Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Buying a motorcycle is a little complicated, and there are many things to be aware of
before launching into it. You can't just go out and buy any bike. There are approved sellers
and approved processes.
For starters, there are two kinds of plates, a “Jing A” (
京
A) plate and a “Jing B” (
京
B)
plate. A Jing A plate can go almost anywhere in the city, except inside the Second Ring
Road and on the Ring Roads, while a B plate is restricted to outside the Fourth Ring Road.
So, if you live inside the Fourth Ring Road you'll need an A plate. But, to complicate this,
you must also have an A plate if you're in one of the designated districts, including Chaoy-
ang, regardless of the fact that your actual address hangs outside of the Fourth Ring Road.
The capacity of your bike will also determine which bike has what plate and, thus, where it
can go. Technically, anything larger than a 150cc is prohibited from inside the Fourth Ring
Road.
The government stopped issuing new Jing A plates years ago, so when you're buying
a new bike, the plate you'll get will be from an old bike that's been scrapped. This means
they're extraordinarily expensive. Genuine Jing A plates can easily cost RMB25,000. The
plummeting other downside to this is that in Beijing, if someone steals your plate, you can't
replace it until it's been found. You could buy another plate, but you can't transfer the re-
gistration of your old plate from your bike for three years. One option: weld it to your bike.
It's best to buy a bike that already has a plate. But how do you know if the bike or the
plate is genuine? Go through a large dealership and use an agent. While they'll add a hefty
fee, agents will know how to get through the paperwork.
As far as licenses go, international licenses aren't recognized and this includes licenses
from Hong Kong and Taiwan, so you'll need to go through Lao Shan training school
(
www.lsjx.cc
)
, located out west in Shijingshan, to get your license. For more help and
shopping ideas, visit motorcycle sites
www.beijingriders.com
,
http://bj.58.com/danche
,
and
www.cj750.net
.
You'll also find a lot of help and guidance from fellow motorcycle enthu-
siasts on
www.mychinamoto.com
.
