Long haul events have to be gravel events. Gravel spec cars, spares and equipment are loaded up for Rally Mexico, then travel to Argentina before arriving at Rally Australia this year. The cost of transport tarmac spec cars for a single event is out of reach for competitors. So it does not make any sense to be looking at Beijing as a Chinese based round. Yet the WRC Promoter and Car companies refuse to see past the major eastern Chinese cities. Any Chinese competitor or western onlooker like myself will tell you that Zhangye is the choice event for the WRC within China that is ready to go. Any other event would have to be built up from the ground up, as no other event exists that will correlate with the WRC wishes.