So I stated in part 1, that if you already have your foreign car & motorcycle license then you should click here.   You will only have to take a theory test, in English or one of several other available languages, but I think English would be the best choice, because it is the one that is translated the best.

And that if you had to do it from scratch…ie. No home country motorcycle license, then you had to do it all in Chinese.
That’s 2 theory tests in Chinese, and you get taught by a Chinese instructor that barely knows how to ride a bike nor how to really teach…yet you have no other choice.   For that option, you can click here by the way.

But there’s something else that I would recommend if you don’t already have your home country’s license.  And that is to actually go back home and do it.

Now I’m sure a lot of you are thinking… ‘well…. I’m not in a position to do that, I don’t have enough time to go waltz back home, or perhaps enough money to take a trip like that’

I know this, because I got told the same thing when I was trying to figure out how to get my legal license. (I emphasise legal license… because hey it’s China, and it’s all too easy to just buy a fake license, or when you first arrive assume that that IS the actual process)

I originally thought… well I normally go home for Chinese New Year, terribly cold winter in Beijing, and hot summers in Australia.  But that’s about family time, and I only have 2 weeks off, I don’t think it’s even possible to get it done in that time.

My advice is do some research into just how long it takes in your home country.  Because in my case, for Australia it definitely was possible.
In fact, it took me just 11 days from start to finish to get my Australian motorbike license.

Note: it must be said that I already had my car license so I didn’t have to be on ‘learner plates’ for a certain period of time or anything.

-Contact your local Department of transport, have some back & forth emails and start putting things in place.

-Get yourself prepared –> Prepare as much of the stuff as you can before you leave to go back home. This includes pre-booking computer theory tests before you leave.

-Take the test with your dad, brother or sister, make it into a bonding experience or something. (obviously that’s optional)

-Tell your family about your intentions and they can organise their time around what you need to do and help you getting there and everything.  Also they’re generally more happy that you will be driving legally in China as compared to not having your license.

-Make sure you in your emails to the Department of Transport that you get ALL the information, including what things you need to study, the correct resources, see if there are online practice tests you can take online.
For Australia, all of the materials including practice tests were available online. (very organised to be honest)

-Start looking online for riding instructors and ask your friends back home which ones they recommend. Email a few of them and tell them of your intentions.

For this pick a few in different places around the city because its not guaranteed where you’ll be taking your test.

-Once you pass your computer theory test you’ll have to book your practical driving / riding assessment.  Just tell them your situation (they’re more than happy to accommodate you) and tell them you can take it anywhere provided that its as soon as possible.

-As soon as you know the location of your driving assessment you should go back to the list of driving schools you’ve contacted and pick one that specialises in that area.
This is important because you will essentially only have 1 try at passing and its best to know the area as well as possible, as well as to know all the little nuances that assessors are likely to mark you down for.

-You may know how to drive a motorcycle (from possibly driving illegally in China) yet there are so many things to take into consideration when driving in a country that takes road safety seriously.
Your instructor will teach you things like the importance of sticking to the correct ‘tyre tracks’; fully turning your head/ helmet (showing to the assessor behind you that you’re checking your blind spots) ; how to merge properly; how long you should leave your indicator on; the proper distance to keep away from parked cars, etc.  All things that you can be marked down on in the test, and which might cause you to fail.

Don’t forget you’ve only got 1 chance at this, so you’d better get everything correct.

-My advice is take 3 lessons. Make sure you fully know the area that you’ll be taking the test in, all the little nuances, and know what the assessors is likely to look out for. Speed limits, school zones, wheel tracks, indicating, everything.
And once you’ve finally got that whole concept of wheel tracks in your mind, drive around the area with your car making sure you go through all of these concepts by visualising it in your mind.

-Speak to your assessor in a friendly manner. Don’t talk to him/ her so much that you lose concentration, but talk enough that you put the at ease.  Talking about how shit driving in China is is a good topic of conversation.  I personally talked about that as well as the idiocy of Chinese ‘round the world’ gear boxes.

Why do this?   Well if the guy/ lady has made a personal connection with you, they’re less likely to fail you on stupid little things, they’re more likely to let things pass a little bit.
Even tell your assessor your whole situation…’that if you don’t pass this practical test… you’ll be going back to China to continue driving illegally, it’s not a pretty situation, it’s just reality’;   I did.

Ok so from my understanding, Australians you can get your license in a short amount of time. I know this to be true, because I did it and I’m Australian. (although as stated above, you should do some serious preparation)

Americans – I have a friend that did it. (although I think he was back for a longer time than I was)

UK- no idea, yet it should be the same as Australia

New Zealanders- Should be exactly the same as Australia

Canadians- According to a friend, you have to have your Learners permit for at least 1 month & then you can take your test. Ie. Computer theory test, wait 1 month, then practical test.  So this process is more than 1 month.  Maybe not possible in your CNY trip.

But of course check with your local Department of Transport for the full details and confirmation on this.  I would recommend checking and re-checking with a few people in the department because while they’re generally better than their Chinese counterparts they may not all know ALL the answers.

The big one, French-  unfortunately this process is not possible.

I know this because I currently have 3 French friends in this situation. They want to get their motorbike license yet because of your shitty bureaucratic system it takes on average 6 months to get your motorbike license.

Something about having to go through ‘training schools’ which are slightly corrupt. Ie. The system says that you can only take the practical assessment when your school deems you ready.
And all too often the school only deems you ready when they’ve got enough money from you.

There may be around this… good old fashioned Chinese 红包 comes to mind, yet don’t expect this to be an easy process.

That being said, don’t lose hope French people… in the time it takes you to get your arse into gear, study all the traffic specific formal Chinese words to take the full Chinese test, a year will have probably passed anyway.  Time passes really quickly in China… we all know this.

There’s a good chance you can do you license in France in stages.

Ie. 1st trip back, do you computer theory test.. book into a school and do a couple of lessons.

2nd trip back, do a couple more lessons.. show off your illegal Chinese driving skills and then hopefully take the test during that 2nd trip back.

By the way, I heard of an Australian guy that bought his license in China.  Not the rich chinese housewife method of bribing /红包-ing their way into getting a real drivers license, but I mean buying a decent quality fake Chinese drivers license with 国籍：澳大利亚 his nationality actually representing his nationality, and his ID actually showing his real passport number, and real Chinese name etc.  Then flying back to Australia and presenting this fake Chinese drivers license to the licensing centre in Victoria (a state of Australia); changing it for a REAL Australian driver’s license (with no practical test having to be taken); then coming back to China and doing the ‘change over process’ to get his REAL Chinese drivers license.

Sure that takes balls, but it shows how little your home country’s licensing authority knows about the Chinese process and about checking for fake licenses etc.

It’s also a little worrying considering that it means there’s potentially Chinese drivers in Australia/ any country that really don’t have proper licenses… or at least didn’t deserve to get them.  They are shit drivers for a reason…. They actually DON’T know how to drive for real.

The point to all of this is that going back home, doing the preparation and organising everything properly in your native language, passing and coming back and then doing the ‘change over procedure’ is going to be a lot easier than doing the FULL Chinese method.

Plus if you’re going to be going home once a year anyway, you may as well give it a go.