A video has surfaced that depicts Cadillac of China’s tour of Route 66 this past summer. The narration and subtitles are in Chinese, but you’ll find appearances by Route 66 ambassadors Angel Delgadillo, Ron “Tattoo Man” Jones, and former Midpoint Cafe owner Fran Houser.
https://youtu.be/ntEBxetFOMQ
An excerpt in August from the Kingman Daily Miner in Kingman, Ariz., about the tour:
Rick Thomas of Marcom said that there is a growing middle class in China with increasing wealth and a fascination with the freedom and mobility represented by Route 66. He described them as “a great crowd: incredibly curious …. They don’t have the automotive history (that the U.S. does). They don’t have access to the ‘pop icons’ we take for granted: old cars, trains, even junkyards.” […]
Photos and video of the tour will be used in China as part of an advertising campaign focusing on the freedom of Route 66 and what Thomas described as a similar highway in China, the National Highway 109. Some members of the media were blogging about the trip as they traveled.
The New Yorker reported last year that the number of Chinese tourists in America probably will reach 100 million a year by the end of the decade. And a fair number of them undoubtedly will travel Route 66 — especially after seeing the Cadillac spots.
The video was uploaded by Run Hei, a YouTube account based in the United States. However, many of the videos in the account are Chinese.
This appears to be from the 2011 trip, not the 2012 trip, as the interview with Ron the Tatoo Man took place then, when our place was still painted blue. Pictures from the 2012 stopover at the Blue Swallow can be seen in an album on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/BlueSwallowMotelRoute66?ref=hl#!/media/set/?set=a.342781279136253.77039.129844517096598&type=3