China's Landscape Transformed By Automobile

"The transformation is startling. Where once there were muddy lanes, now concrete highways soar. In two short decades, roads that were crammed with bicycles have given way to highways choked with cars. China's landscape is being remodelled by the car.

Ten years ago there were almost no privately owned cars in China. By the end of 2005 there were almost 24 million. China now has more car brands than the United States, and the desire to move from two wheels to four shows no sign of disappearing. The Chinese car market has just overtaken Japan and is now the second largest market in the world, after the United States."

"In China, a growing middle-class is fuelling demand. And thanks to a massive road building programme there is now more open road for Chinese motorists. Before the country's market reforms began in the late-1980s it had almost no national road network. It now has almost 50,000 kilometres and a further 25,000 kilometres will be added over the next five years."