispensable 不可或缺的
perpetually 永无止境地



北京越野者俱乐部的越野赛车手李智来到厦门做讲座的时候, 我们见到了他. 和他的吉普车一样, 他身材魁梧高大, 却不掩温文尔雅. 交谈中才知道, 这位颇有名气的业内好手, 曾经留学东瀛, 担任高级工程师和企业管理很长一段时间, 是对于赛车的业余爱好才成就今天的职业生涯. 2001年11月他和另外几位车手参加了第四届马来西亚国际雨林挑战赛, 代表我国首次参加国际级越野赛事, 与来自30多个国家和地区的车手同台竞技.
对于李智, 越野驾驶的乐趣, 在于离开公路穿越原野, 走遍大多数人一生都不会去的地方, 体会自然的原始神秘之美. 越野驾驶改变了他的生活, 改变了他对社会、对人生的态度. 用他自己的话说"越野是一种修行".

When we first met Li Zhi from Beijing, a tall, handsome and well-cultivated man, he was delivering a lecture on off-road adventures to an audience on the occasion of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of ABB Low Voltage Equipment Company held at the year-end of 2004. Intrigued by his lecture, we later had a long conversation with him. It was then that we came to know he is a famous racecar driver and off-road adventurer in Beijing and we also became fascinated by his interesting stories.

Childhood dream

Before he was an off-road adventurer, Li Zhi had been an ordinary electrician, a factory director, a returned overseas scholar and a successful businessman. Even when he was equipped with a limousine by his company, he still preferred jeeps. "I like the China-made jeeps more than limousines."

This is probably because of the dream he has had since childhood. As a child, what he saw on the roads of Beijing were mostly jeeps. Therefore, the dream of having a jeep of his own embedded itself in his mind.



He refitted his jeep into a racing vehicle. In his spare time, out of his normal quick-paced modern life, he has discovered a relaxing lifestyle. On holidays, he invites his friends to go with him and explore places they have never been to, like Tibet or Inner Mongolia.

An off-road adventurer

At the age of 40 in 1997, Li Zhi became involved with off-road adventures. His beloved jeeps had greatly changed his outlook on life in his forties. He became well-known in 2001 when he took part in the international off-road challenge of the Malaysia-Rainforest Challenge (RFC), which is the biggest international annual off-road event.

In 2001, it was the first time that a racing team from China's mainland attended the RFC, headed by Li Zhi. "This was the first time for a Chinese team to step out of the country's boundary. Our aim was not to win the challenge, but rather to gain experiences in the prestigious off-road challenge."



Li Zhi spent tens of thousands of yuan on this competition and ranked third to last in the end. However, he and his teammates didn't feel defeated or discouraged at all. "Despite the fact that we were among the last to reach the destination, we gained tremendous confidence. Conquering all these feats and completing the entire journey was in itself, an achievement, let alone winning the various awards. At the closing ceremony, we were awaited and warmly welcomed by a lot of overseas Chinese spectators. We were so inspired that we felt as if we were the champions."

In the year that followed, they competed in the RFC once again. They not only completed the entire route, but also the five-member team won the "Jungle Man" award, which is the only international award won by Chinese in this aspect so far.



Nonetheless, the obstacles and difficulties they had encountered in the rainforest in Malaysia were beyond imagination. They had to fight with Mother Nature and survive in the abominable rainforest. They not only had to overcome the treacherous "muddy madness" when they were stuck and soaked in the mud for more than ten hours, but also they had to face the hidden dangers of impassable tracks, landslides, floods and dangerous animals. "We put cigarette butts into a bottle of water and then poured it into our shoes to keep leeches and poisonous snakes off our feet and legs."

There was one time that they had a shortage of fresh drinking water. 20 or more competitors from different countries had to share a bottle of beer. "The bottle had been passed around twice and there was still beer left."

The event had truly tested the Chinese team to the maximum as they traversed the rainforest where heavy rainfall and intermittent showers added to the adventure.

An ambassador of kindness

Several years of engagement in the off-road adventure field significantly broadened his horizon. He gained more knowledge of geography, history and social customs of various places and skills in surviving in the wild. Gradually, he made a bunch of like-minded friends. New ideas began to take root in his mind. In his own words, he began to realize his increasing social responsibilities.



Before the Spring Festival in 2001, there were blizzards that took place in Inner Mongolia. The relief from Beijing could not pass on to the hands of the people in the snow-stricken areas because roads were blocked. Li Zhi and the friends of his Beijing Off Roader 4WD Club volunteered to take the mission. Despite unimaginable difficulties, they successfully carried the relief to the destination and provided timely help to the needy. Afterwards, Li Zhi said he had found something indispensable in his life and has since become more and more involved in doing things for public welfare.

To Li Zhi, off-road adventure has enriched his life so that he can constantly learn new things and find himself perpetually improving his life.