Dear ChinaV,

Given that I've been in China 22 years and you only, what, a dozen, you have no right to be more cynical about the place than me!!

I'll defer to you about what the true motivations are behind this reported decision to move to a lottery system for plates. But it does occur to me that Shanghai too has major car manufacturers (VW and GM, in bed with SAIC), yet has actively restricted all vehicles through a lottery for years, rather than just letting cars run roughshod as has been the case pretty much everywhere else, including Guangzhou. The fact is it now costs 68,000 rmb, or north of US$10k, to plate a car (or a motorbike) here. I'd like to think that someone in government here has had the foresight to see the social benefit of limiting vehicle numbers. I feel that social benefit with every breath I take, and every time I get on my bicycle or motorcycle.

But I also still believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.

Cheers!