About China's Coolest Cars
A pretty red Shanghai Maple JmStar Meilu SXE7130, seen near the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing in 2011. The Shanghai Maple brand has a somewhat confusing history. It began in 2000 when the Shanghai motorcycle maker JM Star moved into car making.
Continue reading “A Rare And Red Shanghai Maple JM Star Meilu SXE7130 In China”
Saturday night is always a good time for tanks. Back in 2011 I went to the Marco Polo Bridge and the adjacent museum in the faraway suburbs of Beijing. The museum had lots of cool stuff including a T-34 tank and a T-34 recovery vehicle.
Continue reading “Time for Tanks! A T-34 Tank & T-34 Recovery Vehicle”
We all love a good Bentley, even more so when the numbers add up. That day, back in the great year of 2013, I met this fine Bentley Continental GT in central Beijing, not far from the east section of the Second Ring Road.
There are a lot of Bentley’s in Beijing but this fine example was especially notable because of its triple 7 license plate. That is a very rare sight. In Chinese numerology, seven is a good number for relationships, but it also sounds like “to deceive”, and as a slang word for penis in Cantonese. Take your pick! The Q indicates this Bentley is registered as a company-car.
Back in the 2010’s Bentley was everywhere in China. It is a bit less obvious now, de to the changing political winds. In 2013, price of the Continental GT started just above 4 million yuan, which translated to some $660.000.
Check this red beauty out! Here we have another Skoda Forman LX station wagon, seen on a car market in the far east of Beijing in 2007. The Skoo’d was in a pretty good shape but the body panels has lost some of their color.
A messy and very dusty Lada 2105 sedan, seen in Beijing in 2007. The area where I took the pictures was in 2007 still a sort of wasteland, all the way east of the 4th Ring Road. Much later, in 2014, I came to live in the area, then developed with loads of super new compounds.
This is a personally historical photo because it was the first photo I took with my brand new China-made Nokia telephone, which I got in the great year of 2003. Photo quality was still far worse compared to a real camera, which I always carried with me until 2012, when I deemed the iPhone good enough for street pics.
The picture shows a typical street not far from my home in the Dongzhimen area, with 1970’s 6-floor apartment buildings on the left side. It must have been winter, the trees are leafless and the air looks cold. A woman in a brown jacket tried to ruin my picture but failed.
The Hafei minivan is still clearly visible. It is a standard-roof passenger variant. The blue 京A license plate indicate this is a very early privately owned car. Blue A’s are very rare nowadays but back in 2003 I had no idea about that. May I be able to look into the future in my next Hafei life.
A foreign model with huge tits recommends a C-cup breast augmentation in a taxi in Beijing in 2009, I think it was in a Citroen ZX. The advertisement was on a magazine holder on the back of the driver’s seat. I guess they thought this was a smart advertising strategy as many girls take taxis, without and with their boyfriends.
A pretty pink Bentley Continental GT, seen in May 2011 opposite the Opposite House hotel in the Sanlitun bar area in Beijing. I sat on a terrace across the street and there was a big bright sun, hence the somewhat un-sharp picture. Note the flyer under the door handle, which the driver hadn’t care to take away. As far as I could see the driver was a female, with long black hair and large sunglasses.
Beijing’s famous dust makes classy cars even classier. Case in point: this majestic Bentley Azure Mulliner, seen in 2014 at the Beijing Tuning Tribe. The car was at SCC for maintenance and stood uncovered on a parking lot.
Continue reading “Bentley Azure Mulliner Is Dusty In Beijing”
