How to lose your driving license...

...through a combination of unfortunate factors and stupidity. This is my story.

Two months ago i rode down to suzhou on a saturday to go meet some friends. In the evening we got plenty drunk and then headed home to grab some sleep. The next day i was supposed to meet some friends at Tianma racetrack to watch some racing in the afternoon. I woke up around 11, hopped on the bike and headed out towards the track, which is just inside the border of shanghai 'province'.

At the time the shanghai world expo was still going, meaning that every road leading into shanghai had big police blockades at the border where they checked every vehicle entering the city. All my papers are in order and i'd ridden through a few times before so, not worried, i stopped to show my license and documents. I stayed on my bike, helmet on, while the policeman took my documents inside to check them. While he was in there i took my helmet off so i could politley thank him when he came back out.

I took back my license with both hands and thanked him; that's when he smelled the alcohol on my breath from the night before and accused me of drunk driving. Sure i was pretty hungover, but i didn't imagine that would be an offence. Nevertheless i was made to blow in the alcotest machine, and guess what: i was over the limit by 0.01. The limit is 0.2 and i blew a sad 0.21. I pleaded my case and explained repeatedly that i had only been drinking the night before and that i was fine today but they were not taking any of it.

They took my license away but said i could keep the bike. I lost my license for 3 months and had to pay a 500 RMB fine. To get it back i must also attend 7 days of driving school (full days, not evening classes) and repass the theory test at the end. Of course this is china and if you are willing to pay then there are other ways. I did not want to waste one of my weeks of yearly leave for this farce only to fail the test at the end anyway, so with the help of the company driver we found a 'yellow cow' that can take care of all this for you. It costs 3000 kuai and for that someone is paid to attend the 7 days of school for me and sit the test, i don't even have to be present. I passed with flying colours, a proud 96%! I got an official certificate from the traffic bureau saying that i did all that and now i just need to wait for the end of my 3 month sentence to go and claim my license back.

I mentioned that they took my license at the checkpoint (50km out of shanghai city) but let me keep the bike. They told me i was not allowed to drive it home.
"what should i do with it then?"
was met with a shrug.
"can i push it home?"
shrug.
So i pushed it away until i was out of view then rode it back. What did they expect?

Conclusion / Things i could have done differently to avoid this stupid waste of time and money:
- brushed my teeth in the morning
- had breakfast
- had a bottle of green tea
- rode with my mouth open
- not tried to be polite by taking my helmet off
- not stopped at the police check, just like every other bike does

Felix,

thanks for having the cojones to tell this tale in public. Lotsa drink for thought here.

First, sorry you had to be the guinea pig. There are a lot of other riders out there I'd have preferred to see going through this, but, then again, none of them are on this board or literate enough to write about it.

Second, at one level it's comforting that China, or at least Shanghai, is starting to adopt assertive means to suppress drunk driving. Again, sorry it had to be you, particularly given the day-after circumstances, but I really do hope this snares some of the worst offenders and gets them off the roads.

Third, not surprised that you found a back-door solution to the driving school requirement, and glad you have the integrity to tell us how you handled this. In a perfect world, you wouldn't have had that option, but China remains far from perfect.

Fourth, for your candor I think all of us riders in China, especially those of us to tipple from time to time, owe you one for taking this on the chin and owning up to it. This will help us all to stay out of trouble. Next round is on me!

er, cheers!

Yeh, I know it's usually best to play it safe, but I'm reluctant to stop for police unless absolutely necessary. Coming in to Shanghai from Suzhou, my friends and I would usually take a back road, at least until they put checkpoints on each of the back roads, and moved the main checkpoint back about a kilometer. During expo we would wait till there was a truck going through and then sneak in behind it. Now however, the cops don't seem to bother with me when going through. =D That being said, if a cop stands in front with his hand raised I will stop, however, if he's on the side of the road jumping up and down and pointing I might not be able to see him. :lol8:

In the meanwhile, at least you didn't get your bike confiscated! :riding:

Think I would have started this thread with "I knew a guy", but hats off for being honest and sharing. As the Expo wound down, we had the Asian Games here in GD, and with it came the checkpoints. My rule of thumb is to always stop for guys in full battle armor holding powerful firearms. Other than that, flip up the visor, smile, big hello and pretend you think their waving. I let the wife take care of all the driving whenever I have a few drinks, that only cost me the right to ever use my car again as now she thinks it's hers.

Instead of breakfast, brushing your teeth and green tea, eat some blue cheese, Chinese are terrified of that stuff.

Cheers!
ChinaV

I think you've just earned a new comment below your name (instead of "not 1 useful post") for being so honest and sharing this story with us. :thumbsup:

Why nobody mentioned this little thing called "chewing gum"!!

Hey guys i never intended for anyone to learn a lesson from any of this! I certainly didn't! I won't be driving drunk but frankly i'll probably drive hungover again, except this time i'll bring chewing gum! (good point barry!)

Seriously though i consider myself pretty lucky that i learned this lesson in China. Though i think they could have just as easily let me off with a warning, in the end i was over the legal limit and if it had happened back home i certainly wouldn't be paying my way out of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChinaV

that only cost me the right to ever use my car again as now she thinks it's hers.

---

Haha, stinger! By the way i hate blue cheese too. I would rather lose my license again than put that shit in my mouth.

Oh and Barry, duly noted about the comment below my name!

In China, I believe in being road legal, in terms of bike and license, however in reality I only yield on most un-patrolled red lights and only stop when I am forced to directly by what I believe to be a member of the genuine Gong An or other directly traffic responsible 'organ'. Learned that lesson from India.

Thanks to tell the story so frankly Felix :thumbsup:

I came close to loose mine several years ago after filling some delicious German Weissbier into my belly. Having stopped at a red light the cops went from car to car with the pre-tester, but they started from behind, so most people wouldn't see them coming and neither did I. One guy knocked my window, I opened it and knew that shit was going to hit the fan in a second, when luck turned to my side and let the light turn green, me being in pole.

It was a narrow escape and I've been clean behind handle bars and the wheel ever since. Despite knowing it, I never considered the danger of a hangover though.

Wow that was some luck you had, sounds like the opposite of my story! Thanks for sharing that with us too Andy!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by felix

Wow that was some luck you had, sounds like the opposite of my story! Thanks for sharing that with us too Andy!

---

Yep, I was freakin' lucky indeed. I'm pretty sure it was more than 0.01 over the limit :rolleyes1:
Lesson learned and decided not to challenge Miss Fortune again.

No :riding: after :goodtime: :deal:

A friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver when I was a kid, before breathalysers and so on. In those days it was considered a badge of honour to be able to drive after ten pints. I am really glad this law is severely enforced and I never drive anywhere near the limit. Mind you, I am also glad they never had dope tests back then - it never even sunk into our tiny brains that driving along the road hallucinating was dangerous. It was all too funny!

It really sucks when the next morning can see you over the limit like that, must have been a real bender to leave that much in the system.

Us old guys remember those days of the insane "machismo - I can handle drinking & driving", and the hallucinogenic "summers of love" in VW vans, thick clouds of smoke billowing out of every opening.

And since it is confession-time, my last episode was 1983 when I ran my brand new convertible (top down) off the road, hit a road sign, and the sign snapped off at its base and flew inside the car between the seats. Passed out, woke several hours later, removed the sign, and continued on. Haven't once driven after drinking since.

One other time in the mid 1970s, I was riding a motorcycle from North America to South America. I got "disoriented" in some hippie hangout in Belize, went outside, and actually took off on someone else's motorcycle (leaving keys in bikes was commonplace back then), thinking it was mine (it was black). About an hour later, I kinda came down enough to realize "hey, my bike is riding funny ... wait a minute, this ain't my bike!". Amazingly, when I returned, my bike was still waiting there, as the genuine owner of my new ride was passed out inside the hippie shack. Dumb & dumber.

No more machismo for this aged cowboy. With age comes a strange combination of senility and wisdom. :wheelchair:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by felix

so with the help of the company driver we found a 'yellow cow' that can take care of all this for you. It costs 3000 kuai and for that someone is paid to attend the 7 days of school for me and sit the test, i don't even have to be present. I passed with flying colours, a proud 96%!

---

Sorry to hear about your story Felix, sounds like a bitch!

I am going to go and actually get my licence (I have now been riding Southern China on and off for 3 years and never had a licence). I have a full UK bike licence, so I am not sure if I can convert this to a Chinese licence, but if I cannot I really cannot be arsed to do a full driving test so I was wondering if you can send me the details of your yellow cow hookup in case I need it.

Lets catch up for a beer.

Cheers

Dear Tom,

Good news: If you have a valid foreign motorcycle license, you'll need only to pass the written exam to get a Chinese license. No need for the dreaded road test, though several members of this forum have shown it can be passed. I think it would be hard to hire a yellow cow to take your written exam as a first-time licensee. This is different to what Felix had to do, and they are pretty strict about this in Shanghai.

Just man up and take the test; it's available in English, and is not particularly difficult, though in many instances you have to suspend logic and just use the answer you learned from the study guides, however nonsensical it may seem. (Yes, I used logic in my first attempted and scored an 89 -- one point shy of passing.)

Have a search through MCM and you'll get all the details you need. You could do worse than starting HERE.:deal:

cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by euphonius

(Yes, I used logic in my first attempted and scored an 89 -- one point shy of passing.)

---

You can also take the exam in languages other than English, but I heard other translations were very bad. Better just take the exam in English.

Download file here :: http://www.shjtaq.com/db_update/dzjc/more/English.rar

This website lets you practice the exam online.
http://www.gstxc.cn/kaoshi/cn/beginexam.asp
Maybe this need to be copied to another thread?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slabo

Maybe this need to be copied to another thread?

---

feel free to locate one and do so .....

Hi Tom,

Unfortunately my contact is in suzhou so unless your chinese visa was issued in suzhou he cannot help you. Your driving license has to be issued in the same place as your visa.

These yellow cows aren't hard to find though, if shanghai is the same as suzhou you'll just find them (read: they'll come and find you) hanging around outside the traffic police bureau where all that stuff is done. I was very skeptical at first handing 3000 kuai to a dodgy stranger, but then saw that he was on friendly talking terms with all the guards and officers there. He came through on his end and i'm happy enough.

Euphonious, maybe in shanghai it is more difficult to get around the law, i don't know. I just know this guy that helped me can also help with new licenses. You just gotta pay up...

Anyone tried this in Henan ..
I will be heading there later in the year and would like to get a Bike Lic ..wife's cousin owns a bike shop in the home town and I would like to try and get down to visit China V..
Any help appreciated...

Hey all, as I wrote in my presentation thread, I just passed the theoretical exam 2 weeks ago in Shanghai, not hard at all if you take the time to study 2-3 times the questions & answers. Took the test in English, scored a 100, but it's very strictly enforced in Shanghai, the exam room is full of cameras, you cannot enter if you're not the right guy, nobody cannot even come next to you to help you set the computer in English, had to struggle all by myself for 10mn before passing the test...

I'm starting the training on the bike (don't have the licence back home) tomorrow morning at the Wubao road center, will report how it's done later on this forum.

Cheers,

Fred

Felix, sorry to hear about that! Another bullet to add to your list: at every checkpoint into Shanghai that I have ever ridden through, there is ALWAYS a path through a small village that bypasses it. Every time I have taken a ride outside of Shanghai, be it to Taicang, Jiangsu or the 5 day tour of Zhejiang, we have left and comeback through one of these. I ride with a group of Chinese riders, many of whom ride bikes that have the fake license plates so doing this is a necessity. If you can familiarize yourself with these, it's no fuss!

Hi Hans, thanks for the reopening old wounds! I knew that there were others ways through, i just never bothered trying to find them as i didn't think i needed to. I'd been through the road blocks many times and with all my docs in order i thought i had nothing to fear. I just hadn't thought about the alcohol thing...

Only 8 more days til i get my license back!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by felix

Unfortunately my contact is in suzhou so unless your chinese visa was issued in suzhou he cannot help you. Your driving license has to be issued in the same place as your visa.

---

Cheers Felix, Unfortunately my visa is registered in Hangzhou. Do you or anyone know the addresses and procedure for the relevant theory and licence issuing bureaus in Hangzhou?

Also, I assume that a Shanghai approved translation of my UK licence will be sufficient for the Hangzhou traffic bureau? That said, this kind of assumption in China is a fools errand!

One other thing, my UK driving licence comes with a card and a paper document. The paper document is presently back in the UK. I take it I will need this as well... any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Hate to complicate your life, but isn't Hangzhou a bike-free metropolis? Do they even issue motorcycle licenses?

Are we having fun yet?

Hahahah.. gum anyone?

CC

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by euphonius

Hate to complicate your life, but isn't Hangzhou a bike-free metropolis? Do they even issue motorcycle licenses?

---

I'm going to get my assistant on the case this week to call up the Hangzhou Traffic Police to find out. So I will let you know whether I am totally screwed by ridiculous bureaucracy or not!

Just to double check a 'D' Licence will cover me for motorbikes and sidecars as well right?

Cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tombaxers

I'm going to get my assistant on the case this week to call up the Hangzhou Traffic Police to find out. So I will let you know whether I am totally screwed by ridiculous bureaucracy or not!

Just to double check a 'D' Licence will cover me for motorbikes and sidecars as well right?

Cheers

---

D Licence is good to go for sidecars and motorbikes, yes.
E licence is only for motorbikes.

And yes, Hangzhou is a bike-free city unfortunately... You only have to go there to see that, and it seems quite strictly enforced as you really cannot spot any bike, even outside the city center...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by felix

Hi Hans, thanks for the reopening old wounds! I knew that there were others ways through, i just never bothered trying to find them as i didn't think i needed to. I'd been through the road blocks many times and with all my docs in order i thought i had nothing to fear. I just hadn't thought about the alcohol thing...

Only 8 more days til i get my license back!

---

Congratulations with your license Felix! It's 8 days later today right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Barry

Congratulations with your license Felix! It's 8 days later today right?

---

Correct! Thanks for remembering, it feels like my birthday! I'm going out to qingpu tomorrow afternoon to go collect it, fingers crossed it all works out!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by felix

Correct! Thanks for remembering, it feels like my birthday! I'm going out to qingpu tomorrow afternoon to go collect it, fingers crossed it all works out!

---

Hahaha cheers!!! Happy riding.

WOOP WOOP! Guess what bitches!

http://mqbqzw.bay.livefilestore.com/...ch!.jpg?psid=1