In land of bicycle, car boom brings freedom of open road

Changing lifestyles are also a factor. Suburban sprawl means more people are commuting to their jobs - often from areas where public transportation is inadequate.

"If you live farther away, you need a car," says Huan Xiang, as she and her husband peer into a sparkling blue VW Beetle at a dealer's market in Beijing. They bought their first car in 2000 - a Chinese Red Flag. But their suburban life demands another, Ms. Huan says - and one that makes the right impression. "The most important thing is that it's very stylish, that it says something about your character," she says.

And there are simply more opportunities to drive. Most car owners still stay close to home. But China will pour almost $6 billion over the next five years into expanding some 1 million miles of roadways, to about 1.4 million miles by 2010, and building a national grid akin to the US interstates. That system will connect 90 percent of cities with more than 200,000 people, according to Professor Harwit.

All this growth, of course, is taking a toll. China is already home to many of the world's most polluted cities. Vehicle exhaust will account for 79 percent of total air pollution in China this year, according to official estimates. A national network of roads will allow goods to move more freely, but roads often become clogged as quickly as they're constructed: Beijing, for example, has five heavily traveled ring roads around the city and is at work on a sixth.

To address pollution, government officials are considering a new tax on big cars. They have announced fuel standards that will exceed American ones by 2007 and match the highest European standard by 2008. Foreign joint ventures will play a critical role in bringing in better low-emission technology - Toyota, for example, will produce the hybrid Prius in a joint venture in China.

But conservation measures are unlikely to dramatically stanch China's appetite for fuel. More than 80 cities have placed restrictions on some small vehicles, often for safety reasons, banning them from major thoroughfares and downtown areas. By 2020, the country is expected to have 130 million vehicles on the road, accounting for more than half of China's oil consumption. China has made no secret of its push to secure access to global oil supplies, something that has sparked tensions with the US.

And many Chinese are simply already enamored of the lifestyle that a car opens up. "Chinese people have a desire for a car deep in their hearts," says Song Jian, a professor of auto engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing. When prices started to come down after WTO, he says, more could fulfill that dream.

As a result, convincing consumers to rein in their driving may be difficult. "The limitation of movement is broken down," says Wu Zhonghua, who belongs to a VW Golf auto club. His friend Lee Yuan-wei chimes in. "You can just pack a tent, bring barbecue supplies, and move," he says.

That's why Leng joined his auto club. "I feel that the atmosphere," he says, "is very democratic and free."

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