Registering bike in Shaoxing?

**bmold** · 06-04-2011, 02:44 AM

Hi all,

I'll be moving to Shaoxing for a year in Aug/Sep and I really want to get a bike and go through all the steps to legally register it. I am just realizing though, that it may not be possible as Shaoxing has banned motorcycles 禁摩 within the 2nd ring road for several years now. As a Shaoxing resident, will I be able to register a bike here or is that definitely a no-go? I know I should wait until I get there to figure this out but I am just too anxious!

Say I lived outside the 2nd ring road in Shaoxing, would it be OK then? Also, it's not a 24/7 ban, its something like 7 AM till 6 PM, so shouldn't that mean that its OK to register and own a bike as a SX resident, but just not to ride it at illegal times?

The place I'm supposed to live at is less than 1 KM from the 2nd ring road...

**euphonius** · 06-04-2011, 03:47 AM

Originally Posted by bmold

...The place I'm supposed to live at is less than 1 KM from the 2nd ring road...

Dear Bmold,

I don't know the specifics of Shaoxing, but I'd wager that if you live outside the 2nd ring you'll be able to legally register a bike there. Are you saying your residence will be inside or outside the ring? Do you have any contacts in Shaoxing who can check this for you?

cheers

**bikerdoc** · 06-04-2011, 04:23 AM

If you live within the bounds of the 2nd ring road (i.e. your registered place of residence with the PSB) then unless you pull some curly's you won't be able to license the motorbike or proposed motorbike, irrespective of the hours of operation of the aforementioned motorbike ban in Shaoxing, unless you have the bike licensed in the name of someone registered outside the boundary. If you live outside the boundary of the motorbike ban then all should be ok, you'll likely be able to license/plate your ride.

I got caught out in Shaoxing 2 months ago, having ridden there from Ningbo via mountain routes (Jingshan-Simingshan-Yuyao west mountains-Shaoxing south mountains) to meet a medical student at the medical Uni there. I took the friend on the back of my motorbike, into the city center completely forgetting the motorbike ban was in place! I had been through the outer parts of Shaoxing quite a few times over the years riding between Ningbo-Shanghai-Ningbo etc. Also a fellow riding companion lived and rode on the outskirts of Shaoxing when the ban was implemented - resulting in him eventually moving his business to outer Ningbo.

Anyway, back to my story...
We were approached by a couple of traffic police at an intersection where I was waiting for the traffic lights.
Parked the motorbike up on the pavement at the officer's request, produced the licenses and so forth, whereby the officers were going to write me a CNY200 fine, but were having problems working out my drivers license number attached to an ID card number since my drivers license has my passport number which seemed foreign to them (no PUN intended). Their uncertainty and resulting discussion left the door open for me to proclaim my innocence and argue that I didn't know that Shaoxing had a motorbike ban. An officer asked which way I entered the city, and I replied from the mountains, to which they acknowledged the lack of relevant signage. This helped them out of their difficulty in working out how they were going to fill out the ticket, so I was let off with a warning. They allowed me to park the bike outside the small police prefab, though I moved it a few streets down so we could walk across the main road to shop and do lunch. I rode the parallel side streets to get back to the uni later.

Such is life in China.

**bmold** · 06-04-2011, 10:43 PM

Thanks bikerdoc and euphonius! Although, my dreams have been dashed... I don't think I'll be able to pull off having a bike in China even though it is my dream. The place where I'll be is about 800 meters just inside of the 2nd ring road. It is the Shaoxing No. 1 High School and they probably won't take too kindly even if I did have a bike and tried riding it in and out of the school campus... I guess I'll either have to haggle with them about giving up my rent free super nice furnished apartment and go rent my own place 1 km down the road just past the 2nd ring road or go make some random friends outside the 2nd ring road and convince them to register a bike in their name and keep it at their house for me... hehe

**bmold** · 06-04-2011, 11:00 PM

Now I'm wishing Shaoxing had special A plates like Shanghai and Beijing (at a Shaoxing sized price) that allow city center entrance for local residents. Who knows, maybe they will. I shall enquire further upon my arrival... I guess I could have a dealer or friend register it for me and then pay someone at a nearby apartment complex a monthly fee to keep it parked there as well... I'm just beginning to realize that the majority of people on this forum must be doing business this way because all the members on this forum can't possibly be living in random towns with no moto restrictions or buying outrageously expensive Shanghai and Beijing A or B plates....

**euphonius** · 06-05-2011, 01:39 AM

Originally Posted by bmold

Now I'm wishing Shaoxing had special A plates like Shanghai and Beijing (at a Shaoxing sized price) that allow city center entrance for local residents. Who knows, maybe they will. I shall enquire further upon my arrival... I guess I could have a dealer or friend register it for me and then pay someone at a nearby apartment complex a monthly fee to keep it parked there as well... I'm just beginning to realize that the majority of people on this forum must be doing business this way because all the members on this forum can't possibly be living in random towns with no moto restrictions or buying outrageously expensive Shanghai and Beijing A or B plates....

Dear Bmold,

You are getting ahead of yourself. In places like Shaoxing, i.e., small places with strong local traditions and relatively few foreigners, there's almost always a way. China is attempting to display a veneer of "rule of law" but the reality is often far more flexible, for better and for worse. Shanghai is furthest down this path toward having a system that appears transparent and reliable. Don't be fooled. When you give absolute power to a self-anointed few, there's someone, somewhere, who holds the key.

Yes, it's true that a great many foreigners in China, and far greater numbers of Chinese, ride pretty much outside the confines of any law. Fake plates. No legal registration. Fake or "purchased" license. Bike of dubious provenance. The great challenge is to "get legal" in the specific constraints of your city, and this often requires creativity and squishiness around the edges. You don't want to ride outside the confines of the law, but it may take some cleverness to achieve this, and this is one of the (acquired) joys of living in China.

Be patient. There will be a way.

cheers