"In Beijing, it's fine now, but in other places, such as Hubei (province), I am still stopped and fined sometimes. There's no set penalty, it just ranges from 100 to 2,000 yuan," he said.

Although trailer RV fans can still face run-ins with the traffic police, the attitudes of provincial governments across the country seem to be changing, gradually. Policies supporting the development of the industry have been instigated in provinces ranging from frozen Heilongjiang in the north to the island resort of Hainan in the south.

But Wang said support is often limited at a local level. "Take Sanya in Hainan province as an example: We are only allowed to park our RVs in parking lots and even then, we're not allowed to open the awning, cook outside the vehicle, or even pitch tents," he said.

Restrictions of this sort cancel out the advantages of owning an RV. They've left potential buyers scratching their heads and questioning the value of buying such a vehicle when the overall experience is little different to simply driving a large car. The situation has had a negative effect on sales, leaving the 30-odd Chinese producers and retailers fighting for a share of a miniscule market already threatened by foreign producers.

The scale of production is restricted by limited market demand. That's had a knock-on effect on manufacturers as economies of scale are almost non-existent, resulting in the price of components being driven to exorbitant levels.

For example, Meng said the type of lock used in his RVs costs about 10 yuan in Western countries, but the price for a domestically produced item with no discernable difference in quality can be as much as 50 yuan.

Meng's Sojourner brand exclusively produces around 50 low-end teardrop trailers a year, each costing around 50,000 yuan. They're popular with his staple customer base of off-road drivers and fishing clubs.

"The seal edge for the door must be made of aluminum or stainless steel. I had to make the mold myself and then find a factory to produce it for me," said Meng. "Manufacturers will only accept orders weighing 500 kgs, but each door seal only weighs 0.15 kg, so the oversupply is massive." He said his company has also made 28 molds, greatly increasing his production costs.