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  1. #1 Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    We have all become used to strange "rules" and "policies" in China, but this one hit home ... hard.

    Over on a Chinese board, there is a lively discussion about a "rule" in Beijing concerning motorcycle plates. Here is the thread.

    Apparently, if someone steals your legal plate ("A" plates are around 25,000 rmb these days), you are screwed.

    Now, one would naturally (and reasonably) assume that if someone stole the plate off your bike, that you would just go down to the Traffic Management Bureau (TMB) and endure the bureaucracy for a replacement (either the same number, or a new number). Well, NOT in Beijing. If someone steals your motorcycle plate, you can NOT get a new plate until the police find your old one. Yup, that's correct ... you are without a plate until the police, via their stellar investigative and enforcement practices, find your old one (and what is the chance of that?!?!?!?!)

    Apparently, this "rule" is only in Beijing.

    After reading about this, and chatting with a few "in the know" people I trust, I decided I better go to the source (TMB) for an answer. True to form, there isn't really an answer, but generally yes, if someone steals your plate you cannot get a new one until the old one turns up. Incredible.

    OK, so I asked the "helpful authorities" ... that means, therefore, that if you drop 400,000 rmb on a fancy new LEGAL BMW/Harley/Ducatti, and then some joker steals the license plate one dark night, you actually can't ride it any more. The answer ... sure you can, but first you have to get a brand new plate (i.e., another 25,000 rmb). OMG.

    It gets worse ... there is another "rule" that when you have a new plate, you cannot transfer it to another bike until after 3 years of ownership on one bike. So, in the (unlikely) event that after you drop another 25K for another plate and the old plate miraculously turns up, guess what ... you now have two legal A plates on one bike, but cannot transfer either until one of those A plates is 3 years old.

    What if the thief steals the whole bike? Same story - your plate is gone, too.

    For reference, with cars, if someone steals your plate you are entitled to a quick replacement, same or different number (your choice).

    I'm going to weld my plates to my bikes.
    Last edited by Lao Jia Hou; 05-07-2012 at 02:54 AM. Reason: grammar,typos
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  2. #2 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    C-Moto Senior
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    Hi Lao Jia,

    Thats a strange rule if ever I heard one.

    How come cars are treated differently?
    Surly an "A" plate cost the same for a car, as a "A" plate for a motorcycle?

    May be I am missing some thing?

    Gra.
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  3. #3 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham View Post
    Hi Lao Jia,

    Thats a strange rule if ever I heard one.

    How come cars are treated differently?
    Surly an "A" plate cost the same for a car, as a "A" plate for a motorcycle?

    May be I am missing some thing?

    Gra.
    Hi Graham

    Cars & motorcycles are completely different kettles of fish. Some argue, apparently correctly, that there is a distinct anti-motorcycle attitude/campaign.

    In Beijing, there is a fixed number of existing motorcycle plates. No new ones are being issued. Therefore, if you want a plate on a new bike, you must buy an old bike that has a legal plate and then scrap that old bike and transfer the plate to your new bike. This secondary market has bid legal plate prices up to around 25K. Car plates are a few hundred rmb, but there is the silly "lottery" system for cars in Beijing. Nothing is simple in China.

    Cheers
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  4. #4 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Senior C-Moto Guru MJH's Avatar
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    Maybe you can have some extras made….
    http://www.buildasign.com/LicensePla...FQ7sKgodl0YM4w
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  5. #5 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Yeah, it crossed my mind ... get duplicates made and use those on the bike. Keep the genuine ones in a locked safe at home.

    But, of course, I would never do anything like that ... nope, not me
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  6. #6 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
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    Well this is because the rules are made by idiots who love cars. So if this 'policy' makes it more likely that motorcycles are illegal them they'll be damn happy about that.

    This Chinese car love affair really needs to end. There is no sidewalk, park or tree safe from being turned into a retard friendly car moron parking area. The parking is bad enough, the driving, freaking abysmal.
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  7. #7 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZMC888 View Post
    This Chinese car love affair really needs to end. There is no sidewalk, park or tree safe from being turned into a retard friendly car moron parking area. The parking is bad enough.....
    G'Day,

    Few more parks gone disappear in Shanghai in the future if they ever enforce this proposal.......

    No parking spot could well mean no buying a car


    2012-5-5 | SHANGHAI DAILY


    Locals who fail to secure a parking space for themselves may be banned from buying cars in future as the city moves to tackle the growing problem of parking lot shortage.


    The new policy will require people to prove to the government that "they have already acquired a car space" in order to purchase a vehicle, local police said yesterday. This means that potential car buyers would have to rent or buy a car park space first as a precondition to buying a vehicle. Details and timetable for the rule are still being discussed. The government hopes to use the new strategy to control the city's deteriorating parking lot shortage.


    But the scheme is already stirring controversy, with some locals deeming it groundless.


    "How can such a policy be legitimate?" questioned a local resident, who declined to give his name. The office worker lives in downtown Zhongshan Park area and hopes to buy a car. But the problem of getting a stable parking space around his crowded neighborhood along with related high costs has put a dampener on his plans.


    Ge Ming, a local orthopedic doctor who plans to buy his first family car early next year to prepare for his son's first school year, is also surprised at the policy.


    He argued that since shortage of parking facilities was most severe in downtown, mainly within the Middle Ring Road, asking people to secure a car space before buying a new car will hardly be helpful in solving the problem.


    "It's not difficult for residents living in suburban districts to secure a stable parking space in their neighborhoods. But if they drive into downtown on a daily basis, parking will remain a big headache," the doctor said.


    Instead of setting up a threshold for future car buyers, he said it would be wiser for the government to carry out policies to effectively restrict the number of cars flowing into downtown.


    Garage buildings


    Traffic police said in some cities abroad between 5 to 10 percent of urban parking capacity comes from dedicated garage buildings, which offer big parking capacity. But in Shanghai, the percentage is only 1 percent, with the rest supported by garages inside shopping malls and office buildings and legal street-side parking zones.


    Local authorities said they would relieve the shortfall by building more space-efficient garages inside local neighborhoods.


    The local government says it relies on the monthly car plate auction to help control the number of automobiles on local roads. But despite skyrocketing plate prices, which continue to scale new highs, the number of locally registered cars continues to soar, reaching about 1.7 million at present.
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  8. #8 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    C-Moto Regular scratchndent's Avatar
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    I have been living here for 2 years now and have no intention of buying a car, it would be nice when its raining or cold as hell but I can get around if I have to by taxi, bus or subway. Its miserable but I can deal. Wouldnt it make sense to put cars on transponders and make travelling inside of the busy areas, here that is inside the 3rd ring road, a toll situation? And I dont mean cheap, make it somewhat painful to drive into the city. Then the parking would not be such an issue and the traffic would thin some as well. Most of what I see is one person and one car. I know it is not "fashionable" to ride the bus or subway and sometimes especially at rush hours to ride public transport, but the overall pleasantries would be increased tenfold. With an increase on demand for the public transport would hopefully spur the local city governments to add more quality and quantity of public transport and be funded by the tolls and fines when people dont keep up the transponders or run without them at all.
    A day in the life, Wake up, ride to work, work, ride home, lock bike and its beer thirty!
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  9. #9 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Dear Scratchndent

    Your congestion-charge makes perfect sense, and it would probably work. The revenue could be used for additional public transport.

    Unfortunately, because it is a good idea, it will never be implemented.

    I think the City of London did something like that, and it worked. And you're right - it has to be expensive.

    Cheers

    re: mandatory parking spot prior to purchase. I think some other SE Asia city does it ... maybe Bangkok? Singapore? Not sure, but it rings a bell.
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  10. #10 Re: Only in Beijing? Protect your legal plate!!!! 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou
    Unfortunately, because it is a good idea, it will never be implemented.
    Exactly right. Many Chinese people feel that they are owed car. It's something they must have, the 'next level': their share of economic development. One child family, two cars. Anything that might put a curb on that including getting in the way of a car, or anything that restricts a car's movement, or place to park will be vigorously opposed.
    'Why do you want a car?' I keep asking. 'Because in America they have cars', yeah but Americans don't usually live walking distance from their work, shopping school and extended family.

    Congestion charging is nothing new, it was pioneered in Singapore years before London. The Singaporean Chinese could even send them blueprints for the scheme in Chinese!

    I think Singapore and a bunch of Japanese cities make people have a parking spot before they buy a car. In Japan they think 'oh, jeez I can't afford a car and parking spot, I'll get a bike'. I China they think 'oh, that's unfair for cars, ban bikes'.
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