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Driving through China
Jan 17, 2009 10:01
guest-Neil Hi Folks

I'm hoping to drive my 4x4 from the UK to Laos/Vietnam and back as part of an adventure holiday but keep coming across problems with this.

As you cannot travel through Myanmar/Burma with a vehicle I was thinking of going thorugh Kyrgyzstan and through China but see from this site that you cannot drive in China without a Chinese driving licence. Does anyone know if there is another way to legally drive in China if you are just passing thorugh?

Any advice you can give me would be greadtly appreciated.

Neil
Jan 17, 2009 22:50
#1  
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You'll have trouble bring your vehicle into China too and especially in tibet. Lots of red tape.

Did anyone ever see the 100 Anniversary re-run of the Peking to Paris Rally. They brought five vintage cars into China and flimed the epic to Paris.
Gves you some idea of what it is like to get permission to bring foreign vehicles into the country.


Jan 25, 2009 02:24
#2  
GUEST16480 Hi Neil

Just seen your note by chance on this web site.
Myself and my girlfriend are too planning a trip to drive across China into Loas & SE Asia. We are intending a trip from London to Sydney in our Toyota RAV 4, heading off hopefully around May time.
In terms of driving your own car through China, our research so far has led us to 2 or 3 web sites which specialises in taking clients along a pre determined itiniary through China. A couple of such companies is NAVCO and China Adventure Travel Service.

Apparently with china, all self drivers are required to have a Chinese guide accompany them in their car throughout the whole trip, so you are not only paying for your own stay, but one other too. These comapnies will sort out visas, temporary licence plates for your car, your own temporary chinese driving licence (the international one isn't valid), etc. I suspect this is no more than a few forms to be filled in, but that's the way it is unfortunately.

We haven't yet set an itinary and are only at the stage in making contact with these people, so if you are interested in travelling in convoy, drop me a line to hotmail.co.uk|jmdunford

Happy travels anyway

John & Penny
Jan 30, 2009 10:00
#3  
GUESTCHARLIE W Neil,

I am currently planning a similar trip, from the UK via Russia and then Mongolia, through China then into SE Asia, then back into China (i.e. around Burma) to get into India and onwards.

Currently researching if there are any UK / foreign agencies that can process licenses and vehicle permits (you need both) in advance so happy to let you know how I get on with this and to share info. Haven't come across any info re having to have a Chinese guide with you for the duration of the trip (I've spoken to the AA and they didn't mention this as a requirement).

If you can reply with your e-mail address I'll let you know how I get on.

Charlie
Jan 30, 2009 21:10
#4  
GUEST-NEIL Hi Guys

Thanks for the responses.

John & Penny - Don''t think I''ll be ready that early in the year (credit crunch is biting) but would be very interested to find out how you get on. I''ll drop you an email.

Charlie - I had also been thinking about going the Russia route, especially if China is going to be too difficult to get through, would hate to miss Laos though so please do let me know how you get on.
hotmail.co.uk|Neil.Kellaway

If anyone else is organising a similar trip let me know, these trips are always easier with a few vehicles travelling together. Or if anyone has done this trip before I''d love to get any tips/recommendations.

I'll be travelling from Scotland when I get going.
Apr 2, 2010 07:10
#5  
GUEST10463 Update on my earler note posted over a year ago when we were planning our trip to drive from London to Sydney in our Toyota RAV 4. As off early April 2010 we have arrived in Malaysia having driven about 17,000 miles through Eastern Europe, the Stans, China and South East Asia - all was fanastic and would reccomend it to anyone else. The borders and permits and everything else wasn't all that hard in the end.

Anyone else thinking about such a trip have a look at our Blog on www.getjealous.com/pennyandjohn and feel free to drop us an E mail with any queries on hotmail.co.uk|jmdunford

Happy travels everyone....
Apr 25, 2011 08:06
#6  
GUEST81205 Hi there,
My husband and l are setting off from the Uk to Australia overland starting in April 2012. We wondered if any other travellers were going to do a similar trip, we will be going to China also, as a guide is needed to travel with you for the length of your stay in China this of course is expensive. Therefore if we could travel through china with other overlanders this would be great to keep the cost down as then we can share the guide.
If anybody is interested and our time scale matches anybody elses then please contact us.

yahoo.com.au|Jackie.sutcliffe


Apr 26, 2011 20:42
#7  
GUESTJERRYWIX If you're planning on a career in sales, or would like to improve a lot more in this field, but do not know in what way to, then you have to speak to a recruitment organization. There's a lot of recruitment organizations which specilaise in identifying applicants for the most coveted jobs in the industry. A good firm provide you with the very best advice, mentoring and teaching needed to advance your own career.
Mar 28, 2012 03:34
#8  
GUEST90112 did anyone manage to do it in the end?
I want to drive through china on my way to pakistan
Mar 18, 2013 12:34
#9  
GUEST90134 Hi all, im planning a trip to drive our british registered car from Singapore back to England, as it seems that burma is a total no go, we want to drive from north Vietnam into Bhutan or Nepal.
Does anyone know if this is possible as China seems to be difficult aswell, any chinese travel guides or companies?

Thank you.
May 8, 2015 06:24
#10  
GUESTCHRISTINA Hello

Me and my friend are going to drive from Norway to Thailand in the summer. Can any of u help with info on visa to China.
I have a lot of truble at the embassy, getting the right info.

Thank you

- Christina :)
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