Getting a China driver's license
( 2003-11-14 10:31) (Shenzhen Daily)
Unlike most Westerners in
Shenzhen who don't want to risk driving in the city for fear of its
yet-to-be-orderly traffic, Chuck Smith, an American who have lived in Shenzhen
for more than five years, decided he would get a local driver's license. And he
got it one month ago.
Despite his complaints about many locals' impetuous driving habits and
insufficient law enforcement, Smith said since he was going to live longer here,
it was more worthwhile to have a car of his own than spending the time and money
on cabs or buses.
Therefore, through a friend who worked with a Shenzhen agency that takes care
of foreigners' driving needs, Smith presented his requests in August with a Hong
Kong based company that acted as an agent for foreigners to apply for driver's
licenses in China.
The Hong Kong agent responded by sending Smith a fax with these instructions:
"Please bring all the following information: passport copy (including the page
of visa); The (American) driving license copy; four red-color photos; 1,880 Hong
Kong dollars in cash and 100 Hong Kong dollars for lunch."
The fax asked him to take all this information and money to a place called
Changjiangsanxicun in the city of Zhongshan, about a three hour drive from
Shenzhen, to sit for a traffic rule examination and take a road test on any
Friday.
After arriving at the examination office in Zhonghshan and presenting his
money and documents, Smith was given a book in English about Chinese traffic
signs and rules. After studying it for about 45 minutes, the exam began. He
found it a little bit ridiculous because every examinee was free to consult the
book for answers.
A road test followed the exam. Smith was put into a van with seven other
people. Each of them, mostly Hong Kongers, drove the van for less than a minute.
After that Smith was given a receipt and told that he would come back or go to
the Hong Kong company after two weeks to get his driver's license.
The end of the story is that Smith returned to Zhonghshan and got his China
driver's license two weeks later.
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