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  1. #1 Getting a license in Harbin 
    C-Moto Regular HarbinSteve's Avatar
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    I haven't been able to find much info about Harbin here, so I thought I would contribute my experience.


    If I was just going to be riding in the city, I wouldn't bother getting a license since they don't really care here. But since I am planning to ride to Xinjiang, I want to get all of the legal stuff as covered as possible, since you never know if the cop at the roadblock is going to smile and let you continue, or use any possible excuse to take your bike.

    After doing as much research as I could, (which usually turns out to be useless) I got all of the necessary documents taken care of, pictures taken and translated.

    I have a 1 year residence permit, and a valid American (Arizona) drivers license so technically this process should be doable. I'm not holding my breath though.

    1.Translated American license-100RMB
    2.Translated Passport-100Rmb
    3.Took Photos-10RMB
    4.Got proof of residence from police station-Free
    5.Made several photocopies of each-3RMB

    Today I went to the drivers license testing center, which is conveniently located far outside the city, and started the process.

    6.Taxi ride-30rmb

    After waiting a while, I was able to talk to the man working behind the desk. I had heard from other foreigners who had their licenses transferred that this guy was a dick. They were right. After staring at my license for a long time, he told me it was fake, because a. It was vertical format and the picture on his computer of an AZ license was horizontal, and b. The expiration date was too long and he did not believe it. (it expires in 2054,AZ licenses are valid for a long time)

    After that, he told me that the translation of my License and passport did not have my chinese name, and thus I could not get a Chinese license. I had an official document from the police station that had my both my real name and Chinese name, but he said that did not matter and my license and passport must also have it. I asked him if my American license and passport do not have my Chinese name, than how could the translation possibly have it? He told me it didn't matter, they must have a Chinese name.

    After that he told me to leave and fix the translation, then ignored me. So I never found out if they have an English test or not. Since its Harbin I assume they don't. He also didn't answer when I asked if there was anything else I need to fix before next time. So he's probably waiting for me to come back so he can find something else wrong and send me away again.

    7. Taxi ride home empty handed-40RMB (the license place is in the middle of nowhere and taxi's don't usually go there, so the ones that are there know you have no other option, and take the opportunity gouge anyone who needs a ride)


    So far: 283RMB, lots of hours, and no progress.
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  2. #2 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HarbinSteve View Post
    ...

    If I was just going to be riding in the city, I wouldn't bother getting a license since they don't really care here.

    Stop right there. They will care very much the minute you are in an accident, and you will care even more if you have no license because the odds are now very good that you will go directly to jail. I'm not making this up.

    (snip)

    Quote Originally Posted by HarbinSteve View Post
    After waiting a while, I was able to talk to the man working behind the desk. I had heard from other foreigners who had their licenses transferred that this guy was a dick. They were right. After staring at my license for a long time, he told me it was fake, because a. It was vertical format and the picture on his computer of an AZ license was horizontal, and b. The expiration date was too long and he did not believe it. (it expires in 2054,AZ licenses are valid for a long time)
    To be honest, I wouldn't have believed that either. Wow.

    Quote Originally Posted by HarbinSteve View Post
    After that, he told me that the translation of my License and passport did not have my chinese name, and thus I could not get a Chinese license. I had an official document from the police station that had my both my real name and Chinese name, but he said that did not matter and my license and passport must also have it. I asked him if my American license and passport do not have my Chinese name, than how could the translation possibly have it? He told me it didn't matter, they must have a Chinese name.

    After that he told me to leave and fix the translation, then ignored me. So I never found out if they have an English test or not. Since its Harbin I assume they don't. He also didn't answer when I asked if there was anything else I need to fix before next time. So he's probably waiting for me to come back so he can find something else wrong and send me away again.
    Yes, this guy is a dick. An epic dick.

    But China's Vehicle Management Bureaus are standardizing nationwide, and I'd take decent odds that they do have the computerized testing system offering multiple languages, including English. Your problem is that you are in China, in a system designed for Chinese, but not Chinese yourself. Why isn't your passport in Chinese? It's no excuse that you are American. Your challenge, then, as everywhere in China, is to to muster up official documentation that links your American name and passport number to your Chinese name, assuming you have one. Once you have a document that shows a Chinese name that is clearly and officially associated with your American name and passport number, you'll be able to proceed.

    I'd suggest you go back to your police station, where you register your residential address, and be friendly, and offer cigarets and tell some funny stories, and make them laugh, then ask them for a Temporary Residence Registration form that includes both your American name and passport and residence permit details, along with your Chinese name. There's a space on the form for this; all they have to do is key it in. Then they print it out, put a little red police chop on it, and you are good to go. Then go back to the translation place, ask for a new translation of your driver's license, and make sure that you show the police document and insist that the translation "translates" your American name as whatever your Chinese name is. Then of course a nice red chop on that. So you'll have two documents that show that Steve Roundeye is precisely the same person as 张圆眼 or whatever your Chinese name is.

    Then go find Epic Dick and bring him some ciggies and tell some jokes about how fun it was going to all the trouble, then get on with your license.

    Harbin does not sound like the most enlightened locale in China.


    Quote Originally Posted by HarbinSteve View Post
    So far: 283RMB, lots of hours, and no progress.
    Actually, that's not bad at all. You could be in Shanghai, where a license is similarly cheap, but a license plate costs north of 70k rmb.

    Hang tough!
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  3. #3 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    C-Moto Regular HarbinSteve's Avatar
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    I made sure to include my Chinese name 王肥 on my residence registration at the police station, because I knew I would need it, but I didn't expect to need it on my license translation. Its interesting how an official document signed and stamped from the police is not enough proof for them. But then again, I am in China. Next time I'll go to a notary and get them to sign a paper that has both my English and Chinese names. Then I'll get the translation place to add it to my passport and license, and then I'll go back to my friend at the DMV with four different things including both my Chinese name, some cigarettes and jokes, and see what the next problem he can find to send me away for is.

    I have a feeling he might still tell me my license is fake, in which case I'll be screwed, because its real, and I can't to anything to change the expiration date. If after one or two times he still doesn't let me through, I'll have to go to a different city to get the license (if thats even possible) or just give up.

    Actually, that's not bad at all. You could be in Shanghai, where a license is similarly cheap, but a license plate costs north of 70k rmb.
    The plate is a whole different pain in the butt in Harbin. They don't give plates anymore here, since bikes are technically banned. I've talked to a lot of people and they all say there is no chance. They all have fake plates or bikes that were registered before the ban. If I can't make a sketchy deal with a cop to help me get a real plate, I'll have to try to get it registered in the name of a friend from a different city.

    I think it will boil down to cigs, jokes, and lots perseverance and luck to get any of this done.
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  4. #4 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru bigdamo's Avatar
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    sounds like" welcome to my world" here's my experience http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...se-in-XinjiangShanghi and Beijing are far different to NW/north China they all live in a sheltered workshop.

    Trust me this guy is a dick but a dick with power,power to say yes or no to you getting a license.

    A packet of smokes and some jokes aren't even come close to this guy giving you a license.
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  5. #5 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru zhu's Avatar
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    If you don't have a license from your home country you just have to do the practical part of the test as well as the written test
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  6. #6 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zhu View Post
    If you don't have a license from your home country you just have to do the practical part of the test as well as the written test
    Zhu makes a good point. If they don't accept your Arizona license, you do still have the option of saying, OK, let's start a Chinese license from scratch. You'll have to schedule a practical test with all the other newbie drivers/riders. It's just time and hassle and a bit of expense.

    cheers
    jkp
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    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  7. #7 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru zhu's Avatar
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    as euphonius says a time and hassle yes but you dont need to do the "training" course
    you can just rock up and do the test
    which involes riding around a few cones and stopping in front of the examiner without running over his feet
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  8. #8 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    C-Moto Regular HarbinSteve's Avatar
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    If you don't have a license from your home country you just have to do the practical part of the test as well as the written test
    Thats true. Reassuring to know its not a huge roadblock if I can't get the angry man at the DMV to believe it is real. Taking the riding test has got to be easier than proving my license is valid if this guy doesn't like the one I have.

    In the last few days I've talked to several other foreigners who have had their licenses transferred at the same location. The guy who is responsible for the transfer is legendary here. I've talked to 3 people and none of them have been able to get the guys approval of their paperwork in less than three trips. I guess this guy likes sending foreigners all over the city. If he doesn't like the papers you hand him he just tosses them on the counter then ignores you.

    I'm off the the translator to revise my papers, then to a notary, then hopefully tomorrow will be take two at the DMV.
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  9. #9 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    C-Moto Regular HarbinSteve's Avatar
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    Yesterday I went back to the translator (who was awesome and super helpful) and got my chinese name put on my license translation. I was going to go to a notary to put my Chinese and English names on paper and get an official stamp, but when I found out that it would cost 300rmb I decided to skip that.

    I got lucky today and the guy was in a much better mood. Still not the most pleasant to deal with, but after looking at the new transition (and probably him realizing I would be coming back every day until he let me pass) he asked another guys opinion and accepted my papers. He still had an issue with the license, because It didn't specify if it was for cars or two or three wheeled motorcycles, but I told him I didn't care about anything beside two wheeled motorcycles and he said ok and let me pass on to the next stage, the theory test. I was extremely surprised to only have to go to this guy twice, as everybody else I had talked to went at least 3 times. I beat the record! haha.

    Harbin has no English test, and when I asked them if they did they laughed. I don't think many foreigners have tried get a motorcycle license here... So now the next big hurdle is finding somebody who can take the test, aka "translate" for me. There are tons of students I know who could take the car test for me, but I think the motorcycle test has some different questions too, right?

    They told me I could take the test next Tuesday. They did not say a time, so I'm not sure what they mean by it, but I'll show up next Tuesday and see.

    Today:
    Taxi-39RMB
    Getting some paper stamped-10RMB
    Getting some other paper stamped-100RMB
    Taxi-37RMB

    Total:469RMB, 6 days, one step down and one to go.
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  10. #10 Re: Getting a license in Harbin 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Satisfaction is always greater when the path is strewn with obstacles, as with your Epic Dick up there.

    Harbin should be using a standard universe of questions, about 1,500 in all, I think, and these thankfully all derive from the national traffic law, not the myriad tinpot fiefdom laws that, in the most egregious examples, contradict the national laws that explicitly permit motorcycles on expressways (albeit without pillion and limited to 90kph and no high-heel shoes permitted and hands must never leave the controls...).

    The questions are available online, in bilingual format, and the links for these are buried somewhere in MCM. Google or Baidu might be faster.

    It's definitely worth going through the questions once or twice in advance of the test, unless you are planning to wuss out entirely and let your "translator" proffer all the answers. There are some questions that defy logic, but thankfully 99% of questions do have answers that make unambiguous sense. But with a universe of 1500 questions, that still means 15 that can throw you for a loop, and you need to score 90 points or higher out of 100. You'll improve your odds by going through the questions, and you'll also learn all kinds of interesting things about the traffic law, like the high-heel shoe rule, referenced above, and how tall your cargo can rise (2m) and how far it can protrude from the front, back or side of your bike (15cm front and back, unless I misremember; no recollection of the side limit).

    To be safe, you'll want your "translator" to be a highly bilingual motorcyclist with a legal license, procured in a legal manner (i.e., via test). Needless to say, most motorcyclists in China have neither a license, nor an accurate knowledge of the national motor vehicle laws.

    I got only 89 on my first try, then hit 92 on my second. I think your payment gets you three tries before you have to pay again.

    Good luck on Tuesday!
    Last edited by euphonius; 06-20-2012 at 06:50 AM.
    jkp
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    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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