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Car

My story with my car - Goudaner, a FIAT Siena 1.5HL. Having a car is completely new kind of lifestyle, althogh I am pretty used to it - after I bought it 4 years ago. Hope you enjoy my stories with Wendy and Goudaner.

Articles in Car

Shanghai Car Plate is NOT Investment Jan 20, 2008
This is a follow up post for my entry Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment I wrote 4 months ago. Within just 4 months, the high valued car plate dropped dramatically. My Record on Car Plate Price in Shanghai A Car...
Seat-Belt? Oh. No. Thanks! Oct 29, 2007
There are many common practices that does not make common sense. People's resistance of seat-belt is a typical one. Many people HATE seat-belts, especially taxi drivers. This morning, I get on board a Jinjiang taxi. The driver drove like crazy,...
Congrats Victor for Getting Car Plate - at 46500 Aug 19, 2007
Victor got his Shanghai Car Plate at 46,500 RMB today. He won the monthly bidding for licenses of cars in Shanghai. The interesting thing is, the lowest winning bidding is 46,500 RMB, and he just gave it the same try....
Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment Aug 6, 2007
I have a car with name of Goudaner. However, I don’t have a car plate from Shanghai, simply because it is too expensive. Instead, I drove 200 km away to Hangzhou (the capital of Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai) to...
Long Detour by Road Construction Jul 24, 2007
Let me show you a map. Image in courtesy of Google Maps On the map, the red line and the blue line together is the daily route I drive from Xujiahui to the elevated highway (then my home is just...
Controversy Car Plates Jul 24, 2007
When I wrote about the Chinese Car Plate the other day, I suddenly recalled from my memory that China has once opened the restriction on the car plate numbers and allow car owners to choose the car plate numbers by...
Chinese Car Plate Jul 19, 2007
My reader in Wuxi suggested me to talk about the car plate in China - this is an interesting topic. There is a Chinese character on the plate as the first character, and there are difference colors - blue, yellow,...
Take Taxi or Buy a Car? May 21, 2007
There are still many people debating about which is more cost-effective, taking taxi or buying a car. There are many people claim that taking taxi is cheaper, since you don't have to buy the car, and don't need to pay...
How I drive in Shanghai - Part II Apr 27, 2007
After I drive back to home at 12:23 AM and check my blog, I saw many comments – comments from really concerned people. Calm down, please. This is not the first time I saw this kind of situation. So take...
How I Drive in Shanghai? Apr 26, 2007
When I talked about Reasons of Bad Traffic in Shanghai, people asked me about how I drive in Shanghai. This is a good question. Very good one. As a daily driver, and as someone who is highly concerned about traffic...
How Car Annual Checking Works Apr 2, 2006
It is a hot day - 27 degrees, and Hangzhou seems to enter Summer already. I am back - very tired. The 170+ km express way is not easy to cover. Next time I go to Hangzhou, I won't drive...
Hangzhou for Car Yearly Checking Apr 1, 2006
I am in Hangzhou. Two years for Goudaner, and I have to do the car yearly checking. So, I drove to Hangzhou. The first weekend, I was in Hangzhou for meeting. The second weekend, I went to Nanjing. The same...
Car Insurance in Shanghai Mar 28, 2006
It is time to figure out how to buy another year of car insurance. The new car comes with 2 years of car insurances. It ends this month. I even didn't notice that. Car insurance is enforced. It is several...
Car Numbers Explode in Shanghai Mar 5, 2006
I went to Decathlon at Long Yang Road Station in Shanghai with friends yesterday. It was 3:00 PM. To my surprise, the parking lot at B&Q and Decathlon area was completely packed. Not only big area (with about 10 rows...
Auto Industry Enters Winter in Shanghai Nov 8, 2004
I went to maintain the car the other day. When my dearest Goudaner were pulled into the maintenance area for its 8000 KM regular check, I chatted with my friends at the car dealership. The numbers of newly sold cars...
A Car Towed Away for Temp Parking Oct 28, 2004
I saw two workers were preparing to tow a red Santana because it was parked on a street (Xin An Road near the Huaihai Road). Temp parking is not allowed on te street. A policeman was nearby. Taken by Jian...
Cars with Non-Shanghai Plates Sep 20, 2004
From Sept 1, 2004, all cars in Shanghai without a Shanghai local car plate will be charged 150 RMB per month. It means, I need to pay 1800 RMB more for my car. According to the new regulation, I need...
A Car Plate = 21001 RMB Now Jun 20, 2004
The average successful bidding price for a car plate drops to 21001 RMB this month, continued its first dropping last month. It is due to the rumor that car plate bidding will be cancelled this July. It seems the rumor...
34226 RMB for a Car Plate in May May 23, 2004
Big news that the Shanghai car plate average bidding price dropped down to 34226 RMB in May, almost 10000 RMB lower than last month's 45000 RMB. The lowest successful bidding price is only 10800 RMB. Rumors said that the bidding...
Gasoline Price Goes Up Apr 1, 2004
I never noticed the the change of gasoline price before I bought my car. The bad news for me is, the price of gasoline goes up by 8% from 3.23 RMB/L to 3.47 RMB. The traffic is still bad recently...
Car Expenses Mar 28, 2004
It is not as expensive as I thought to own a car. The parking package under the Metro City is 600 RMB for 24x7 in a month. Otherwise, it is 10 RMB per hour. The packing at the new residential...
Puxi is not Car Friendly Mar 27, 2004
I drove my new car in Xujiahui and felt very happen when I was on the road - the traffic is not as bad as working days. However, I am so frustrated when I attempted to park the car. I...
Car or Bicycle? Mar 22, 2004
Blanc from France asked me a series of questions regarding using cars and bicycles in Shanghai. Finally, I have some questions about you car and your life? Do you know how often you will use your car, on a regular...
Shanghai Car Plate = 43000 RMB Mar 22, 2004
The latest car plate price came out. The lowest price for car plate is 43000 RMB and average price for the plate is 43300 RMB (5216 USD). 4800 plates entered the bid. As you may know, Shanghai uses the bidding...
Struggling for Parking Lot Jan 29, 2004
I rent a car again these two days. I still don't want to put out around 100,000 RMB to buy a car yet since the expensive to maintain a car in Shanghai is still far too expensive. The recent car...
Volkswagen Polo Nov 3, 2003
Currently, Volkswagen Polo is on the top of my wish list for my upcoming car. My schedule of purcharse is about 12 months from now. Here are some good pictures: Source: impolo.com Polo Polo looks very nice and the inner...
A Car Plate = 38500 RMB in Shanghai Aug 24, 2003
The result of the last car plate bidding excercise revealed on the Morning Post. The latest record for a plate is 38500 RMB (4,600 USD). There is a special report on this on the Morning Post. Shanghai is famous for...
A Car in Shanghai Nov 23, 2002
I have been considering to buy a car in Shanghai for some time, but till now, I believe this is still not feasible. I enjoys the cars in north Amerian but cannot bear the boring life there. In Shanghai, I...