Driving in China

There are self-drive tours of various areas, often with service that includes getting a Chinese driver's license for the foreign driver and renting a car for the trip included.

The physical condition of roads and road maintenance varies greatly from municipality to municipality with the Western provinces being poorer than the East coast. As the building and maintenance of roads are mostly funded by local government, you may notice a sharp change when crossing provincial borders. Trunk roads are generally of good quality, though the quality of rural minor roads can vary drastically between regions.

In large cities the side of the road is usually a mixture of pedestrian, bicycles, tricycles, drain well without covers, and in rural areas, animals. The side of roads are also frequently occupied by premises, vendors and other non-road users.

Turning off of main roads may require technical off-road driving skills and equipment, and in some places, especially in natural reserves it is illegal.

In major city roads traffic is often congested, even on the myriad of city ring roads (except those on the outer fringes of the city). Beijing comes in at the worst (comparatively), despite six ring roads and nine arterial expressways. Shanghai ranks relatively better, with elevated expressways and tunnels.

The congestion is far more complex than that in Western countries. In some cities bicycles swarm everywhere even in the dark. In many areas, there are also lots of motorcycles, electric scooters and golf carts. In smaller cities, anything from tractors to bullock carts may turn up!

Hainan Province is the only administrative unit where tolls are not charged for expressways, but you will find fuels in Hainan are much more expensive than in other provinces - this is because they have incorporated expressway tolls in the fuel. Most national highways are free, and the government keeps working on removing highway tolls.

G-level (national) China National Highways are a pleasure to drive on. The speed limit is 80 km/h (50 mph), but cars sometimes zip at speeds over 100 km/h (62 mph), thanks to the relative absence of speed detection cameras.

S-level (provincial) highways may be less smooth to drive on. Unlike national highways, sometimes there is no central reservation or road separation, and you may be limited to one lane per direction.

X-level (county) highways are not necessarily the worst to drive on, but they can be challenging. More challenging are township-level highways. Some of these roads may be in areas officially cordoned off to the visiting foreigner.

Expressways and express routes in China are a godsend, with traffic signs in both English and Chinese (except in ethnic minority areas, where the signs are bilingual in Chinese and the minority language instead), emergency facilities, service areas, sufficient filling stations, plenty of exits, high speed limits, and the relative lack of traffic jams. However, when one does occur expect to wait several hours or in rare cases even days for the traffic to clear as damaged cars or trucks or usually not taken off the roadway after the accident resulting in kilometer upon kilometer of jammed roadways. Furthermore, this will result in drivers jockeying for position and jamming the emergency shoulder adding further waiting time to the traffic jam and potentially more accidents. Traffic jams are also common during major holidays such as Chinese New Year.

Rest areas that include shops and petrol stations are built along expressways, but their services vary by provinces. While rest areas in Eastern provinces will have a range of shops and facilities, rest areas in Northeast China or Northwest China may only have shabby petrol stations and convenience shops, probably even lacking sufficient lighting.

Although in English express routes and expressways are referred to as "expressways", their Chinese counterparts are named differently. "Express routes" are written 快速公路, whereas expressways are written as 高速公路. The idea is that express routes link of cities and larger municipalities, but expressways do the national work, liaising from one centre to another.

Express routes have lower speed limits than expressways. In Beijing, a few expressways have speed limits below express routes: these are the Beijing—Tianjin—Tanggu Expressway (Beijing segment) and the Beijing—Harbin Expressway (Beijing segment). They are clocked at 90 km/h (56 mph).

In cities, most level crossings in China are manned and supervised, and railway staff will intercept anyone who attempts to cross when a train is going to pass. So despite all the chaos on Chinese roads, level crossings are somewhat safer. Most vehicles tend to ignore the signal to stop when alternating red lights of a level crossing sign flash until the gate is closed. As a result, gates are usually closed a long while before the train actually arrives, which may delay your journey.

The purple light under the red lights means that the level crossing is functional. Maintenance however, may vary, and in extreme cases, both lights and bells may be too dim/weak. Stop at a level crossing either when alternating red lights are flashing or gates are closing.

Lastly, there are always plenty of unmanned level crossings in rural China. Pay extreme attention when driving through these crossings. If you hear a train horn, a train may be waiting for drivers to stop.

The concept of right-of-way is quite different in China than in many other countries, although by law it is the same. "First is Right," or less succinctly, any vehicle with a slight position lead or access to a gap before another vehicle has de-facto right of way to enter that gap. This essentially allows for any driver the habit of cutting right out into the traffic flow forcing the opposing vehicle to either stop or crash. This "rule" applies to lane changes too that can come at anytime from any angle. Be alert to brake at any moment! If you do not force your way in, you will not ever be allowed to enter the flow of traffic at busy sections.

The general rule appears to be keep moving no matter what. Cutting people off, swerving into the oncoming lane, driving on the shoulder, or in a fenced-off bicycle lane, or the wrong way down a divided highway are all fine as long as they keep you moving in the right general direction and do not cause an immediate accident. It is even fairly common to see cars, trucks and motorcycles all on the sidewalk along with pedestrians and bikes all going their own separate ways! Taxis are the worst offenders.

Merging: vehicles depart from intersections, side streets, alleys and parking lots, merging onto any road without yielding to traffic already underway on that road (and often apparently without a glance at oncoming traffic). If the merging driver can reach any opening in traffic, the oncoming cars are expected to yield and allow the merge.

Lane changes: lane changes and turns are more often than not signaled, but then the "first is right" rule reigns, and yielding is expected of a trailing vehicle, even if only trailing by a small margin. Imagine where the collision dent will be: if someone enters your lane and you strike the side of their vehicle, it will be assumed that you failed to yield even though they cut you off.

Left turns: at intersections, upon a red-to-green light change, vehicles intending to turn left across straight-through traffic will usually enter the intersection to accomplish their turn before straight-through traffic can proceed. Allowing the turning vehicles to complete the maneuver is the best practice. Such turns are aided by the yellow-before-green traffic light sequence common in China. Furthermore, observe this protocol and use a red-to-green light change as de facto left turn arrow. If possible use a leading turning vehicle as a shield. Be aware that vehicles behind you (using you as a shield) will often try to veer to either side of you, completing their turn without regard for your situation.

As always, "first is right"; trailing traffic is expected to yield. In other words, a "new" green light is usually regarded as a "left arrow".

Regarding left-hand turns in general; a vehicle desiring to turn left across oncoming traffic will not yield to oncoming, established traffic and await a "safe" opening. Any opening may be exploited, the required minimum size of the opening apparently depends on the left turning driver's sense of self-preservation (larger vehicles and poorer quality vehicles will take more chances). Oncoming vehicles that slow in wariness of a possible ill-advised turn, will often prompt the turning driver to commit. Oncoming drivers are advised to continue without pause, while preparing for heavy braking or lane changes to accommodate the turner.

Car-pedestrian interactions are complicated; ubiquitous pedestrians, bikes, and cycles, often acting negligent or even oblivious toward surrounding traffic, are generally considered to have possessed Right of Way in any collision between them and a vehicle. If a larger vehicle strikes a pedestrian or rider, the larger vehicle will generally be assumed liable. Bearing that in mind, vehicles will use their speed and security advantage, and often the horn, to maneuver through even densely occupied crossings. Aware pedestrians will generally expect a vehicle will force through a walk way, and are often confused if the vehicle halts to allow them passage. Painted cross walks (white bars painted on road ways) are not typically observed as "pedestrian protected" areas, but woe to a driver who strikes a pedestrian there. Never assume a driver will actually stop for you at a marked crossing. Drivers will actually push anything in front of them off the sidewalk or side of the road, it is assumed you will move out of their way.

Running red lights in China is a serious traffic offense and will result in 6 penalty points (you will have 12 in total per year and lose your license until finishing a theory test if you lose them all). Thanks to ubiquitous traffic cameras, less drivers have the gut to run red lights. In intersections without cameras however, you should expect a handful of offenders flying pass red lights, often also cutting through road dividers. Electric scooter motorists are also common offenders, as electric scooters are usually driven without registration, making enforcement hard.

In some places, it is legal for car drivers to make a right turn against a red light - albeit they ignore the latter part of the rule 'turn with caution' - it's all too common for cars, and more notoriously, trucks, to fly round an intersection too fast and causing accidents.

Police vehicles often flashes emergency lights to enhance police presence instead of responding to callouts or conducting traffic stops. Most suspects not on duty will also include government and military vehicles, and even diplomats. One should always pull over when emergency vehicles light up and use sirens. If traffic cameras wrongfully identified you for traffic law violation, you may lodge an appeal to the local police with evidence like dashcam recording.

Many drivers of very large construction trucks prefer to drive late at night (10pm-4am) on roads such as Jingmi Highway or Chaoyang North Road in Beijing. These drivers are paid by how many trips they make and because of this they are notorious among Chinese and expatriates for running red lights, seemingly without slowing down. They will also most likely be abominably overloaded, almost certainly for (illegitimate!) economic reasons as well. Be sure to keep away from these trucks.

Bicycles and motorcycles and sometimes cars ignore one-way signs. On divided highways, seeing pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles going the wrong way down the shoulder is entirely normal, and a few go the wrong way beside the center fence. At traffic circles (roundabouts), drivers hate going around the island in the middle if they can avoid it; they will often just swing left instead. Lane markings are also routinely ignored; for example, taxis often go straight through an intersection via a lane marked as left turn only, because that gets them past other cars.

On newer roads there may be, for example, a roughly triangular traffic island southwest of an actual intersection. Two sides are roads; the third is a curving lane intended for drivers making a right turn from eastbound to southbound. In China, drivers turning left from northbound to westbound routinely use that lane.

Many Chinese cities have bicycle lanes fenced off on either side of the road. These lanes will carry two-way traffic regardless of the direction of the traffic flow: including bicycles and motorcycles plus the occasional car, truck and pedestrians. Cars routinely take to these lanes if traffic in the main lanes is jammed; they then honk at bicyclists to force them out of the way using their horn as a form of "sonic plow" clearing the way in front of them. The driver is operating under the assumption you will move and if you don't move in a timely fashion you are risking being struck down if walking or on a bicycle and will most likely be blamed.

Even the sidewalks often carry two-way bicycle and motorcycle traffic, plus the odd car going to or from a parking spot. Cars again operate under the assumption they own the sidewalk and its up to you to get out of their way. Again, even on the sidewalks, vehicles honk at pedestrians to get them out of their way.

Lorry drivers may not bother with switching on lights at night. You should. Switch on your headlamps — all (reasonable!) lights on, in fact, if there is no other vehicle approaching you. Please be aware in doing this, if the local police catch you in a vehicle with lights on during daytime, you will be fined — this will be very different to some road rules in Europe and Canada!

Few Chinese drivers seem to know about dimming their headlights for approaching cars. Except on some freeways, driving at night is unpleasant and dangerous. Avoid it if at all possible.

When driving at night, be very aware that people often walk in the middle of the road, with the back to the oncoming traffic, in dark clothes. This is one reason local drivers do not often dip the lights. In the country, there may even be people sleeping on the road.

Bicycles very rarely have lights and many do not even have reflectors. Motorcycles often run at night without lights. Both are sometimes on the wrong side of the road.

Tunnels on expressways usually have lights on at all times; however those on minor highways may be unlit, even for miles! Make sure your vehicle's lights are in good working order.

Overtaking on the right, despite being illegal, is very common in China. One reason is that slow vehicles often drive in the center lane of multi-lane roads, If you find yourself behind such a vehicle and want to pass on the right, be alert for anything from motorcycles to horse-drawn carts in the right lane.

Public buses and many private buses, rather than acting as professional drivers responsible to their passengers, are often among the most aggressive drivers; Many in the countryside routinely ignore stoplights or fail to slow while turning, will pass stopped or slower traffic even if this requires using the oncoming traffic lanes, and will often employ their sheer size to enforce merging. Again, "first is right": if the front of a vehicle hits the side or rear of another vehicle, the front-dented vehicle is assumed at fault, no matter the circumstances that preceded the collision.

At night, illegal racing is another problem. Chinese police is known to be inefficient when dealing with illegal racers. The situation becomes more complex when illegal racers have relation to government officials (i.e. nepotism). Gas theft can be a problem on highway rest areas, though most thief targets truckers at rest.

You should pay extra caution if there are vehicles with military license plates. As military vehicles are not governed by normal traffic police, some drivers may employ fake military plates to avoid being caught with traffic offenses and pay motorway tolls (Police and military vehicles are excluded from paying motorway tolls). These fake license plates can be hard to spot. Besides, there can be real military vehicles which were driven erratically.

Known as "pengci" (碰瓷) in Chinese, there are plenty of con-artists who wilfully cause staged crashes, and demand expensive compensation. Always install a dashcam to record your vehicle's surrounding, and stay vigilant if there are erratically acting pedestrians or vehicles. Meanwhile there are also con-artists who falsely (and unfortunately, successfully) accuse good Samartians during traffic accidents. In case of a traffic accident, always dial for police or film the scene before helping others.

New drivers (drivers who obtained their license no longer than one year) are often marked with the label 实习 (probation period), but their driving quality varies from acceptable to deplorable. Stay away from them if you can—they are often overwhelmed by the traffic as well.

Perhaps the most interesting bikes in China are Chang Jiang. Back in the 1930s, BMW designed a 750 cc flat twin side-valve sidecar rig for the German army. They were built in Russia because the treaty of Versailles forbade the Germans to build military motorcycles. Later there was a factory in Germany and at the end of the war the Russians took that, moved the whole operation to the Urals, and continued producing bikes to that design. The Russian brands are called Dnieper and Volga. They also gave or sold China the equipment and Chang Jiang are the result.

Side valve machines are still produced but there is also a modernised version with overhead valves and electric starter. These are not your high performance sport bike; even the new OHV model is only 32 horsepower. However, they were designed for military use and are very solidly built. Prices are ¥20-odd thousand. They are invariably sold and ridden with the sidecar; it might not be possible to license them without it.

Companies offering these bikes include Beijing Sidecar and Chiangjiang Unlimited, both in Beijing, and Shanghai Sidecars. It is common for a rebuilt machine from one of these vendors to cost somewhat more than a new bike straight from the factory would; people say they are worth it because of the better quality control.

A real fanatic might consider riding a Chang Jiang from China to Europe using routes in the Europe to South Asia over land and Silk Road itineraries. You could get service on the bikes in Russia from people familiar with Dneiper and Volga; some parts are even interchangeable.

There are many older Chang Jiangs around and if you buy one that is old enough, it may be classed as an antique vehicle. This might mean it is exempt from your country's import restrictions; most safety and pollution laws have some sort of exemption for antiques. This is risky: some people have lost bikes at customs. You need a thorough understanding of your country's regulations before considering it.

There are motorcycle-based tours of various areas, often with rental of a Chang Jiang included:

• Asia Bike Tours, based in India and using Enfields, run a tour into Tibet

Yinchuan has an annual Motorcycle Tourist Festival in late June.

Electric scooters are common and cheaper than motorcycles (¥1,500 for a base model, ¥3,500 for the top-of-the-line; you can rent one for less than ¥100 per day). While they lack the horsepower and range of a motorcycle, they are quieter, cleaner, lighter, and easier to maintain. Beware however that while in terms of emission and noise pollution they are a welcome choice for China's overcrowded and choked urban roads, but they are very very silent and often you will not hear them coming at all until its too late. This of course makes the danger of a serious collision with a pedestrian common. Scooters come with a battery (or batteries) that are usually removable as well as rechargeable from a household outlet. At least in some cities, these vehicles are licensed as a bicycle so one does not need a driver's license to ride them and may take advantage of bike lanes and sidewalks (if present) to circumvent traffic. However, like motorcycles, some cities have banned them. The alleged reason is that many motorised bikes are being used in bag snatch crimes. Others suggest it is to make room for people with cars and people movers. Do not expect the majority of electro-bike riders to ever use the headlights at night or dusk.

Scooters are a target for thieves, so always ensure that one of the wheels or, ideally, both are secured with a solid lock. Batteries as well are vulnerable to thieves and should be locked to the scooter with the built-in mechanism or stored indoors while not in use. Some residences allow scooters to be brought indoors overnight, but this can be dangerous if a fire breaks out from your scooter, or if they obstruct escape path (quite common among irresponsible drivers). Charging your scooter indoors is even more dangerous, and there have been a few fatal fires arising from indoor scooter charging. If possible, always find a charging station that is safe to use. Guangdong has prohibited bringing scooters indoors or into elevators, or charging scooters indoors. Offenders risk a maximum fine of ¥1,000.

The bulk of used scooter sales are increasingly conducted over the Internet. Native Chinese who are knowledgeable in such matters should be able to direct you to a good website for your particular city. Be sure to understand what to look for when purchasing a used scooter. Most importantly, a scooter's battery, like all batteries, will lose its ability to hold a charge over time, and an aging battery is a fire hazard as well. It is often possible to purchase a new battery for a used bike.

E-scooters are prohibited to circulate the roads in Beijing.

• Bohai Train Ferry, ☏ +86-0535-2932000 (Yantai), info@sbtf.com.cn. Sails between Yantai North Station and Dalian Lüshun West Station, and provides car ferry service apart from train service. ¥550.00 (for sedans less than 6 m). (updated Mar 2020)

China railway ferry runs from Haian South Station to Haikou Station, known as North Port and South Port respectively for car drivers.

There are also car ferry services runs from Haian Port to Haikou New Port. Tickets for both ferry services can only be purchased on spot.