Driving in Shanghai

I’ve searched online for the official number of licensed drivers in Shanghai and can’t find one!  Granted, my search only lasted about two minutes total.  Let’s just say that the number of licensed drivers in Shanghai just went from “A GA-Zillion” to “A GA-Zillion + ME".  Yes, I now have an official Shanghai Driver’s License!!

The process took two trips to the Police Headquarters on two different days and another trip to the Police Translation Building on a third day!

The first day, we basically just had to prove we had all the required documents and register for a time to take the exam.  The documents included:  passport, valid foreign driver’s license, etc.  Oh - and also included another health check!  I even took my paperwork from the health check I had when we first moved here and that wasn’t acceptable!  I wasn’t surprised, but thought I would try at least!  This one wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the health check last year - “are you pregnant... are you sure?!”  ha  ha

One interesting thing to note during the health check though...  The lady at the eye-check station asked if I was learning Chinese.  So, I replied (in Chinese) “Yes, I study Chinese.”  She then asked if I had a teacher and what the rate was.  (This is very typical here - asking questions about rates and even salaries is quite common.)  After I told her I had a very affordable teacher, she quickly opened up a drawer at her desk and started copying something off of my health form onto a scrap of paper hidden in her drawer - my TELEPHONE NUMBER!  Then she looked at me with a huge smile and said, “My son will be your new teacher!”  I’m anticipating an interesting call soon!  

The next day, I had to have my Oklahoma license translated into Chinese by an official translator.  Uneventful.

Yesterday, drove back to the police station to take the 100 question exam!  They did provide us with the exam and answers to study, so the only difficult aspect was trying to make sense of the Chinglish (Chinese and English combo)!  Some of my favorite questions were:

1 Before driving motor vehicles, drivers..

a. may drink a little alcoholic drinks

b. must not drink alcoholic drinks

c. are only allowed to drink beer

2 What obligation do the persons involved in a traffic accident undertake when the accident is being investigated?

 a.  Making up a story about the accident

b.  complaining of the fault of the other party

c.  making a true statement of the accident without concealing truth

3 When entering a tunnel, the vehicle should:

 a. sound the horn and drive fast

 b. slow down and turn on the headlight

 c. maintain speed and sound the horn many times

4 When there are puddles on the road ahead, the driver

 a. should accelerate and pass

b. should drive slowly lest the water be splashed on pedestrians

c. drive at normal speed without need to slow down

Needless to say, I passed!!

Now, we are just hoping that sometime this year we get our own car!  

Shanghai - look out!