I was thinking about RV and China (a place I’ve never visited) and I was thinking about the idea that what if I could only write one article and transmit one major idea… what would it be?

So I decided to try to get people to think about RV (recreational vehicle) in a very new way. I’m going to do that by trying to put forth several concepts and see where this takes us. When I’m done, I’m hoping that you’ll see that an RV changes your mind, changes your view of space and time, and is substantially ‘greener’ than you might think.

1. False for different reasons : RV’s are gas hogs. This is only partly true. For example, an RV ONLY consumes fuel when it moves. For people who live in RV’s full time, they can move the RV close to their work and reduce the gasoline consumed by commuting. The only time the RV consumed fuel was when it moved. Also, modern self propelled (Class A , Class B, or Class C) diesel powered RV’s will achieve around 12 miles per gallon which is pretty good.
2. Not so True : RV’s are small. Modern RV’s have a device called a ’slide-out’ which literally is a part of the RV that slides out to create a larger area. Modern slide outs are about 3-4 feet wide and 10 feet long creating an additional 40 square foot of space. A 36 foot long RV (36 * 8) would only provide 288 square feet, but with two or three slide-outs that can be increased up to 380 square feet. While I’ve never been to anywhere in Asia, I have it on good authority that the majority of people have very small living quarters so this is not that small comparatively. Also RV’s have built in furniture and many space saving concepts that make a 380 square foot RV seem every bit as spacious as a 1000 square foot apartment or home.
3. False : An RV is only for wealthy people. I’ll use economics from the United States. An RV can be purchased from $2,000 to $50,000 (actually much more, but I’ll stop @ $50K)  that can be very reasonable to live inside. A 5 year loan for a $20K RV (very realistic) could run around $300/month and you will consume about 1/2 of the RV’s value (they always depreciate). A pad (the spot for an RV) can cost around $200-$1000/month (depends on where), but in Texas, lets use $500 (a little high) a month. So my monthly expenses are now $800/month. I’m paying $1200/month in rent so living in an RV will save me $400/month. Furthermore WiFi is typically included as well as electric, water, and sewer, which should save another $100/month. Add in that given the smaller space, you will naturally spend less and RV’s are a very economical form of living.
4. True : You eat healthier in an RV. This is embarassing, but for American’s this is a really important thing to know. Because RV’s are smaller than the CURRENT mainstream houses in America, you will keep less food on hand and the food you DO keep on hand will be healthier. I don’t know why, but I see this as a pervasive theme in all the reading I do regarding RV’s.

You would probably ask — why write about RVs on this blog?  After all this blog is about China and Travel Around the World….. Hm — you just sort of answered the question.  This blog is about TRAVEL.  RVs are all about TRAVEL…..And then, there is an interesting phenomenon occurring in China — Yes, RVs are being promoted and tradeshows about them are popping up.

According to http://www.chinarvandcamping.com/rv-china/show-review?start=8 — one of the first shows on RVs in China (Not sure if this is the first one) happened in 2008 and that included 28 Chinese exhibitors and 5 foreign ones.  1100 people visited….

The 2010 Show will be held in the Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center.  Here is a link to it: http://www.chinasportsandrecreation.com/rv-china-2010?format=pdf

At any rate, I look forward to the RV postings… Please let me and the author know of your take on the RV experience in China.  How many of you have thought about it…?  Have you actually tried to look into it?  How about taking an RV tour in Texas?

Then after doing some work I braved the howling wind and headed out in the town - the objective was TianHou Temple and the downtown pier at the bay.

Today was a sunny day, but the wind made it still freezing… After a cab ride, I reached the temple and was pleasantly surprised - not crowded and relatively colorful. Bought some Year of the Tiger charms from the monks, and came across a small shop of a paper cuts artist - bought a paper cut of the year of the tiger and she gave me a sheet of her biography - very nice lady.

Then I walked for a mile to the bay with a pier that reaches pretty far out in the sea. On the pier there were all sort of people trying to sell stuff - mostly it appeared illegally (as they hurriedly collected their wares a couple of times while I was there on what appeared the approach of police). I saw a guy display on the boardwalk sea stars (I think that is what they were called — I took pictures)
pulled fresh out of the bay. They were beautiful - yellow undersides and blue-purple tops… I heard one of the mulling people asking or concluding “yes, they are good eating…” — oh, well too bad for the creatures…

Given the freezing wind, it was amazing how many people were on the pier -

my guess many of them visitors from the country side - the local Qingdao crowd was probably staying warm at home ;-) as the rest of us visitors were trying to catch a view of the ocean and city…and I don’t blame them - after about 10minutes on the pier I was ready to head to a warmer place…
That turned out to be the local Parkson Dept. Store…after a quick walk through it - I headed out again and continued my walk along Zhongshan Lu and the near by streets. A detour brought me to an imposing church built on a hill of Zhongshan Lu…a remnant of the times the German residents occupied a large chunk of downtown Qingdao…(The story goes as such - Qingdao was surrendered to Germany in the late 18 hundreds after two German monks were killed in the city and German troops marched here)
Took a lot of pictures - the architecture along side Zhongshan Lu is very interesting - you would think you are in a European town…

By 4:30pm I was finally too cold, so I hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel. The cab was a VW Passat - admitedly a bit nicer than the VW Santana cabs which are prolific - but I had an interesting surprise - “luxury” comes at a price - the meter of that cab was quickly running up the tab… When I asked the driver “what gives…?” - his response was “well new model cab - new price…”. He sounded almost apologetic. By the time I got back to the hotel the meter was at RMB26 !!! While at noon the same trip cost me RMB17!!! What is that - over 50% markup…
Another interesting observation - the paper cut of the Chinese Zodiak Year of the Tiger in a frame done by a local artist cost me RMB25 …hm…?!?! Peculiar…!?!?
The difference between the local and global economy…