Cars, friends and a love of freedom make a winning combination

What prompted you to set up a car club in China in 1995?

I founded the Beijing Freeman Car Mates Club in 1995 because it could bring together my favourites: cars and friends. Members are my friends or my friends' friends, brought together by our crazy love for sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Then the membership grew and we discovered more common interests. But the thing that has tied us together is our enjoyment of freedom.

Cars and friends, why are they so attractive to you?

I lived with my granddad after I was born because my parents were sent to work in farms during the Cultural Revolution. He owned a vehicle repair shop and I grew up with cars, mechanics with dirty hands and tools. As a lonely boy, I developed a love for cars. My lonely childhood also explained my craving for friends. I can always have fun when I'm with friends. When I was a student, my favourite games were organising fights between classmates and staging romantic plays where the boys kissed the girls. And because of that, I was kicked out of junior middle school at 14. The headmaster said I had no respect for discipline.

What are your views on discipline?

I don't like the feeling of being trapped or troubled. Reality is harsh so it's important to be free, and create a free inner world ... of course it has to be within the parameters of the law. In that world, we can satisfy the needs of our heart and soul.