New Rider in Beijing

**euphonius** · 03-02-2011, 04:36 AM

Has anyone been through this Laoshan course? What does it involve. Two-thousand RMB is not an unreasonable price to pay if you get good riding and safety instruction that maybe helps save your bacon one day. On the other hand, if it's like what members Fred, MotoKai and others have described from the rider training courses here in Shanghai, it's a typical government compliance ripoff.

As a price/value reference, I paid US$250 (~1650 RMB) for the accredited Motorcycle Safety Foundation course in my home town in California. That was for two full mornings (7-11 a.m.) of classroom work and two full afternoons of skills training on a closed course with one instructor for every six trainees. One trainee opted for a scooter, but the rest of us all chose from a menagerie of geared bikes, all of which were 250cc or less and in good working repair.

What's nice about the MSF courses in the US, which are offered by private companies, is this (at least in California): If you pass the MSF course, the Department of Motor Vehicles requires only that you pass a written exam, and waives the required road test. The MSF training and testing were rigorous and effective.

GJN, would be great if you could report back to MCM after the various phases of your training!

Edit: Incidentally, the MSF standard Motorcycle Operator Manual is available online as a PDF. Definitely worth a read, even for experienced riders.

cheers

**GJN** · 03-02-2011, 05:36 AM

here is a detailed account from thebeijinger.com of what to expect at laoshan (course pics included)

http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/20...Beijing?page=1

**Barry** · 03-02-2011, 05:42 AM

I went through the Laoshan course last december. I'll try to keep it short.

1. You go to Laoshan sign up and pay. (Bring your passport, money and a couple of photos (I forgot how many). Furthermore you will need to pick a Chinese name if you don't have on yet.)

2. A couple of days later you will have to meet with a Laoshan employee at the vehicle registration/exam place (which is further south than Jinsong), there the time and date for the written exam will be set (probably about 3 weeks from this day).

3. Once you have passed the written exam, you call the Laoshan office and tell them you have passed the written exam.

4. The next monday after you have called them to tell you passed your written exam, you have to be at Laoshan at 9:00 (am). You need to bring the paper from the written exam!

5. That monday, you hand in the paper from the written exam at one of the ladies in the office there. You will have to sign a paper saying you will take the practical exam that coming friday. There will be quite some people on monday morning, all for the practical exam!

6. At some point the teacher will tell everyone to follow him outside. He will check if everyone is there and make groups. He will then order 6-7 people to come with him to grab the "bikes", you just stay and wait if you're not one of them.

7. The teacher + bikes show up, now the boring part starts if your Chinese sucks (if so, bring a person who can speak Chinese). The teacher will explain how to warm up the engine and start the bike. Then he will explain what to do for the exam.

8. After that you start to practise, remember you only have 1 bike per group (6-7 per group when I did it).

9. Starting from the street, you have drive over a hump and turn left to enter the eight, you drive 1,5 eight and exit it. Drive on to the street and stop at the bottom of the hill (shift back to 1st gear before you stop and put only your left foot on the ground, hold the rear-brake with your right foot to prevent from rolling backwards). Now you're standing there in 1st gear while holding the clutch lever (this is the only time you put any foot on the ground), slowly let the cluth go and add some gas let go the brake and up the hill you go. You will quickly enter a U-turn and drive down the hill again. That's all!

10. You can still go there Tuesday and Wednesday morning to practise (not obligatory), just go there and grab a bike and practise. You're supposed to practise on the same bike as the day before, so remember the plate number.

11. Thursday: the teacher will check if you can do what your supposed to for the exam, but I don't think it's really obligatory to actually go.

12. Friday: you can still practise a bit until the examinator show up. If you can do what I just tried to explained to you, you basically cannot fail. But remember TIC!

When I did my exam, 42 out of 42 people passed! Even a chinese guy who was driving as if it was a walking bike, he also moved forwards and backwards on the bike since he didn't really manage to control the cluth properly. The examinators are already filling in the papers of others while people are driving, I guess they will only watch the first person and the laowai (foreigner).

Cheers!

**GJN** · 03-02-2011, 05:48 AM

Hey Barry,

Thanks for the input. Do you remember how long you had to wait until the actual physical license was ready after you passed the practical exam?

**Barry** · 03-02-2011, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by GJN

Do you remember how long you had to wait until the actual physical license was ready after you passed the practical exam?

About 2 weeks.

**chinabiker** · 03-02-2011, 06:34 AM

Thanks Jon and Barry for the info, which I think, is pretty useful for future applicants.

However, there are lots of guys who help you through the process for a little fee.
It is nothing illegal but it would save a lot of time and running around.
For people with working permit, Fesco has this kind of service and a guy who did it through Fesco had to show up only for the two tests (if you have a foreign license no need for the practical test) and the whole process from registering to the license in hand was two weeks.
For honest folks only

I can put you in contact with a very reliable guy who provides this service

**GJN** · 03-02-2011, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Barry

About 2 weeks.

Does laoshan give you a temporary certificate stating that you successfully passed the practical and are legally permitted to drive, or do you have to wait those lonnnngggg 2 weeks for them to prepare your physical license?

**Fred** · 03-04-2011, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by euphonius

Edit: Incidentally, the MSF standard Motorcycle Operator Manual is available online as a PDF. Definitely worth a read, even for experienced riders.

cheers

Awesome find, a must-read, together with "Proficient Motorcycling Guide" by David Hough ! Thanks Euphonius.

**Fred** · 03-04-2011, 02:15 AM

Originally Posted by GJN

Does laoshan give you a temporary certificate stating that you successfully passed the practical and are legally permitted to drive, or do you have to wait those lonnnngggg 2 weeks for them to prepare your physical license?

Don't know for Beijing, but in Shanghai there's no "temporary" driving license, you have to wait 2 weeks too...

**GJN** · 03-08-2011, 06:44 AM

So I went to laoshan on saturday. From lidu it takes almost 2 hours. I make sure I have everything before I go because I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE A SECOND TRIP. after waiting in line for 30 min, i go up to the nice lady and give her my materials. of course something was wrong...... turns out the police filled in the address on my residence permit wrong (they forgot to type in both the city i live (beijing) and the district (chaoyang)). need to go back another weekend...... tic.