Almost every other page on this site, when the destination is awkward to reach, ends up recommending the same thing: hire a car with a driver in it. The Great Wall, the Karakoram Highway, the desert sites around Dunhuang. That advice is correct, and until now it has been given without the reason behind it.
The reason is not price and not traffic. It is that your driving licence does not work here, and neither does the international document you may have bought specially.
The International Driving Permit does not work#
This is the single fact worth taking away, because it contradicts the assumption most travellers arrive with. Mainland China does not accept the International Driving Permit, and it does not accept your national licence on its own.
What it accepts instead is a document you have to go and get. The rule is set out in Article 21 of the 机动车驾驶证申领和使用规定 (Jīdòngchē jiàshǐzhèng shēnlǐng hé shǐyòng guīdìng, Regulations on the Application for and Use of Motor Vehicle Driving Licences), Ministry of Public Security Order No. 162, approved 4 December 2021 and in force from 1 April 2022:
持有境外机动车驾驶证，需要临时驾驶机动车的，应当按规定向车辆管理所申领临时机动车驾驶许可。
Holding an overseas driving licence and needing to drive temporarily, you shall apply to the vehicle administration office for a 临时机动车驾驶许可 (línshí jīdòngchē jiàshǐ xǔkě) — a temporary motor vehicle driving permit. An 境外机动车驾驶证 (jìngwài jīdòngchē jiàshǐzhèng), an overseas driving licence, is defined in the previous article as a full licence issued by a foreign country, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan — learner, provisional and probationary licences are explicitly excluded.
Note what the article does not say. It does not offer a grace period, an exemption for short visits, or a recognised foreign equivalent. There is one route, and it goes through a government office.
How long the permit lasts#
Article 21 sets two durations:
- A short stay gets a permit valid for three months.
- A stay longer than three months can have it extended, up to a maximum of one year.
The older instrument covering temporary entrants — the 临时入境机动车和驾驶人管理规定 (Línshí rùjìng jīdòngchē hé jiàshǐrén guǎnlǐ guīdìng, Provisions on the Administration of Temporarily-Entering Motor Vehicles and Drivers), Order No. 90, signed 1 December 2006 and in force from 1 January 2007 — is stricter within its own scope: the permit's expiry must match the end of the stay permitted by your entry document, the maximum is three months, and it cannot be extended.
For anyone on a tourist visa or a visa-free entry, the two agree on the number that matters. Three months, and the clock is your permitted stay, not the calendar.
What you have to produce#
Order No. 162, Article 25, lists what an overseas-licence holder submits:
（一）申请人的身份证明；（二）医疗机构出具的有关身体条件的证明；（三）所持机动车驾驶证。属于非中文表述的，还应当提供翻译机构出具或者公证机构公证的中文翻译文本。
Three things: proof of identity, a certificate of physical fitness issued by a medical institution, and your driving licence — plus, if it is not in Chinese, a Chinese translation produced by a translation agency or notarised by a notary office.
The second item is the one people do not expect. This is a medical check, obtained in China, before the permit is issued. The third is the one that costs a day: a translation certified by an agency or a notary, not one you produced yourself.
Where you apply depends on whose car it is#
This is the detail that catches people who have read only half the rule, and it is genuinely useful. The office you go to is not always the one nearest you:
- Driving a vehicle you brought into China yourself, you apply at the place of entry or the place your journey starts.
- Driving a hired Chinese car, you apply to the traffic management department of the municipality where the rental company is based.
So if you intend to hire a car in Chengdu, the permit is a Chengdu errand, regardless of where you happened to enter the country.
After the application, the traffic management department reviews it within three days. If it is in order, the applicant is put through a session on road traffic safety law and regulations, and the permit is then issued. It is a briefing rather than an examination — there is no driving test and no theory paper to fail.
If you do hire a car#
Two constraints are worth knowing before you plan around one.
The permit is limited to small vehicles. When it is issued for driving a hired Chinese car, the categories are 小型汽车 (xiǎoxíng qìchē, small car) and 小型自动挡汽车 (xiǎoxíng zìdòngdǎng qìchē, small automatic car). Whatever your home licence entitles you to drive, a hired van, minibus or anything larger is outside what this permit covers.
All three documents travel together. Order No. 90, Article 15, requires the permit to be carried on your person and used together with the overseas licence and its Chinese translation. One of the three left in the hotel safe means you are driving without the set.
The honest recommendation#
For a trip of two or three weeks, this is not worth doing. The permit costs you a medical appointment, a certified translation, a two-day deadline you have to notice on arrival, an office visit in the right city and a three-day wait — to end up with a small automatic and a three-month clock.
Meanwhile the thing it competes with is very good. High-speed rail covers the country at a speed no car matches, DiDi works in English and pays itself out of your Alipay balance, and the coach network reaches what the track does not. Where none of those fit — the Wall at dawn, the Kashgar road, the desert sites around Dunhuang — a car with a driver in it costs less than the permit costs in time, comes with someone who reads the road signs, and is what the local operators sell as standard.
The case for the permit is a genuine long stay: three months or more in one city, a reason to drive regularly, and time to spend on the paperwork. For everyone else, the reason this site keeps recommending a driver is that the alternative is not simply harder. It is a licensing procedure.
Hong Kong and Macau are separate jurisdictions with their own licensing rules, and a mainland permit is a mainland document.
Frequently asked questions#
Can I drive in China with an International Driving Permit?#
No. Mainland China does not recognise the International Driving Permit, and your national licence is not valid on its own either. To drive legally you must apply to a vehicle administration office for a temporary motor vehicle driving permit, under Article 21 of Ministry of Public Security Order No. 162, in force since 1 April 2022.
How do I get a temporary driving permit in China?#
You apply in person with proof of identity, a certificate of physical fitness from a medical institution, and your driving licence together with a Chinese translation from a translation agency or notary office. The application must be made within two days of entering China, and the traffic management department reviews it within three days before running a road-safety law session and issuing the permit.
How long is a Chinese temporary driving permit valid?#
Three months for a short stay, extendable up to one year if your stay exceeds three months. The expiry date is tied to the end of the stay permitted by your entry document, so it cannot outlast your visa or visa-free period.
Do I have to take a driving test in China as a visitor?#
No. The temporary permit involves a session on road traffic safety laws and regulations rather than a driving or theory examination. Converting a foreign licence into a full Chinese driving licence is a different and more demanding procedure, and it requires having accumulated at least ninety days of residence in the issuing country or region within a year of obtaining that licence.
Can I hire a car in China as a tourist?#
Only with a temporary driving permit, and the permit issued for a hired Chinese vehicle covers small cars and small automatics only. You apply in the city where the rental company is based, not where you entered China. For most short trips, a car with a driver, the rail network or DiDi will get you there with less paperwork.
What do I need to carry while driving in China?#
Three documents together: the temporary driving permit, your overseas driving licence, and the Chinese translation of that licence. Order No. 90 requires the permit to be carried on your person and used alongside the other two, so leaving any of them behind means you are not carrying a valid set.