中国人的汽车梦 china's car dreams

中国人的汽车梦

IN CHINA, THE AUTOMOBILE IS liberation. After the claustrophobia of congested Beijing, its rancid pollution and deafening clatter, open highway is inviting, even irresistible—the whoosh of the battering wind a tonic. Lin Yang, the 35-year-old researcher behind the wheel of our dusty Buick Excelle, has spent a large part of the past five years, and some of her happiest moments, finding escape in the driver's seat. She has motored to the Changbai Mountains near China's far northeastern border with North Korea and, all the way in the opposite direction, to Kashgar, the ancient market town on the southwest frontier with Pakistan. As she hurtles from Beijing down the G2 Expressway, the stresses of her daily existence recede. "I find that life on the road can lead me anywhere," she says. "It's endless possibilities."
在中国，有车意味着获得解放。在北京经历了不堪忍受的拥挤、令人作呕的污染和震耳欲聋的噪音之后，开车行驶在高速公路上，不仅引人心动，而且不可抗拒，宛如从头到脚被注射了一剂强心针。对于35岁的调查参与者林杨（音译）来说，过去五年的很大一部分时间和生命中一些最幸福的时刻，都是在别克凯越汽车的方向盘后面度过的。开着这辆车，她一路尘土飞扬，向东远赴中朝边境上的长白山，向西去往中国与巴基斯坦接壤的喀什商贸古镇。当她从北京飞驰下京沪高速时，日常的生存压力烟消云散。 “我发现，汽车可以把我带到任何地方，”她说，“人生充满无限可能。”

Each year, millions of Chinese are taking to the roads—and sharing Lin's experience—for the first time. For Americans, the automobile has been an indispensable feature of life, lore and literature for decades. Driving is considered an inalienable right, the two-car garage a bare necessity and the road trip to grandma's house a routine childhood memory. For the Chinese, however, the love affair with the car is as fresh and exciting as the country's wealth. Twenty years ago, the most the average Chinese could aspire to was a creaky bicycle to peddle along the wide, near empty avenues of China's big cities. Today, with incomes rising and prosperity burgeoning, the automobile has become a sparkling new symbol of equally sparkling new lives—a measure of status, a tool for individual expression and a mark of modernity itself. "To the Chinese, the car has a lot of meaning," says William Bin Li, CEO of Bitauto, a Beijing-based company that offers Internet marketing services to the auto industry in China. "It is proof of success. It is proof of your own value."
每年，数百万中国人平生头一遭开车上路，共享林杨的体验。对美国人来说，几十年来，汽车已成为生活、传说和文学中不可缺少的元素，驾驶被视为一项不可剥夺的权利，可停放两辆汽车的车库成为必备设施，开车到祖母家的经历融入每个人的童年记忆。然而对中国人而言，与汽车的恋情与这个国家的财富一样，是新鲜而令人兴奋的。二十年前，普通中国人艳羡的是骑着一辆摇摇晃晃的自行车，沿着大城市人流稀少的街道沿途叫卖。如今，随着收入的增加和经济的繁荣，汽车同样已经成为新生活闪闪发光的新标志，不但可以衡量出社会地位的高低，还是表现个性的工具，它本身也成为现代化的象征。“对于中国人，汽车拥有多层含义，”易车公司首席执行官李斌说，该公司位于北京，为中国汽车业提供网络营销服务。“它是成功的证明，是个人价值的体现。”

That's why the most modest farmer, the up-and-coming college graduate, the middle-aged salaryman—everyone—wants one. The Chinese buy more cars today than anyone else in the world. Sales of passenger vehicles and light trucks in China in 2013 reached nearly 21.9 million—or about a quarter of all sold globally—compared with 15.1 million in the U.S., says research firm LMC Automotive. For the auto industry, the Chinese are now the world's most desirable customers, transforming their nation into the ultimate global car market. Every imaginable type of vehicle—from Kia's sedans to Ferrari's pricey sports racers to local Chinese brands you've probably never heard of—can be found. In 2013, car shoppers in China kicked the tires of a dizzying 647 different models for sale from 111 brands, according to LMC. U.S. consumers, by contrast, have far fewer choices: 310 models from only 45 brands. The result has been a breath-taking expansion of Chinese automobile ownership. In 2002, China's billion-plus population drove a mere 21.4 million cars. By 2013, the number had increased more than six times to 137 million.
这就是为什么下自最普通的农民和崭露头角的大学毕业生，上至中年上班族，人人都想买车的原因。目前，中国是世界上汽车销售量最高的国家。根据落马洲汽车研究公司的统计，2013年，中国的乘用车和轻型卡车的销量达到近2190万辆，约占全球售出量的四分之一，相比之下，美国同类汽车只卖出1510万辆。就汽车产业而言，中国人现在是世界上最炙手可热的客户，在他们的努力下，中国已被成功打造为全球最大汽车市场。从起亚轿车到昂贵的法拉利运动型跑车，再到你可能闻所未闻的本土品牌，每一个想象得到的汽车类型，在中国都能找到。落马洲的统计数据表明，2013年，中国的购车一族购买了111个品牌、647种不同型号的轮胎，这一数字令人目眩，相对而言，美国消费者的选择则少得多，只有45个品牌、310种型号。这种销售趋势的后果是中国人的汽车拥有量有了惊人的提高。2002年，中国十亿多人口仅拥有汽车2140万辆，到了2013年，这一数字增长超过六倍，达到1.37亿辆。

Driving the Dream
开着梦想上路

ONE OF THOSE PROUD NEW OWNERS IS Zhao Yanan. Only five days before I met him at a spacious Ford dealership on the Beijing outskirts, Zhao, 34, had plunked down nearly $30,000 for a Focus, his first new car. For much of the world, the popular American sedan is no more than basic transport. To Zhao, the Focus is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Growing up poor in a small town in Hebei province to factory-worker parents, Zhao had fantasized about owning a car, but it was simply beyond his family's means. The automobile remained a tantalizing but out-of-reach route to a better life. Now, though, Zhao is a salesman for a printing company in Beijing, and when he had saved up enough, he rushed out to buy his Focus. The mile-stone made him wistful about how far he had come. "In China, at Chinese New Year, parents give their children red envelopes with money, but when I was little, we had no money," Zhao says. "I remember getting 5 or To yuan [8oc or $1.65], but I felt like the richest man in the world. When I bought my car, I felt the same way."
在那些骄傲的新车车主中，有一位名叫赵雅男（音译）。五天前，我在北京郊区一间宽敞的福特汽车经销店中遇到了他，赵先生现年34岁，他痛快地拿出近30,000美元买下自己的第一款新车——福克斯。在世界大部分地区，这款通用的美国轿车仅能满足基本交通需求，不过在赵先生看来，福克斯实现了他的毕生梦想。赵先生出生于河北省一座小镇，父母都在工厂上班，家境不宽裕。他一直梦想拥有一部汽车，但这超出了家庭的经济状况。不过现在好了，赵先生在北京的一家印刷公司当销售员，钱一攒够，他便毫不迟疑地购置了一辆福克斯。这是人生的里程碑，让他对自己的成就踌躇满志。“在中国每逢农历新年，家长都会给孩子压岁钱，但我小的时候家里没钱，”赵先生说。“我记得收到过5元或10元，当时我觉得自己是世界上最有钱的人了，买车给了我同样的感觉。”

Zhao is living what's being called the Chinese Dream—that long march from poverty to prosperity—and a car represents both how far you've come, and how far you are going. Buying your first car "is very emotional," says Qin Zhi, the CEO of Autohome, a web-based information provider for car shoppers. Chinese "want a car to access modern life, to improve their quality of life."
赵先生正生活在所谓的“中国梦”中，从贫穷走向富裕，而汽车既代表了一个人过去的成就，也标志着未来你能走多远。汽车之家是一家为购车者提供在线信息服务的网站，该公司首席执行官秦致认为，买第一辆车“是非常冲动的”，中国人“希望汽车进入现代生活，提高他们的生活质量。”

That's what a car has done for Tony Fu. When I met Fu, 25, he was relaxing at a hot spring in the Beijing suburbs. Before he purchased a Volkswagen Tiguan SUV in July (with a little aid from a generous aunt), Fu, who works for a state oil company, would rarely bother with such excursions. Public transport was just too slow and inconvenient to make it worth-while. With his own car, however, Fu has been able to join in one of the city's new car-driven trends: weekends in the burbs. Fi takes his Volkswagen on regular Saturday out-of-town jaunts with friends or visits to far-off relatives. "When I didn't have a car, I just sat at home," Fu says. "A car expanded my activities. I can have a better social life."
对托尼·傅（音译）来说，私家车的意义就在于此。当我遇到傅先生时，25岁他正在北京郊区某温泉休闲度假。他在一家国营石油公司工作，去年七月，在一位出手阔绰的阿姨资助下，购买了一辆大众途观SUV汽车，在此之前，他很少理会这种短途旅行，因为公共交通实在太缓慢、太不便，令出行价值大打折扣。不过，有了自己的汽车，傅先生就能加入北京有车一族，到郊区度周末。傅先生定期在周六驾驶着自己的大众汽车，与朋友驶离市区进行短途旅行，或去拜访远亲。“没车时我只是坐在家里，”傅先生说，“汽车扩大了我的活动范围，让我有更好的社交生活。”

Owning a car in China isn't just about enjoying a new lifestyle but also telling everyone about it. "The main reason people buy cars in China is to show they can afford it, to show off," says Bitauto's Li. In a society obsessed with wealth and hierarchy, the automobile has become a primary method of marketing where you fit into China's changing social order. That's one big reason why consumers in recent years have gravitated toward large vehicles, like Fu's SUV, and expensive luxury cars, from Mercedes to Lamborghini. Says Anthony Lau, China research director for market-analysis firm TNS: "In China a car can be used in projecting your own image, to give an opportunity for other people to know about you."
在中国，拥有汽车不只是享受一种新的生活方式，也是众人议论的话题。易车公司的李先生说，“在中国，人们买车的主要目的是炫耀，告诉别人自己买得起。”在一个迷恋财富和等级的社会中，汽车已经成为营销手段，人们借此才能融入中国正在变化的社会秩序。这就是最近几年消费者纷纷将目光投向大型车（如傅先生的SUV）和高价豪华车（如奔驰、兰博基尼）的一大原因。市场分析公司TNS中国研究主管安东尼·刘（音译）认为：“在中国，一辆车可以代表一个人的形象，让他人有机会了解你。”

June Zhang wants you to know about her car. The Mini Cooper she bought in 2012 "shows my personality and way of life," she says. Zhang describes her Mini as "smart, fashionable and energetic"—a perfect representation of her own character, she believes. It also demonstrates how the 32-year-old Beijing public relations executive lives the life of a modern, affluent urbanite. Dressing up for business meetings is easy with her private car—no more cramming into dirty buses—and the backseat serves nicely as a closet for exercise clothes for a spontaneous stop at the gym. When she meets other Mini drivers, she feels an instant affinity. "I think that if people buy the same car, they have a similar mind-set as I do," she says.
张月（音译）想让你了解她的车，她说，2012年购买的迷你库珀 “彰显了我的个性和生活方式”。张月将她的迷你小车描述为“智能、时尚、充满活力”，完美地体现出她本人的个性，也标志着这位32岁北京公关高管的生活既现代又富裕。再也不必在脏乱的地铁里挤来挤去，在私家汽车里为商业应酬梳妆打扮是一件轻而易举的事，汽车后座还可以充当衣橱，随时能够开车去健身房。在与其他迷你车主见面时，她的亲和感瞬间萌生。她说，“我认为，如果人们买了跟我同款的车，他们必定有着与我类似的思维方式。”

Hot Wheels
车轮滚滚

ZHAO XIADI SEES HIS CAR AS A VEHICLE into an entire network of friends and contacts. On a brisk, miserably smoggy Sunday morning in Beijing, Zhao and 30 other car lovers of the Audi S Club gather on the shoulder of a roadway to observe a sort of modern Chinese tribal ritual. Each month, the club's members—all owners of high-performance Audis—come together to drive, chat and dine. Once assembled, the motorists take off down the highway in a phalanx of German engineering. One participant, a gadget geek who works for a local TV station, records the event with a video camera for posting on the club's website. Zhao, 28, a lawyer and co-founder of the club's Beijing chapter, directs the motorcade through a walkie-talkie. "A car is like a wife," he says. "It is something that is part of your life that you can't live without."
赵夏笛（音译）将汽车视为维希朋友圈和人脉的工具。在北京一个晨风凛冽、烟雾弥漫的周日清晨，赵夏笛和奥迪S俱乐部其他30多名汽车爱好者聚集在一处路肩，举行某种现代版的中国部落仪式。俱乐部的成员（都是高性能奥迪车的车主）每月都会开车聚到一起聊天、吃饭。一旦集合完毕，驾驶者们就会开着德系车、排着阵仗驶下高速公路。其中一位参与者是就职于当地电视台的技术达人，他将用摄像机拍下整个过程，贴在俱乐部的网站上。28岁的赵夏笛是一位律师，也是该俱乐部北京地区的发起人之一，他负责利用对讲机引导车队的行进。“汽车就像老婆，”他说，“是你生活的一部分，不可或缺。”

Such car clubs have become fashionable in China's big cities as a method of finding like-minded people amid the urban sprawl. "We all have common interests, we speak the same language," Zhao says of the club members. Yet there's more than socializing going on here—there's social climbing. Despite Zhao's insistence that the club's purpose isn't to "show off," the primping and posturing that goes on at their gathering says otherwise. Those in China who can afford an Audi—Zhao spent $85,000 on his two years ago—are newly minted denizens of China's emerging elite, and their pricey cars are just one way of letting everyone know it. A few participants at Zhao's club have brought along their wives and girlfriends, all carefully displayed in Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other emblems of China's nouveau riche. One carries a meticulously manicured minidog clad in a quilted coat. After their drive, the club members end up on the outskirts of Beijing at a recreation center designed especially for wealthy auto enthusiasts. The proprietor, Xue Yuan, has converted his home and nearby warehouse into a car garage and playground for the rich and mobile. While getting your car serviced or upgraded, you can play pool, whack balls at a virtual golf course and nosh on organic food from Xue's family farm. Zhao says his Audi "is a mark of a certain consuming class. It's great to know people who are at your own level. In China is important to have these networks."
在中国的大城市，这样的汽车俱乐部已蔚然成风，人们借此在都市人潮中找到同道中人。赵夏笛在谈起俱乐部成员时说，“我们不仅有着共同的利益，还操着同样的语言。”不过，俱乐部的意义已经超越了单纯的社交，而是对人际关系的提升。尽管赵夏笛一再强调成立俱乐部的目的不是为了“炫耀”，但聚会时众人的着装和姿态却暗示出相反的意思。在中国，那些能够负担得起奥迪车的人们（包括赵夏笛，两年前他花了85,000美元购置了奥迪车）是新崛起的精英阶层，造价不菲的汽车只是他们向公众展示身份的一种方式。在赵夏笛的俱乐部中，部分成员的妻子和女朋友也同车参加活动，她们满身穿戴着香奈儿、路易威登等知名品牌，以及中国“土豪”暴发户的其他标志。有人还带来一只身着棉外套、打扮得一尘不染的微型小狗。驾驶结束后，俱乐部成员来到位于北京郊区的一家娱乐中心，这里是专为有钱的汽车爱好者设立的场所。东道主薛渊（音译）已经将他的家和附近的仓库改造成车库和娱乐场，专门招待大款和有车一族。当客户的爱车正在享受维修或升级服务时，他们可以打打台球，在虚拟高尔夫球场里挥挥杆，还能尝尝薛渊家庭农场中出产的有机食品。赵夏笛说，他的奥迪车“代表着特定消费层级。知道谁与自己处于同一水平是一件好事，在中国，拥有这些人脉关系相当重要。”

Chicken Burger to Go
长腿的鸡肉汉堡

SOMEWHERE IN HEBEI PROVINCE, LIN AND I take a break at a roadside rest stop. Along U.S. highways, these emporiums are chock-a-block with fast-food joints, shops and ice cream parlors. Unfortunately for the hungry and weary Chinese road warrior, the services available haven't kept pace with the expanding army of needy drivers. The pickings are depressingly slim at the run-down outpost. A convenience store peddles packaged crackers, caffeine-laden Red Bull and vacuum-sealed chunks of roast chicken, of uncertain vintage. Lin tucks into a ready-to-eat canned porridge of rice, peanuts and dates, her staple nourishment on long journeys. She calls the cement-colored mixture "snot." Unable to disagree, I settle on a less adventurous canister of a local Pringles knockoff.
在河北省某处，我和林杨停在路边的一座服务站里歇息。在美国的高速公路上，这种服务站附近，快餐店、商店和冰淇淋店成堆，随处可见。不幸的是，对于饥饿疲惫的中国公路勇士来说，提供服务的速度远远跟不上日益壮大的司机队伍的需求。服务站里供应的货品寥寥无几，令人沮丧。便利店里出售着饼干、含有咖啡因的红牛饮料，还有生产日期无法确定的真空烤鸡。林杨打开即食八宝粥，这是长途旅行的主食，她把这些与水泥颜色相仿的混合物称为“鼻涕”。我无法提出异议，只好以当地产的品客薯片充饥，好歹不至于有大问题。

Soon, though, Chinese drivers will enjoy as much choice as their U.S. counterparts. All sorts of new services are pop-ping up to cater to them. Outside the city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong province in eastern China, we discover, with relief, a rest stop that boasts a sparkling-clean KFC, dishing out chicken burgers, french fries and ice cream. As Chinese begin to drive like Americans, the highways in China are beginning to look more and more American. Wyndham Hotel Group, famous for its Super 8, Days Inn and other affordable lodging, built a network of 695 hotels in China by the end of 2013 to house the newly mobile. Wyndham, based in Parsippany, N.J., opened its first Super 8 in China in 2004; now it has 531 of them. Chinese can also find a very American quick bite behind the wheel. McDonald's has tripled the number of its drive-through restaurants in China since 2008 to 242, more than 1 out of every 10 outlets in the country. The increasingly mobile Chinese "is a big part of our future," says Azmir Jaafar, chief development officer for McDonald's in China. "They have similar needs to what they want in the U.S." The cars themselves are often American too. GM sells more vehicles in China than it does in the U.S. Buick is the fifth most popular car brand in China and Chevrolet the seventh. (Volkswagen sits at No. 1.)
中国车主很快就会像他们的美国同行一样，享有更多选择，五花八门的新式服务正如雨后春笋般涌现出来，以迎合他们的需要。在中国东部山东省的省会城市济南，我们欣喜地发现，在服务站里一家门面整洁闪亮的肯德基店正在营业，出售外卖鸡肉汉堡、薯条和冰淇淋。随着中国人开始像美国人一样开车上路，中国的公路也开始媲美美国的公路。温德姆酒店集团以速8、戴斯酒店等经济型酒店闻名于世，截止到2013年年底，该集团已在中国兴建的酒店网络已拥有695家门店，为新的汽车用户提供服务。总部位于新泽西州帕斯潘尼的温德姆集团2004年进驻中国，开设了第一家速8酒店，迄今为止，中国境内的酒店数量已达531家。美国企业也正在中国迅速抢占与汽车相关的服务市场。2008年，麦当劳在中国开设了第一家免下车餐厅，目前已发展到242家，在中国全境麦当劳餐厅的占比超过十分之一。开车的中国人不断增加，“他们是我们未来的重要组成部分，” 麦当劳中国地区首席开发官阿兹米尔·贾法尔指出，“他们与美国车主有着类似的需求。”就连汽车本身往往也是美国制造的。通用汽车公司旗下的别克汽车在中国的销量大于美国市场，是中国第五大流行汽车品牌，雪佛兰则位列第七。（德国大众稳坐头号交椅。）

China is pursuing a car-centric course in its development much as the U.S. has. As in Houston or Los Angeles, residents of many Chinese metropolises are becoming extremely dependent on their cars to get to the office, school and shopping mall. Though the government has spent scores of billions on big-ticket transport systems, most famously its high-speed railways, public transport within cities, especially midsize townships, remains inadequate or poorly planned, forcing commuters onto the highways and thoroughfares in their Chevys, Hyundais and Toyotas. Officials have also encouraged drivers by constructing lots and lots of roads to accommodate all their new cars. In 2013, China had 104,468 km of high-ways-3.5 times more than just a decade earlier. Sean Chiao, CEO of planning, de-sign and development for Asia-Pacific at AECOM, which provides technical services for infrastructure projects, says China has followed an "Orange County model" of building transport, in which long free-ways for private cars were perceived as symbols of modernity. "The mentality of urbanization is that the car is part of a lifestyle," says Chiao.
与美国当年的做法相同，中国正在实施以汽车为中心的发展模式。跟休斯敦和洛杉矶的情况相仿，在中国的许多大城市，居民对汽车的依赖性极强，到办公室、学校和购物商场都得开车才行。虽然政府投资数十亿资金用于建设大众交通系统（其中最有名的当属高铁），但城市特别是中性城镇内部的公共交通依然供不应求，或规划不力，迫使上班族不得不驾驶着自己的雪佛兰、现代汽车和丰田汽车，涌入高速公路和街道。政府官员也在构建大量道路以满足私家车主的停车需求，以此来鼓励人们购车。2013年中国的高速公路总里程为104468公里，相当于十年前的3.5倍以上。AECOM是一家为基础设施项目提供技术服务的公司，该公司亚太区规划、设计和发展部首席执行官乔全生说，在交通建设过程中，中国一直遵循着“奥兰治县模式”，将服务于私家车的长途免费道路作为现代化的象征。乔全生认为， “城市化的理念是，让汽车成为生活方式的组成部分。”

Crosstown Traffic
跨城交通

THAT IS THE WRONG PATH FOR CHINA TO take. Despite the recent surge, car owner-ship in China is still in its infancy. There's one car for every 10 people. If the level of ownership in China reaches that of the U.S., where there are about two cars for every three people, roughly another 700 million automobiles would hit the highways—an unprecedented congestion of cars that could inflict immeasurable punishment on the environment and society. Bitauto's Li calls such an outcome "a disaster."
对中国来说，这是一条错误的发展路径。尽管近期新车激增，但中国的车主还处于起步阶段，每十人拥有一辆车。如果中国的私家车拥有量与美国相当，也就是每三人拥有两辆汽车，那就意味着还有大约7亿辆私家车要冲上高速公路，届时，史无前例的交通拥堵可能将对环境和社会带来无法估量的惩罚。易车公司的李先生将这种后果称之为“灾难”。

Chinese roads are already a cluttered jumble of chaos and life-threatening hazards. After two days on the G2 Express-way with Lin, it is hard to understand why she, or anyone else, would find driving in China relaxing. Drivers mindlessly park on highway entrance ramps, back up against traffic or simply careen onto the wrong side of the street. We dodge potholes of epic proportions, careless pedestrians, a chicken and a crushed van abandoned in the left lane of the express-way. At night, driving is reminiscent of a video game. With almost no lights in-stalled along the roadside, drivers switch on their brights, blinding oncoming travelers. The security-obsessed government makes matters worse by incessantly snapping photos from cameras perched above the road. The recurring flashes bring spots to your eyes. Lin hasn't escaped the dangers. She got stranded by a flat tire in the intimidating Taklamakan Desert and flipped over into a ditch in a collision with a reckless speed demon.
当前，中国的道路已经乱象丛生、威及生命。与林杨沿京沪高速行驶两天之后，我很难理解为什么她或其他人会把在中国开车视为一件放松精神的赏心乐事。司机们盲目将车停在高速公路匝道口、逆向倒车，或干脆错误地把车开到对面路上。我们躲闪着不计其数的坑洼、漫不经心的行人、小鸡，还有高速公路左侧护栏边一辆撞毁后被遗弃的面包车。夜晚开车的经历令人联想到视频游戏。路边几乎没有安装照明设施，司机打开大灯，晃得迎面而来的乘客睁不开眼。政府只顾保障安全，在道路上方安装了摄像头，不知疲倦地抓拍道路状况，不时闪烁的强光刺激着人的眼睛，反而弄巧成拙，让事情变得更糟。林杨没能逃过这种危险，她曾在令人生畏的塔克拉玛干沙漠爆胎，也曾陷入到与一位鲁莽“速度杀手”的搏命赛中，最终使车翻倒在水沟里。

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2010 China suffered over 275,000 deaths on the road, more than any other country. Even factoring in its large population, the death rate on the road is nearly twice as high in China as in the U.S., according to WHO. The more common trial, though, is emotional more than physical. With so many cars added to the roadways each month, soul-destroying traffic has become a persistent and time-consuming feature of Chinese life; some jams only a giant like China could produce. In 2010 an influx of coal trucks and untimely road construction on National Highway 110 near Beijing caused a 100-km backup that lasted more than 10 days.
据世界卫生组织估计，2010年中国的道路死亡人数为275,000人，超过任何其他国家。该组织的数据显示，尽管美国人拥有汽车的比例远远超过中国人，但中国的道路死亡率几乎是美国的两倍。尽管如此，更常见的考验来自于情感，而非身体。伴随每月大量新车上路，令人身心俱疲的交通已成为吞噬生命的恶魔，在中国人的生活中挥之不去；一些拥堵惨剧只有在中国这种人口大国才会被制造出来。2010年在110国道北京段附近，运煤车流驶入时，正赶上道路维修未能按时完工，造成长达110公里的大范围交通堵塞，历时10多天。

Even such walls of traffic, however, haven't dissuaded China's excited new drivers. The average businessman would rather sit comfortably snarled in traffic in his own private car than crush into the crowded, dog-eat-dog subways and buses. Chen Xu, 23, a member of the Audi S Club, admits he finds Beijing traffic irritating, but not enough to leave his car at home. "I tried to take the subway to work," he says. "At one stop, the doors opened, I got shoved out, and I couldn't get back on." Frustrated, he went above ground to hail a taxi and has insisted on driving himself to work each morning ever since.
然而，即使存在上述交通壁垒，依然挡不住热血沸腾的中国司机。普通商界人士宁愿坐着舒适的私家车在攒动的车流中以蜗牛的速度爬行，也不愿被塞进拥挤不堪、你争我抢的地铁和公共汽车。23岁的陈旭（音译）是奥迪S俱乐部的成员，他坦承北京的交通令人抓狂，但还没糟到让他把车停在家里。“我曾尝试坐地铁上班，”他说，“车一进站门一打开，我便猛地被推了出去，再也挤不上车。”心情沮丧的他走回地面，招呼了一辆出租车，从那以后，一直坚持每天早晨自己开车上班。

Beijing officials have tried tackling the traffic by restricting the number of cars on the streets. Prospective car buyers in the city must win a lottery to receive the necessary registration, and automobiles with certain license plates are banned from the roadways on specific days. But such methods have, ironically, increased the demand for cars. Tan Xiangyu, a doctoral candidate in organic chemistry, was pressured by his parents to enter the Beijing new-car lottery, and when he won, they insisted on purchasing him a Volkswagen CC sedan he didn't really want or need. The registration "is limited, so they thought it was valuable," Tan says of his parents. Nevertheless, Tan is already thinking about purchasing another. Since Beijing's regulations would prevent him from driving every day, a second car, with a different license number, becomes a necessity for surviving city life. "One car is not enough," says Tan.
北京的官员曾试图通过限制上路汽车数量来解决交通流量问题。有意购车者必须参与摇号，胜出后才能获得必要的登记手续，而且在特定日子，只允许特定车牌上路行驶。但讽刺的是，这种方法增加了汽车的市场需求。正在攻读有机化学博士学位的谭翔宇（音译）迫于父母压力，参加了北京的新车摇号。当他成功获得车号后，他们坚持让他买一辆大众CC汽车，尽管他并不真的想要，也不需要。谭翔宇在谈到他的父母时说，登记“是有限制的，所以他们认为车号很有价值。”尽管如此，谭翔宇已经在考虑购买另一款车。基于北京的规定，他无法每天开车，所以，如果想在北京生存下来，购买第二辆车、使用不同号牌成为必须。“一辆车不够用，”谭翔宇说。

China's government will have to do a lot more to avoid a car-crushed future—building better and smarter public trans-port, and increasing the costs of driving into city centers with special surcharges and tolls. But what officials are really fighting isn't just a practical need for mobility but the hopes and desires of China's 1.3 billion people. Tan's interest in a second car goes well beyond pragmatism. "When I get my own car with my own money, I will be much prouder," he says. The message is clear: China's car dreams won't fade away, whatever lies ahead on the expressway.
中国政府必须更有作为，才能避免被汽车碾碎的未来。要兴建更出色、更智能化的公共交通系统，利用收取特殊附加费和过路费等手段，增加驶入城市中心的成本。但是，官员们真正需要面对的不只是流动性的实际需求，而是13亿中国人的希冀和热望。谭翔宇对第二辆汽车的购买兴趣已经远远超出实用的范畴。“当我用自己挣的钱买到自己的车，我会更加自豪，”他说。这段话所传达的信息是明确的：中国的汽车梦不会消失，不管前方高速公路上有什么在等待。