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  1. #11 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    GW250 JayDee's Avatar
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    asdsf.jpg

    There's proof, we are not alone! Can't see it clearly on the pic, but he gave me thumbs up and I returned the salute.
    I see more and more bikes riding this summer than last one. Some rich kids in my area push some big supersport bikes around after dusk. But except Danny, I don't know/seen anyone with a plated bike.

    I talked to a farmer in Tanggu with a 津-plated Jialing who said getting plates outside the city is still possible.

    I also had my first encounter with a police man. Technically, ehm, I was almost on the legal outer ring, but I clearly came out of the bike-banned-city, stopping at a red light, where he was directing traffic/playing with his phone. First he went around the bike in some distance, I thought he's checking my plates. Then he came over and asked "how much is this? How fast can it go? Oh, you are a foreigner?" and so on. Green light came, we bid each other farewell, and that was it.
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  2. #12 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
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    Received this note from a co-worker today (edited):

    This morning at the intersection of Zhujiang Dao, next to the canal, there was a large group of police and army. [name] was stopped and his keys taken. They couldn't explain in English (his mother tongue) what was happening, so they gave them back and he left. Some confiscating going on….
    make sure you carry your 200RMB if you're legal, or stop riding if you're not ;)
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  3. #13 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
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    Tried to jump on the S3 from Tanggu to Tianjin this morning and got shooed away at the toll gate (actually I just forgot it's a toll road) and had to drop to the G103. So forget about toll roads* in Tianjin

    *TIC: I've heard of people riding tolls from Beijing to Tianjin
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  4. #14 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thedannywahl View Post
    *TIC: I've heard of people riding tolls from Beijing to Tianjin
    Nothing hard about getting on the expressway in Beijing; they'll just hand you a toll card as if you were a car, and you pay when you get off in Tianjin. Sad that you cannot do the reverse from Tianjin.

    cheers
    jkp
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    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
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  5. #15 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
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    After all the posts about the crackdown in Beijing I thought I'd add some info about what's going on in TJ:

    Last May early in the morning on the South ring road you could find "sting" operations of police pulling over overloaded trucks, unplated trucks, etc... I was happy! Then throughout the summer (while I was gone) the operation moved on to cars, and now it's finally move on to motorbikes.

    Keep in mind that driving on the ring road IS legal, but there's been a sting setup at the South ring road by the new Meijiang convention center in the afternoons for well over a month now. Unfortunately this operation seems only to be focused on "real" bikes (ignoring delivery boy bikes and R9s). And it seems to be a coordinated effort in making it as unsafe as possible.

    My buddy had the police sneak around behind him while waiting at a red and take the key out of his ignition, then refuse to let him move to the shoulder while they interrogated him. They didn't give a damn he just didn't want to get rear-ended by a semi truck barreling down the road.

    I was riding home from work in lane 2 going about 80kph when I saw some guy darting between the cars ahead. Turned out it was the police officer getting in position to stop me. He got directly in my lane, faced me and stuck his arms out wide. I started braking and swerved to the right in an effort to avoid widowing his wife (and mine...) when he lept the same direction shouting in Chinese "don't run off! don't run off! don't run off!" I was barely able to stop in time, he stepped up and tried to grab my key, but couldn't find it. I was trying to idle out of traffic, but he kept blocking the bike saying "give me your key give me your key!" I gave him the key and jumped off the bike to push it to the shoulder by his squad car but he kept blocking me saying "don't run off! I have your key!". I guess I know what the standard response and training is!

    Anyways, I pulled over to the side, then he saw I was a foreigner and was shocked! He asked for my vehicle license which I handed to him, then he looked unhappy and went and had his partner make a phone call. The partner came back and said "boss says check for plates". Found my rear plate, back to the phone, "boss says check the front plate!". Found the front plate, back to phone... "check the insurance" "check the driver's license" "check his residency"

    Finally after 15 minutes they gave me back my key, frustrated, and said, "well, just be careful". I said "thanks", they noticed how "lihai" I was for wearing a helmet, and a jacket. And I rode off, marveling at being told to be careful by the guy that walked across 4 lanes of traffic to deliberately get in my way...

    Anyways, the most surprising things about this are 1) the duration of this crackdown on the ring road 2) the fact that it's on the ring road and not in the city where bikes are illegal

    Things I wasn't surprised about 1) them not caring about R9s blowing the red lights 2) probable cause.... (this ain't America!)

    I figure a few more weeks and things will be back to normal.

    TIC.
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  6. #16 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    GW250 JayDee's Avatar
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    That sounds unpleasant. What happened to your buddy? Was he all legal?


    I'm surprised to read this, since I'm taking the bike to work once in a while, waving through the rush-hour on the expressring, just exiting the city on the east side to go to the airport. I passed a lot of police men and police cars already, inside and outside the city, without any reaction. But I also try to not provoke any reaction...
    I also went to Nanjing Lu with the bike, where every crossing is supervised by a police squad, but wouldn't do that again. The car-nazis won't let you park anywhere with a mingong-motorcycle.

    Would be interesting to know what happens if you are "caught" with all legal documents inside the bike-banned area.

    I also see more and more bikes this summer. There is one chinese guy with a big bike (plated, but I don't think legally. Can't see the province, since he put the front plate on top of the back plate) going the same route as me occassionally, plus some farmer bikes.

    In Aocheng area, at the 1068 at the stadium or at the Knight in Jinwan plaza you'll see more and more (rich) locals with unplated big bikes.
    Maybe part of the reason for the crackdown you experienced with such a professional execution.
    Maybe they chose the location due to the proximity to the Harley Dealer?
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  7. #17 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    GW250 JayDee's Avatar
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    Finally I have my own story to tell.
    I got stopped on the inner-city Expressway yesterday that was blocked by multiple police men, maybe to clear an accident, I'm not sure.
    One guy already saw me from far before I knew what was going on and waved me to stop, so I stopped next to one of the police cars.
    Crammed between cars at turtle-speed I didn't have many other options, and didn't consider any of them smart anyway.

    This guy took the keys and furiously screamed at me (while his colleagues were smoking in the car, laughing), not sure exactly what he said. At the same time a chinese guy on a unplated delivery-boy bike past us, sneaking behind the cars.
    I just decided to show him my papers. That surprised him. He checked, calmed down, gave me everything back and told me I couldn't ride on the Expressway. I told him I'm sorry, but I had an urgent appointment at a place (which was clearly downtown). He said that's fine, but I couldn't ride on the Expressway and have to exit it right now. I also had to promise I don't enter it again. I did, and he was ok with it.
    Almost, after I left they followed me with one car, stealth mode in some distance, to check if I would re-enter. That was it. I believe I would have been f***** without proper documents.

    So no more Expressway for me - I promised him!
    Not sure in which direction this is going, since they were just upset about me riding on the Exressway, rather than riding inside the city at all. And these days I see much more bikes, especially in south Nankai - 95% unplated.
    But I do suggest to avoid riding inside the bike-banned area as possible.
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  8. #18 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
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    congrats on the clean getaway

    Continuing enforcement at the intersection of the south ring road and the meijiang convention center. Thursday afternoon there was a small fleet of China National Highway Patrol cars 中国公路 and a first I've ever seen which is the cars pursuing other cars to pull over, as opposed to the one local police officer flagging down vehicles. Last fall there was some serious enforcement around the convention center just prior to the party switchover and there was a large conference held there. I wonder if there's something else coming up soon...

    Also, today I was told by the basement parking attendant that after tomorrow I'm not allowed to park my motorcycle in the basement anymore as there's a new city ordinance because motorbikes are not legal in the ring road (my complex is on the ring road, but on the inside side) and they (the hired guards) don't want to get in trouble if a bike is found by the police by the basement. There is a dedicated police sub-station in this complex. This also applies to my gas-powered 3 wheeler (unplated/unregistered 老年代步车) The odd thing was in the past the guards let me park in the basement - but I couldn't rent a parking spot because "they're only for cars" so I was always just tucked into a corner out of the way. Now to find a place on the street...
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  9. #19 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    C-Moto Regular gorka's Avatar
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    Hi,

    I promised some time ago to inform you about my number plating process in Tianjin province of a used but unregistered bike, bought in Shanghai.

    So far, I have paid for having the fapiao reissued on my name, paid for the road tax, waited for over one month, and all I have is the blue book and a growing feeling of frustration and rage.

    My first step was to go to the traffic bureau, where one bureaucrat (about the tenth I asked) informed me of what i would need to get the bike plated. No, sorry the fapiao on the first bike buyer didint do, I needed one on my name. Plus the residence permit, foreigner card, and bikes roadability certificate.

    So back I went to SH where I obviously had to pay to have the fapiao reissued, and back to Tianjin to ask for the residence permit. After contacting the local police station through one of my colleagues, one or two weeks wait to get an "audience". first thing teh guy does, as I expected is to complain that I didint register within 24 hours of my last entry to the country (how could have I? it took them 2 weeks to call me to the office). At first he says hes gonna fine me, etc but after 30 minutes show he forgives me because, what the hell, my colleague is his dear guanxi, and precisely because of that he will grant me with the favor of issueing the permit. For which I have to wait another week, obviously. You cant just make on the spot, it has its process. The guy claims also that the residence permit is at the same time mi foreigner card, although I can see it only has my laowai name, even though I asked for both and showed him my chinese DL.


    OK, so we have everything and off we go to traffic bureau. They take the frame number, look at our papers, and send us to the tax office, only one hour drive. There, they are not happy because I only have the two copies of the fapiao, they must have the original, so back home to get it. The guy makes a remark that my name on the fapiao is in "english", I show him my DL with chinese name and passport number, checks with boss, and its OK. He takes my original fapiao, my 3000 RMB, and gives me the blue property book, in english.

    Back to the traffic bureau, they realice they are not happy with the residence permit because its on the chinese name!!! They want it with the laowai name, so back to to the police office (am I boring you guys?).

    Fortunately this time it doesnt take a whole week to issue the permit, just a few minutes, although the following day I had to go there again and thay had also called my lanlord to take the rental contract and his house property papers. Anyway, bak to the pólice station to find out, guess what? THEY WANT THE FUGGING FAPIAO WITH MY CHINESE NAME!!!! Of course I get neither my original fapiao nor my money back.

    So, we contact the dealer but he had to check with his accuntant, another week wait (how many already?, I have no idea) and today we got the answer and I'm not very sure I understood correctly where it is coming from but this implies a cost of another 4000RMB, and I dont even get an answer if I have to pay again to have the blue book reissued. Oh, and this is a joke, the office also wants the delaer to issue a "certificate" why he is re-issuing the fapiao. Of course, Jeff told them the fapiao is fine in english. But no, in Tianjin we dont do like in SH, we do like in Beijing and require fapiao in chinese, and know that is bullshit, because people there register their bikes on other peoples names to avoid the cost of the A plates, so you dont even need the name on teh fapiao and registration to match.

    So, on monday my friend who is unlucky enough to be dealing with all this crap, will give them my message. NO NEW FAPIAO. If I cant have the numberplate I want my fapiao or my money back. Or, transfer the bike to a local, plate it, and transfer back. Any suggestions welcome. LJH, if you see this, I hope you find it challenging enough to give me a hand! Maybe I can get it plated through Chili, of course Im ready to pay for it.

    In the meantime, I have made some friends who hang around the repair shop, we will be going for a ride and barbecue one of these days. I yet have to see a single number plate in any of those bikes.

    Enjoy you mooncakes.

    PS. Jaydee, Danny, your stories are both scary and funny at the same time. Not sure what word to use, disturbing?
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  10. #20 Re: Getting (il-)legal in Tianjin 天津 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Hi Gorka

    I am sorry to hear about your experiences. Chinese bureaucracy can definitely be challenging.

    I am somewhat confused by what has happened. Here is what I understand, from memory, and from what you have written above:

    1) The bike was initially purchased in Shanghai by some other guy, but never plated.
    2) The other guy had a fapiao issued in his name.
    3) You bought the bike and brought it to TJ.
    4) You are now getting the run-around in TJ trying to get it plated/insured?

    Where my confusion starts is when you mention that you have possession of the bike's Blue Book? A "Blue Book", as I commonly use the term, is the wallet-sized registration booklet with a picture of the bike, and the bike's and owner's details (all in Chinese), AND the bike's plate number. Perhaps you are referencing the "tax paid" booklet which is apparently now issued, China-wide, in a little blue "booklet"?

    What you should do is scan all of the paperwork you have, get in touch with Qin in Beijing (contact details here), and see if he can help you out with a 京B registration in a company name. Qin is an expert on these matters and would know exactly what is required to get the plate issued in Beijing (I doubt he knows much about TJ, though). He won't BS you, and he will also inform you if it is impossible (if Master Qin can't do it, it simply can't be done in Beijing). He only speaks Chinese, so perhaps get your colleague to help out. By the way, Qin (and his staff) do all of the plating for Qili Motors (a high volume dealership) so it is probably best to just contact him directly.

    From what I understand, several TJ riders have a 京B registration in a company name.

    Good luck! And if Qin says he can do it, you are welcome to leave the bike at our clubhouse for a few days. Our clubhouse, however, is not convenient to Qin or the places that everything gets done. Qin might allow you to leave the bike in his compound (not too far from Qili), if he can handle the plating.
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