The Rise of Chinese Car Culture
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 07.07.06 | 10:05 AM ET
China’s train to Tibet dominated the headlines this week, so much so that I forgot to post about Ted Conover’s excellent story about Chinese car culture in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine. “The figures behind China’s car boom are stunning,” Conover writes. “Total miles of highway in the country: at least 23,000, more than double what existed in 2001, and second now only to the United States. Number of passenger cars on the road: about 6 million in 2000 and about 20 million today. Car sales are up 54 percent in the first three months of 2006, compared with the same period a year ago; every day, 1,000 new cars (and 500 used ones) are sold in Beijing.” Conover signs on for a “self-driving tour” with the Beijing Target Auto Club and explores the economic, environmental and cultural impact of all those automobiles hitting Chinese roads.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
