How to drive into China by our own car?
By Jason Huang from China Exploration
Many tourist are planning driving their own vehicle worldwide to see different landscape and culture, and naturally China is one of the destination when they drive to East Asia. But China is not a free country which you can drive in and out. So it is very important to read this article.
1. Can I drive into China by my own car free?
No. You can’t drive into China freely by your own car. China is not the member of international transportation organization, so the Carnet is not valid in China. And your international license is also not acceptable in China. But if you rely on the service from some authorized tour companies, so you can drive into China then.
China is careful for its national defense and security of traveller, so the route of travelling in China must be previewed and allowed by the government, which including the military, police, tourism departments normally. And you can not just take your license and then drive a way freely in the country: a Chinese tour escort will be arranged in the whole China overland driving tours. And with the permits of government and efficient assistant of Chinese tour companies, you can apply the temporal driving license and Chinese driving plates. Try to find a reliable and authorized tour company, so everything would be easier for you. China Exploration is one of the authorized tour company with over 20 years’ history in operating this kind of tours.
2. How do I plan for the tour route in China?
China is a very large country, so you can make a long driving tours in China within 90 days, or you can just drive across it in about one week, all depend on which neighbour countries you plan to enter and where to exit. China has an open tourist border with its neighbour except India. And a few ports are also workable for shipment oversea. It is popular for the people driving from South East Asia to Mongolia and Russia via China, or to Nepal via Tibet, all driving along the Silk Road from Pakistan or Kyrgyzstan.
It is a good news that the road condition in China are mostly paved express way now, so you can make the trip much quicker now and visit more attractions. 20 years ago, most of the road were still unpaved off-road when I made the tours with our clients. And now with application in advance, you can visit almost any attractions in China.
3. Can I rent a Chinese vehicle for self-driving tour?
If you don’t want to drive your cars for thousands of miles to China, so you can also consider to rent a Chinese car for driving. You need to apply a Chinese temporal driving license firstly. Right now this is still a new business for most of the traffic police bureau, so only valid in a few province. Chengdu is one of it.
In general, find an experienced tour company is most important for you. From the route design to documents application, everything will be easier for you then, just drive on the road!