!!!CLICK TITLE TO VIEW WHOLE STORY!!! (It's worth it...I just wish the NextAutos system didn't arbitrarily slice the article-preview like this.) Basically, this is THE FIRST user made blog on this site. I wrote about the cars of China and how the auto-selection contrasts that in the states. I hope you enjoy it. Please "thumbs up" this article, and comment! ~Jon Fung

Image: Shot on 6/25/07 from the tour bus on the major highway running through Shanghai. It’s a typical taxi in Shanghai: a Volkswagon Santana 2000. They also use the Santana 3000, and the GLi but you get the picture. There are a million of these Santanas in Shanghai. This one happens to have broken down during rush hour. Sucks for the driver.

China is different. I’m convinced that one of the purposes of the trip I took to China with my school was so that we would be able to see firsthand the differences between China and the US. I like cars, so the biggest thing I noticed was with the cars. Although I don’t know what the car scene in the rest of the US is like, I can tell you that the car scene in China is pretty different than that of Hawaii. The following are (in no particular order) ten of the ways that the cars, and the car culture of China is different from what we’re used to in Hawaii.

The most popular luxury marquee is Audi. While
there are BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, and the occasional Porsche Cayenne –
possibly even a very high end car like a Ferrari if you’re lucky, by
far, the most popular luxury vehicle is Audi. In every single city, especially Beijing, Audis outnumbered all other luxury brands put together at a ratio of almost 10:1. I am not exaggerating. Maybe that’s why Audi is the official car for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
The Chinese aren’t into aftermarket mods. For some reason, I was expecting to see tons of rice. But no. I could count the number of modified cars that I saw on the entire trip on one hand. And
for half of those, I’d suspect that people were simply fond of
stickers, and had put very little effort into what they had under-hood. Of course lack of interest in the aftermarket means that nobody had those obnoxiously loud coffee-tin cat-back exhausts.
Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Opel, Chery, etc. I got to see tons of European and Chinese brands that we do not get over here. The Peugeots looked really nice. I wouldn’t mind seeing a few of those over here. (Opels are just rebadged Saturns.) On that note, I also want China’s very trick Honda Odyssey here. Chop-top look, bi-xenon headlamps, dual exhaust tips, lots of chrome. And that’s all stock.
Small, low displacement engines in luxury vehicles. I’m assuming this is a result of high gas prices and a high gas-guzzler tax. But I had no idea BMW made a 318i, or that Mercedes Benz was already offering their new S Class with a 3.5 liter engine. I was thrilled to see a CLS with a proper 5 liter engine. I guess it’s not like you can find a lot of space to really give the accelerator a workout in the crowded streets of China anyway.
They actually love American cars. Spring, our tour guide made one comment on cars in China during our whole trip. She said that the coolest and most popular cars in China are Buicks. Apparently, they love these American cars. I mean, I could understand a love for the Ford Mondeo, which isn’t a bad looking car. But the Buick LaCrosse, Excelle, and Regal? I mean, the LaCrosses China has are nicer than the North American version of the car…but they’re still Buicks….
Drivers obey the speed limits. I was expecting that in China,
with so many people hurrying here and there, people would be breaking
the speed limits on the roads, especially since the speed limits are
usually quite low. But everyone actually obeyed the limits, and made up time by weaving through traffic. American drivers are different. We speed AND weave through traffic. I think our way is a bit more dangerous.
Everyone knows how to drive manual. It wasn’t until two or three days into the trip that I found out our bus was actually a 5-speed manual. I was really surprised…then again, I never ride the bus, so I wouldn’t know what it’s like here. Then I started looking into the windows of other cars, and every car, even most of the luxury cars, were manuals. Heck, in my drivers ed class, we skipped over the section on operating a stick shift.
No crash, no problem. Watching the traffic in front, and in back of our tour bus was pretty exciting. I’d describe it as observing huge molecules just freely diffusing between the lanes. And even when I was sure two cars were going to collide, they never did. Driving on the H1 on an average day at rush hour, you’ll see at least one or two accidents. But I never saw a single car accident in the three weeks I was in China. One of our trip advisors also pointed out that none of the cars had dents in them. There is no doubt in my mind that drivers in China are more skilled than US drivers.
Bicycles galore. Everyone knows that China is full of bicycles. But there are seriously tons of them. They even get their own lanes, protected by a median, along most major roads. And nobody cares to invest in an expensive bike with gears, since bikes get stolen so often. Just a cheap 10 USD used bike with one gear serves most people’s purposes.
The crosswalks are not necessarily safe. President Ford legalized right turn on red in the US. I’m not sure which Chinese president legalized left turn on red for China. It’s scary as hell for pedestrians who aren’t used to it. You
can see the happy green walk symbol, and you’ll still have cars cutting
in front of you, and zipping in back of you, coming at you from all
directions, as you use the crosswalk. To be honest, using the crosswalk in China is more dangerous than jaywalking in the US.