<rant> ...

Honestly, I just don't understand.

People who get their illegal bikes seized seem to be able to get them back if they pay fines ranging from 2,000 - 5,000 rmb. This isn't graft, as the "owners" get official receipts from the police. I know a few guys whose bikes were seized, they went to the impound lot, paid the fines, and drove the bikes away. The bikes still had the fake plates on them. Seriously, WTF is going on? The bikes were obviously smuggled into China yet, once here, they seem to be ok? It is a joke, China - you not only have lost face, you have egg all over it.

Driving with no DL, however, is entirely different - there seems to be a very strict "administrative detention" rule in place.

Over the years, though, what I have been seeing is increasing backlash from local Chinese about the perceived "bad-foreigner" and the "special treatment" foreigners are believed to receive. A local "biker gang" in Beijing (made up of foreigners) is notorious for riding illegal bikes, drinking & riding, and breaking every traffic rule in the book ("look at us - we're bad ass tough guys - aren't we cool?"). I've heard so many negative comments from local Chinese about these guys, and now reading threads on Chinese forums about their drinking & driving antics, that these clowns have become a serious embarrassment. Compounding the backlash, most of these clowns have Chinese girlfriends .... imagine how well THAT goes over with the local Chinese boys! Sadly, they still seem to attract FOB foreigners who want to hang out with the cool gang (like the new kid in High School who wants to make friends with the "in-crowd").

Beijing has a reputation of being a strict, government town. Yet it can't get a handle on these illegal bikes. I really don't understand this, at all. Beijing needs to take a lesson, or two, from Western police forces ... you ride a smuggled (probably stolen) bike, and you can certainly wave bye-bye to it (permanently), as well as several other penalties. Be a Chinese guy in Vancouver on a tourist visa, drunk on an illegal bike, breaking traffic laws, and see how you're dealt with. Trust me, it won't be pretty.

</rant>

PS: I was stopped the other day, asked for my DL, and the cop was actually quite an asshole towards me as soon as he saw I was a foreigner. That would have NEVER happened a few years ago - I had ALWAYS found the Beijing traffic police to be excessively polite and professional. They'd even salute me after giving me a ticket (it helped sooth the pain). I think the typical street-cop has finally had enough, too. He/she probably wishes the bosses would do something serious. Must be a frustrating job.