Beijing "campaign" re license plates

[euphonius]

Great story, Lobo! Your experience at the bank is an omen telling you to go back to the police station one more time, at which time you can remind them that they'd tried once before to forgive your fine but were unable to because the computer was down. So you've returned to give them the opportunity to try again!

Good luck, and looking forward to a "happy ending".

Happy New Year!

[lobotomous]

No Happy Ending I'm afraid: I gave in and paid up the following day which was the deadline.
I'm being extra careful from now on. As I understood it from the cop, the points get wiped every year on the anniversary of your license issue date. If this information is elsewhere on the forum, please direct me.

Thanks for the Coal and Ice recommendation Euphonius - I caught it on the last day. Augmented reality through the freezing galleries and the cloud of coal dust that seems to envelop Beijing during the winter. Good stuff.

[euphonius]

Well, thanks again for generously sharing this cautionary tale. What with all the traffic enforcement cameras and now these tetchy traffic stops, we all will need to adapt and change how and where we ride. In my early days in Beijing, in 1990, the handful of us with cars and licenses could drive and park pretty much anywhere, with the scantest thought toward traffic control or discipline or even decorum. Then, back in maybe 2002, I remember being stopped while driving my filthy Jetta through Tiananmen Square, and being told this was solely because the car was filthy! (I'd just returned from some epic drive.) But the officer was friendly, and told me, "去使得使得干净吧！" ("How 'bout you go give 'er a scrub, eh?")

I still find that humor and a smile and humility and a little friendly backslapping generally melts the ice with even the sternest cops. If you can coax out a smile, you are halfway home or better. But that's pretty much true anywhere, no?

Glad you enjoyed Coal + Ice!

cheers!