China's first RV rally
By Bob Difley
Be glad you’re not an RV fulltimer or boondocker in China. With its 1.3 billion people, there are only about 5,000 RVs–in the whole country!And no wonder, since there are only a few dozen “RV camps” according to the China RV & Camping Association as reported by USA Today.
However, if you are in the RV manufacturing business, that’s a good thing. Change is coming fast in China, says Wang Jidong, the RV association’s secretary general, as local governments and businesses are rushing to build hundreds of RV camps around the country.
Lu Jun, general manager of the Beijing International Automotive Camping Park that opens later this month in south Beijing says, “When I talk to U.S. RV suppliers, they ask if I want to buy three or four vehicles,” referring to imported RVs costing over $70,000 each. His reply? “I want to buy 1,000 to fill the 100 camps his company will build within two years.”
With little in the way of government oversight and environmental studies, entrepreneurs are building camping parks faster than is conceivable in the USA.
They are also building smaller, inexpensive motorhomes (trailers have not caught on yet due to restrictive licensing requirements) to meet the exploding demand and popularity of camping. I wonder how long it will be before cheapChinese motorhomes will start appearing on American dealers’ sales lots.
Check out my website for RVing tips and destinations in America, and for my ebooks: BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands, Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts, and 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang out of your RV Lifestyle Dollar.