China as a retirement base

[dilphinus]

There is a form of identity known as the Overseas Chinese Identification 华侨证, which I once considered as a less painful method for me to obtain a Chinese driving license. I have dropped the idea. If you can live with its T&Cs and other underlying implications, you can look it up to see if it really gives you a long-term stay permit.

Not really possible unless you have birth certificate of your ancestors to prove that they were born in China.

I have my mum's birth cert stating that her parents were born in China. And of cos my birth cert with my mum's name on it. Not accepted by the PSB. Good luck trying to find late grandparents or great grandparents birth certificates to prove that.

 

[beanstalk6]

Not really possible unless you have birth certificate of your ancestors to prove that they were born in China.

I have my mum's birth cert stating that her parents were born in China. And of cos my birth cert with my mum's name on it. Not accepted by the PSB. Good luck trying to find late grandparents or great grandparents birth certificates to prove that.

I am confident it can be done using a combination of documents and some connections at the local level. The requirements are quite flimsy, I laughed. Just that I do not want to have any business more than is necessary with Chinese officialdom.

 

[dilphinus]

I am confident it can be done using a combination of documents and some connections at the local level. The requirements are quite flimsy, I laughed. Just that I do not want to have any business more than is necessary with Chinese officialdom.

This is so true. The instructions and/or requirements differ from embassies/processing offices and the PSBs.

I wasted a year thinking if I should get the Q1 or Q2 visa, etc. Coupled with not having sufficient time in Singapore to process the visa, etc so we ended up not getting the Q1/Q2 visa in Singapore.

I applied for a visa when it was 15 days visa free. I had to go back to the processing office a few times. First time, they told me I don't have this document. Next time I go back with the document, they told me I don't have another document. They just can't look thru everything and one time tell me what other documents I need to submit, And when I asked about the Q1/Q2 visas, I get conflicting response as to what I have read on the website and online.

I ended up with a residence permit when we went to the PSB to extend my visa free stay. Didn't even have to apply for a Q1 visa to do the conversion.

 

[16/8IF]

There is a form of identity known as the Overseas Chinese Identification 华侨证, which I once considered as a less painful method for me to obtain a Chinese driving license. I have dropped the idea. If you can live with its T&Cs and other underlying implications, you can look it up to see if it really gives you a long-term stay permit.

I had my Chinese Driving license while I was based in China. It was easy process, apart from medical examination, basically simple eye check plus a multiple choice test( highway code) on the computer.

During my time( if I am not wrong around 2005/06), you could have a translator with you as the test was only in Chinese .

I had my Chinese friend to act as my translator so he took the test with me sitting beside him at the computer.

Even though it was easy with Didi these days, on certain situation a car is still more convenient eg, going overnight fishing in the wild which can be problematic finding one that will take you there.

For the 华侨证, if I remembered correctly, I read in some other forum that they are meant for other countries including Malaysia except Singapore--not sure it is correct.

Maybe some Malaysian could confirm whether it was easy for them ?

 

[froztheart]

let me share my own personal experience after being based in China from 2005-2016.

Indeed the first thing the doctor will put the patient on an IV drips even from a simple flu or anything Vs SG which is Panadol.
Infact the patient needs to be alerted to "shout' for the nurses once your drips is about to be completed.


No Privacy - yes other patients tends to come in to the room to ask the doctor various questions even while he is attending to your case.

Overall I had a good experience , I been to Government Hospitals, Community Hospital ( which was just outside the Condo).

For blood test, I get my results on the spot compared to SG' clinic where I have to wait for 3-4 days. ( usual glucose, lipids etc).

What I find useful was I could buy prescription medication from any Medical shops/ pharmacy without any letter from the doctor etc. ( I bought the same foreign brand but made in China so it was much cheaper compared to SG).

I was based in a second tier city in Southern Guangdong Province which is about an hour to Hong Kong and about 10 minutes to Macau, not once did I have to go to either places for medical purposes.

For Smoking issue, yes during the first 5 years, plenty of it since most of my China's friends were heavy smokers but after that most of them cut down or give up smoking completely. Every year I still fly back to stay and visit my friends for 30-45 days and it seems for the city I am in less of a smoking and spitting issue maybe because I don't go to those tourist sites .

For retirement purpose think one need to find a city that does not have so many people and yet have the kind of facilities that you think you would need. ( in almost anything there are tradeoff to be made ? ).

I might try do go for a health screening package this coming trip if I find some time, of course the pricing is much cheaper than SG .

Lastly would I consider retirement in this city- yes but unfortunately my wife is not keen and there is no long term visa to apply to , although i could do visa run since HK and Macau are just next door but it is troublesome and you need to do temporarily resident permit at the police station each time you go out and come back.

Above is just my personal experience, yours might be different since China is a vast area with different people from different province and cities .

Ps. Over that period of time I only had 1 time where I had food problem from eating from a roadside stall. ( after that mostly I cook myself and or at restaurant .

Same issues just different persepectives honestly whether in China or anywhere else.
One has to weigh and choose the pros and cons to live with, since everyone's requirement isn't the same.

 

[Suporter]

From the words of the sq passenger 我丢人不只今天...

 

[froztheart]

I had my Chinese Driving license while I was based in China. It was easy process, apart from medical examination, basically simple eye check plus a multiple choice test( highway code) on the computer.

During my time( if I am not wrong around 2005/06), you could have a translator with you as the test was only in Chinese .

I had my Chinese friend to act as my translator so he took the test with me sitting beside him at the computer.

Even though it was easy with Didi these days, on certain situation a car is still more convenient eg, going overnight fishing in the wild which can be problematic finding one that will take you there.

For the 华侨证, if I remembered correctly, I read in some other forum that they are meant for other countries including Malaysia except Singapore--not sure it is correct.

Maybe some Malaysian could confirm whether it was easy for them ?

The chinese driving license is for life or? If it is, that's great as like you said certain situations driving a car is much more convenient than getting Didi where it isn't readily available.

 

[16/8IF]

The chinese driving license is for life or? If it is, that's great as like you said certain situations driving a car is much more convenient than getting Didi where it isn't readily available.

If I remembered correctly the first time I got the license it was good for 6 years and after that it was renewed for 10 years.

After the 10 years I decided not to renew it as I sold my car and wasn't base in China.
I heard that once 60 years old need to go for yearly medical check up too .

In my opinion, if you are a tourist, my advice is NOT to drive yourself in China, can get into a complicated
situation if you are involved in an accident especially if the counterparty that will be claiming against you knows that you are a foreigner.

 

[beanstalk6]

Social visitors on short stay like me have to pass the theory and practical tests that the Chinese take. I found that those who go on road trips to China are allowed to sit for a simple theory test at the border crossing that only gets a temporary license for the current trip. I tend to make annual visits to a far-flung region of China where driving conditions are a lot simpler than big top-tier cities. I planned to get a driving license so I could drive myself locally and also make road trips from there.

If I remembered correctly the first time I got the license it was good for 6 years and after that it was renewed for 10 years.

After the 10 years I decided not to renew it as I sold my car and wasn't base in China.
I heard that once 60 years old need to go for yearly medical check up too .

In my opinion, if you are a tourist, my advice is NOT to drive yourself in China, can get into a complicated
situation if you are involved in an accident especially if the counterparty that will be claiming against you knows that you are a foreigner.

 

[16/8IF]

Social visitors on short stay like me have to pass the theory and practical tests that the Chinese take. I found that those who go on road trips to China are allowed to sit for a simple theory test at the border crossing that only gets a temporary license for the current trip. I tend to make annual visits to a far-flung region of China where driving conditions are a lot simpler than big top-tier cities. I planned to get a driving license so I could drive myself locally and also make road trips from there.

I don't know anything about temporary license but you could look for this guy Jeremy See on Facebook , he travels all over the world( including China) with SG car so he must be familiar with that .

For my case I was on Z visa only need to translate my SG drivers license to Chinese plus that the theory - which was basically multiple choice on a computer and you get the results on the spot.


I was in a 2nd tier city with a population of less than 3 million people .

 

[froztheart]

If I remembered correctly the first time I got the license it was good for 6 years and after that it was renewed for 10 years.

After the 10 years I decided not to renew it as I sold my car and wasn't base in China.
I heard that once 60 years old need to go for yearly medical check up too .

In my opinion, if you are a tourist, my advice is NOT to drive yourself in China, can get into a complicated
situation if you are involved in an accident especially if the counterparty that will be claiming against you knows that you are a foreigner.

Right, pretty similar to the ones in Thailand where there's a need to renew unlike our SG driving license.
Yes, definitely issues if the other party knows that one is a foreigner.

 

[vanessa47]

Not really.. I think better to trial longer stays first.. also need to have community there early.. but can see appeal

 

[beanstalk6]

I don't know anything about temporary license but you could look for this guy Jeremy See on Facebook , he travels all over the world( including China) with SG car so he must be familiar with that .

I was in a 2nd tier city with a population of less than 3 million people .

That guy passed a test and had a temporary license done at the border crossing, as I mentioned.
The cities I visit are fifth tier, if this tier is available. 400,000 inhabitants at most.

 

[16/8IF]

That guy passed a test and had a temporary license done at the border crossing, as I mentioned.
The cities I visit are fifth tier, if this tier is available. 400,000 inhabitants at most.

wow you are definitely very adventurous , more like going to the 农村 (village).

Here is one part of the article from the link below :-

• Accepting the Liability: If you get in an accident, as a foreigner the blame will likely fall on you. Are you willing to accept this liability?

I also learned my lesson from the traffic police, never lend your car to anyone, because in any event even if you are not the driver involved in the accident, they will still look for the owner of the car.

Actually for me getting the Full China's driver's license was simple ,easy and fast .

I saw this article updated for 2025
https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/china-drivers-license-guide

 

[beanstalk6]

This is so true. The instructions and/or requirements differ from embassies/processing offices and the PSBs.

I wasted a year thinking if I should get the Q1 or Q2 visa, etc. Coupled with not having sufficient time in Singapore to process the visa, etc so we ended up not getting the Q1/Q2 visa in Singapore.

I applied for a visa when it was 15 days visa free. I had to go back to the processing office a few times. First time, they told me I don't have this document. Next time I go back with the document, they told me I don't have another document. They just can't look thru everything and one time tell me what other documents I need to submit, And when I asked about the Q1/Q2 visas, I get conflicting response as to what I have read on the website and online.

Same thing at the embassy at Tanglin Road. Had a form printed and filled up at home. At the counter, was told to write in blue ink instead of black. Made a few typos and countersigned, then was told that was not allowed. Each time one had to fill a fresh form very carefully, then queue again and the staff would not tell you at once what the problems were. Neither was there any notice drawing attention to any of these issues. Fortunately, photocopying is free. I was told that the whole scene at the embassy was very disorderly with loud voices heard now and then.

 

[beanstalk6]

wow you are definitely very adventurous , more like going to the 农村 (village).

Part of family.

Here is one part of the article from the link below :-

• Accepting the Liability: If you get in an accident, as a foreigner the blame will likely fall on you. Are you willing to accept this liability?

I also learned my lesson from the traffic police, never lend your car to anyone, because in any event even if you are not the driver involved in the accident, they will still look for the owner of the car.

Actually for me getting the Full China's driver's license was simple ,easy and fast .

I saw this article updated for 2025
https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/china-drivers-license-guide

I borrowed private vehicles there to drive in the past, but it became too risky to be caught driving someone else's car.

 

[16/8IF]

Part of family.

I borrowed private vehicles there to drive in the past, but it became too risky to be caught driving someone else's car.

I am sure if you have a valid China's driver's license you could drive your friend's car.

I have done it before, in fact I have driven from one city to another city( Guangzhou) using my friend's car.

Given a chance, I wont want to drive again in GZ , it is a "nightmare", the many overhead highways, and once you didn't go out of the right "exit" , it is a very long long way before you can do a U turn.

From my personal experience, it is definitely very useful to have 关系 （"connection") in China vs SG, so "networking" is very important. It makes your life easier.

 

[beanstalk6]

I am sure if you have a valid China's driver's license you could drive your friend's car.

Yes, I will, if I have the right paperwork.

I have done it before, in fact I have driven from one city to another city( Guangzhou) using my friend's car.

Given a chance, I wont want to drive again in GZ , it is a "nightmare", the many overhead highways, and once you didn't go out of the right "exit" , it is a very long long way before you can do a U turn.

From my personal experience, it is definitely very useful to have 关系 （"connection") in China vs SG, so "networking" is very important. It makes your life easier.

I drove on the G6 in winter and was stopped by the police because they have closed the highway just outside Yinchuan due to snow. Luckily, they did not ask for my license. Driving is a life-threatening experience in the PRD, I think! Navigation is difficult even with an online map. The other road-users are very inconsiderate. In the sparesly populated regions in the north and on Hainan, driving can be enjoyable.

 

[16/8IF]

Yes, I will, if I have the right paperwork.


I drove on the G6 in winter and was stopped by the police because they have closed the highway just outside Yinchuan due to snow. Luckily, they did not ask for my license. Driving is a life-threatening experience in the PRD, I think! Navigation is difficult even with an online map. The other road-users are very inconsiderate. In the sparesly populated regions in the north and on Hainan, driving can be enjoyable.

Actually I enjoyed driving in the city (Zhuhai) I was based in.

I it really depend on the city you are in , but definitely if you compared, say drivers from Macau to those in Zhuhai, definitely Macau drivers are more polite and considerate .

For Macau car plate, when they see your signal they will slow down and allow you to come in, but for China's car plate most of them will "close the gap" .

I used to race with my China friends from Zhuhai all the way to Shenzhen Airport ( highways) just to have coffee at Starbucks and also to relax at the bookstore. ( about 1 1/ 2hours 1 way).

Of course need to be aware of all the speed camera along the way, to slow down just before it and than speeding after that.

Need to learn and adapt accordingly, example you cant take for granted at zebra crossing the car will stop for you, need to be more cautious and wait for the car to slow down and stop before crossing unlike in SG.

Overall during my stay, only had 1 major car accident, which was not my fault.
Was waiting at the Red traffic light when a large lorry crashed from behind brakes not in time, driver most likely didn't realized it was red light.

I found AMAP（高德） useful but not sure for countryside etc.

I would never drive in Shanghai , Beijing or even some Northeastern cities like Shenyang or Changchun.

 

[sbl2560]

I am sure if you have a valid China's driver's license you could drive your friend's car.

I have done it before, in fact I have driven from one city to another city( Guangzhou) using my friend's car.

Given a chance, I wont want to drive again in GZ , it is a "nightmare", the many overhead highways, and once you didn't go out of the right "exit" , it is a very long long way before you can do a U turn.

From my personal experience, it is definitely very useful to have 关系 （"connection") in China vs SG, so "networking" is very important. It makes your life easier.

As a tourist, I used Baidu maps when taking Didi. The navigation information is super amazing, with traffic light timing, speed camera and number of car park available lots at destination. This level of advancement, the widely used Google maps have yet to catch up.