Hongqi: Chen Yun’s Beloved Car

Hongqi is a widely known Chinese car brand. In the history of China, Hongqi cars appeared in many historical events. In the minds of the Chinese people, Hongqi is not merely a car brand. Its implications have gone far beyond that and there is no substitute for Hongqi.

At the end of 2002, the leading group of Chen Yun Memorial hoped to enrich the exhibits’ connotations and enhance the education effects so as to honor Chen’s 100th birthday. To that end, they decided to collect Hongqi car and put it on the priority agenda in 2003. The leading group made a special trip to Beijing to report to Chen Yun’s wife, Mrs. Yu Ruomu, and Mrs. Yu was affirmative and supportive. In October 2003, they request instructions from the General Office of the CPC Central Committee to collect Hongqi car. The General Office of the CPC Central Committee agreed Chen Yun Memorial to display the Hongqi car that once picked up Chen Yun in 1978 and is now preserved in Zhongnanhai. On March 16, 2004, the leading group of Chen Yun Memorial made a special trip to Beijing to fetch that Hongqi car. The same afternoon, the Central Security Bureau held a simple but solemn handover ceremony. On March 17, the Hongqi car was consigned for shipment and arrived at Chen Yun Memorial at 11:40 on March 19.

Since then, the car has been exhibited in Chen Yun Memorial. This car is made by the First Automobile Works in Changchun, Jilin province. Its model is CA770, where “C” stands for China, “A” the First Automobile Works, and”7” the fixed number of the car; its production sequence number was 0639 and the license plate number was “Jia012162” ( “Jia” is the pin of a Chinese character which means “A”). The car body is 6 meters in length, 2 meters in width and 1.7 meters in height. The front and back cabins are designed with lifting insulation glass to ensure privacy of back seats. The car has spacious room for the back row, and the middle row was fitted with folding seats for the entourage. Weighing 4,930kg, the car could run 130km/h at maximum and it was equipped with 65mm-thick window glass. It can still keep running another 100 kilometers even when the tire is shot. Therefore, it is hailed as the safest car all over the world. Solemn and elegant car body, commodious and bright interior, and unique palace-lantern-shaped tail-lamp speak volume for its overall design brimming with Chinese characteristics. According to relevant files, the slogan of the First Automobile Works was “Fly the Red Flag on the Ride of the East Wind” back then. The three red flags on the side stand for “Great Leap Forward, General Line and People’s Commune”.

Chen Yun set a family rule that nobody was allowed to use the Hongqi car except him. He said since it was an official government vehicle, nobody in his family was allowed to use it whether for private or public affairs. Moreover, he set a “three don’ts” family rule, which requires families not to take his official government vehicle, browse through his documents or allow children to enter his office as they please. Chen Yun told his wife Mrs. Yu, that their children should live and study in the same way as children from ordinary families did. They were not allowed to seek special treatment in case they developed bad habits. To implement the “three don’ts” family rule, Chen Yun bought a “Hongqi” bike for his wife. Made by a Tianjin-based bike factory, this bike had 60cm wheels in diameter. It was 160cm in length and 90cm in height. Mrs.Yu Ruomu joked, “The bike is like a tank. I rode it to come in and out of Zhongnanhai.” “Now, there are two Hongqi vehicles in our yard!” She exclaimed with a smile. Until later, Mrs. Yu fell from the bike on her way to work, and then the bike was given to their daughter, Chen Weihua. Chen’s descendants donated this bike to Chen Yun Memorial for exhibition and preservation. Although the bike has gone rusty, it matters for education.

Chen Yun only took home-made vehicles rather than imported ones. He Baosheng, who once worked alongside Chen, said: “In Hangzhou, Chen Yun never took imported cars to go out. Instead, he always used home-grown Hongqi cars and Chen never has a retinue before and behind. Every time he went out, he was accompanied by his secretary and only a few guards using the least number of cars. He always tried to keep things simple.” In the mid-1980s, some party and government officials preferred to ride higher-grade imported cars, which aroused complaints among many officials and people. Hearing these on January 14, 1986, before his afternoon nap, Chen Yun told his staff to bring three cars here tomorrow, namely, “Mercedes Benz” from Germany, “Toyota Crown” from Japan and “Hongqi” made in China. He planned to test which were better, foreign vehicles or domestic ones.

The next day, three cars were parked at the door. Zhao Tianyuan, a guard around Chen Yun recalled: “I told Chen, ‘the three cars are here now. Would you like to have a look?’ He replied ‘sure, why not?’ Then he came to the parking place, glanced at three cars, wearing a bit serious expression, and went straight to that ‘Crown’. I opened the door at once and helped him sit in the back row. He just beat the seat to see how elastic it was, saying ‘I don’t think we should ride in this car even if it is wonderful.’ He got off the ‘Crown’ and paced to ‘Hongqi’. I opened the door and asked if he’d like to have a try. He simply answered yes. He leaned on the back seat for a while, got off the car and directly headed towards his room. We pointed the Benz and asked, ‘would you like to try this one?’ He looked over his shoulder and responded no. Back to his office, he said, ‘Imported cars require foreign currencies. But China’s reserves are limited. If too many foreign currencies were spent on cars, we cannot achieve other great things. I won’t consider imported cars as they make me feel uneasy. Only home-made cars can make me feel at ease. I’ll always ride Hongqi cars.”

Since the First Automobile Works developed the “Hongqi” car on its own, Chen Yun knew that he would ride Hongqi cars for the rest of his life. This Hongqi car stayed with Chen throughout his life and saw him off. The day after Chen departed, his wife, Mrs. Yu Ruomu returned the Hongqi car to the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Chen’s favorite car this life is Hongqi. It signifies that Chen Yun is scrupulous in separating public from private interests.