Step 1: Pickup the Application Form

Where to get it?

1.) Beijing Traffic and Vehicle Department

Add: No 18 South Fourth Ring East Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区南四环东路18号（南四环外环十八里店南桥西南侧）

The department is located on the East Fourth Ring Road, near the southwestern edge of the Shibalidian South Bridge. It is responsible for the administration of all traffic and vehicles in Beijing. Go directly to the Foreign Affairs Office and ask the working staff for an application form.

2.) Traffic Police Corps

There is a traffic police corps in each district. They carry the application forms, as well. (Youll have to find their location information yourself, though.)

Step 2: Fill in the Application Form

The application form (including the instructions on the backside) is in Chinese and must be filled out in Chinese, too. Its easy to fill out if you read and write Chinese, otherwise let a friend who can read and write Chinese help you out.

Step 3: Get a Medical Checkup

Part of the application form can only be filled out by a doctor after having given you a medical checkup. The checkup is just a basic physical (no "turn your head and cough"), and at most takes half an hour.

Be sure to take the application form with you when you go to the hospital. The doctor will fill-out the checkup portion and then sign it.

Note: For the application form checkup you are only allowed to go to provincial-level or higher public hospitals – so no going to a private or foreign clinic. Two recommended hospitals are the Friendship Hospital and the China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Both are top Beijing hospitals and hold a pretty good reputation among foreigners. The International Medical Department of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The checkup fee is 80 RMB.

Add: East Yinghua(Cherry Flower) Road, Hepingjie Beikou
         和平街北口樱花东路
Tel: 010- 64221122 / 64222969

Step 4: Turn in All Required Materials

Return to the Foreign Affairs Office of the Beijing Traffic and Vehicle Department with all the required materials.

What to turn in?

1.) The completed application form.
2.) Your drivers license and a copy, and a sheet completely in Chinese translating the contents of your license.
3.) Your residence card and a copy. 
4.) Your passport and a copy.
5.) 3 photos (1-inch size).

After turning everything in, the office staff will schedule an exam time for you and give you an admission card. There will be a RMB 50 examination fee involved. The exam consists of a multiple-choice test only. Exams are usually held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with two given each morning.

You may be thinking, can I save a trip and turn in everything bright and early on Tuesday/Thursday morning and then take the exam right away? The answer is maybe, but you wont know until youre actually there. If the exam doesnt have full registration, you can take it. But sometimes all the exams, even for the next few sessions, are registered for, and you have to wait over a week.

Step 5: Prepare for the Examination

The test focuses on current traffic regulations in China. Some say the test is easy and doesnt require preparation. Some say you need to prepare. The choice is yours. Dont worry about failing, however; the test can be taken an unlimited number of times, and it only costs RMB 5 to reregister.

However, it never hurts to brush up on traffic regulations, and there may be some variances with the ones in your home country. If you do choose to prepare, the officers at the Foreign Affairs Office advise you to buy a book published by Beijing FESCO Chenguang Labor Service Co., Ltd., who also did the work of translating the exam. The office will tell you how to buy the book.

Step 6: Take the Examination

Be sure to take the admission card with you into the examination room. There are eight versions of the examination (Chinese simplified and traditional, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean). As the test is taken on computer, your results will be available immediately upon completion.

Step 7: Pickup Your Drivers License

If you pass the exam, you can pickup your new Chinese drivers license in one hour. The cost of the license is RMB 5.

Text by Zhang Li & Allen Chai