Ok, my 5 cents here :).

Some disclaimer first:
I had moto & car license originally. I also have working visa. I do not know what is the situation with any other case (no license, no visa, no chinese name etc)

This is a copy of tutorial written for our friends by me & Konrad (who is not present here), so part of the credit goes to him. Ok, here we go:

All information here is valid as of date of creation - March 2011

Converting your foreigners' drivers license in Beijing

Main steps in short:

1. Get a medical check.
2. Go to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to register for the theory test.
3. Go to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to pass the test.
That's all.

Requirements:

- 4x 1 inch (smaller than those for visa) pictures with a white background
- Copy of your passport
- Copy of your residence permit (the one in your passport). You MUST have a residence permit, a visa will not be accepted.
- Copy of your temporary registration with the local police station
- Copy of BOTH sides of your drivers license
- Chinese name :) - I'm not sure it's necessary, but it definitely helps filling the forms

Notes

- All forms were available at designated places
- The total process will take about 2-3 weeks, depending on how fast you can take the theory test.

Step 1: Medical check

If you don't know chinese, that's the place where you could use help of someone who understands what's going on

Official list of hospitals where you can do a medical check: Link

Required:

- 2 small photos (we got them 9 pics for 15RMB)

You need to find the hospital from link above that suits your best. I cannot share here too much, since you'll probably pick different one than I. Basically, go there, pick the form, fill it, use 2 pics. After filling out the forms, pay 10RMB for the test. Next, walk to actual test place. In our case they did not test anything, just filled out the form and stamped it. In out case, tests were only done from Mon to Fri in the morning, if we remember correctly between 7am - 10.40am.

Step 2: Application

Required:

- Medical form from Step 1
- 2 photos as far as we remember. Might be better to bring one or two spares. - These MUST be the same as on the medical certificate.
- Copy of your passport ID page
- Copy of your residence permit (the one in your passport). You MUST have a residence permit, a visa will not be accepted.
- Copy of your temporary registration with the local police station
- Copy of BOTH sides of your drivers license
- All of the above copies' ORIGINALS, they do check

Notes:

- if you don't have copies, you can make them at the DMV (main hall, second floor)
- you will have to fill two forms.
- when we were there, there was chinese guy who spoke english and who was helping people

Take all the documents mentioned above and go to the DMV on the south-east of the 4th ring.

The Foreign Affairs Department of Beijing Motor Vehicle Administration
Address: No.18 Southeast 4th ring, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100023
Tel: 86-10-87625150
东南四环18号的北京市公安局公安交通管理局
The taxi driver will probably (never depend on this) know it as 交通局 [jiao1 tong1 ju2].

Picture of the building (from Blog with more interesting information)

Note that there is also another DMV building in Beijing, make sure you are going to this one!

When you get there, you need to take the entrance on the left side of the building, instead of taking the main entrance. This is the international affairs office. Here you first fill out two forms (all are available there):

- Application form: all your details together with the categories you apply for.
- Translation form: use this to translate all the details on you drivers license. In theory, translation should be done by sworn translator. In practice, officials there tell you to translate and sign it by yourself

For the translation and application form you need to know the Chinese categories to apply for:

- C1 - normal car with manual transmission (includes C2 and C3 privileges)
- C2 - normal car with automatic transmission
- D - three-wheel motorcycles (includes E privileges)
- E - two-wheel motorcycles

EU categories may differ from country to country, i.e Konrad had separate category for automatic transmission, while I didn't. Generally, A is equal to D, B is equal to C1. In best case, you apply for C1D :)

After your application is approved (immediately), you can schedule your test. Usually you can do it within 1-2 weeks, it costs 50RMB. Test start at 10AM and 11AM, pick one. You will receive receipt with your test code and test date (day / hour) . You need to bring it with you on Step 3.

Notes:

- you can buy English version of book with all the question on second floor (near copy machine) for 90rmb.
- there is app for Iphone/Ipad/Ipod with all the questions, practice test Itunes Link . Full version: 5USD/4EUR. Quite useful since it gives you full randomness.
- it looked like the Chinese version of the book had explanations of the traffic rules. The foreign ones only have test questions.
- You will have to study about 8 hours of study in order to pass the test. Don't save it all for the last day, because the Chinglish is tiresome to read.

Step 3: Test

Required:

- receipt with test code - you will have to enter your code to start the test
- passport - they do check it
- optional - home / office address for shipping license

Notes:

- there are around 1300 questions in total
- you have 100 random questions at test
- you have 45 mins (plenty of time)
- you need to have at least 90% correct (90 questions ;) )
- sometimes order of answers is switched read before you pick :)
- if you fail, you can schedule another test date for free. After second fail, you need to pay again
- unconfirmed by us if you are taking full course for motorbikes (driving lessons, driving test), you might have questions that are not in the test book or iOS app

At the day of test, go back to DMV, to the international affairs section. Wait for you hour, then follow all the people to test room (second floor). Enter your test code, pass the test. After passing, go to the front desk, show your receipt - officer will mark your score. Go back to international affairs section, pay 10RMB for driving license. You can pick your license by yourself or go to the second floor to order the courier (fill the form with your or the office address). The fee is 20RMB. Officially it will arrive 3 days later, we were lucky to get it one day early.

That's all ;). As you can see, the book is most expensive part of the whole process. If you stick with the app (it has the same questions), you don't need it at all.

Ps. Mods, if you think formatting may benefit from a bit of tweaking, please feel free to do it :)