To get a Chinese driver's license, a foreign applicant aged 18-70 must possess a valid foreign driver's license and have a valid visa and residence registration certificate (from the applicant's local PSB bureau). He or she must undergo a brief eye exam at an approved public hospital, among which are the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital .

The applicant must trans­late his or her foreign license into Chinese, pass a computerized test of the rules of the road, submit a completed application form (in Chinese) with several passport-sized photos, and pay fees. The computerized test involves true/false and multiple-choice questions and can be taken in English, French, German, Spanish, Korean and Japanese. You must score 90 percent or better on the challenging 100-question test to pass. Applicants with valid foreign licenses do not need to pass a road test.

Though they can complete all these steps on their own, many foreigners opt instead to en­gage companies like Beijing Easy or FESCO to help them with the formalities for a fee of about RMB 800. Both of these companies supply clients with English-language versions of China's Road Traffic Safety Rules and Regulations.

If you want to do it on your own, bring your documents to the Foreign Affairs Branch of the Automobile Administrative Office. There, you'll be provided with an application form, told to have your foreign/international license translated, asked to undergo the eye exam and invited to make an appointment for the test. After you pass the test, file your completed application along with all your documents and the RMB 10 fee. Then get ready for road rage