MCLC: road trip

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: road trip
***********************************************************

Source: WSJ (2/3/14):
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230442800457935111170414
2866

As China's Auto Sales Surge, Lunar New Year Travelers Opt for Road Trips

Hundreds of millions of Chinese are hitting the road to return home after
celebrating the Lunar New Year with their families. This year, some are
making the journey by car instead of by train, plane or bus. That is
creating some congestion problems.

NANCHANG, China—The largest annual human migration in history is taking
place this week, as hundreds of millions of Chinese board teeming buses
and packed trains for the long Lunar New Year ride home.

Not Liu Renhua. He set out to carpool.

"When I ride the train I have to stand for more than 10 hours," said the
31-year-old logistics manager, who found a driver with a spare seat
online. "Sometimes peasants take live birds and piglets on the carriage. I
have to endure screaming children. Some of them defecate everywhere."

China's fascination with cars has transformed the global auto industry and
moved markets in everything from oil to tires to steel. China is now the
world's No. 1 car market, with 18 million passenger vehicles sold last
year. It now has more than 2.6 million miles of highway, nearly four times
the amount in 2000.

It is also quickly changing life in China, where until relatively
recently, most city streets were filled with bicycles. Private automobile
ownership totaled more than 85 million vehicles as of 2013, 14 times the
number of a decade ago.

That opens up China for an experience long taken for granted in the U.S.
and elsewhere: the road trip.

The festive Lunar New Year holiday, which began Jan. 31 with colorful
festivals, dances and celebrations, presents an opportunity for such a
voyage.

Chen Lin, a 28-year-old Shanghai-based information technology worker,
bought a Chevrolet Malibu in December for 180,000 yuan, or about $30,000.
He was offering a free lift to anyone heading to his hometown, a 340-mile
trek to a rocky corner of southeastern Jiangxi province.

There was just one catch: At least one passenger had to help him tackle
his automotive learning curve.

"I'm a newbie at driving," says Mr. Chen, who has a driver's license.
"It's free to ride my car. But the people must have driving experience of
three years and above, so they can coach me during the trip."

A long car ride home can sound appealing to the alternative. China's top
economic planning body estimates that during the 40-day period around the
holiday Chinese will take 3.62 billion rides on trains, planes, buses and
ships. China's rails are carrying an average of 6.8 million passengers
each day, according to transport ministry officials.

Many hitting the road are carpoolers. According to 58.com Inc., a
U.S.-listed Chinese online marketplace, the number of posters looking for
or offering Lunar New Year rides is four times the amount a year ago.

The website of Shunfengche Charity Foundation, a nonprofit ride-share
group, drew over 400,000 applicants during the last Lunar New Year
holiday, and about 9,000 of them eventually drove others or were given a
ride, said Liu Kunming, a spokesman for the foundation.

China has yet to get comfortable with the idea. Many passengers who place
ads seeking rides demand to see ID cards and drivers' licenses; some
chauffeurs say pregnant women, children and the elderly need not apply.

Mr. Liu, the logistics manager, found his ride online. There, he found Su
Sheng, a 27-year-old Shanghai-based legal research fellow who owns a
charcoal-gray Chevrolet Cruze.

Mr. Su was driving home—to Huaihua, a mountain city roughly 900 miles from
Shanghai—for the first time. Because Mr. Liu is still applying for a
driver's license, Mr. Su would have to do all the driving.

So Mr. Liu, also from Huaihua, agreed to split fuel and toll costs. Both
are high in China, where gasoline sells for the equivalent of roughly $5 a
gallon. "I haven't returned home for two years. I'm looking forward," said
Mr. Liu.

The two-day trip, though, began unpleasantly on Jan. 28 and got worse as
it went along.

Getting out of Shanghai to the right expressway took 1½ hours. Once on the
highway, a polluted haze shrouded the views. Traffic snarled around
tollbooths.

Road maintenance near the city of Hangzhou forced Mr. Su off the
expressway, and a missed turn led to another hourlong delay.
That perhaps inspired Mr. Liu when they later saw a high-speed train in
the distance soon to cross their way to say, "Hey brother, let's race it,"
he said. Mr. Su demurred, pointing out his Cruze wasn't fast enough.

Service stations were scattered every 50 kilometers, offering Chinese
local snacks like rice dumplings, dried bean curd and tea-leaf eggs. But
the toilets were poorly maintained, with crowds of travelers leaving
strong odors and broken water taps in their wake.

Mr. Liu peeled oranges for Mr. Su and cracked sunflower seeds for himself.
Still, frustrations mounted. Although traffic slowed due to one rollover
and other incidents, people were still driving at high speeds.

"Driving in China is definitely not pleasant," said Mr. Su. "On the road
it's chaotic. People and cars are everywhere." He watched a Mazda sedan
pass him on the right lane. "The only thing that keeps me going is that
I'm closer to home."

Supplies of oolong tea, Red Bull, betel nuts and cigarettes weren't enough
to keep Mr. Su refreshed. After over 14 hours and about 500 miles of
driving, Mr. Su decided to give up driving to the city of Changsha, where
he had originally planned to spend a night. Instead, he made a detour to a
hotel in the city of Nanchang. That left them still 460 miles from Huaihua.

"The trip is much more difficult than I had expected," he said.

The first day of driving cost them about 800 yuan, including 320 yuan
worth of highway fees at five toll stations.

"I don't care about toll fees as I just want to go back home," said Mr.
Su. Despite the hassles and the cost, he added, "I think I will still
drive home next year."

—Rose Yu and Esther Fung