this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2024
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[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"When I was coming in '82, people took pictures with cars and paid for the picture

What the hell does that mean?

[–] nutlink@beehaw.org 8 points 10 months ago

Cars were so uncommon to people outside of Beijing that they would pay to have their picture taken with a car as a memento or proof to others that they saw a car and they do exist. Motor vehicle production didn't really pick up until the early 90's. Before that, manufacturers were only making a couple hundred thousand cars per year in the entire country.

At least that's how I interpreted it after reading about the Chinese auto market history on Wikipedia and combining it with my own personal history with computers while growing up in a rural town in the US.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_China