How to get a Chinese Motorcycle License

**ChinaPete** · 07-06-2011, 05:15 PM

Hello All, I just joined this forum today, here goes with my first post.

Has anyone out there got any experience in obtaining a motorcycle license in Tianjin? I have held both my South African car and motorcycle licenses for >20 years and I have held a Tianjin car license since 2000. I recently had to renew my car license for another cycle (6 years this time) and at the time I requested to have my motorcycle license included. This request was basically dismissed out of hand with a 'Tianjin do not issue motorcycle licenses'. Since then I have tried in TangGu, some smaller cities in nearby Herbei province and also recently my wife (who is Chinese) contacted the Laoshan school who told me I needed to be a Beijing resident and I needed a Beijing car license (for more than 1 year) before I could apply. This seems to go against some of the advise on this thread. Anyone have any ideas of who I can contact or where (City) I could go and apply?

**marcomagica** · 07-06-2011, 05:31 PM

Hi Pete,

Welcome to the forum & good luck to you.

What happened to me is that because I also had already a car driving licence I had to cancel my licence and request a new one for car and motorbikes.

THe first impression reading your post is that you came across some incompetent police man who thought to go rought on you. If Chinese people can have a motorbike driving licence in Tianjin then you also can.

I don't understand why Tianjin should not issue motorbike licences all together, I live in Hangzhou ( a dry city) and I could obtain a driving licence here....

I would suggest first to verify if is possible for a Chinese national to obtain a motorbike driving licence, if yes, then go to the MAIN traffic management police station and ask there.

Normally speaking you need to cancel your current driving licence, apply for a new one for motorbike & car, wait a while, do a written exam and that's it.
Take care the process is time consuming and you could face from couple of weeks to more than a months without driving licence.

**ChinaPete** · 07-06-2011, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by marcomagica

Hi Pete,

Welcome to the forum & good luck to you.

What happened to me is that because I also had already a car driving licence I had to cancel my licence and request a new one for car and motorbikes.

THe first impression reading your post is that you came across some incompetent police man who thought to go rought on you. If Chinese people can have a motorbike driving licence in Tianjin then you also can.

I don't understand why Tianjin should not issue motorbike licences all together, I live in Hangzhou ( a dry city) and I could obtain a driving licence here....

I would suggest first to verify if is possible for a Chinese national to obtain a motorbike driving licence, if yes, then go to the MAIN traffic management police station and ask there.

Normally speaking you need to cancel your current driving licence, apply for a new one for motorbike & car, wait a while, do a written exam and that's it.
Take care the process is time consuming and you could face from couple of weeks to more than a months without driving licence.

Thanks for the welcome and reply, MM. Actually I was at the 'main' traffic license station and I did talk to more than one policeman but, at the time I was not as desperate to get the bike license as I am now, so I must admit I let it slide quite easily. I take your point re locals having bike licenses and I guess it's another one of those 'first time they've had to deal with this kind of request' so automatic NO scenarios, will definitely be visiting again and give it another shake. Think I'll have the license, passport copy, etc. translated before I go.

Would be great if there's any Tianjin ren on the forum who have some practical experience in this matter to share.

**euphonius** · 07-07-2011, 02:34 AM

Dear Pete,

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for being the pioneer of getting licensed in Tianjin. It WILL happen, and you'll find the way, and you'll enlighten all of us and very likely help some expat in future who arrives in Tianjin and wants a motorbike endorsement.

Marco's advice is spot on. The cop who told you that was either incompetent, or smarting from a fight with his wife and wanted to have a go at a foreigner, or, quite possibly, was a proponent of that strange but quite widespread school of thought that goes, "I'll protect the foreigner from his own bad judgment." In any case, I've never heard of any city in China that refuses to license foreigners or Chinese to ride motorcycles -- even dry cities like Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It's in the national traffic law that local jurisdictions must have vehicle management bureaux that issue licenses to drive/ride.

Very likely you'll have to follow the same path as Marco, getting your C1 licence canceled and applying for a replacement C1E (motorbike and car) or C1D (car, motorbike and sidecar). Since you've kept your safrican license and motorbike endorsement up to date, it's just a matter of applying for the broader license, taking the motorcycle-based test, paying a modest fee and waiting a few weeks. Your great fortune is that you will NOT have to muck around with driving classes and a road test, which are mandatory for those who do NOT have a valid foreign license.

Good luck, and looking forward to your happy progress-filled updates!

cheers

**andre555** · 07-07-2011, 05:02 AM

I second that, as I got my first Chinese DL in 2004 I had no Motorcycle endorsement. This DL was from Shanghai, I moved to Kunming, wanted to add the Motorcycle/Sidecar (D) class. That was not possible as my Shanghai license needed inspection every 2 years (prescription glases) - which I never did.
I just made a new DL in Kunming, incl. class (D).
For some time I had two licenses, both valid, the Shanghai one only (C1) and a Knming License (C1D).

The system is not conected, e.g. you have new passport number - you can make new license, you move to a different city you can make new license
...and get as many as you want/need for whatever reason...

**marcomagica** · 07-19-2011, 04:00 AM

Hi ChinaPete,

How is your quest for the holy driving licence going? any luck yet?

**ChinaPete** · 07-19-2011, 03:44 PM

Hi MM, I've been on a business trip for the last two weeks, plan to visit the Traffic police next week. Will update the fred as things unfold.

**budda** · 08-04-2011, 03:36 AM

OK Guy's I need some help, New here in Wuhan, what exactly do I need to do to get C1D licence here, My current home DL is unrestricted for motorcycles. Unfortunately there are no locals who can offer me assistance.

**felix** · 08-04-2011, 03:26 PM

Try going to the traffic police office (where you register vehicles and get DL) and see if there are any 'facilitators' or huang niu (yellow cow) hanging around outside. For a fee they might help you through the process or maybe even just be able to buy one for you. They won't have any english though.

**marcomagica** · 08-05-2011, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by budda

OK Guy's I need some help, New here in Wuhan, what exactly do I need to do to get C1D licence here, My current home DL is unrestricted for motorcycles. Unfortunately there are no locals who can offer me assistance.

I would avoid 'facilitators', as the only thing they facilitate is the passage of money from your wallet to theirs.

You really on your own? you don't have even a translator to help? All you need is to get your driving licence translated, here in Hangzhou this is done at public security bureau (same place where they issue the VISA), remember to tell the translator that your driving licence is also for motorbikes and trikes, otherwise they will just write for cars. Once you have that piece of paper done you need to have health check for driving and apply for driving licence.

You will then need wait a few weeks before being able to do your written exam, which here in Hangzhou is done in English at a computer and your driving licence is done!

Here health check is done at police station, while written exam is done at another place only for that.

I would say it's mission impossible if you have nobody to help, is not difficult, but you need to know at least where these place are.

Remember to bring plenty of copies of passport, driving licence and visa as well as several pictures of yours in different formats, what you don't want is to be bounced for a missing picture or copy or whatever...