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A bit of d茅cor and voil脿! A car becomes like home
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The first month I spent with my first car, a red Mazda Axela, was all about shopping for car accessories.
As a debutante in car culture, I couldn鈥檛 wait to get my car dressed up, even though I wasn鈥檛 quite sure what kind of party I was contemplating.
Behind the dazzling chrome trims and rear spoilers so popular with Chinese car owners, I saw ostentation that I didn鈥檛 particularly like or want. Looking at all those lizard decals with 3D effects, I couldn鈥檛 help but wonder if people really know what the emblem stands for. (The lizard is a symbol for Audi鈥檚 famous four-wheel drive Quattro.)
I found myself hard to please. I was not looking for something just pretty or popular. I didn鈥檛 want to make a loud statement that I 鈥渙wn鈥 this car.
鈥淚t is my car and I will decorate it my own way,鈥 I kept telling myself.
The personal signature I wanted to create was simplicity. I like the car just the way it is. That鈥檚 why I found advice from others very considerate but mostly useless.
I was told to get a car cover to shelter the vehicle from the baking sun, pouring rain and bird droppings. I was also advised to get car seat covers, which are usually synthetic leather, to keep the seating clean.
I mulled the advice over. Wouldn鈥檛 sand from the open air slip inside a car cover, causing little scratches on the paint? Did I really want to wrap genuine punch leather seats in some artificial covering? And why would I want to keep the factory-fitted seats from getting dirty? My seats are in black leather!
鈥淭he whole idea of getting a seat cover is total bullshit,鈥 said Mr Zong, my Axela salesman.
The Chinese do tend to be a little over-protective, especially of new things. But after a while, everyone learns to get over that fear, said my friend Alex, a seasoned driver .
Still, the idea of my brand new car getting a few harmless scratches did niggle me, though I knew it was an inevitable initiation rite for a newbie driver.
That鈥檚 how I am going to learn to handle my anxiety about having an accident, by getting more emboldened on the road. Knowing how to bear the risk of losing something makes me truly entitled to its ownership.
Though I keep telling myself that a car, no matter how great it is, is supposed to serve my life, not the other way around, I still want to take good care of it.
To keep it clean, I bought floor mats, a trunk mat and a whole set of car wash tools. And I did eventually buy a 鈥渃over鈥 of sorts 鈥 an anti-skid steering wheel cover for me to have a firmer grasp when I am driving.
All of these accessories were bought online from China鈥檚 all-inclusive e-commerce platform Taobao. It was suggested by Mr Zong, who surprisingly refused to show me the catalog of official Mazda accessories sold at the dealer鈥檚 shop.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point of recommending to you something that is ugly and expensive?鈥 he said, with candor uncharacteristic of a car dealer.
Perhaps that was not so surprising. In China, car accessories are a market with more openness and competition than the market for spare auto parts, whose supply is dominated by carmakers. Globally, China is a leading exporter in both categories. According to e-commerce giant eBay鈥檚 internal data, vehicle parts and accessories were the second-biggest gainer among China鈥檚 retail export industries, and the fourth best-selling one in the second half of 2014, with mature car markets like the United States and Germany as the top buyers.
While marveling at the variety of choices under the vehicle accessory category on Taobao, I still had trouble finding one item that suited my taste 鈥 an amulet pendant to hang on the rear view mirror.
Getting one of these pendants is part of the car culture here. The problem for me was that most of the pendants on offer had something to do with either Buddhism or folk tales. Neither interested me.
After several disappointing amulet-hunts, I decided to hang a string of crystals on the mirror, just for decoration.
鈥淗ang it higher,鈥 my friend Alex said, after seeing the crystals dangling almost to the dashboard.
Yes, they could cause me distractions, especially when they catch the glint of the sun.
Just like many other car decorations, such as the little dolls favored by women drivers, these ornaments may be lovable but they can turn annoying if misplaced. But it doesn鈥檛 stop car owners from buying them to give vehicles a home-like feel.
As a newbie driver, I didn鈥檛 feel comfortable driving with an empty passenger seat. So I put a teddy bear there, pretending it was someone to keep me company.
Later on, I brought a little sheep to make a pair of passengers. Then Alex gave me two dog-shaped activated carbon cabin air filters to get rid of the new car smell.
To reconcile myself with the fact that my car now looked like a girly showcase 鈥 a phenomenon I once derided 鈥 I joked to myself about being a zookeeper with 鈥減assengers鈥 to look after and I feel responsible for them.
Surrounded now by car decor that makes me feel comfortable and confident, I am ready to hit the road without trepidation.
I know I will always come home safe, with all the blessings and warnings from those who care about me as my amulet of magic.
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