New in Guangdong, some license questions

Hello,

I read through two other threads about licenses in China, but I still have a few questions. If I posted this in the wrong section, my apologies.

Here is some background. I live in Luogang District (罗岗区) which is a part of Guangzhou Proper, and bikes are banned in GZ. However, where I live is still underdeveloped and bikes are commonplace. Some people have plates, others do not -- probably a 40/60 split. I have asked the local police, a traffic school, and a traffic office about how to obtain a license, and all told me that motorcycle licenses are no longer issued in Guangzhou. Tomorrow, I plan to go to Guangzhou's largest traffic office -- 车辆管理所 -- and ask questions.

As some have suggested, I will be forceful that I want a license, that it can be done, and I want to know how it can be done. I have a temporary residence stamp in my passport, I have an address, I have an employer that can vouch for me, I am 100% legal to live and work in China, and my next Chinese Residence renewal is not due until June 2014. Still, I am fearful that GZ truly does not issue motorcycle licenses any longer.

In another thread, a few people suggested that it is possible to get temporary paperwork in an area that issues motorcycle licenses, file for the license, go through the procedures, and get a legitimate license. How would that work?

To have a license and a fully registered bike is super important to me. What are some suggestions? Has anyone else been in a city that does not allow bikes but still been able to obtain a license? Any other Chinese license advice would be appreciated

Unfortunately, I don't have a motorcycle license in my home country, only a regular car license.

Your question has been raised quite a few times before... so please search away... best idea though when searching is to use Google search directly with your search words/phrases and add mychinamoto, this often works better than using the MCM search function directly.

GZ will likely make things difficult for you, given that a). there is a motorcycle ban in place there, and b). you don't have a motorcycle license or endorsement from your home country or jurisdiction where your overseas license was issued.

There are several threads from others who have taken on the challenge of undertaking motorcycle riders courses here to get their legal m/c license issued in PRC, when they, like you did not have one to begin with. Look up "Getting legal"... personally I'd be more tempted to get my m/c license in my home country as opposed to PRC, since what the teach learners drivers here is of a low/poor standard. Plus getting a motorcycle license here in China may make it difficult to convert to your home country later, especially given the preference for the issuing authorities here to supply a D/L in Chinese names only.

Again external Google search with various search parameters will be your friend... and I see you double posted this question - can you delete the other post?

Regardless of which search engine you use you probably won't find an answer because the majority of people asking the question don't come back and share their experience. As far as I know:
#1 You won't get the C1E or C1D motorcycle license in Guangzhou.
#2 Not having a motorcycle license from your home country is going to make things very difficult.
#3 There is a city called Jiangmen that may still issue licenses, but, despite my best efforts in pointing this out, nobody has gone there in the past year to try and told me to shut up or share their experience.
#4 If you have 10,000 RMB to blow, you can obtain a license from shady license companies issuing licenses in nearby provinces. They are real, and they are a good option for people that would rather pay than play China's stupid license games.

Cheers!

Hi,

I've been through the same story as you. I have tried most of the GuangDong cities ( including JiangMen ) and a foreigner can't apply for a license. It seems that the only way is to pay a load of money to a shady firm and get a license in another province. PM me and I will send you the details of one of the companies I have found that can do this for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Symon260z

I have tried most of the GuangDong cities ( including JiangMen )

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That's good to know, I'm surprised they stopped, as they were always very welcoming to foreigners buying bikes.

Wonder what gives Guangdong (or any other province) the right to disobey national law and implement their own stupid policies. It would be fun to have very deep pockets and a team of lawyers to challenge these laws (which of course are totally unwritten).

Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChinaV

Wonder what gives Guangdong (or any other province) the right to disobey national law and implement their own stupid policies. It would be fun to have very deep pockets and a team of lawyers to challenge these laws (which of course are totally unwritten).

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This is a job for one of the big manufacturers or a consortium of interest groups. Surely it's time for allowing big bikes everywhere that cars can go, on a new dedicated plate or a car plate. I know they hate small unregistered 125cc bikes used as illegal taxis and 3 wheel delivery vehicles, as heaven forbid some striving farmer might come to the city and get a job.

This means a big player or mixture of them need to start schmoozing with the government transportation departments as it's holding back business. Do the Chinese really want to give away the whole big bike manufacturing and ebike market to India and Thailand? Do they really have that much money to burn to sacrifice a whole industry? OK if you can't tolerate farmers riding motorcycles in the city, at least give some rich guy the option of riding a legally registered Harley to work on a sunny day FFS.

A state in the USA could ban motorcycles, it doing so would not violate any civil liberties. Same as cities banning skate boards and roller blades, there is a right to bare arms…but no right to ride a motorcycle.


Both countries are republics which are a collection of individual governments operating under a constitution in the USA your rights from any local or state government imposing tyranny are protected within its constitution and the Bill of Rights. The states can create and enforce laws, they also have a constitution, they have an obligation to enforce federal laws but can add to them, what they cannot do is create laws that are unconstitutional.


Unless the constitution in China states that everyone has the right to a motorcycle and to ride it anywhere the cities and provinces can ban them.

Point taken MJH, but there is no law in Guangdong banning foreigners from obtaining a motorcycle license. Just a bunch of asshats making shit up as they go along. If there is a law, show it to me.

Cheers!

I would agree and bet that any individual making up false laws in China can be held accountable to any related laws under its constitution. It’s a tort or commonly called a civil wrong doing and if subjected to such a tort causes damages as in it deprives the person of their rights, likely they can file for damages.

As I understand, it is regulations that are used to eliminate motorcycles from city streets and not laws. Year ago while sitting at 798, a gentleman approached several of us with bikes asking how we got the tags (number tags).....he later offered his business card, he was from the US, DOT. He told me that they couldn't find any law banning bikes in Beijing (ay the time he also informed me that he was there on behalf of the MOCO). Sometime in the 80's I believe they just stopped issuing tags...no law needed.. just an admin response that made it difficult to purchase a legal tag for this city. Expats leaving the area often took tags with them ...thus the pool of tags got smaller.

this link seems to indicate Dr. Lic are being issued to foreigners in this location http://www.dongguantoday.com/news/gu..._2949563.shtml

Quote:

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Foreigners who apply only for a motorcycle license aren’t allowed to drive in Shenzhen because motorcycles are banned in the city, according to police. Violators can be fined 2,000 yuan and detained for up to 15 days.

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I've only seen one checkpoint in Luogang at the Zengcheng/Luogang district border on the G324 heading into Guangzhou and they are mainly looking for overloaded trucks and illegal vehicles. Anyway, you can just double back and drive down the other (wrong) side of the road and bypass it if you ever run into it. Good luck with your license. You'll have to pay a boatload of money to do that.