China Tour Preliminary Information

Firstly, Must for driving tour in China
1, According to the Chinese policy, the permits are required for all the foreign vehicles driving in China, about entry and exit and vehicle driving etc..
2, The route should be fixed and allowed by the permits. During the tour, the guests must drive following the route, and can not drive out of the route. But the guests may decide the speed on the route. That means we need to fixed the route before applying the permits.
3, A Chinese guide (who may speak Chinese, English or French or Germany, as required by the guests) is required to accompany the guests all the tour from entry to exit. The guide will sit in the guest’s car.
4, The entry custom will collect the deposit in advance from the vehicle owner. The deposit is counted out by the value of the vehicle, and when the vehicle exit; the entry custom will return the deposit fully. We will help to handle all the process, but the guests need to prepare the money.

The above 4 points are the basic information the guests need to know.

The vehicle custom deposit

1, Since China didn’t join the related association, China doesn’t accept the Carnet and international driving license. That’s why we need to apply and process the China temporary driving license for you and the entry custom will require the custom deposit from the vehicle owner.  You need the normal vehicle license for the country where it registered, it is to show that the vehicle is a legal vehicle in that country, This means you CAN drive a rental motorhome to China!

When your vehicle enter China, it can only be driven legally after you get the China temporary driving license and China temporary vehicle license and plate.  So after the entry process, we will drive to Kashgar and get the vehicle and driving license etc. When we arrange the vehicle license and related process, besides the permits, paperwork etc, we need to buy China Auto Compulsory Insurance for your vehicle. The Vehicle Bureau only issues the licenses after we buy the compulsory insurance for your vehicle. The issuing of the licenses are the last step after all the application, paperwork and process.

2, The vehicle custom deposit will be about 50-60% of the vehicle value.  If your vehicle is worthy of 100000EURO, that means 900000RMB. And the deposit will be about 50-60% of the vehicle value, depends on how old it is and what the vehicle power is.

3, As in your first mail, you mentioned, you will enter from Kashgar. You are very lucky. We had very good relationship at Kashgar.  If you enter from Kashgar, and if you can confirm the tour 5 month before your tour (leave us sometime to prepare the money), we can help you to pay for the custom deposit at Kashgar and you need not to pay any money for the custom deposit.

4, If you enter China from other border ports, maybe we can only help you to pay for part of the deposit, not fully.

5, There is another way we used in the past 2 years to help our guests with the custom deposit, that is, if the vehicle is very good one and the deposit is very high, we can pay for the deposit for our guests, but the guests need to give us the interest of using the large amount money for 3 month time.

This interest rate we use is 8%. For example, if the deposit is 100000RMB, and the money will be paid before the vehicle enter China,and one month driving in China, the custom will return the money after their process, usually about 20-30 days after the vehicle exit. Because after the vehicle exit, we will post the exit custom paper to the entry custom, and write the application and then after their process, they will return the money (it will take about one month for the return process and bank transfer and the post the exit custom paper from one border to another border). So we will regard the interest time 2.5-3 month.
So the 100000*8%=8000(the year interest) and then 8000/12=667(the month interest), then we will calculate the total according to the time the money will be used.

We will require a full payment 2 weeks before your entry, and we will give you the information of our guide 1 week before the tour.

Our guide will wait you at the border port, and then you may begin your wonderful China driving tour.

The permits require that the group must drive with guide and permits and within the permitted route. So my solution is if some want to stay in Kunming while the others do the side trip to Dali, for example, is that we send two guides and one support vehicle for your team.

For example, during the tour, if two MH would like to visit Jiuzhai and two or three would like to drive from Mianyang to Chengdu directly, no problem. One guide and support vehicle may lead the two vehicles to Jiuzhai and the other guide may lead the rest MH to Chengdu directly, but that guide may have to sit or sleep on the guest’s MH and if the guests mind another people to sleep in his or her MH, they can take the guide to a small hotel and then they stay nearby that night and meet the guide next morning, but they need to pay for the hotel cost which can not be a lot, usually about 100RMB per night.

Then two parties met in Chengdu. This is an example and if we use this way, the two parties can not be separate for long time. Because when they are separate, we will give the permits to one guide and another guide hold the copy.

If the government official or police check, we may say that two vehicles were broken, so the team separate for a few days. But if the team separates a lot, there will be problem. And if we use this way, there will be a increase of the guide’s cost, 300RMB/each day for the salary and about 1500RMB for the guide’s cost(accommodation, meals and transportation) to the entry border from home and back home from Mohan.  

2,The permits limit the entry date, exit date, entry port and exit port and the routes. You can decide the driving spend, and the visits or not during the tour.

During the tour, you can cut the visit or add some new visits, as long as the visits are in the permitted areas. If you want to drive from Mianyang to Chengdu, directly, there is no problem. After you drive to Kunming, I think it will be a little pity if you don’t visit Lijiang, because I think Kunming and Dali are somehow commercial, because of the tourism development, but Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge are worthy of your visits.

You can decide the cut some natural sites if you are more interested in cultural sites; and cut out some cultural sites, if you are more interested in western natural beautiful places.

The main rule is that you need to enter China at the permitted entry port, and exit China within the permits valid time and drive in the applied areas (the route covered areas). Besides, you are free to decide the visit, speed, etc.

3, There is no problem that the team members are from different country and apply visa at different countries. When you apply the visa, please tell me where each party will apply the visa and I will send you separate invitation letters to China Embassy in different countries. So there is no problem for this aspect.

Usually the visa is valid within 3 month after the issuing. So for example, if you will enter China on April 28th and you may apply the China visa any day after Jan. 28th. If you apply the visa on Jan 30th, you must enter China before April 30th. I have also had guests who got the visa 6 month before the tour. So it is not fixed 3 months.

This afternoon, my guide who led the 86 days tour (just finished the team and back to Chengdu last weekend) came to my office. For the whole afternoon, we talk about the 3 month long tour and make some summary. According to her update of the road condition and some places, I think there are a few small changes in your itinerary, since things changes.

I will re-think about your itinerary and if there is any change I think necessary, I will make the change and tell you why, and then make the price for you. You may compare and decide after that.

She just left my office (about 7:10pm) and she gave me a lot of important information for the route update.

In last mail, you also mentioned that it will be a little more, if there are more than 5 vehicles in the group.  There is no problem. But could you do me a favor, if the other people in the Silk Road Club are interested in the driving tour in China, could you share NAVO’s information to them and we can be one of choice to organize the driving tour for them. Thanks a lot in advance.

Moreover, I would like to remind one thing, that for the information I give you, maybe you could send to the other team members so that they can have full idea, too. I had a team last year. The team is 4 vehicles team and I contact with one of the member. I gave her a lot of information about the tour, but after they enter China, the others don’t know many things, which may make problems for the tour. Because I think I have tell them the case, they may have a preparation, but at last, they didn’t. Wish you can understand at this aspect. I think this is good for make the tour better and happier.

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When to enter China

Since this is a long tour and when decide the tour time, we also need to consider the other country parts, that’s why I ask you when you would like to enter China.

If only consider China aspect, we suggest the entry date, 3 options.

a)     enter in late April, and exit China in late July. Before middle April, it will be cold in north China, and after July, it will be hot in most places of China. During this period, we may see the bird island in May(almost the best time to see the bird island), the green grassland and this time is proper for most of places. It is not very cold when entry, only cool, and only when we pass a few high mountains, it is a little cold. It is not hot, because when the high temperature comes in August, we left. We can avoid flood almost all, except Guizhou. Because the rain season of Guizhou is from middle June to late July, there is a little difference among every year. Moreover, we avoid the hot season for China tourism---the summer holiday. During the hot season, when we visit somewhere, there are a lot of people and long queues.
 
b)     Enter in middle May, and exit China in middle August, this is similar to option a), but also can not avoid the possibility we may meet rain season in Guizhou, but for this option, we may see the “Flower” singing meeting in Qinghai. And we may suffer a little hot in early August, and when we go to Xinjiang in middle August, it is not very hot in Xinjiang.  

c)      Enter China in early August and exit China in late Oct. It is not very hot in Xinjiang, even in summer days，and we can avoid the rain season, because when we go to middle China, it is autumn time, but for this period, we may meet the highest season for tourism in China from Sep. to Oct and we may meet the China National Day (Oct.1st to Oct.7th, during which, when you visit somewhere, you will find Chinese people is there) and we will miss the bird island and the Flower singing meeting.
Personally, I suggest the option a) which offers us to see more different things when people are not in holiday and not cold, not hot. If we meet the rain in Guizhou, if the rain influences our tour, we may change route or adjust according to that time case.  But the time still depends on your whole plan, not only China part.

The Kashgar Bazzar not only open on Sunday, the Sunday one is the biggest one, but it opens everyday.

We suggest enter China from Monday to Thursday. Friday is fine.

If we meet any problem and wait for the government’s process at the border, if we enter on Friday and on Saturday, the government doesn’t work in the weekend; we may have to wait for 2 more days till Monday. Although this hasn’t happened to our teams entry at either Tourgat or Irkstan in the past dozens of years, we have met this case in Yunnan in 2009. So we would like to suggest our guests choose entry China from Monday to Thursday.

In China for different ports, the rule is different. Some are open all year around, everyday, some only open on working day, some open from May to Oct, and 15th to 30th of each month. And for some ports, the process is easier, some are much more complicated. Some can finish all the process within one day, some need two days.
For either Tourgat or Irkstan, we suggest enter on Thursday or Friday.

C B - Radio
A tour company say

It is a requirement that a CB-radio (FM) is fitted and taken along for the tour. We always use FM (27 MHz). Other channels, for example LPD (433 MHz) are useless on this tour.
A useful system can be purchased for € 250. FM band and CEPT certification are
sufficient.

If possible test the CB with other participants from various distances. Then necessary adjustments can then be made in time for the tour start.
In some countries, there is “radio-silence” which means officially the systems should
not be used. Please follow the instructions to avoid difficulties. At the borders we don’t declare the radios, even pack them away and remove the antennas.
Don’t use radios at police check-points.

Our guide company say

3, Do your CB radios means the two way radio?  Yes,you can bring your two way radio in your vehicle. But when you enter China, please keep it in your box and not showing to the border officials.

After you enter China, you can use it. Moreover, we will bring our own two way radio and batteries for our teams over 2 vehicles.

For all our teams more than 2 vehicles, the guide will bring 3 two way radio and 3 more batteries. One for each vehicle and in the evening, the guide will take it back to recharge and give the other to the guests the next morning.

Sometimes, if we camp and can not recharge in the night, when the electricity is out, we also use the guests’ two way radio.

3, Do your CB radios means the two way radio?  Yes,you can bring your two way radio in your vehicle. But when you enter China, please keep it in your box and not showing to the border officials. After you enter China, you can use it. Moreover, we will bring our own two way radio and batteries for our teams over 2 vehicles. For all our teams more than 2 vehicles, the guide will bring 3 two way radio and 3 more batteries. One for each vehicle and in the evening, the guide will take it back to recharge and give the other to the guests the next morning. Sometimes, if we camp and can not recharge in the night, when the electricity is out, we also use the guests’ two way radio.

5, for CB, do you mean two way radio? It is possible to use two way radio in China for most of ports. But for some port, they will limit. So we usually suggest our guests keep them in the box or bags when entry and after entry, they can use. And during the tour, we will bring 2 for each vehicle and this is convenient for the team to keep connection during the driving.

The Tour Coy

My contact at NAVO is called Tracy and her contact is email . NAVO was one of the earliest and most professional tour agents who organize foreign vehicle driving tours in China since 1993 and we had over 30 teams every year. The large amount of teams going through the different borders of China brought us a lot of experience at foreign vehicle driving tour organization and get familiar with the policy at this aspect well.

They also organized some big programs for foreign vehicle driving in China in the past a few years. She will head a 20 vehicles group of Audi Q3 in Oct.2011.

NOTES

Before 2008, China custom don’t require the deposit, but a guarantee paper from the local agent and permission of central custom. But from 2008, the custom system changed their work process, the central custom doesn’t accept the cases directly. They gave the work to the local customs and begin to require the custom deposit from the owner.

 China hasn’t joined the Auto association, and haven’t accept the vehicle carnet yet, neither the international driving license. That’s why we require the national driving license, not international ones.

Driving License

For those who are over 70 they have to pay about 1500RMB to get the Chinese driving license. The government only give the Chinese driving license for those who are less than 70. But we had only two guests in 2010 who are over 70, we find some relationship and then help them to get the driving license. And those relationships need some money, about1500RMB for one driving license.