Zeng Fanren,King of Car Racing in Asia

Planning by Xu Sen 徐森

Text by Liu Dongli 劉冬莉

Zeng Fanren,King of Car Racing in Asia

車神傳奇——探訪亞洲車神曾凡仁

Planning by Xu Sen 徐森

Text by Liu Dongli 劉冬莉

A man jumps from a speeding car, leaping through three rings of fire and continuing his stride–that’s a notable action made bySpider Man. A man makes an aggressive gear shift and narrowly escapes head-on collision with another car–that’s a classic scene inDie Another Day, a James Bond movie.

Stunts like these have surely impressed fans of Spider Man and James Bond. Yet probably few of them know that the stunt performer that substitutes for the super stars in these Hollywood movies comes from Wuhan, China. For a long time, this man has been the only Asian face on the Hollywood stunt actor scene.

This man is Zeng Fanren, born in Jiangxia District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, in 1962.

人在急速行駛的汽車上飛身一躍穿過三個熊熊燃燒的火圈，這是蜘蛛俠的拿手絕活兒；兩輛迎面開來的汽車在相撞前一秒急速飄移轉向，這是電影《007——擇日而亡》中的經典鏡頭……

相信看過《蜘蛛俠》、《007》等好萊塢大片的影迷們，對這些讓人尖叫的特技仍記憶猶新。可你知道嗎？這些在美國好萊塢專給大牌明星做替身的特技演員中，有一個來自中國武漢！他也是好萊塢特技表演隊中唯一一名亞洲人。

●Photo by Zheng Guangsong鄭光松 攝

The First Impression

●Photo by Zheng Guangsong鄭光松 攝

On March 31st, we drove to his home in Jiangxia District to visit him and found out more about this legendary car-racing driver and stuntman.

When we reached Jiangxia District, we turned off the main street on to a muddy country road. We passed several blocks and several lines of houses, and finally approached a slightly worn house. We were perplexed where to go next when we suddenly heard dogs barking from the yard of this house. Zeng Fanren, in a racing suit, emerged from behind a door, smiling and waving to us.

Entering the yard, we looked around. It is an age-old yard, with a two-story house in the middle. In front of the house, there are several custom vehicles. On the wall of the yard, there are various license plates and photos of car races. The decor serves as a record of the glory of the owner of the house in his car-racing career. Over thirties years ago in 1981, Zeng Fanren placed sixth in the Asian Motorcar Cross-country Championship in Japan. In 2005, he became the champion of China Circuit Championship. In 2013, he got the gold medal in the Miracle Oil Cup Automobile Rally Race in Korea.

“I have rebuilt the house by myself.” Zeng Fanren told us. Several years ago, he came across this place and felt a strong attachment to it on first sight, so he bought it and moved here. Together with his two pupils, they spent a whole week redecorating it. This simple home has hosted many great figures in the motorsports circle, Michael Schumacher, Chinese car racer Han Han, Jimmy Lin, to name just a few.

As we were talking, a train came rambling behind the house. He explained the house was located near the Beijing-Guangdong Railway, so there were regular roaring trains passing by. We wondered that as Zeng Fanren had accumulated great wealth as well as fame, he would afford an expensive house in a downtown area or a luxurious estate in the countryside, but why did he prefer such a humble location?

Zeng Fanren didn’t respond to our question immediately, instead, he showed us his private collections. Among them, there were the helmet sent by Li Ming, a popular HongKong singer, as a token of friendship; an F1 racing suit signed by Michael Schumacher; a Spiderman suit, a James Bond suit, and so on. Each piece of the collection had a memorable story behind it.

The First Man Ever Driving through Kekexili

In 1978, when he was 16 years old, he joined an automobile platoon in the army on the Qinghai-Tibet Road. Quickly he fell in love with the automobile. One year later, he was recommended by the army to learn advanced motorcar driving in Japan because of his excellent performance in the army. He began to learn car stunt skills and became crazy about it.

In 1981, there were some Chinese people who attempted to drift by canoe from the origin of Changjiang River (in the Three–River-Source Region of Qinghai) down to the sea. Among them, some were army soldiers and some were the local residents—some of them died due to a lack of protective equipment and the rescue teams even couldn’t find their bodies. Their bold and brave actions had greatly inspired Zeng Fanren. He understood, they did it because they wanted to conquer the origin of the Changjiang River before foreign expedition teams did so and set the records. In the same province, there was another place that had not yet been conquered by any human being—Kekexili, or Hoh Xil—which then became Zeng’s target.

However, Kekexili is a world famous area for its wretched weather and harsh environment unfit for survival. There is a saying, “In Budongquan (Non-Freezing Spring) region (in Kekexili), one can see hail in the morning, lightning in the evening, and snow and storms even in the sunshine.” It is a vivid description of Kekexili’s dangerous geological conditions.

The annual average temperature is 4-10 degrees Celsius below zero, the lowest recorded temperature is 46 degrees below zero. Before Zeng Fanren, no one had conquered the Kekexili. However facing such terrifying conditions, Zeng Fanren had a simple plan, “I will bring five tanks of gasoline, each bucket will last 400 kilometers, five buckets will make 2000 kilometers, on the condition that the car is still working, with sufficient supplies,iwill make it.”

In 1986, Zeng Fanren started his journey to conquer Kekexili at the age of 24. His equipment included four barrels of gasoline, four boxes of tools, clothing, two clocks, a shotgun and compressed biscuits. Because of the high altitude in Kekexili, the lack of oxygen in the air, the car can’t be left not running too long, otherwise it won’t start again. Due to the lack of oxygen, the motorcar seemed much heavier than usual, and it would be hard to lift the motorcar if it were to fall in a ditch. There was one time, when going through the swamp, the motorcar stalled and fell in the mud. He narrowly escaped the death. There were other dangers like threats from Tibetan antelopes, bears, wolves, and so on. At night, he could not sleep too long, because if he did, the lack of oxygen might make him unable to wake up, so he set two clocks to wake himself up after 20 minutes’ nap.

After five nights and six days of trekking, he had succeeded inpassing through Kekexili. When he showed up at the exit of Kekexili, the awaiting media cheered welcome. Zeng Fanren was very proud to be the first recorded human to conquer the forbidden area of Kekexili, home or abroad.

Since then, Zeng Fanren has become known for his courage. In 2006, when the Beijing Olympic Games selected mascots, the Qinghai Provincial Government wanted to arrange a group of journalists to take photos of a Tibetan antelope in Kekexili. As a guide to the group, Zeng Fanren escorted the 70 journalists into Kekexili, to start a shooting journey of Tibetan antelope, which lasted 19 days. After the shooting, he escorted the journalists out safely.

Asian Motor Racer in Hollywood

●Photo by Zheng Guangsong鄭光松 攝

Opportunity is always reserved for those who are prepared. In 2006, the Hollywood Fermat Stunt Team came to China to give a show—people were fascinated by the performance. After Zeng Fanren watched the show, he realized he could also do these stunts. He went to the team manager and expressed his willingness to join the team. The manager wasn’t impressed by his plain appearance and questioned him: “What can you do?”

“I can do all the stuntsisaw in the show,” his answer surprised the team manager. He proved himself with a 540-degree high-speed drift in a car that silenced the stunt team. Thus, he joined the Hollywood stunt team.

In Jackie Chan’s movie Rush Hour III, there is one scene where he is fighting against an opponent in a car sliding along the ground on its side. It was Zeng Fanren who was driving that car. Because of this, he won the title of “King of car racing in Asia.”

One of his friends told us, when he was in Hollywood, his superb stunt skills aroused many fans’ attention, and some asked him: “Are you Japanese or Korean?” Zeng Fanren explained politely each time: “I am Chinese.iam from China.”

He grew tired of explaining again and again, so he coordinated a stunt performance where he jumped out of a moving car holding the national flag of China in his hands. In this way, he was telling the world “I am from China.”

Even though he only studied in primary school for three years, Zeng Fanren has been to over 70 countries and he is capable of speaking five foreign languages. He shows profound love for his motherland of China.

On the top of his trophy shelf, there is a small worn flag that Zeng Fanren cherishes dearly. “This is the very flagihad on my car, wheniwas on my Silk Road Journey three years ago.” This journey traversed the entire ancient Silk Road and took two months. After the journey, he took it from the car and put it here, as a reminder of the good memory.” He said proudly.

In 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture launched the One Silk Road One Economic Belt Expedition.” It was sponsored by the Chinese Society of Social Art, CCTV, Central New Group, the Devon Lida Group, and the Belt and Road Construction and Cooperation Committee. It is the largest and most influential cultural exchange and economic and trade promotion activity covering the most countries and lasting longer than any other event of its kind, and involves almost every aspect of life in the countries along the Silk Road.

On August 8th, Zeng Fanren, leading the team, started the expedition from Shanghai, left China from Horgos, passed through over ten nations, such as Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Greece, and others. After 73 days, covering 16,000 kilometers, they reached the Milan World Expo on October 19th, the final destination of the journey.

With racing suits, car models, calligraphy scrolls, paintings, and various tea sets collected from all over the world, Zeng Fanren’s house is like a small museum, packed with precious treasures and fascinating stories, arousing our curiosity and attention, so much so that we completely lost track of time...

At sunset, we bid our farewells. A train was roaring through. Zeng Fanren explained finally, “Wheniwas young,ilived by the railroad, at that time,ilived a very poor life, starving everyday. Now,iam rich, butiwill not forget my past life. So living by the railroad reminds me of the past constantly.”

Zeng Fanren said this peacefully, but with great force.

The road ahead is long and has no ending, yet Zeng Fanren will persue his passion for car racing with an unbending will. Now, he is engaging himself in turning his car racing career into a business model and establishing a club named Celebrity Car Racing (Hubei). It is a cultural and tourism investment club. In combination with many top sportsmen, celebrities, and car racing fans from all walks of life, Zeng Fangren wants to share his love for cars, his car racing stories, and explore car racing with more enthusiasts.

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車神初印象

他叫曾凡仁，1962年出生于武漢江夏。

2017年3月31日下午，記者根據車神曾凡仁提供的地址，驅車前往武漢江夏，專程拜訪這位賽車界的傳奇人物。

車至江夏，從城區寬敞的大道轉入泥濘的小路，轉過幾道彎，穿過幾排民房，眼前所見是一個略顯破舊的民房。當記者正在遲疑是否走錯路時，只聽一陣狗吠，緊接著，穿著賽車服的曾凡仁笑著出來迎接。

進入院子，記者仔細端詳四周：這是一個古樸的院子，一座兩層的木質小樓略顯破舊，院里停放著幾輛改裝過的汽車；兩旁的墻上掛滿了各式車牌、賽事現場的照片。這一切，都默默地記載著房屋主人曾經的輝煌：1981年，曾凡仁在日本獲得亞洲摩托車越野錦標賽第六名；2005年，獲廈門全國場地錦標賽冠軍；2013年，他在韓國奇跡潤滑油杯汽車拉力賽攬冠軍獎杯入懷……

“這個房子是我自己動手搭建起來的。”曾凡仁告訴記者，幾年前，他在鄉下發現了這個房子并“一見鐘情”，當即花錢買下并整體搬到這里。隨后，他和兩個徒弟花了整整七天時間重新搭建。誰也想不到，就是這樣一個簡陋的宅院，甚至接待過舒馬赫、韓寒、林志穎等大牌賽車手、明星。

說話間，一陣轟隆隆的火車聲傳入耳畔。原來，院子旁邊緊鄰京廣線鐵路，不時有往來的火車呼嘯而過，不勝其擾。記者不禁疑惑：車神曾凡仁名利兼有，以他的實力，無論是在繁華都市內購置房產，抑或是在清幽之處修建住宅，都并非難事，他為何偏偏選擇這樣一個地方定居？

面對記者的疑問，曾凡仁并沒有正面回答，而是熱情地向大家一一展示他收藏的“寶貝”：這里不僅有天王巨星黎明送的頭盔、舒馬赫送的親筆簽名F1賽車服，還有蜘蛛俠、007替身穿過的原版道具服……每一件物品的背后，都有一段值得回憶的故事。

獨自穿越可可西里第一人

1978年，16歲的曾凡仁參軍去了青藏的汽車排，從此愛上了車。1979年，因表現優秀，他被部隊推薦前往日本學習摩托車，開始接觸汽車特技動作，并癡迷其中。

1981年，為了搶在外國人之前，在中國人自己的母親河長江源頭即三江源漂流成功，部隊戰士和一些當地人用皮劃艇漂流。但因為沒有任何保護設施，很多人犧牲了，甚至連尸體都找不到。這件事給曾凡仁很大觸動，讓他產生了搶在外國人之前穿越可可西里的想法。

然而，可可西里是著名的生命禁區，惡劣氣候條件是出了名的。有民諺稱：“不凍泉、不凍泉，氣候一日三變化；朝砸冰雹暮落雨，照著太陽飄雪花。”這就是可可西里一天氣候變化的真實寫照。

可可西里的年均溫度零下4～10℃，最低溫度零下46℃。惡劣的環境讓人望而生畏，可曾凡仁的計劃卻簡單得驚人：“我帶五箱油，一箱能跑400多公里，這就是2000多公里；只要方向不錯、車不壞，帶足物資，就一定能穿越。”

1986年，24歲的曾凡仁帶上四桶汽油、四個工具箱、衣服、兩個鬧鐘、一把獵槍和壓縮餅干就出發了。由于可可西里無人區海拔高，氧氣稀少，車子不能熄火太長時間，在缺氧的環境下，車子顯得很重，車子倒下后一個人很難扶起來。在過一個沼澤地時，摩托車倒下熄火了，使他面臨很大的危險。還要面臨藏羚羊、熊和狼等動物的威脅。第一個晚上，他有點害怕，又不能睡太長時間，因極度缺氧，睡長后就起不來了。困了，他就用兩個鬧鐘定時，一般只休息20分鐘。

6天5晚之后，他終于走到可可西里的出口。在那里，他受到青海當地媒體記者的熱烈歡迎。震耳的歡呼聲中，曾凡仁激動萬分，因為中國人終于在外國人之前成功穿越可可西里無人區！

曾凡仁從此紅遍全國。2006年，北京奧運會征集吉祥物，青海省人民政府組織媒體深入可可西里，為藏羚羊拍照。作為第一個成功穿越可可西里的人，曾凡仁受命護送境內外70多名媒體記者進入可可西里，進行為期19天的拍攝活動。拍攝結束后，他再把記者們安全地送了出去。

亞洲車神勇闖好萊塢

機會總是留給有準備的人。2006年，好萊塢費姆卡特技表演隊來華表演，精湛的車技引得現場一陣陣驚嘆聲。而這些項目正是曾凡仁平時愛玩的動作。他找到車隊經紀人，請求加入車隊。對方看他其貌不揚的樣子，不屑地說：“你會什么呢？”

“他們做的這些我都會。”曾凡仁的回答讓對方不可思議，然而，隨后他的一招“飛車空中旋轉”一圈半徹底征服表演隊。就這樣，曾凡仁被吸納成為隊員。

在成龍電影《尖峰時刻3》中，有一個鏡頭是成龍和搭檔坐在右側著地、左側騰空的面包車中和對手對打。這個和地面呈45度角的汽車特技鏡頭，就是曾凡仁表演的。“亞洲車神”名號從此不脛而走。

他的一位朋友告訴記者，曾凡仁剛到好萊塢時，精湛的車技就吸引了很多人的注意。很多人見他是黃皮膚、黑頭發，都問他是不是日本人、韓國人。曾凡仁每次都要向他們解釋：“我是中國人。”

后來，在一次車技表演中，他靈機一動，從側邊騰空的汽車車窗翻到車頂，將一面五星紅旗高高舉起，他用行動告訴觀眾：“我是一名中國人！”

雖然只上過小學三年級，但曾凡仁卻去過七十多個國家，會說五國語言。而且，他內心充滿濃濃的愛國情懷。

在曾凡仁的陳列柜上，有一面已經十分破舊的小國旗，但曾凡仁愛護有加。

“這面小紅旗在前年一帶一路萬里行中，一直插在我的車上，風雨兼程兩個多月，一直陪在我身邊，就像戰友一樣。所以我會一直把它保存下來。”言語中，亞洲車神的驕傲之情溢于言表。

2015年，由中國文化部主管，中國社會藝術協會、中央電視臺中央新影集團、德豐利達集團、“一帶一路”項目建設合作跨國圓桌會組委會共同舉辦“一帶一路”萬里行。這是國家“一帶一路”建設倡議下行程最長、跨度最大、涉及領域最廣的一項大型絲綢之路沿線文化交流經貿推廣活動。作為領隊，曾凡仁帶領隊友于8月8日從上海出發，經霍爾果斯出關，途經格魯吉亞、俄羅斯、土耳其、希臘等十余個國家，歷經73天，行程逾16000公里，于10月19日到達米蘭世博會。

賽車服、汽車模型、字畫，還有從全國各地搜羅回來的各種茶器……在車神曾凡仁的家中，滿屋子的“寶貝”，滿屋子的故事，猶如一個小型博物館。我們沉浸其中，不覺忘了時間的流逝……

夕陽西下。臨別時，又一輛火車呼嘯而過。伴著列車的轟鳴，曾凡仁終于向記者揭開那個關于鐵路的謎底：“我小時候家就住在鐵路旁。那個時候家里窮，連飯都吃不飽，現在條件富裕了，但我不能忘記自己的根本。所以，我特地選了這個靠近鐵路的地方，讓轟鳴的火車聲時刻提醒我，不能忘本。”

曾凡仁的話很樸實，但鏗鏘有力。

結束語

路漫漫其修遠兮。曾凡仁一生對車的追求已達到癡迷成癮的地步。如今，他正邁步把自己的喜好當作一種產業去打造。

據悉，曾凡仁己聯手各行各業多名高手、名人和熱愛汽車的發燒友，共同成立“名人名車(湖北)文創旅業投資俱樂部”，讓更多的人共享車情、車事、車趣！

（本文圖片除署名外，均由曾凡仁本人提供）

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