Fashionable sportsmen and bright convertibles. New hobby of tourists in China photo: Sixth Tone, Jiang Yaling Street Hongu in the Chinese city Dali Yunnan provinces before was no different from

Fashionable sportsmen and bright convertibles. New hobby for tourists in China

Photo: Sixth Tone, Jiang Yaling

Hongu Street in the Chinese city gave Yunnan provinces Previously, she was no different from other streets. And then her parking lots began to be replete with sportsmen. More than 20 companies in China began to provide brightly painted convertibles. Pink Porsche, sky blue BMW and canary yellow minis delight the eyes in popular tourist locations, but local residents are not very optimistic, writes Sixth Tone.

People complain that due to rented sportsmen, the intensity of movement increased, noise pollution increased and there was a large accident. Tourists accelerate on narrow winding roads, feeling the power of the car, but forget that these machines are often poorly served.

Trends on social networks transform life into Dali. This city is a Chinese southwestern resort, known for amazing lakes, mountain landscapes and a calm rhythm of life. The local taxi driver Dong Paytyan said that he first noticed multi -colored sportsmen several years ago, but since then their number has increased quickly.

Businessmen from all over China began to go to Dali to make a profit. This is a fairly simple scheme: newcomers buy several used convertibles, glue them with an attractive bright film and begin to rent them out. Entrepreneur Yu Jiang, who arrived in Dali from North-East China, earned about 100 thousand yuan ($ 15.5 thousand) during a week's holidays on the occasion of the Day of Education of the PRC.

The holiday has become a successful time for such a business. The tourism industry was injured in the pandemine in 2020, the number of city guests decreased by 26% compared to the previous year. However, during the Golden Week, 1.6 million people visited the city, which is not much less than the peak preceding the pandemic.

Hongu Street in Dali, also known as “Sports Car Street”.
Photo: Sixth Tone, Shi Yangkun

Zhou Jnyan and Go Jing were one of many tourists who visited the deduction of sports cars in Dali. The girls saw an advertisement on the Internet. They agreed to jointly rent a convertible for a trip around Lake Erhai, located north of the city. For only 340 yuan ($ 53) for rent and 80 yuan ($ 12.5) for the insurance of Zhou and Go received at their disposal the white Volkswagen Beetle 2007 release for 12 hours.

They in turn posed in a driver's seat against the background of rice fields and shot a video of the lake reflected in the mirrors of the car. Go 25 years old, she lives in the southern city of Guangzhou (Guangdun Province). The desire to rent a car with a folding top appeared, since it looks great on social networks.According to the girl, it was also an interesting experience.

“People travel to experience emotions that are different from their daily lives,” GO, who leads Buik at home.

Many travelers think the same way. Renting sports companies say that convertibles with their frenzied popularity among tourists have become a full -fledged segment of the market.

Seven years ago, Van Tsuygan from the province of Jilin opened a company on rental of electric scooters in Dali. Now he has a bright yellow BMW Z4 and Volkswagen Beetle park. “There is tough competition here,” says Van. Now he is working on the Internet representative office and asks friends who are delivering at home, to recommend it to his guests.

Go Jing is photographed by Zhou Jnyan to rent a Volkswagen Beetle in Dali. Photo: Sixth Tone, Jiang Yaling

For residents, they gave a sudden fashion for sports cars not a big surprise. In recent years, tourism under the influence of social networks has actively helped to develop the economy of the city. The general passion for sportsmen is part of a broader trend in China, when firms offer services that have frenzied popularity on the Internet. Companies are trying to become vanhuns (网红 Internet knowledge): bookstores are building impressive multi-storey buildings from books, and local authorities turn villages into “fairy-tale countries”, painting houses into bright colors.

“This word is so often found on the Internet, and people begin to believe that by calling the institution“ vanhun ”, you can get a certain prestige,” said a specialist in this topic, a researcher at the University of Manchester, Karvin Morris.

In the province of Yunnan, where it was located, tourism was more than 50% of the province’s economy until the pandemic began. There, the phenomenon of vanhunism is especially pronounced. In the navigation application, Baidu Maps dozens of places gave themselves so. There is a parking lot with which a good view of the popular road reminiscent of Kamakura opens, Japan. A location called Dream Land has become a vanhun because it looks like a Greek island of Santorini.

The trend really changed the life of Dali. In the Yunnan province, one of the lowest income in China, and local residents remember the standard of living before the origin of the tourism industry in the late 1990s.

“It doesn’t matter whether it is about transport, housing, infrastructure, attractions – all this was not in such a good condition as today,” says Yang, a native of the restaurant and the owner of the restaurant.

Van Tsuygan instructs customers. Photo: Sixth Tone

However, the fashion for convertibles caused a violent reaction of society. The owner of a vintage store named Yu at all likes how tourists include loud music, traveling on sports cars. Other residents complain that cars pose a threat to security. In recent years, a whole series of shocking accidents involving tourists has occurred in Dali.In 2018, the newlyweds died after crashing a convertible during a photo shoot. Several tourists accidentally drove into Erhai Lake. According to local residents, many other accidents simply did not make it to the news bulletin.

In addition, the car rental industry is poorly regulated. The vast majority of Dali car rentals are tiny businesses. They are quick to open up to capitalize on the new trend and deliberately use older cars to keep costs down.

While driving around Erhai Lake, Zhou and Guo repeatedly complained about the condition of the rental car. The Bluetooth speaker was broken in it, the right rear window did not fit, the steering wheel was too heavy, but the rental operator assured that everything was in order with the vehicle.

Convertibles on the road at Erhai Lake in Dali. Photo: Sixth Tone, Jiang Yaling

In April, China's Ministry of Transportation introduced new guidelines for regulating the rental industry, but for now, firms are largely on their own. Wang, the owner of the rental shop, said he was trying not to rent cars to dangerous drivers.

“My firm will not provide a car to drivers with less than a year of experience. You need to look at how a person feels behind the wheel. I wouldn't dare give the car to newbies who don't know where the brakes are,” says Wang.

The rental industry is also threatening to derail Dalí's efforts to rebuild the tourism industry's reputation. Yunnan Province used to rank first in China in terms of tourism-related complaints, with travelers claiming that tour operators are forcing them to buy overpriced souvenirs.

Fraud and disputes in sports car rental in Dali have become a common problem. On social media, several users are warning about unscrupulous rental companies.

“Be sure to keep the inspection form in case of subsequent charges from the company. Try to choose a new model if possible, ”wrote one of the commenters on the Xiaohongshu website.

“Be sure to take photos and videos of the car before and after use,” a Weibo user advises.

Even restaurant owner Jan worries about the impact car rentals have on Dali:

“The health and safety of passengers is definitely overlooked. When my friends come to visit, I always tell them not to rent a car.”