I saw these engines everywhere I went in china in 1991 which is why I titled this photo, ‘Engine of Growth'. I saw this type of engine powering so many different things – they seemed to be everywhere.
This crew is inside the Forbidden City, on their way to some restoration site.
I think the foot pedal is some form of brake but I never figured out if the engine drove the wheels or if it just drove the belt and the belt driven wheel was linked to the wheels.
I wonder how easy these combinations are to drive. The driver here seems to be concentrating on the task but maybe there were people ahead of him or he was seeing some other situation develop. It certainly doesn't look as though you have the control finesse of a pickup truck or even tractor and trailer.
