How to get a Chinese Motorcycle License

**NZBrakelathes** · 03-09-2015, 01:27 PM

Might as well get the bigger license as all the same costs and BS apply
Only difference is a driving test if you don't use your Dutch license

**Ben Ben Zhu** · 03-10-2015, 03:44 AM

Originally Posted by NZBrakelathes

Might as well get the bigger license as all the same costs and BS apply
Only difference is a driving test if you don't use your Dutch license

I will go to translate my license today and hope I can convince them it is a full motorcycle license as ZMC888 suggested, if not I can always go for option 2 and do the driving test.

Maybe I should bring a red envelope ;)

Thank you for the advise, I will let you know the outcome later.

**Joshmakesnoise** · 03-10-2015, 04:35 AM

Originally Posted by Ben Ben Zhu

Maybe I should bring a red envelope ;)

Thank you for the advise, I will let you know the outcome later.

Good luck buddy. I'm interested to see how you get on, if they won't allow you to *hopefully not* im always happy to take you along as my test buddy. So we can fook them off together.

I'll take my test next month

**Ben Ben Zhu** · 03-10-2015, 08:44 AM

Hi Guys,

Just got back from Foreign Affairs office in Shanghai, the 180 year old lady behind the counter had to read my license with glasses and a magnifying glass. So I had hoped I could fool her in giving me the translation for a motorcycle license. to bad for me as the dinosaur she was, she digged through her pile of ancient scrolls and got me a translation for the lighter categories.

Still not sure what that means as my faith will be decided once I apply for the test, there they will assign me to a category.

So when I have time to go register I will give another update.

**Laowai** · 03-17-2015, 04:28 AM

Hello there,
First off I would like to say how much of a big fan of this board i have become over the past few months.

I got my Car driving license translated, took the 100 Q's test and as of last May, I have a C1 Car driving license. (I live in Shanghai)

However, I forgot to add up my motorcycle license from back home while issuing that C1 back then & I had to wait for my new visa with 6+ months validity on it to be issued to attempt and get a C1E.

My question is, after I prepare all the required documents, will I need to forfeit my current C1 license and take a new exam to get both at once? OR will they just add my motorcycle license to my Current C1 and convert it into a C1E? OR will I be examined another 100 Q's to add up my motorcycle license and obtain a C1E?

Has anyone been in the same situation?

I promise you I have read a lot of pages from this thread but I’m somehow still confused about the final issuing step.

Thank you.

**Ben Ben Zhu** · 03-31-2015, 07:09 AM

Hey,

Well I went to the office to apply for my (light) motorbike license, but it seems they only accept foreign A1 license and nothing else

So I asked the help of the HR girl at my office to check around how I could apply in China for a motorbike license, today she told me I could only do all the tests in Chinese(both practical and theoretical test).
I don't think the practical part will be a problem with my Chinese level at the moment, but the Theoretical part is gone be impossible.

So I need your quy's help once more, do you know an address/phone-number/place were I can do both test in English?

My colleagues suggested to go to Korea to get my license in 10days or so, but there must be an easier way right?

Hope you guys can help me out!!!

Thanks in advance.

**ZMC888** · 03-31-2015, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Ben Ben Zhu

Hey,

Well I went to the office to apply for my (light) motorbike license, but it seems they only accept foreign A1 license and nothing else

So I asked the help of the HR girl at my office to check around how I could apply in China for a motorbike license, today she told me I could only do all the tests in Chinese(both practical and theoretical test).
I don't think the practical part will be a problem with my Chinese level at the moment, but the Theoretical part is gone be impossible.

So I need your quy's help once more, do you know an address/phone-number/place were I can do both test in English?

My colleagues suggested to go to Korea to get my license in 10days or so, but there must be an easier way right?

Hope you guys can help me out!!!

Thanks in advance.

If you read through the last page or two of this thread you will see that the 'Shanghai licensing bureau' offers the test in English. It might be worth your while giving Joshmakesnoise a PM.

**NZBrakelathes** · 04-30-2015, 12:18 AM

Originally Posted by Joshmakesnoise

Yeah I'm sad to also admit that I hit this barrier a few weeks ago. Its a real pain in the arss but hey ho, I guess this is how it's going. Actually, I told them I'd do the test in Chinese because I couldn't be fucked with going to another city. Then after all the health check I return to the school and they ask me "why is your vosa not issued in shanghai?"

At that moment I didn't hit until the woman said we only accept the visas from shanghai. Which is the residence permit visa holders, so working or studying visa holders can take the test but any other visa holder cant.

I'm currently in the process for finding a new way to get it, but with being busy this stuff is hard to sort out.

I've hit the wall too
All I can do is pay a fortune and go to Haikou to do it semi legal! One day paid service costing around 10000¥ total that's if I convert my car and bike license from NZ

**MFarrens** · 05-23-2015, 06:31 PM

Hit a wall here in Jiangmen, Guangdong. I went to the License department a few months back to ask if the offered the motorcycle License test which is the same for D & E licenses in English to ad to my C1 license I already had an passed the test for it in English on the first try without studying. It took a while to get the answer and they said they offered the test in English, so I paid the money did the health check and setup the soonest available date for the written test which gave me 6 weeks to prepare and practice the road test for the D License. Day of the test came and The test Administrator who they asked if they had in English or not said they only had the test in Chinese. the head of the department had to get involved and told me Sorry. I said I would just take it in Chinese then anyway, and have been trying to come up with a numerical (counting symbols in questions) and statistical study system and hope I get lucky in one of my tries. It has been a month and I still have yet to pass the Chinese version of the test. Is there anywhere I can get a D License endorsement added and I am willing to pay up to 10,000rmb and travel if need be. I have a Resident Permit and my wife is a Jiangmen Local with Chinese citizenship. I find it absurd that they wont just let me take the driving test and be done with this considering I already passed the written test once, which for the C1 there is an even larger pool of questions.

LOL at the Chinese just trying to park a car!!!

Michael in Jiangmen

**ZMC888** · 05-23-2015, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by MFarrens

Hit a wall here in Jiangmen, Guangdong. I went to the License department a few months back to ask if the offered the motorcycle License test which is the same for D & E licenses in English to ad to my C1 license I already had an passed the test for it in English on the first try without studying. It took a while to get the answer and they said they offered the test in English, so I paid the money did the health check and setup the soonest available date for the written test which gave me 6 weeks to prepare and practice the road test for the D License. Day of the test came and The test Administrator who they asked if they had in English or not said they only had the test in Chinese. the head of the department had to get involved and told me Sorry. I said I would just take it in Chinese then anyway, and have been trying to come up with a numerical (counting symbols in questions) and statistical study system and hope I get lucky in one of my tries. It has been a month and I still have yet to pass the Chinese version of the test. Is there anywhere I can get a D License endorsement added and I am willing to pay up to 10,000rmb and travel if need be. I have a Resident Permit and my wife is a Jiangmen Local with Chinese citizenship. I find it absurd that they wont just let me take the driving test and be done with this considering I already passed the written test once, which for the C1 there is an even larger pool of questions.

LOL at the Chinese just trying to park a car!!!

Michael in Jiangmen

The government only allowed license transfers during the opening up period to keep foreign business investors happy. Now with the change of license rules they have graciously translated the car license, next time probably they won't even bother with that, unless other countries play tit-for-tat and refuse to recognize theirs, or they sign up to international rules and gain some advantage for themselves.

The 'unavailability' of the motorcycle license is what I had suspected, they seem to love the car idea of total car homogeneity regardless of common sense.

The only way around this seems to be to transfer both car and motorcycle licenses together, in which case you'll only have to answer the car questions. This worked before the license rules were changed, whether this will still work now, I'm not sure. Cheapest option I believe is to just cancel your current license and start over, sorry to say, but I'm not even 100% sure that would work.