ELECTRIC NEW PAPER

24-car Chinese convoy goes the distance to improve relations with neighbours

10,000km for GOODWILL
MUDDY from their 3,500km journey from China, a convoy of 24 cars rumbled into Singapore yesterday afternoon.
By Faith Teo

10 October 2007

MUDDY from their 3,500km journey from China, a convoy of 24 cars rumbled into Singapore yesterday afternoon.

Well, all but one.

Its driver got confused at the Second Link and took a wrong turn back into Malaysia. It resulted in a one-hour wait, before he could rejoin the group.

Singapore marks the fifth country the group of 132 has driven into, after it took 12 days to drive through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.

With the Chinese flag fluttering out of some car windows, the right-hand drive sports utility vehicles (SUVs) then made their way to Sentosa. The group will stay there until they leave tomorrow for Malaysia.

Included in the convoy are SUVs Volkswagen Toureg and the Toyota Prado.

The convoy makes up the China-Asean International Touring Assembly 2007, and is being made in the name of goodwill.

The group includes representatives from different cities in Guangxi, and other provinces such as Szechuan and Henan.

Mr Zeng Zhiqiang, the head of the group, told The New Paper in Mandarin that the group flagged off from Nanning, Guangxi, on 27 Sep.

He said: 'We want to get to know the people of the countries we pass through, and we hope they will get to know us better too.'

The convoy is partly sponsored by several Chinese companies, with some participants paying out of their own pockets.

This being the second year he's leading the convoy to Singapore, Mr Zeng said things have improved from last year.

'Last year, we were stuck at the Vietnamese border for five hours, because customs officers were concerned that we were driving right-hand drive cars.

'This year, it took all of five minutes. I think word spread about our friendship tour and we received the green light from higher level Vietnamese officials.'

POLICE CLOSED ROADS

Mr Zeng said that Laos was so welcoming that its police closed roads and cleared traffic so that the convoy could drive on without a hitch.

The youngest member of the group is 13-year-old Huang Hai Yang. The acrobat with eight years of training has performed during receptions at all the major cities they've passed through.

She said Singapore is her favourite city.

'It's beautiful, and a lot of people can speak Mandarin, which makes it easier for me to interact with them.'

After Singapore, the convoy will be retracing their journey back to China, making a detour to Cambodia to pick up two local representatives.

In line with its 'cultural-exchange' aim, the group will also be joined in Malaysia by four representatives in two cars, and two people each from Thailand and Laos.

Six Singaporeans are set to join the group on its journey back to Nanning in two Hyundai SUVs, a Sante Fe and a Terracan. They will then drive back to Singapore.

Singapore team leader Leslie Chang, 44, had led the team to China last year as well.

Mr Chang, a watch trader, said: 'We enjoyed the company of our Chinese companions. Even though we were in different cars, all of us were hooked up by radio. The purpose was to give instructions, but in between we would chat with one another.'

The Singapore team is partly self-funded, with help from Stamford Tyres and Hyundai distributor Komoco Motors.

He declined to reveal the cost.

The trip from Singapore to China will take about 12 days, and by the end of the tour, the Chinese convoy will have covered an estimated 10,000km.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,144364,00.html