A car lovers letter from Shanghai...

I'm over in China for a week of business, and spending some quality time in the mainland, or 'Middle Kingdom', has been a real eye-opener for me. I'm used to visiting Japan, where American hot rod culture is well known and understood, even revered. I... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

 

I am over there all the time and I have wondered when we start seeing hot rods in and around the city. I think if one was sighted over there it would explode and become really popular. Maybe a good sight for a shop to put a branch office.........

 

I think it is "illegal" to import cars older than ten years, but "illegal" in China is defined by your income, so if some wealthy chinese businessman decides he wants a Brizio-built deuce highboy instead of another new ferrari, it'll happen. As far as a grass-roots home-building hot rod movement, I dont see that happening.
Since your in Shanghai anyway, may I suggest a side trip to Suzhou? I've traveled a bit, and the restaraunts in Suzhou are the best I have ever experienced. GREAT food.

 

While your over there also hit the Cotton Club for some great blues.

 

Worth a visit just to hear Sugar Momma belt out some songs.... Many a happy hour spent there.

 

If the grass roots movement starts, do you think they will build them with local parts made in China?

 

I agree with the restaurants in this area. There are a couple good pizza places, and a pretty good mexican restaurant right on the lake. A good streak joint I have heard too.

Nice pic of the bunt too...

Some of the cars you see outside of the city remind you of some of the r@! stuff you see people here build, they are built out of need though.

 

Go all the way to China to have a burrito/pizza/steak?

Real Chinese cuisine is nothing like American-Chinese food.... some of it is pretty over the top though.

 

Say hi to my female while your there! She and her mom and sister left Hong Kong yesterday and are in the general vicinty until Sunday. She'll be the loudest female you come across in town...

 

I ate my fair share of the local cuisine on the multiple trips I have taken there too. Nothing like the buffets here.

 

Spent a lot of time in that place, usually 4 to 5 months out of the year.

The photo you see Pudong area, was all rice paddys and a few small farms in 1992 when I first went there.

 

Don't let your backpack get stolen... For the thief's sake.

 

Shanghai's hotels have some very very good restaurants, I recommend the hunan river shrimp, fuck me running that was some hot shit!

This could be a touchy thread.

Someday importing a hotrod or sled over there is bound to happen if somebody with a ton of cash will import one over, but I couldn't see a US citizen relocating and taking one over. Seems like it would be a bit hypocritical?

Going to China is definitily an experience.

 

Yea, I was thinking more of the local food. Big area for seafood. And that Suzhou Cherry Pork!! OH MAN!! I also had a dish with crab roe and crab meat that was pretty amazing, best Peking Duck I have ever had, and some EXCELLENT charcoal grilled ribs with a kind of sweet brown marinade...Wheres my passport?

 

I just got yelled at over the phone this morning. When I dropped my wife off at work, she left her lunch in the car, APPARENTLY thats MY fault...

 

if a Chinese person orders a dish and says its a "delicacy" watch out! its bound to be something the western palate is not ready for!

My grandpa was born and raised in the province where Suzhou is, he use to talk about playing in the fields as a kid (pre-1920).

 

I suspect you'll see customizing in the motorcycles first. That is the mode of transport (used to be bicycles) for the majority of the population- the common worker. Which when you think about it makes sense. I've been going over there quite a bit over the last 5 years and I can notice a difference. More and more cars. From what I understand, the Chinese government requires that if a company wants to sell a car there,the company must build a factory -otherwise there are extremely high import duties... I heard recently Ford opened it's 5th factory. From what I can tell BMWs and Audis are being made there as well...

 

You already do. I saw several "cafe" styled small cc bikes both there and in Vietnam. Some of them were actually pretty damn slick.

 

semantics..... just call hotrods kung pow wheels

 

I think the car sales currently in China is something like one new car sold every three seconds! I'm trying to find the right business contacts over there in the composites industry to help them develop and market here, Europe, the UK, and Middle East. That's a tough nut to crack...

 

Having been to Shanghai I know that HOT ROD has no translation into the Chinese language. They have no concept of the idea but show them a part and they can copy it to what ever quality you want.

 

I too have seen many vehicles outside of the cities, that sorta kinda resemble a hot rod, but have been built not for pleasure but to fulfill a need. It's amazing that the people there clearly have the skills, technology and even the parts to be building the best hot rods ever, but it just hasn't caught on like it has in other parts of Asia.

The modern city is incredible, but in Shanghai I enjoy more, a walk through the old city or the industrial sector past the main Mall, usually early in the morning when the food vendors are busy cooking breakfast and the people getting ready for a busy business day. They are generally incredibly friendly and once they've seen you a couple of times, love to stop you for a chat, as opposed to those in the public areas who love to stop you to sell you something or beg.

 

That's the interesting point that gets missed because we're too used to moaning about "cheap Chinese junk"- the way we did about Taiwanese and Japanese in earlier days.

The thing that hit me in visiting China for the first time was 1) how advanced it is- where can you ride a 200mph train in Australia or the US?
2) how badly polluted it is- I was there for a bit over a week and didn't see the sun even though there was no cloud cover. My eyes stung in some places (in Guangzhou and especially Hubei).

Must have been a good day when this pic was taken

Maybe I should have added, 3) How dangerous the traffic is- forget walking across pedestrian crossings thinking that's a safe place to cross.

 

Now there's a memory that made me laugh out loud.

You only make that mistake once.

Funny things I've seen, include all the passengers getting out of a car, moving a concrete centre barrier and alowing the driver to make a U turn.

How about a young guy on a bicycle, who had right of way and was not going to give it up until the bus reversed backwards up the road as he pushed it with the front wheel of his old bike.

 

Practical people the Chinese.

I went hunting for mini model hot rods and the closest thing we could get with translation was model tractors because they had big wheels on the back and little wheels on the front.

Interesting point as Taiwan has just had a trade show as big as SEMA.
You would be surprised how many Hot Rod parts for the likes of So-Cal and Bob Drake come from Taiwan. The Taiwanese are still one up on the Chinese for quality. Why do you think China want Taiwan back !

I've been up the tallest building next to that TV tower. I have also been on the fast trains out to DanYang.

 

I can recomend Hooters Shanghai if you are looking for a good meal.



The staff are friendly and most speak English.

 

Agreed - I can't understand people that travel so far and have food they can have down the street from home?

Food is a huge part of the Chinese culture and over there it is amazing - they do eat a lot of stuff that we might not in the west but with a billion people you have to get your protein somewhere.

 

Aint that what those Hooters gals are for?

 

Definitely home built, big wheels on back, littles on from, even has WWWs on the rear,but hot rod? I dunno.

 

Damn! Those Hooters girls would look good cruising around with me in the "33 Ford"!!