| Do foreigners in China drive for sightseeing? | |
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| Oct 27, 2007 21:50 |   |
 | I chatted with my friends yesterday when we reach a confusion.She argues that that all foreigners in China themselves don't drive for sightseeing. Is that so? |
| Oct 28, 2007 02:02 | #1 |
| Well Gurty, I'm sure that many foreigners including myself would very much prefer to self drive for sightseeing for these reasons Comport, flexibility and travel at own pace However, very few us do because of these reasons 1. Cannot always read road signs or maps 2. Neither our Driver's Licences or International Licences are recognized in China (except Hainan) 3. Hiring a vehicle is not as cheap as we'd expect or practical for covering long distances 4. Hiring a vehicle/taxi and driver for a few hours or a day is a practical option for a group of three or more to cover sights around a city or an area where distances are not so far. Travellers to many other countries generally have the option of hiring or more likely buying a car and driving thousands of kilometres across country or many countries and selling the vehicle at the end of the trip. This is what I did with a friend many years ago. We bought a VW van in London and drove all over southern Europe eventually selling our van in Greece. And again on a trip to USA, my sister and I bought a car and drove through the southern states and Mexico for several weeks but that car died on us and we were unable to recover the money we spent on the purchase. This option, I think is still a long way off in China. |
| Oct 28, 2007 08:18 | #2 |
| Well I have my China drivers license and just bought an inexpensive Chinese car.. Geely.. So yes I do drive myself all over and sight see. A map helps and most road signs have the pinyin and the Chinese.. Note.. It's not an easy process to get a drivers license.. REnting a car for a US citizen is way easy in major cities like Beijing. A drivers license and credit card are all you need with your passport. THey have a Hertz. Driving in China is a bit weird as no one seems to follow the rules. |
| Oct 31, 2007 17:10 | #3 |
| Driving in China is like a bumper cars ride at the fair grounds. A foreigner who is here on a short vacation would be crazy to do their own driving so see the sights etc. |
| Oct 31, 2007 22:43 | #4 |
| Robertj said : "REnting a car for a US citizen is way easy in major cities like Beijing. A drivers license and credit card are all you need with your passport. THey have a Hertz." Can you say more about this? Can anyone else? Which cities? I thought it was never possible to drive in China withpout a Chinese driver's licence. |
| Nov 10, 2007 20:39 | #5 |
| i think this changed in early 2007 however i do not know the specifics. here, read this http://wikitravel.org/ |
| Nov 23, 2007 20:42 | #6 |
| Hi ya all Well at the end of may I took my driving test in china! because I already have a uk license all I had to do was a computer theory test. Answer 100 questions in a time limit, it was very easy, Then hey presto a 6 year licence! I am lucky because my wife already has a car in china so I was driving straight away, every day as she does not like to drive. We often drive to go site seeing within around 300klm after that its more easy to take the train, + the cost of the train is much less, its also a good ride with a different experiance everytime. |
| Nov 23, 2007 22:28 | #7 |
| Obtaining a drivers license in China really does vary from incidence to incidence. Even in our city I know of various foreigners who got their driving licenses but not one (unless they did it at the same time) had the same experience. All did not need to take the full test as they all had a driving license from their home country already, but some had to take a theory test, some had to take a shortened theory test, some didn't have to take the theory test at all! All had to do the sight and sound test though. Gurty, to answer your question, yes! Of course, I go sight-seeing by car! However, as Jabarootoo says, I suspect most foreigners can't or wouldn't because of the difficulties involved. I also think the longer one is in China, the more likely they are to do so, especially as more and more people buy cars. I do know, in Beijing at least, it's possible to hire cars without a China driving license - not sure how that works, but this is China! |
| May 4, 2008 07:25 | #8 |
| Updating this thread. Over this May Day holiday I had the wonderful opportunity to take a four day road trip with two friends. We three women had a great and sometimes hilarious time despite just a little concern by local Chinese friends and family. We were two foreigners and my closest Chinese friend, whose family car we were driving. We were sent out with final salutations to 'drive carefully' (These from my well meaning friends who have driven less than one year or not at all) and there was also a thunderstorm with heavy rain predicted after a day or so. This was also dampening other spirits but not mine! Read on............. |
| May 4, 2008 07:25 | #9 |
| Our circumstances enabled us to leave just after lunch on Wednesday, before the rush which also allowed to arrive at our furthest destination before night fall having taken express way for the majority of the distance. Once we got off the motorway onto secondary roads the conditions were surprisingly good, albeit windy, there was so little traffic and despite seldom getting out of third gear, I haven't had so much fun behind the wheel in a long time. We ventured into a supposedly wild area of northwestern Guizhou and southern Chongqing, and apart from the times we spent in larger towns or tourist spots driving was very relaxing. One of the most hilarious incidents was the morning we spent almost two hours struggling to leave one of the premier tourist attractions after incoming cars and buses clogged the road. We had spent the night in a small guesthouse just outside the gate, anticipating a reasonably early departure in the morning but as things would happen we dawdled, as well as writing some information in English for the proprietors. We were further delayed after the arrival of some relatives, sporting a damaged front end after an altercation with a taxi in the city of He Jiang the day before. They could not open the drivers door for the rest of their trip. My friend spent the time encouraging other travellers to be patient, to stay on their side of the road, even asking some to move back to their side of the road. We had made a serious oversight, forgetting how narrow one section of this road was was sometimes only one lane wide with overhanging rocks making the dual lanes difficult to negotiate. Unfortunately traffic control for this, the busiest day was overlooked until it became a problem. The police when they arrived where very good and eventually got things cleared. We had a police escort out of the car park across two bridges but shortly after that we spent another hour and a half shuffling cars and helping four large tourist buses squeeze by, wing mirrors tucked in with just mms to spare. This was followed up watching a local bus, now emptied of passengers doing a 200 point turn pushing bamboo stems with it's rear and avoiding a rock wall in front. What at first looked like an irritating delay to our days somewhat leisurely and unplanned adventures became an entertaining and sometimes very amusing morning. At the end of the day we achieved what we had planned and arrived in He Jiang to learn just how easy it would be for us to also have a serious altercation with a local taxi!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| May 4, 2008 07:30 | #10 |
| All in all a great trip with loads of opportunities to spend quality time with locals - ordinary people, farmers, shopkeepers, innkeepers, hairdressers and their children and learn a little of their stories, struggles and achievements. We visited several very interesting old villages, driving through bamboo forests, undulating hills, flooded rice paddies, and down river valleys and narrow red gorges and venturing into cities only if we had to pass through or find a hotel. Of course this could not have been possible without the interest, support ,negotiations, map and sign reading and translation by my wonderful friend. We also have an amateur and very funny video to share with friends who wanted to come but thought four days was too long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was also quite funny listening to people when they noticed not one but two Laowei driving a car. Not surprising since we were of course in areas that few foreigners would go to in a private vehicle. We began to joke that our Chinese friend was also a foreigner. We are now planning another trip. I can't wait. |
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