International Classic Cars China Grand Tour 2015

As I have rather a lot of photos from this most memorable event – and have only selected a subset of them to post here (honest!) – I’ve split them into 3 galleries:

• Wenzhou
• The Event
• Finish & Closing Ceremony

Scroll down to see each gallery and click on any photo to open it up. Once opened, you can scroll through the photos using the arrows left and right.

Enjoy!

Wenzhou

Days 1-3 (16-18 Sep)

Nice welcome note I found waiting in my hotel room

A selection of the cars on display outside our hotel

Our hotel in Wenzhou (yes it looks like a space ship!)

Our first outing as a group, to visit the tourist sights of Wenzhou

Meeting the locals

Bridge over one of Wenzhou’s many rivers

Outside a traditional Wenzhou house which had been occupied by a famous mathematician, and is now a museum to mathematicians!

Old and new

From inside the mathematician’s house

Wenzhou seems to be a fairly prosperous Chinese city

Classic Bike?

Our group gathered at the Museum of Culture

This image was embroidered using human hair

Figure in the Wenzhou cultural museum

Dragon float used in processions

One of many figures on the float

Later that day, the event was opened with a press conference

Followed by a formal dinner, hosted in the Porsche showroom

Dinner was accompanied by evening entertainment

The next day the girlies (& Alex) took a trip out while the boys (& Ersi) talked cars

Loo with a view – this was on the back of a toilet door!

River walk

Crossing the river

Hanne, me & Mia

The Girlies (& Alex) & our host’s wife

Girls just wanna have fun

A serene spot

They’ve turned this little stretch of river into a tourist attraction

7D theatre??? I didn’t know that many dimensions existed…

Zhen Zhu falls

The local wildlife

Stalls flanking the river selling salted eggs, cold drinks, ice creams and souvenirs

Lunch Chinese-style (chickens feet, pigs trotters, fish, snails, soup… to name but a few)

Giant pears

Our afternoon activity: making pies

Kneading the dough

Filling the pie

Closing it up

Ready for cooking

Alison taking pictures with her iPad

Kids viewing her photos

What a smile!

Nice t-shirt! (he had no idea why I picked him out)

We were mobbed by this little lot while making our pies!

Countryside in Zheijang province

Older-style acommodation

Newer-style accommodation

Chinese driving school???

A lovely gift from our our hostess

Afternoon tea

The Event

Days 4-8 (19-23 Sep)

On Saturday, once the imported cars had finally arrived from the port and we had started the process of acquiring temporary driving licences, we got to select our car for the event.

Of course we had to choose the Mini Cooper S! 🙂

Mario & Ulrike (from Germany) chose a Fiat 500

Mike & Alison (from Britain) picked the Karmann Ghia

Mario & Veronica (from Chile) chose a Ford Fairline

Ersi & Alex (from Cyprus) picked a Mercedes

The start of the event (only about 5 hours late, thanks to driving licence kerfuffle and the imported cars only arriving that monring!)

Having negotiated our way out of Wenzhou, we had a brief stop at PC2 on SS1

End of SS1 at the top of the mountain (in the dark because we started late!)

Publicity visit to YanDang (Sacred) Mountain before the start of SS2 the next day

Going native

Special couples ceremony at YanDang Mountain

Drive for Love ❤

Parked “illegally” outside the lunchtime passage control on SS2 (because we were early)

Classics racing with locals down cobbled mountain road with hairpin bends in the wet 🙂

SS2 complete, we made it to Ningbo!

View from my hotel room in Ningbo

Same view the following morning in daylight

Schedule for day 3 of the event

Outside the hotel ready to depart on SS3

On the road on SS3

Waiting in a layby before the passage control until our allotted time (yes, we were early again!)

Peter & Lin’s Jaguar MkII imported from England

Chinese crew in an old ‘Red Flag’ (classic Chinese car)

The Brits & Irish chewing the cud waiting for the clock to tick by

We made it to Hangzhou! The cars parked up outside the hotel

Driving out of Hangzhou at the start of SS4 we were kept company in the traffic by a Chinese couple in the other Mini

Waiting in another layby before a passage control!

Lunch stop at the final passage control before Shanghai

Rolls Royce

Peter & Lin’s Jag MkII

Tiddo & Marianna’s VW Beetle imported from the Netherlands

Niels & Hanne’s Lancia Aurelia imported from Denmark

The Chinese Red Flag

Mercedes

The other Mini

Car issues

Running repairs after our petrol cap key broke off in the lock

It wouldn’t be a rally without a bit of gaffa tape!

The Red Flag had issues starting again after a petrol stop

What is a Heavy Light vehicle!?

Mike & Peter

Parked up in a layby outside the finish control in Shanghai

Relief! We made it 🙂

Mario & Ulrike’s Fiat 500 had issues, so they upgraded to a Rolls Royce… now that’s progress!

The Red Flag & Aurelia turning up at the finish

Cars arrive in Shanghai and queue up just outside the finish

Checking the time

The other Chilean contingent

Finish & Closing Ceremony

Day 8 (23 Sep)

Our event was sponsored by the OneHome Hotel group, who provided both the start and finish hotels

750km later our Mini delivered us safely to the finish in Shanghai. I wanted to bring it home with me!

I think Dad’s hooked on Mini’s now too 😉

With Tony, without whom the event wouldn’t have run

A well-travelled bear (all the way from England)

Polishing the Jag before the closing ceremony

Lin, Tony & Peter

Ersi & her Merc

Alex, Ersi & Tony

The Cadillac

Driven by Roberto from Brazil and navigated by his 88-year old Mum – wow!

Red Flag

Tony with Eamon & Pat and their trusty Volvo, shipped over from Ireland

Marianna & Tiddo

No comment :p

Me and Alison

Alison & Mike

Hanne & Niels

Mario & Veronica

Roberto & his Mum

Lin, Ulrike & me

Dominik & Verena’s Delahaye at the finish

Finish ramp

More speeches

Prize-giving ceremony

Prize for ‘most progress’

Prize for 3rd place in the event went to the Chinese couple in the silver Mini

Prize for 1st place went to Pat & Eamon from Ireland in their Volvo – well done chaps!

Roberto kicked off the speeches and giving of gifts to the organisers at the Closing Dinner ceremony

A gift from Brazil

Wine from Cyprus

A sculpture made of car parts from Denmark

Thank you speech from Ireland

Book of classic cars from Chile

Thank you speech from Mexico

Group photo

A big thanks to the Classic Vehicle Union of China (CVUC, www.classiccarchina.org), to the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA, www.fiva.org) and all the sponsors and helpers in China for making this event an experience I’ll never forget 🙂