Thread: Out and about in Chongqing

Thanks for the pics. Brought back memories. What are the prices like for Landys over there at the moment?

Not sure what the prices are exactly, but I remember flying in via Hong Kong and reading a HK newspaper that had a story about high end car dealers adding "charges" above the rrp. A new range rover was quoted as costing up to 2.8million yuan -about half a million Aussie $…

Originally Posted by DieselDan

Also managed to spot a few landies. Plenty of Disco 3 and 4s, FL2s, Evoques and Rangie Sports. Even saw a new RR and new RR sport, but didn't get pics unfortunately. Anyway, certainly quite a few people around with a bob or two to spend on a new landy!

Hello from Brisbane.

I remember Chongqing only too well - arrived with the family in summer once to a 42 degree welcome and a solid wall of humidity to go with it. The Yangtze was in flood so the river levels were quite high and the colour even muddier than usual.

You do see a lot of Land Rovers in China these days - as you rightly mention it is mainly the top end stuff. Owned generally by the newly rich of which there are obviously many. Few of those vehicles would ever see a gravel road - just like home perhaps.

Only ever saw the one Defender in China and that was a UK truck a few years back in Xi'an travelling through as part of a commemoration of the original London to Singapore epic. It was the support vehicle for a couple of Discoverys that made up the main party.

Cheers,

I live in Chengdu to the north west of Chongching.

as for price...expensive

my D4 was about 100k pounds new

if you want a FFRR 5.0 then 300k pounds...yikes

there are many layers of tax to pay including a new luxury tax on vehicles over 180k an extra 20percent.
tax is related to engine size ( not emisions) and is roughly as follows
2.0L. x20 percent
3.0l. x30 percent. and so on..

plus import tax 25 percent
plus sales tax 20 percent......and on it goes.

as for not venturing off the tarmac..you dont have to venture far to find poor quality roads/tracks as .the only choice. If you are interested /curious/bored/nosey look here..at a gallery
www.disco4.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5218
or
www.disco4.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5113

Originally Posted by amazing

I live in Chengdu to the north west of Chongching.

So maybe you are the man to talk to about my blue sky plan of a trip by 4WD in China.
Start from Harbin or Shenyang through Inner Mongolia and then turn south and see how far we could go.
Why?
Why not.

great plan. I maybe will do inner Mongolia in spring

but...you will need a chinese license
they do offer a temp one but its only valid in provence of issue which would mean applying for each area.( I guess to prevent you doing such trips.)and other restrictions apply.

also some area are still restricted to foreigners ( if you check gallery link above you will see the tanks I drove past this required a friends bodyguards to get us into this area.)

most of the foreign motor cascades ( like LR silk road trek) that travel through are in a grey area regarding licenses.

so whilst not impossible as a company to arrange a group its almost impossible for an individual....almost.....

it is also very very dangerous on the roads here.but I manage so you can too
Its quite popular now for people to join a car club and tour I have done it with some but its not like travelling in the west regarding conforming to the law.
If you cross a boarder e.g. to thailand or laos you may need to pay a retainer of 500000rmb to stop people taking cars out of the country to sell.
As spare parts are expensive here many people buy jeeps then drive to thailand to have them modified then drive back.
good luck if you choose to try. And you can always pop in for a cup of tea if you do so..

Hmm a trip sounds like an interesting idea....
Only here for a few weeks though, back in Melbourne soon.

I know what you mean about both the state of the roads and the state of the driving
That said, considering how utterly chaotic it is, with no consideration for lane rules (3 lane carriageway with at least 5 lanes of cars on it!) it does all sort of flow along, to the constant tune of horns blaring, and I've yet to see a crash.

There's a Jeep driving around here that looks like it may have been driven to Thailand (fair way from Chongqing tho!), its got a huge lift, massive tyres and every accessory known to man bolted to it. Yet to see it mucky....

I read you have to pay a guide something ridiculous like $100 a day, presumably so he can report your movements to the authorities. Is that right?