China is a beautiful and unique country with a wide range of different landscapes to explore and experience. One of the best ways to take in all that China has to offer is a Cultural Adventure Travel Driving Journey. You will become one with the road as you take a road trip through some of the world’s best travel routes and stop alongside historic sites that are often thousands of years old or more. Tour the countryside and make memories that will last a lifetime when you drive yourself through the real China. You will meet new people, make new friends and become a part of China’s rich history. Our tours are designed to teach while you relax and enjoy the personalized service that only Cultural Adventure Travel can provide.
You may have heard that driving your own vehicle in China is close to impossible and that is partially true. Although China doesn’t offer an International Driving Permit, Cultural Adventure Travel has made it possible for our clients to drive their own vehicle or a Chinese-registered vehicle.
Highlights
- Cultural Adventure Travel successfully operate adventure tours around China for more than 10 years.
- Offer unique products – to discover the real China.
- Cultural Adventure Travel is customer-oriented, we would love to provide personalized service to meet every customers’ need.
- Fully guided and supported.
- An environmentally friendly operator.
By following the procedures outlined below and by reading the FAQ’s, you will have a clear idea of how to make a self-driving tour within China a reality.
How to apply for the self-driving trip to China
• Step 1. If you have a planned itinerary: Submit CAT your proposed itinerary and detailed document and information of the vehicles and drivers (refer to the form listed below) together. The detailed day-by-day itinerary, including all the driving route and the private venue for your driving skill test and what kind of driving skill test (we need you clarify for applying the permit for you.) need to be provided 4 months ahead of time. A deposit of 70% of the total cost is needed before we start to apply for all the permissions and licenses. Normally, all the preliminary work should be done at least 3-4 months in advance.
If you don’t have a planned itinerary yet, please simply fill our “tailor-make” form to tell us what you would like for the tour. Except the required information in the form, please do tell us the “entry” and “exit” ports in China. We could recommend an itinerary for you.
• Step 2. After receiving all the information and deposit, CAT will have all the Permission and apply for the Temporary Entry Vehicle Plate & Driving license for the group before the group’s arrival.
• Step 3. Send all the non-driver participants’ information to CAT one month ahead of time.
• Step 4. At group’s arrival: CAT will obtain the Temporary Entry Vehicle Plate & the temporary driving license, buy insurance, and help to finish all customs formalities required for automobiles to enter China.
• Step 5. Run the tour on your own, fully guided and supported.
• Step 6: With the help of CAT specialist to clearing from the custom and send all the vehicle out of China.
What Sets Us Apart from the Rest?
• The Quality of the service expresses everything about the company’s philosophy, attitude, and commitment. It is a principle which we apply within every division and at every level of our organization.
• We take our cue and direction from what our clients tell us about their constantly changing needs, ensuring that our clients can enjoy more flexibility and privacy, experience the incredible richness of China how they desire, and feel relaxed, unrushed, and excited for each day.
• Continuing to be creative for our products is our ultimate goal. Apart from designing entirely new programs, we also look for different places to visit within the framework of an existing itinerary.
• We have assembled a team of specialists, both Chinese and Westerners, each of whom has a thorough knowledge of a particular region, and who by working closely together collectively embody the skills and learning of an expert.
Basic rules for self-driving in China
1. A guide is mandatory in this kind of self-drive tour. This is the law regulation, not only for your safety, but also ensure your trip go smoothly and help you deal with the unforeseen problems caused by local people, etc. Without a guide, you may have serious trouble if you drive to military forbidden area or some places which are not allowed by local government.
2. Travelers who do such tours need to consult an experienced tour company, like CAT, to deal with all the necessary permits and documents (national & provincial permits, temporary driving license and number plate etc.) from the Chinese government. Normally, the permits application will take around 3 months.
3. The route/itinerary should be fixed and allowed by the permits. During the tour, the guests must drive following the route, and cannot drive out of the route. That means we need to fix the route before applying the permits. But the guests may decide the speed on the route while pay attention to the local road speed limit.
4. Custom deposit (Around 60,000 ~100,000RMB) – Since 2007, the Chinese customs requires a vehicle security deposit for all the foreign vehicles traveling in China. Usually, the amount of deposit depends on the year, the value and the displacement of the vehicle (normally, 30-50% of Chinese value of your car). Guests should pay the deposit at the customs of the entry border/port. And after leaving China, the exit border/port will send a notice to the entry border/port. Then the deposit will full refund.
5. At last, in some cities, the motorbikes are not allowed to enter and run on the expressways, just the secondary roads are available, such as national road, provincial road, country road etc., normally the speed is limited around 60-80km/hour.