Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
Yes, it's last minute, that's for sure. There's a tight budget, but we've been travelling on a shoe-string for months. We've got some cash in reserve, should it be needed.
Perhaps I'm biting off more than I can chew, especially without speaking Chinese. We can always scrap the China motorbike plan, enjoy SW China with public transport, and then pick up a Dnepr/Ural/Jawa/Izh etc. in Kyrgyzstan for a few hundred dollars, and have fun getting that home.
"Also when you are at the borders trying to exit PRC then there might be a major problem. " - Yes, that does sound like it could be a problem. Did you mean because of the license, or the bike not being registered in my name on the documents (or both? :-)
I will try to find some more information on the likelihood of getting across China and into Kyrgyzstan without any major problems. It's very difficult to judge though just surfing the net though.
Both... if you have a bike plated legally in another persons name you have to have a letter giving you approval/authority to ride the bike and take it out of the country. If you have a Waide plate or some such then this document aint worth anything... the bike stays! If you don't have a PRC DL then you might not be allowed to leave the country on it for obvious reasons. It's the DL that you really need to square away first IMO. Your time frame and budget are your next major obstacles to say nothing of the challenge and pure frustration you might/will have... with language. You need to have some idea of some simple vocabulary. If you have not already, you should be reading www.thegreatrideofchina.com
Might be better to use this trip as a scoping trip to work out for next time?
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Sounds promising, I will look into it:
http://www.yabroad.com/i/10437/how-t...ense-in-china/
..It is not difficult to get a temporary driver's license in China, in case you already have a driver's license. Note though, you will need an international driver's permit along with your national permit. It's not enough to bring only your driver's license to the traffic police. So remember to get an international driver's permit from your home country as well and bring it to China.
Generally you can go directly to the traffic police department in your city with your documents and application form, and the police officers will issue you a provisional driver's license after you do a health check. If you are tired of going to the traffic police again and again you can ask an agent to do it for you...
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
I'm to Manila now to be there when the embassy opens in the morning, perhaps we can get the visa here, and save some time/expense in Macau. Have done all the forms/flights/hotel bookings etc. this afternoon. Thanks again for info.
Maybe the temporary driver's license can be the solution, and it can all be legal. I've taken a truck-drivers license in Minsk (Belarus), so I've got an idea about soviet-inspired bureaucracy. The health check took two days being sent round a hospital with handfuls of receipts and other papers, all whilst being scolded for not knowing precisely how things are done. In China we would need to find a friend to help us, I think we will though.
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
Sounds promising, I will look into it:
http://www.yabroad.com/i/10437/how-t...ense-in-china/
..It is not difficult to get a temporary driver's license in China, in case you already have a driver's license. Note though, you will need an international driver's permit along with your national permit. It's not enough to bring only your driver's license to the traffic police. So remember to get an international driver's permit from your home country as well and bring it to China.
Generally you can go directly to the traffic police department in your city with your documents and application form, and the police officers will issue you a provisional driver's license after you do a health check. If you are tired of going to the traffic police again and again you can ask an agent to do it for you...
:lol8::lol8::lol8:
Sorry David don't be leave all that you read on websites it took me 3 years to get a Chinese DL for most province you need a 6 month visa but some province you can do the test with a 3 month visa then you need a address in china sometimes you can use your hotel address or a friends address but as the website mention it could take 2/3 months to sort out . With all this sorted out you need to pass the test need 90 out of a 100 to pass took me 3 times to pass heheh but download a app called "Drive in China" and have a go not easy !!! TIC (This is China)
Well good luck and keep posting to how you get on many people would be interested to hear
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
First, check about visa issuance in Hong Kong (HK). Email some visa agents and see if they can help. Recently, HK has tightened up considerably and requires non-HK residents to acquire their China visa in their home countries. Only restricted visas for parts of Guangdong (as a tour) or Hainan are available in HK.
Second, temporary licenses are virtually worthless. Nobody is really sure why the government even bothers. They are ONLY valid for rental cars, from approved rental agencies, and can only be driven within the city that issues them. (EDIT - oh yeah, and most of those "approved" rental agencies will not rent to a foreigner - I think it is designed for overseas Chinese coming back home to the motherland). A very few motorcycle tour companies can get temporary driving licenses on pre-arranged tour routes for restricted periods of time.
Third, this topic has been discussed ad naseum in this forum. It seems everyone wants to come to China and ride a motorcycle. Given your parameters, you have one option - to do it completely illegally, but even that won't work. Aside from the Driving License issue (you won't get the proper one), you have the issue of bike registration and insurance. Because you will undoubtedly not meet the residency requirement for vehicle registration, you will need to register the bike in some Chinese person's name (I assume you don't know anyone). And as far as getting the bike out of the country - it won't happen, either because you are on an illegal bike, or because it is registered in someone else's name and you don't have the "proper" permission letter.
Listen to Bikerdoc ... use this as the beginning of a learning experience for your next visit.
Good luck.
PS: By the way, Macau is not as inexpensive as it used to be, relative to HK, subsequent to the big casinos moving into town.
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Thanks for the info on the temporary licenses. Is it certain this is a dead-end then?
I don't see why the bike registration and insurance should be a major problem though, given we find someone to register the bikes name in, or buy a used bike, as far as I understand. It's the license that seems to be the kicker.
I'm not sure we'd be in a better situation if we returned next time, the license would still be the problem unless we had residence status?
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
Thanks for the info on the temporary licenses. Is it certain this is a dead-end then?
Yes, they are worthless - and not available for motorcycles (except, as noted, on a very few pre-arranged tours).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
I don't see why the bike registration and insurance should be a major problem though, given we find someone to register the bikes name in, or buy a used bike, as far as I understand. It's the license that seems to be the kicker.
OK, if you are buying used ... maybe. Maybe, just maybe, you can get the bike out of the country because you have the perfect permission letter, written in Chinese, that will satisfy the Chinese exit-border-guards. But I don't think that Chinese letter will do you much good in the next country, or the one after that, etc., etc., etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
I'm not sure we'd be in a better situation if we returned next time, the license would still be the problem unless we had residence status?
Sad, but true. You are definitely NOT the first person whose dream of riding across China has been stomped on by the rules of China. There are, however, a few who have successfully thrown caution to the wind, and just done it completely illegally. Usually, though, we don't hear about the unsuccessful ones - they tend to be quiet about acquiring a new boyfriend in a Chinese prison.
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
because you have the perfect permission letter, written in Chinese, that will satisfy the Chinese exit-border-guards. But I don't think that Chinese letter will do you much good in the next country, or the one after that, etc., etc., etc.
Hi Lao Jia Hou
Please may I ask why do you think you could have a problem with other country border crossing Even if you have a letter of permission from the owner to take the bike out of China !
The reson I ask it that I am very soon doing that ! Taking "my" bike, but is in my wife name out of china and into Laos / Thailand I will have a letter from my wife giving permission to leave china with the bike , the letter is in chineses and English . For the life of me I can't think why other border crossing would ask to see the letter , not unless there can read Chinese and see from the blue book it is not in my name !! I could be wronge I hope I am not ! Your thinking behind your point would be helpfull in my up and coming trip
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davidzweig
Thanks for the info on the temporary licenses. Is it certain this is a dead-end then?
I don't see why the bike registration and insurance should be a major problem though, given we find someone to register the bikes name in, or buy a used bike, as far as I understand. It's the license that seems to be the kicker.
I'm not sure we'd be in a better situation if we returned next time, the license would still be the problem unless we had residence status?
Hi dave
You only need to have a 3/6 month visa with a address in china which could be a hotel !! And you have reported to the PSB. With all the correct translated docurment you can take the test it's not hard but does take a bit of time to sort out , now if you pass the test you should get a 5 year DL so your dreams to ride in china can be over the next 5 years
The hard part if the province you decide to sit the test requires you to have a 6 month !
Re: Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by
prince666
Hi Lao Jia Hou
Please may I ask why do you think you could have a problem with other country border crossing Even if you have a letter of permission from the owner to take the bike out of China !
The reson I ask it that I am very soon doing that ! Taking "my" bike, but is in my wife name out of china and into Laos / Thailand I will have a letter from my wife giving permission to leave china with the bike , the letter is in chineses and English . For the life of me I can't think why other border crossing would ask to see the letter , not unless there can read Chinese and see from the blue book it is not in my name !! I could be wronge I hope I am not ! Your thinking behind your point would be helpfull in my up and coming trip
Laos/Thailand (and Cambodia) aren't really a problem, especially if you have the proper permission letter also written in English, copies of her ID Card, etc. Those borders are comparatively easy crossings, with many travelers on bike and in cars doing it every day. In fact, I know that many illegal bikes with fake paperwork commonly cross.
Mongolia is also doable, at predetermined crossings, although the Mongolian Embassy strongly recommends that one has an "official translation" of each of the registration documents and permission letter (done by the Embassy, of course, for $50 US per document).
Where it gets tricky is when you get further afield. Speaking from experience, border guards have tremendous discretion - if they want to make your life difficult, because they had a fight with their wife, or because they didn't get their coffee break, they will.
There are reports over on HUBB about people getting stranded in no-man's land (that common stretch of a km, or two found between many border crossings), where the entering country said "nope, can't come in" and the exiting country saying "nope, can't come back". I can't recall which forum/blog I read it on, but two Chinese bikes heading into Mongolia were caught in this mess, and they were forced to sell their bikes to the "kind & considerate" border guards who offered them 10 cents on the dollar.
Then again, other crossing reports say "they didn't even ask to see my DL or registration".
