Driving in China? It brings to mind a sense of romantic danger as the little old man on the e-bike slides between huge 18-wheeler truck while cackling gleefully at some joke that is apparently more interesting than the immediate dangers posed to him the m
Driving in China? It brings to mind a sense of romantic danger as the little old man on the e-bike slides between huge 18-wheeler truck while cackling gleefully at some joke that is apparently more interesting than the immediate dangers posed to him the massive coffins of steel and rubber on either side of him.
Scary, right?
I’ll give you a second to stop shuddering. No, no one is asking you to drive through a crowded chinese street amidst the hustle and bustle of midday—or worse, get driven to some strange destination on the back of an e-bike.
All day, we see people driving. Driving to work, driving home, driving to visit family members, driving for fun—but why don’t we see many foreigners driving?
Were there are two big reasons
1. There is a certain stigma attached to driving in china for foreigners.
When asked about what we think about driving in china the more timid among us will say “oh no, I’m fine with the train system here. It’s so wonderful,” while the more outspoken foreigner might say, “Drive in china? What? Are you crazy?” While either laughing or giving you a funny look.
2. Most foreigners have clue where to even begin if they want to get a license.
Regardless of where we stand on this matter, the truth is that foreigners are allowed to drive in China, but the process of getting a license as a foreigner is anything but simple.The labyrinthine rules surrounding foreign driver licenses are so confusing but we hope that this can serve as a resource for those of you who choose to drive in China.
Driving in China for visitors on a short stay is surprisingly easy.
Temporary visitors can apply for a special temporary permit that lasts the duration of their stay.
One question that is often asked is wether or not the International Driver’s Permit is valid or not.
Some expats in China may possess an International Driver’s Permit (IDP); however, Mainland China does not recognise this permit. Fortunately, the law does vary on this. Some Foreign residents may be eligible to cover their IDP into a Chinese driving license if they take additional tests.
The “may” in the last sentence is important because there is no hard and fast rule on such a matter and it can vary between places. For example, it is easy to get a provisional driver’s license in Beijing though the Beijing Capital Airport, but even in a tier-1 city like Beijing or Shenzhen, It can be very difficult to get a regular license, especially as a foreigner.
A Hong Kong Identity card and a Hong Kong licenses used to allow residents of Hong Kong to change their license over to a Mainland license, but more stringent regulations has put a stop to this method. Everyone must pass a test in order to get a driver’s license
The next question that comes out of everyone mouth is always “how hard is this test?”
You must get 90% of the questions correct on a 100 questions exam. The test’s difficult varies because in 2013 a new motor vehicle teaching curriculum was implemented that introduced many questions that were previously not included on the test, this is compounded by the fact that there are over 900 different questions that the DMV has in it’s database, so if two different people were to sit next to each other, they may both have a completely different set of question. What’s more is that the new question bank is intentionally not published by Traffic Manage Bureau so that people must actually learn how the rules and regulations instead of just memorising a set of questions.
Think you’re ready to tackle the test and become to newest driver in china? Think again, beyond taking the test you must compile and an extensive amount of paperwork. You can do this all by yourself but all this paperwork takes multiple trips to and from the DMV. Maybe people, foreign and Chinese alike, resort to paying the local driving schools to rid themselves of all this traveling. Getting your license in china takes time, and some may question why you’re doing it in the first place, but it is indeed possible to get your license in china as a foreigner. While it certainly isn’t easy to get a Driver’s license in China, it isn’t nearly as difficult as one would imagine.
