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Earlier in November, a video of a crashing yellow SUV flooded social media feeds.
The clip showed the car driving up a steep stone staircase on a forested hillside. After climbing partway up, the vehicle lost control and slid backwards down the stone steps, slamming into and damaging the stone guardrail.
The car was Chery’s Fengyun (风云) X3L, its latest SUV model launched on September 17 this year.
The stunt was an attempt to recreate Land Rover’s famous 2018 ascent of the same location — Heaven’s Stairs at Tianmen Mountain scenic area (天门山景区天梯) in Hunan province.
The British carmaker’s Range Rover Sport SVR completed the climb in 9 minutes and 51 seconds, becoming the world’s first vehicle to climb the 999 steps which has a 45-degree incline in places.
Chery’s SUV was trying to complete the same extreme challenge to highlight how the Fengyun matches the Range Rover Sport — a vehicle it also looks remarkably like.
But the Fengyun only made it about three quarters of the way up Heaven’s Stairs before losing control and crashing.
The following day, Chery issued an apology explaining that a safety rope had unexpectedly detached from the testing equipment and became entangled around a wheel, causing the vehicle to slide backwards.
The scenic area confirmed the stairs are not protected cultural relics or ancient buildings, and the destroyed railings were repaired within a few days.
Nonetheless, Chery was heavily criticised for damaging the scenic area’s facilities.
Many also asked: Why would an automaker choose such a difficult and extreme test at all?
Related
The answer to that question is simple.
As “involuted” (内卷) competition in China’s auto industry intensifies, carmakers are resorting to increasingly extreme tactics to attract attention and customers.
Because all the major automotive brands use the same batteries made by CATL and BYD. And they use the same chips from Qualcomm and Nvidia. So under the hood the kit is essentially the same.
Chery’s failed Heaven’s Staircase climb was its attempt to differentiate the brand.
It follows an admission earlier this year by Chery Chairman, Yin Tongyue (尹同跃), who said that Chery always “played it safe” (胆子较小), citing the brand’s conservative attitude towards adopting new technologies.
And to make the recent incident even more embarrassing, Chery had made a big marketing push on social media in the run-up to the event. In September, Chery Executive Vice President, Li Xueyong (李学用), announced in a now-deleted Weibo post:
“See you at the top - stay tuned!”
“敬请期待，让我们顶峰相见！” [2]
Founded in 1997, Chery is the first Chinese independent auto brand to break through one million in sales. It’s now China’s fifth-largest automotive company by sales volume. In the first three quarters of this year, Chery’s revenue exceeded 200 billion yuan ($28.2 billion), and it completed its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange — the largest automotive IPO globally this year.
However, while Chery’s financial performance has grown rapidly, it has faced criticism from customers for poor quality and disappointing after-sales service.
The Heaven’s Stairs challenge was an attempt to change that perception, and prove its SUV could compete with the Range Rover.
But a lack of preparation and experience resulted in spectacular failure, with the internet lit up with idiomatic critical quips like:
“a clumsy imitation” (东施效颦)
“making Land Rover look good” (给路虎做嫁衣)
“suffer a double loss” (赔了夫人又折兵)
So the failed Heaven’s Stairs stunt should be a reminder to Chery and others: Chinese consumers just want a fair price, reliable performance, and good quality. Not costly over-the-top marketing campaigns.
So that’s what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 炫技 xuàn jì
showing off skills, flashy performance
这样“炫技”的极限操作离用户的日常需求也很远 - These kinds of flashy, show-off stunts have little to do with users’ everyday needs. [1]
Related:
炫酷 xuàn kù – cool, impressive
2. 急功近利 jí gōng jìn lì
seeking quick success, chasing short-term gains
“花式炫技”的背后，暴露的是一炮而红的急功近利 - Behind the flashy show off lies a desperation for quick fame and short-term gains. [2]
3. 难如登天 nán rú dēng tiān
as hard as climbing to heaven, extremely difficult
当所有人的芯片都依赖高通和英伟达时，讲述一个独一无二的故事难如登天 - When all carmakers rely on Qualcomm and Nvidia for their chips, telling a truly unique story becomes almost impossible. [1]
4. 东施效颦 dōng shī xiào pín
a clumsy imitation, copying without understanding
“东施效颦、给路虎做嫁衣”这样的负面评论遍布舆论场 - Internet lit up with quips like “a clumsy imitation” and “making Land Rover look good”. [1]
5. 赔了夫人又折兵 péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng
suffer a double loss, lose on all fronts
本来想用测试装一把，结果没成想既定目标没实现，还招来了谴责。奇瑞这一波，可真是，赔了夫人又折兵 - They went in hoping to make a splash with the challenge, but instead missed the goal and got slammed for it. It was a complete lose-lose for Chery. [3]
Related:
给他人做嫁衣 gěi tā rén zuò jià yī - to make a wedding dress for someone else; to work hard for someone else’s benefit
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain three idiomatic phrases about failure which make no sense if translated directly:
“Dong Shi imitates a frown” (东施效颦)
“Make a wedding dress for others” (给他人做嫁衣)
“Lose the wife and lose the soldiers too” (赔了夫人又折兵)
But don’t worry!
Our editor Zoe is here to explain what they mean, the backstory of each, and how to use them in fluent and amazing Mandarin.
Tune in at 7 minutes so you can learn how to use them in real conversations now!
Consuming the Conversation
💡 Ready to get inspired to bridge the gap to real-world fluency? 💡
In every RTM Advanced post you unlock content and tools to inspire you, and help you get fluent.
So, ready to finally get started and wave goodbye to that nagging rusty feeling?
Let’s jump in👇
