Another type of Vehicle(s) you never see in China

While this is still fresh in my mind, I can make one note of one other vehicle you'd never see in China. I'm talking about motor homes (房车, rising tone “fang” and flat “che”) and trailers. During my visit to America, I saw more than a few RVs parked in suburban driveways. And the fact that they're parked in a suburban driveway is one big reason why hardly anyone in China owns a motor home or trailer.

In contrast to America, there is very little residential parking space in Chinese cities. Even many of the newer apartment complexes don't have underground parking garages, or 地下停车场 (falling tone “di” and “xia”, rising tone “ting” and the last character is a falling and rising tone “chang”). And of course Chinese cities are too built up to have space for big open parking lots, especially in and around their centers.

For example, my complex in Dongzhimen doesn't have an underground parking garage. The same goes for nearly all of the other complexes nearby. And people only recently moved into these buildings, in 2003 or thereabouts. The one exception is the recently completed “Naga Life” luxury apartment community; I'll talk about this place in a future post.

Thus nearly everyone in my building and the other nearby buildings who have cars have to find a place on the street. Most park them on the wide alley, which used to be a hutong back when all the residential buildings were siheyuan courtyard houses just east of the Dongzhimen Dajie or “Ghost Street.”

A few of them can purchase spots. These places come with a bar which is locked in an upright position when the parking place is vacated to prevent other cars from using the spot when the owner is away. But most car-owners have to hunt for a place to park their cars.

In fact, one former student from the language center where I teach on Sundays lives in my neighborhood and owns a car. This fellow was a manager in a private company and I recall him having an SUV—yes there are a few them parked around where I live. He once told me that he wasn't able to purchase a parking spot, adding that it was a real hassle trying to find a place to park every evening in the neighborhood.

And even if you're lucky enough to be in a new building with an underground parking garage, you'll have to pay a lot of money to park your vehicle inside the garage. In America, of course, apartment and condominium complexes with undergraduate parking garages typically give tenants/owners at least one free parking space. However, my colleague here at CNLC, Yao Ling Ling, informs me that she has been paying 500 RMB (around $70 at the current exchange rate) a month for a parking space.

Yao and her husband now intend to buy this parking space. To do so, they'll have to pay 120,000 RMB, or around $18,000 at the current dollar-RMB exchange rate. That's more than they paid for their car, so as Yao told me, it's a good thing they don't have a second car!!

Thus if one did own a motor home or trailer in China, you would certainly spend a small fortune parking a vehicle that typically isn't driven/used all that much. It comes then as no surprise that Chinese nature reserves don't have campgrounds for motor homes and trailers. People who visit places like 云台山 (rising tone “yun” and “tai” and flat tone “shan”), Henan Province's most famous nature preserve, stay in a hotel.

I also don't recall seeing any tent campgrounds there either. And I suspect this is the case for most Chinese nature preserves or national parks. For example, my Chinese friend and language partner, Vivian Wang, told me that one can't pitch in tent anywhere near beautiful 九寨沟 National Park’s gorgeous, multicolored lakes. 九 (falling and rising tone jiu) 寨 (falling tone zhai) 沟 (flat tone gou), which means “Nine Stockade Gully,” is located in Western Sichuan Province and in addition to its lakes, boasts waterfalls, high rugged peaks, and immense glaciers.

Despite the restrictions on tent camping—扎营, a flat tone “zha” and rising tone “ying”—backpacking is gaining popularity in China. Indeed, there's a store selling backpacking gear, tents, and other equipment on the Dongsishitiao Beidajie not too far from where I live in Dongzhimen.

One place people backpack and camp at are the mountains around 九寨沟 (these peaks are also quite beautiful and spectacular). At least I remember seeing a party of backpackers on a CCTV 9 “Travelogue” show about this area. And the more rugged and less heavily visited parts of the Great Wall outside of Beijing, like 司马台(flat tone “si”, falling and rising tone “ma”, and rising tone “tai”) are popular backpacking and camping destinations. Peter Hessler, the author of RIVER TOWN and ORACLE BONES was found of camping at the Great Wall when he lived in Beijing.

In fact, one of my Chinese acquaintances, Phyllis Yu, runs an outdoor travel adventure service called “Pixie Adventures”. There are lots of really cool looking trips on the “Pixie Adventures” website (www.pixieadventures.com). The one that caught my eye was an extended trek through Sichuan's high mountains. I recall reading that the altitude through most of this jaunt stays at or above 12,000 feet.

REI has now opened a store in my hometown. I paid it visit during my late November-early December vacation back to the states and bought a pair of nice hiking boots that were on sale (I have large feet, so it's next to impossible to shoes that will fit me here). People who have read my personal introduction in this blog know that I love to hike in the mountains and did lots of trekking in California’s High Sierra Nevada. Now that I have a good pair of boots and possibly have found the right group trip, it's the Sichuan Mountains or bust!