A walk through China’s auto-industry spirit with vintage car collector-Xinhua

Luo Wenyou, proprietor of the Beijing Traditional Motor vehicle Museum, poses for a picture with a vintage vehicle in the museum in Beijing, funds of China, April 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) — The Beijing Typical Vehicle Museum, positioned in the Chinese capital’s Huairou District, properties about 100 Chinese and foreign vintage limousines treasured by the museum operator Luo Wenyou.

“I have been fascinated with devices and automobiles considering the fact that younger. When I was a child, I applied to chase powering tractors to see how they plowed the field,” said the 67-year-aged Luo, adding that he considers himself fortuitous to pursue his curiosity as a lifelong endeavor.

Luo’s selection commenced with a Polish Warszawa sedan that he acquired in 1977. However, in the adhering to many years, Luo was a lot more concentrated on China’s very first era of cars.

Photograph taken on April 11, 2022 demonstrates a vintage car in the Beijing Typical Motor vehicle Museum in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

In the mid-1980s, Luo acquired his to start with Hongqi car. Founded in 1958, Hongqi, meaning “pink flag,” is China’s iconic household-developed car brand name and it has been made use of as the automobile for parades at national celebrations.

Chinese people today have regarded the brand name as the nation’s pleasure due to its historic importance. There are more than 70 Hongqi cars in Luo’s museum, some of which have been after utilized by Chinese leaders, in accordance to Luo.

In 1998, the basic automobile collector took portion in the Louis Vuitton Traditional China Operate, driving three-row seating Hongqi from northeast China’s Dalian to Beijing as the sole Chinese participant in the rally.

“Through the rally, the Chinese followers cheered for me, whilst quite a few overseas motorists preferred to give Hongqi a try. I was definitely touched and built my thoughts to acquire a lot more Chinese vintage cars of this brand considering the fact that it represents a countrywide achievement,” he said.

Luo said he spent around a decade setting up and inevitably proven the traditional car or truck museum in 2008, adding that most of the vintage limos there are around 30 many years previous with all original elements and even now operable.

Luo Wenyou, operator of the Beijing Vintage Motor vehicle Museum, cleans the windshield of a vintage car in the museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Luo has arranged lots of vintage automobile rallies in collaboration with fellow fanatics throughout the country in current many years, and in 2019, he set up a different museum in Shiyan City, central Hubei Province. All these efforts stem from his enthusiasm for traditional automobiles, primarily Chinese-produced cars.

“The auto field demonstrates a country’s toughness in production and science and technologies, and so, the collections in my museum portray the advancement of China’s auto market from scratch and show the Chinese workers’ spirit of tricky get the job done and perseverance,” Luo mentioned.

These days, China’s car sector has accelerated its development and attained international prominence, and Luo is very pleased of it.

“I will continue on to share the stories guiding the typical automobiles in the museum with as a lot of people today as attainable, so that our international pals may have a greater understanding of China’s auto sector and the country’s development by means of the decades,” Luo said.