China Romance
General Discussion and Useful Links => The Campfire => Topic started by: Philip on April 03, 2014, 03:40:31 am
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I am well-chuffed. I passed my Chinese written driving test this morning. Got 99 questions correct out of a hundred. An hour later I was in possession of a lovely new Chinese driver's license. :)
Gone are the days when you can just pay someone to "translate" for you, i.e. do the test, while you sit back and twiddle your thumbs for 45 minutes. Now it is translated into about 10 languages, so there is no excuse for not being able to do the test in your own language. So I crammed for the test, rote-learning more than 1000 questions and answers over the past month, focussing on learning the (sometimes illogical) answers rather than applying reason in my responses to the questions, and learning the Chinglish way the the questions are phrased (thank you http://www.chinese-driving-test.com).
Now I need to forget what I've learnt, and concentrate on learning how to drive Chinese style. There is some mad logic to it, I'm sure. Many of the Driving test correct answers refer to "yielding", which is an alien concept to Chinese drivers. But the cars do perform a strange crazy dance in traffic, which seems to work most of the time if you can play the game. I will probably not be using my phone, smoking, driving on the hard shoulder, undertaking, no seat belts, but I will assert myself on the road.
Now comes the exciting search for a car. Foreign makes are stupidly over-priced. (My Chinese brother-in-law bought a bottom-of-the-range version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee this year for about 600,000rmb!) Chinese makes are getting better, but are still a bit of a risk, like Korean cars 20 years ago. I am thinking about a Chinese SUV called Haval H6. They have replaced the dog of an engine from Mitsubishi for the smaller-engined version, and it seems OK - it's got all the toys anyone would want. I would buy used if I were in the UK, but I don't really trust used in China. Whatever I get, I will ask for some bull-horns to be thrown in, to deal with any "incidents". I will be buying in August. Would appreciate any advice from petrol-heads amongst you for a family car/SUV for up to 5 adults with good luggage space.
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Great gosh. You actually going to try to drive there too? I don't think I could survive Guangzhou traffic. I did figure out how they drive. (observations from the back seat of a taxi). The Chinese drive the same way they walk. Imagine a sidewalk full of people, some going north some going south. Bobbing and weaving, lane changing, speedup, slow down, and never an accident. No concept of lanes. Ever the opportunists for getting ahead or around the guy in front. You cant do that if you're stuck in a lane behind them. You need to straddle two lanes for the most options. The best opportunities for advancing are beside them or just back in their blind spot. If the guy in front makes one wrong move your around him and back to the straddle lane and you didn't have to apply the brakes or make an evasive move.
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This one will be ideal with a auto motorcycle remover to the front. I think that is what is is.
Only one owner from new but ideal for driving in China.
Willy
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I am well-chuffed. I passed my Chinese written driving test this morning. Got 99 questions correct out of a hundred.
Philip, don't tell me that the one question you got wrong on the test was...... What do the wheels of the bus go _____ & _____?
PERMIT me to congratulate you on passing - but it's no wonder that you would have, showing us all your tenacity steering you into cramming for such a test - it displays that you have, if I may say...... that inner DRIVE!
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Congratulations!!! Coming from experience, the driving may seem chaotic, but though this be madness, yet there be method in it. I have come to appreciate the asian style of driving, and gotten pretty good at it....by that I mean, I have not killed myself, or anyone else.
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Ok from Wyoming to New Mexico, Utah to Kansas I want you to know Fiona just passed her driving test and can now legally drive BY HER SELF!