adapted from "Westmount Examiner"

Phil Chartrand , Phoebe and car restorer Richard Grenon spent the last week of May participating in the Louis Vuitton Classic China Run (a 1,500 kilometre rally featuring 48 vintage automobiles from around the world) with Phil's 1948 Bentley Mark VI, through the diverse landscape between Dalian and Beijing.

"It certainly was a unique experience," said Phil Chartrand.

The event was organized by French luggage manufacturing company Louis Vuitton over a four-year period at an estimated cost of $5 million. Not only did it give Phil a chance to meet fellow classic car enthusiasts from as far away as Australia, it also provided a close-up view of the Chinese culture.

"The number of people was amazing," Chartrand marveled at the 100 million spectators the rally attracted. For many Chinese people the sight of so many antique cars rolling through their village was more than just a novelty, it was a huge event.

Video footage shot from the car reveals an incredible sight-a solid wall of faces road, each straining forward to catch a glimpse of the antique cars as they passed. The procession public often slowed to a crawl as people pressed against the moving cars to shake hands with the occupants.

Waving a small Canadian flag, Chartrand answered the crowd's enthusiastic chant of "Can ah-da, Can-ah-da" with a cheerful hello or the Chinese greeting `nee-how'. "The Chinese know and love Canadians," he said, holding up his hand. "I think 1 gave, without exaggeration, ten thousand high-fives. It was like running for office."

In order to keep the huge crowds under control, an estimated 150,000 policemen were placed along the route, as much as one every few metres in the more densely-populated areas.

"There was a very strong police or military presence, but you really didn't feel it, "said Chartrand, who often got out at rest stops to meet the local people and horse around with. their children.

Phoebe Chartrand was particularly impressed by the healthy appearance of the people living in small villages. "It's incredible to see so many of them well-dressed and well-fed," she observed of the while the Bentley was inching its way through a crowd. "(They) seem very happy, prosperous, and enjoying this special moment."

Accompanied by a doctor, two nurses and four mechanics, the antique cars pulled out of Dalian on the morning of May 25. With stops for lunch and guided tours of points of interest along the way (including the Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs) the drivers and navigators headed north from Dalian and eventually wound their way west to Beijing with overnight stopovers in Yingkou, Jianchang, Chengde and Changping before arriving at Tiananmen Square in the Forbidden City on May 29. The average distance covered each day was about 300 kilometres.

Ranging from a 1903 Mercedes Benz to a 1959 Bentley, the cars proved to be in excellent condition; of the 48 starters, only one, an MG from Japan, did not finish.

This was the Chartrands' third visit to China since 1983. "In that time, my wife and I have seen some incredible leaps forward; "Chartrand said. "China is one of the few places where Communism seems to have worked." He added that his only regret about the whole trip was that Air Canada, a company with which he has been associated for many years, is not permitted to fly to Beijing.

 Eager to share his recent expericnce with the public, Chartrand said there will be photographs of some of the participating cars on display at the Atwater Public Library and Computer Centre. The three local participants (the Chartrands and Grenon) are also planning a presentation featuring two videos of the Vuitton Classic China Rally, to be held in the Atwater Library's auditorium.