For the past 4 years I have had a Chinese driver's license. I own my own 4WD vehicle (pictured above), which is excellent for exploring the lesser known areas of Tibet. A Chinese drivers license is required in order to drive in China. You cannot use a foreign issued drivers license or an international drivers license. If you are caught driving in China without a proper license, you can expect to be fined heavily. Getting a drivers license in China is fairly straightforward, though probably is a bit more stressful than getting a license in your home country. Licenses are issued by the 车管所 (Che Guan Suo) the part of the government dealing with road licenses. Every city and large town across China will have a Che Guan Suo. If you hold a resident permit for China (ie. a work visa or student visa) then you qualify for a driver's license.
There are several documents that you will need to have prepared before going to the Che Guan Suo. You will need to have your passport and visa officially translated by a translation company. You will also have to have your drivers license from your home country officially translated into Chinese. If you do not hold a drivers license in your home country then you will have to go to driving school in China. These schools usually take 6 to 10 weeks to complete (I have heard these courses are NOT easy). If you hold a foreign drivers license, you do not need to take the driving test, but you do need to take the written test.
Before taking the written test, you will need to take a hearing and vision test. These tests are quick and seem to be a bit of a joke. After taking these tests, you turn in all of your paperwork and wait for a test date to be given to you. Usually you can take the test within 2 days.
The written test is on a computer. It is 100 questions and you have to score a 90% or better in order to pass. You are given 45 minutes to take the multiple choice test. When I took the test, it was in Chinese, but I have heard that more and more cities on the east coast have the test available in English. The test is not that easy. You will need to study the book that the test is based on. Since you have to score 90% or higher, there is not much room for error.
After taking the test, you can find out right away if you passed or not. If you failed, you can schedule another test date. If you passed, you can get your drivers license the next day. All together, it took me about 4 days to get my license in hand.
If you don't hold a resident permit for China, it is still possible for you to get a Chinese drivers license. There are several on-line companies that can arrange a license for you even if you hold a tourist visa. Check out the following links for more details:
Drivers License Service Beijing
There are becoming more and more places across China where you can rent a vehicle. Every major city now has several companies that rent cars. As a foreigner, as long as you hold a valid Chinese driver's license you should be able to rent a car. Rental policies are pretty standard. Vehicles are rented out on a daily, weekly or monthly rate. With your drivers license, you will also need to bring in your passport. For daily and weekly rates, a deposit of Y3000 to Y5000 is usually required. Monthly rates may require a larger deposit. Rental prices range from Y180 per day for a small car to Y650+ per day for an SUV/4X4 vehicle. You are allowed 200 to 300 kilometers per day for each day you rent the car. If you go over the allowed kilometers, there is a surcharge for each additional kilometer.
Even if you have a Chinese drivers license, you still have to be part of a tour in order to travel in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). There is no way around this. You most likely will not be allowed permission to rent a vehicle and drive it into the TAR. If you own your own vehicle that is licensed in China and want to travel to the TAR, it is possible to arrange this, though it will take some work. You will need to find an agency that will submit the necessary paperwork for you to drive your own vehicle to Lhasa. You will still have to have a guide with you, but it is possible to drive your own Chinese registered car into the TAR.
The Kham and Amdo regions found in Qinghai, western Sichuan, southwest Gansu or northwest Yunnan provinces are open and do not require any tours, guides or permits. These areas are home to over 60% of the Tibetan population and are some of the best places to see traditional Tibetan culture.. Though there are many checkpoints in these areas, it is relatively easy to drive through these regions. If you are wanting to be more adventurous, there are detailed road maps of each county in the Amdo and Kham areas that are available at major bookstores in Xining, Chengdu and Lanzhou.
If you have any questions regarding travel in Tibet or which travel agency to use, please send an email to [email protected]
My, that seems like an adventurous place for driving. The roads look moderately rough, but the selling point is the scenery. I'm guessing that cars can be a rare sight there, and the environment almost feels as though no car had been there before.
Posted by: Delsie Maidens | February 22, 2012 at 10:37 PM
Thanks for the link Travis.I have had several people ask me recently about driving in Tibet and how to get a Chinese drivers license.
Hopefully you and I can do a bit of traveling in Kham later this year!
Posted by: Losang | March 25, 2010 at 08:00 AM
Hi Losang, Thanks for all the great info. I just passed my license and hope to be on the road soon in a rented car.
I found a flashcard deck with all the 1300 questions one needs to study to pass the driving test. Here's the link.
http://www.howchinaworks.com/shop/software/chinese-driving-license-trainer/prod_5.html
Incidentally, it's a deck for the amazing flashcard program: Anki. Good for language study as well!!
Cheers,
Travis in Xining
Posted by: Travis McCauley | March 24, 2010 at 07:03 PM