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Prepping For The Great Chinese Road Trip

When we said "the great American road trip ain't what it used to be," our point was that advances in highway and automotive technology in the US have changed the character of our asphalt adventures. But China's efforts to build the world's foremost interstate system have us thinking that our next windows-down, radio-up ride may happen on the Jinghu Expressway not Route 66.

Says The Wall Street Journal:

The speed of China's motorization is stunning--some 30,000 miles of expressways were built in the past decade. Plans call for China's highway system to stretch 53,000 miles by 2020, surpassing the 47,000 miles of interstate roads in the US currently. China has roughly the same land area as the continental US.

Unlike the golden era of the American highway--which started in the 1960s and was mostly complete by the 1980s--this road boom is taking place in a poor, largely rural country where only about 10 percent of the population have their driver's licenses.

That means the highways are, for the most part, quiet, except when over-burdened trucks rumble by. But while the development opens up new travel possibilities, it also carries an environmental threat: Beijing's air already looks like this.

Related Stories:
· China Bets Highways Will Drive Its Growth [WSJ]
· Heavy Breathing Travel: Beijing Clearing the Air Again [Jaunted]
· The Great American Road Trip Ain't What It Used to Be [Jaunted]

[Photo: ernop]