39 Comments to “How to get a Motorbike licence in Shanghai (from Scratch)”

• Simon Power says:

  March 21, 2009 at 9:29 am

  Hi Lawrence
  I am looking at getting my bike license, thanks for the guide. I have been told that I have to attend a school for an hour EVERYDAY(!) for an hour….very difficult to do in Shanghai. Did you do it all yourself or use a company to help you through the process?
  I am thinking of using a company to help and they are charging RMB4800.
  This sounds a little excessive but I do need someone to help.
  Any advice would be welcomed!
  Thanks

  Reply
  • Lawrence Sheed says:

    March 21, 2009 at 10:51 am

    Hi Simon,

    No, you don’t have to go for an hour every day. You will have to get up in the unholy hours of the morning to be at the training place at 7:30am in the morning at least a few times though. What will happen in reality is that the instructor will, ahem, “assist you”, and you just do as many hours as you need to pass. Your training book will show that you’ve done all the hours required though. The place I (still haven’t actually made it to at 7:30am yet) has lesssons Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so you wouldn’t be going daily anyway.

    If you want, I’ll rent you one of my staff for the 2-3 days of running around that it will take to get the documentation, signups for the lessons, health check, and other bits done.
    Can do that for a 1000RMB. Email me if you are interested.

    Lawrence at computersolutions dot cn

    Reply
• Simon Power says:

  April 7, 2009 at 11:22 am

  Hi Lawrence
  Yes I would like to use your staff if possible? I have emailed you @computersolutions but haven’t heard back.
  Thanks for your help
  Simon

  Reply
• Neil says:

  April 26, 2009 at 6:49 pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  Thanks for all the great information on your blog. Im especially interested in your know-how on all things motorbike. Although my question is not related to Shanghai, i’m hoping you may have some advice anyway.
  I was riding a bike for 3 years up in Shandong without a license and never had any trouble. However, ive now moved to Wuhan and am a little older and wiser (more boring) and want to get a license and ride a bike legit.
  All my efforts to do this though have been thwarted. The police say they dont issue licenses to anyone. I find this strange. If you can get one in Shanghai, which is surely more anti-motorbike than most cities, maybe there is still hope for me, and theyre just fobbing me off.
  Any of your thoughts on this situation would be most appreciated. Plus, what do you make of riding without one or on a fake on?
  Thanks very much in advance. And, any plans for a round China ride?
  All the best
  Neil

  Reply
• Lawrence Sheed says:

  April 26, 2009 at 6:55 pm

  @Simon – never received any mail – maybe call our office, or email again.

  @Neil – Different cities have different laws. Wuhan may just have a no bike law.
  Driving without a licence is not recommended, if you get into or cause an accident, lots of problems..

  Suggest ask the Wuhan Expat site, as I really have no clue about Wuhan. I’ve only been there once, and that was a good few years ago!

  http://www.wuhantime.com

  I’d also ask the Motorbike stores about it on Luoyu Lu and Zhuodao Qua, see if they know any ways to sort you out.

  I’m guessing you might be Dan H. on there though, as he asked the same question there!

  One potential avenue to pursue – do you have a motorbike licence overseas?
  If so, you can get that translated and use that to get an E licence which covers driving cars *AND* motorbikes, then you are set
  You will need a work permit for the city you are in, as well as legal residence though.
  Might not want to tell them you want a bike licence, suggest its a driving licence, as thats easy but make sure it includes the bike licence also in the licence type…

  Reply
• Neil says:

  April 26, 2009 at 7:15 pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep on trying or maybe even head home to get one. Dan H is my mate, we are exploring all options.
  Do you get out much on your bike? We were planning a trip round the mountains of Central China.

  Reply
• braillce says:

  August 24, 2009 at 6:55 pm

  Hey,

  First thing: THANKS for ur site, it’s a huge help, especially after so much time spent searching for updated and reliable sources of info about the always changing motorcycle rules in Shanghai.

  I have all i need to get my car license soon, but i still have a bunch of questions about the “E” motorcycle license case and about how to get a moto, if u can answer them all, then u’re definitely my god, i’m afraid that’s all i have to offer in change of ur answers…

  1: Does one need a foreign motorcycle license to get a Chinese E license, or can the Chinese car license be enough?

  2: Is the “E” license good for driving 250cc?

  3: Where can one buy a 2nd hand motorcycle 250cc + (valid) plate?

  4: How to make sure the plate is valid? (in this post i always mean shanghai Yellow inside-inner-ring valid plate, by “plate”, i’m aware and prepared about the cost)?

  5: Can the motorcycle be changed after acquisition of both moto + plate keeping the same plate?

  6: If yes, then can one change a 125cc moto to a 250cc moto keeping the same plate?

  7: If yes how, do one has to wait a specific period of time and/or pay to do so?

  8: For how long is a motorcycle plate valid?

  9: Does that depends how much u pay at first or can one get a life long valid plate?

  10: If valid for a specific period of time, can the plate be renewed, how, when, how much money for how much time?

  Reply
• Lawrence Sheed says:

  October 9, 2009 at 1:11 pm

  @braillce

  1) Need a motorbike licence, If you have a foreign one that can be translated, and added to current licence (if any), or if not, need to do the licence locally.

  2) No.

  3) 250cc is illegal inside Shanghai.
  You can get a plate from outside the region to drive a 250cc here, but its still illegal, and you will get fined 200rmb if they catch you.

  4) Plates can be checked online at the Shangahi Transport Department site – http://www.shjtaq.com (chinese only).

  5) Yes, but not easily.

  6) No, as 250cc is not legal inside Shanghai.

  7) See 6

  8 ) Plate is valid as long as you pay the yearly licence and other fee’s for the bike. If the bike fails annual check, then the plate will still be valid, but the bike won’t. If thats the case, you need to either tell the traffic dept that the plate is not in use or sell it to someone.

  9) As legal motorbike plates are swappable for car plates, they stick to around the same pricing. Note that the government is phasing out bike licences, so its getting harder and harder to licence them legally.

  Note that if you get an out of state plate, you also need to take the bike to the registration place for the annual or biannual checkup (depends on age of the bike).

  Try to avoid registering with a Henan plates as those are 99% likely to be fake.

  10) See 8,9

  Reply
  • iwsmike says:

    August 2, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    That message is to correct those left by laurence,

    the E licence is good to drive any kind of motorcycle as long as it has only 2 wheels!
    In order to drive the 3 wheels, you then need to pass the exam for the D licence (the 3 wheels motorcycle at the only one allowed on the highway).

    Technically, any kind of motorcycle are allowed in Shanghai, by any kind i mean any CC.
    Truth is that if you have a licence plate from an other city, you can’t drive after the outer circle (check the shanghai map if you want to know what it is),
    that plus the fact that the maximum CC allowed is 250…

    Now if you have enough money, you get get a Ducati or a BMW or a Harley (no limit for the CC) with a Shanghai plate, or you could get a “free black licence plate” through your company if it’s a WOFE but it also depends on the registred capital…

    I can tell you all of this for sure because i had a talk with the policemen in the police station about that, they took away my bike because they thought that my plate was fake while it was actually their system that was down and which reported fake (actually it couldn’t find the plate).
    I got it back the next day and 100 rmb later (that’s the fee they asked me to pay for the truck they called).

    All the motorcycle need a valid driver licence, as mentioned above there are as follow:
    D (any kind including 3 wheels, no cc limit), E (only 2 wheels, no cc limit), F (2 wheels like scooter, electric bike, etc…).

    You can drive in Shanghai with a plate from an other city, you’ll only get a fine, but it’s mostly like this: They take away the bike, you can get it back after 24h (sometimes 48h), once you go to take it back, you’ll have to pay the fine (max 200 rmb, unless you have more than one fault, like for example drive on a road forbidden to motorbike, plus the parking fee, plus the fee for the truck…), i don’t suggest you to drive without insurance,
    you’ll have no problem if you have one (unless you kill somebody).

    No limit for the CC in Shanghai, even in the downtown, as long as you have money, for example, a friend of mine got a quotation for a BMW 1200… 270 000 rmb with the shanghai plate… i saw a chinese 250CC (actually 216…) for 16K rmb plus about 40K for the plate… it’s becoming interesting but as far as i’m concerned, there’s no way i’m gonna pay almost 60 000 rmb for a chinese made 250cc (plus it’s not actually a 250cc)…

    You can get a driver licence without having one from your country, the difference is that you’ll not only have to pass the written exam but also have to follow the course and pass the driving exam.

    I recommand a shop that is located in Tianma Sai Che Chang (the sport circuit of tianma), their online shop: http://jlmoto.taobao.com

    I bought a kawasaki ZXR250 1994 that i sold a few fews ago in order to get a new GSXR600 K8, they provide licence plate and insurance, however be careful if you want a jiangsu plate, they can’t make the insurance with these.

    An other place is located right beside the place to pass the driving exam:
    Guangzhong road, number 444 广中路444号, it’s actually a small repair shop but thei can provide the sport bike, but i’ve never bought anything there and they know the shop i mentioned above, shop that seems to be very well known in shanghai, they even have their own racing team.

    if you have the moto driver licence with a cc limit from your country, you’re lucky because then they’ll give you a D licence direclty as they don’t know how to make the difference.

    One last thing, if you want to have a shanghai licence, you’d better have a shanghai visa, otherwise you’ll have a lot of trouble to get the documents you’ll need, it might even be impossible.

    Reply
• Julien says:

  October 10, 2009 at 4:20 pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  Great information here!
  After reading your blog I went to get a car licence a couple of months ago. Everything went well, thanks for your help! I had a foreign car licence already.
  Now I would like to get a motorbike licence. I don’t have any foreign motorbike licence. My wife (Chinese) called the Guangzhong Lu place. They told her that I need to own the car licence for more than 1 year to apply for other licence. In addition they told her that before the training on the bike, I should have a theory training all in Chinese. I am confused…

  Thank you for your input!
  Cheers,
  Julien

  Reply
• Ryan says:

  October 14, 2009 at 3:38 pm

  October 14th 2009

  Lawrence & Rest of Group.

  A few questions / notes:

  1) I am from Canada, and I don’t have a foreign motorcycle license. I have lived in Shanghai for 8 years. I have a “C1″ Shanghai drivers license.

  2) I am applying to do a complete motorcycle license in Shanghai (from scratch). But it appears incredibly difficult to find a driving school which has a computer test in English, and apparently it can take up to two months for the entire process to be completed.

  3) Let me backtrack for a moment, the Minghang office has an English Test but it is only available for foreigners who already have a drivers license in their home country. Foreigners who don’t already have a license in their home country have to complete the entire process at a government sanctioned Drivers School, but none of the schools have English tests and they are incredibly poorly run.

  4) Getting pictures and health check is very quick and painless in Minghang, almost no line up. But the rest of the process, if you don’t already have a motorcycle license from your home country, is next to impossible to navigate. The Minghang people at the government offices will tell you that you need to visit the Driving Schools, but the Driving Schools you need to do the English computer test in Minghang; and apparently you can’t do the computer test in Minghang and do the practical test at a Drivers School. Tricky.

  5) And assuming you can find somewhere to do both the English Computer test and the practical test, the entire process will take you up to 2 months; because they put you in a computer system whereby you compete for spots at drive schools with other drivers. They don’t seem to have a motorcycle only section. So clearly it seems that it is well worth the flight back home to organize your motorcycle license in a more civilized manner and then return to Shanghai, pass the computer test and get the license within a week. Quick, quick and well worth the money for the ticket home.

  6) To my knowledge there are two foreign types of motorcycles, above 250cc, that are legal in China; and Shanghai specifically. One are Harley Davidson and the other is BMW. These bikes you can actually get proper registration and plates for if you live in the city center. But costs are high. You can apparently ride 250cc+ bikes in the city, but never on the elevated highway or expressways.

  That is about all I have. After my experiences in the last few days with the Drivers Schools and the government, I’ve decided to fly home to Canada and sort out my license – less than a week, and fly back to China with documents in hand. Much much faster.

  Ryan

  Reply
• John says:

  October 18, 2009 at 10:21 pm

  Hey,

  I am planning to get a gas powered bike in Shanghai because riding taxi costs too much.

  I have never bought a bike before so I’m quiet confused on what to do.

  I will probably buy a fake plate provided by the local shops here.

  How much do those fake plates cost?

  I know its illegal but getting a real plate costs too much.

  What I’ve heard from other ppl is that getting a license is much better than getting a plate because you get fined or punished less if you are caught.

  Is that true?

  And what are fake licenses?

  Last 2 questions:
  When I apply for the licenses is there an age limit?
  And the guy above said give the people in the Shanghai License place your “Drivers licence (I have a Chinese Car drivers licence).” But how do u give them a license if you are applying for one.

  Reply
• daki86 says:

  October 18, 2009 at 11:49 pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  Thanks for the very useful information that you have put on this site. It seems like a pain in the ass to find info about scooter/motor vehicle legalities in shanghai but you have really provided a lot of help not just here but on the shexpat site as well (I’m assuming you are computersolutions there)

  Some of the questions have already been answered in one way or another but I want to get things clarified if possible (Keep in mind that I intend to do most of my riding within the inner ring):

  1)Do All petrol bikes regardless of cc require a valid motorbike license? (I’m guessing yes although I’ve heard so many mixed things)

  2)What is the maximum legal CC for registering a bike within shanghai? Regarding all types, petrol, LPG, etc. I’m assuming this is going with legal shanghai blue/yellow license plates.

  3)What are the ramifications if you ride a motorbike, be it LPG or petrol, with a valid out of province plate and valid drivers license within shanghai? What are the legal limitations? From what I understand if you are caught on a police check you are fined 200 RMB; what happens if you have an accident?

  4)What price range should I expect for <50cc lpgs (not including plates)? 100cc? 150cc? higher? Where would be an ideal place to buy these? What about plates?

  5)What price range should I expect for <50cc petrol (not including plates)? 100cc 150cc? higher? Where would be an ideal place to buy these? What about plates?

  6)What is the fastest type of bike (regardless of what fuel it runs on) that can be rode 100% legally within the shanghai inner ring provided ALL legal documents are in order (driver's license, plate, w/e else). What sort of price range would we be looking at here?

  Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

  Reply
• daki86 says:

  October 19, 2009 at 12:01 am

  Hi Lawrence,

  Thanks for the info. Your input here as well as on shexpat really helps a lot of people with these motorbike issues.

  I still have some questions if you have some time (some have been answered already in one way or another). Please keep in mind for all questions that I plan on doing a majority of riding within the inner ring.

  1)Do all petrol bikes regardless of cc require a valid E drivers license (i’m assuming yes)

  2)What is the maximum legal cc for a bike to be registered in shanghai? (petrol, lpg, etc.)

  3)If I drive with a valid out of province plate (i.e jiangsu) with a valid drivers license, what are the possible ramifications? If i get caught, I get fined 200 rmb from what I understand? What about if i have an accident?

  4)What price range should <50cc lpgs fall under? 150cc? higher? What about their respective plates?

  5)What price range should <50cc petrol fall under? 150cc? higher? What about their respective plates?

  6)What is the fastest/biggest type of bike regardless of fuel type that I can 100% legally operate within the inner ring provided I have all the proper documents necessary (plate, license, etc)

  7)Under what types of driving conditions will I risk getting jailed/deported? (regarding bike type, license, plates, etc.) I'm not talking about fines here, those are a separate matter entirely.

  Thanks, I really appreciate it.

  Reply
• NewMotoFan says:

  December 4, 2009 at 2:39 pm

  I am looking to purchase a Changjiang and need some help to get my licence sorted i assume for these changjiang 750s i will also need a E licence?

  i would like to check that if i have my British drivers licence it will be easier to get my chinese licence from that converted try to get them to add E to it if not then just do the motorcycle test here.

  i am extremely confused about the plate issues i can’t afford a shanghai plate but if the bike comes with an outof town plate how can i have it here and do i need to pay some fees for this. if it doesn;t come with a plate can a buy an out of town for for a little cheaper.

  Reply
• Alex says:

  January 27, 2010 at 4:24 am

  its necessary to have license for moto 125CC , becaus many peopel driving with out and no problem. Please help

  Reply
• Max Voegtli says:

  May 29, 2010 at 12:55 pm

  I am 17 years old, from Switzerland.
  I have lived in China my entire life. I currently have no license of any kind as I am underage. Soon it will be my 18th birthday and I want to be able to get my motorcycle license then for my 18th birthday.
  The question is this. Is it possible for me to get a chinese motorcycle license without any prior license, but with the knowledge of how to drive a motorcycle.

  Thanks alot

  Reply
• Lawrence Sheed says:

  May 29, 2010 at 1:35 pm

  Yes, basically its all laid out above.

  Reply
• braillce says:

  June 25, 2010 at 6:42 pm

  Hey.

  Got my C1 E license yesterday, took 8 months cause I had to go back home to get my 125cc stamp on my french license…

  Thanks for all, now I’m gonna try to get a moto + plate…

  By the way, the test has changed!

  There are 1315 questions for cars and 800 for motorcycles to know.

  A computer will select 100 randomly out of it and u got 40 minutes.

  I passed with 93 correct answers, so i guess one can fail up to 10 questions and pass.

  The questions are quite simple, if u read them all two times, chances are that u’ll pass.

  One can download the questions in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese at the following link:

  http://www.shjtaq.com/wsbs/more.asp

  Reply
• Lawrence Sheed says:

  June 26, 2010 at 1:40 pm

  I finally bought a motorbike today.

  Decided to go with waidi plates, as the same bike done properly for Shanghai would be about 80k, sigh. So… I’m getting a 150cc Yamaha TZM150, with jiangxi plates for 8800.

  They’re doing the paperwork now for me.

  12 photos, copy of my passport, and 2 weeks +-

  Reply
• Casey says:

  July 19, 2010 at 4:35 pm

  Lawrence,
  Your feedback has been very helpful and has given me a 2nd wind to get a motorcycle in Shanghai- 谢谢！

  Reply
• Russel says:

  July 20, 2010 at 10:58 am

  Lawrence,

  Thank you for posting the information here.

  One thing I’m not clear on:

  In my case I have a valid motorcycle and car license from Canada. Do I need to do both the written motorcycle and car test here?

  Your one post said you can have the license translated – but you still need to do the written tests right?

  Thanks…

  Reply
  • Lawrence Sheed says:

    July 20, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    Hi Russel,

    You’ll need to have a valid Chinese license for whatever you want to drive.
    The only country that can drive in China with a foreign license is Belgium, so you’ll need an official translation of yours made (you can do this on Nanjing xi lu / Chang Shu lu, behind Natuzzi), and go do a health check, plus whatever Q&A test they make you sit (its really easy). Once you have all that, you’ll get a Chinese license, and be good to drive.

    Reply
• Clemens says:

  July 24, 2010 at 4:29 pm

  Hi,

  I have a small question. I just did a chinese car driver’s license and now I want to have a license to ride motorbikes here in SH.

  Now I contacted the motorbike test centre. Strangely they said that it is not possible to do the motorbike license now. I first need to wait a year until I can do anything. Did you heard about such things already? Is there a way to get around this?

  Thanks for you answer. You page is of great help for me!

  Reply
  • Lawrence Sheed says:

    July 24, 2010 at 7:09 pm

    Yes, you need to have had a license for at least one year. Thats correct.

    When I’m back I’ll put up some more info about testing etc. Rules have changed, and no test in English, so its all Chinese – if you don’t speak/ read, you’ll have issues..

    I’ve also added a pic of my own bike in the post, so you can know its possible

    On the plus side, I also now in nitty gritty detail whats legal, whats not and all that, but that should really be another post.

    Reply
  • iwsmike says:

    August 2, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    You don’t need to wait normally, i had a friend who did it without waiting… just talk with them,
    you can even do both in the same time, they don’t really know what is possible or not.

    Test are available in different languages, not only in chinese, however if you’re not from an english speaking country, i highly recommend you to take the exam in english, i speak from my experience, i’m french and i wanted to pass the exam in french… big mistake, after half of the test i gave up as “their french” wasn’t french… they changed to english and later on failed, came back a few weeks after, passed it successfully in english…

    Reply
    • Karu says:

      August 17, 2010 at 2:24 pm

      I had the same issue. I had to wait for one year.
      I have tried a few times to talk to different persons in Guangzhong Lu centre and was never successful. After a year, they told me they could apply in their system. I am now done with the license test and now need to take the lessons for the road test. If it goes well I am expecting to get the E license end of September…

      Reply
• aili says:

  July 31, 2010 at 11:37 pm

  Hello,

  I have a 80cc lpg motorbike, I want to apply for license bu i don’t have car license valid in China, i only have driving license for my country. Should I follow same procedure as you described above? or is it the procedure for those who has a license before? and lastly is it possible to take the exam in English?

  thanks

  Reply
• tony says:

  September 2, 2010 at 1:53 pm

  Laurence,

  Just saw your answer to the poster above, about “needing a car licence for a year before applying for a motorbike licence”.

  My situation is that I have an Australian car/motorcycle licence. I’ve had it translated and am about to go off to the Minhang centre to get a Chinese licence.

  Will they grant me both the Chinese car and motorcycle licences? (Actually I’m only really after the motorcycle licence, but I may as well get the car licence while I’m at it…)

  Thanks

  Reply
  • Lawrence Sheed says:

    September 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    Simple answer – yes.

    Reply
• Eric says:

  September 5, 2010 at 4:16 pm

  Hello guys… i really want to learn how to ride a Bike… please tell me where in shanghai i can find a Motobike school maybe or something like that… Thanks…
  Adil_eradil@hotmail.com
  I’ll wait your answers…

  Reply
• David says:

  September 12, 2010 at 8:01 pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  Just wondering about the legalities of riding with out of town plates in Shanghai. Just have a few questions:

  1) Can you get insurance for your bike?
  2) Is it legal at any time to ride in downtown SH? I heard weekends and after 8pm is ok.
  3) Is the bike in your own name?
  4) What are the repercussions of getting in an accident in Shanghai?
  5) Can you register 2nd hand bikes legally out of town? Seems like you have managed to. How about registering 2nd hand bikes with SH plates?

  Cheers,

  David

  Reply
• braillce says:

  October 11, 2010 at 10:50 am

  Hey.

  I’m trying to buy a 250cc at the Suzuki shop 193 Pubei rd, near Guilin Rd, near Shanghai South Railway Station:

  浦北路193号, 桂林陆。

  They say they can make me a A plate @ my own name for 44000RMB, I worry a bit cause they’re the only shop saying “keyi” on this…

  Does anyone know anything about this shop (and their plates)?

  Reply
  • braillce says:

    November 23, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    I bought the moto + 沪A plate at the Pubei Rd shop a few weeks ago.

    Got controlled by a police officer last week, showed him the bike papers and my E license and checked out, the cop seemed disappointed though.

    @ Lawrence.

    U was a great help in the process of getting this bike & license legally, THANKS.

    Reply
• Ben says:

  November 6, 2010 at 11:45 am

  Thanks for the info guys– very useful!

  Does anyone know if a class C1 Chinese license (just the regular car one) is sufficient for driving small (<50cc) LPG or gas scooters?

  In other words, is there a licensing difference between the small, automatic transmission bikes where your feet are together in front of you (scooters?) and the larger displacement, manual motorcycles?

  Would like a little scooter for getting around the city without the hassle of taking the Chinese motorcycle test.

  Thanks!

  Reply
• Jérémie says:

  June 6, 2011 at 11:26 pm

  HEY! i’m french, and the driving licence here it’s around 1400€, it’s so craaazy! i refuse to pay that, so like i’m going to shanghai this summer during one month and half i thought to buy a driving licence, yes even a false, something i can go there and ask for twice the price to get immediatly the driver licence!! do you think it’s enable ???

  Reply
• Kunlun says:

  September 27, 2011 at 12:29 pm

  I just got my car’s driving license, I would like to take the motorcycle one now. Do you know if those information are still up to date? Just asking as now they are situated on Hami lu. Furthermore where can we take the lessons?
  Thanks a lot for the information (I should have done it loooong before, it would have been easier…)

  Reply
  • Lawrence Sheed says:

    September 27, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Yes, will still be valid.

    Reply
    • Kunlun says:

      January 15, 2012 at 8:24 am

      I tried to get my motorbike lesson after my car driving lesson, they answered me that I needed to wait 1 year before being able to take it…. Anybody experienced the same? If not, what school did you contacted? Thanks a lot (and again amazing information, thanks)

      Reply