Driving in Shanghai

Who this is for

Convert an overseas licence

You will live here, buy a car, or take a Shanghai plate. Qingpu Eurocampus, Huacao SAS, and villa belts need this in the same week as the lease.

1. 01

   Decide: you will live here (convert) or you need to drive in the first weeks (temporary permit). An International Driving Permit is not enough on its own.

2. 02

   Book through 12123. Foreign residents apply where they live or stay.

3. 03

   Bring the passport and visa or residence permit, police accommodation registration, the original overseas licence, a certified Chinese translation if the licence is not in Chinese, a medical check, and photos.

4. 04

   The rule on having stayed 90 days in the issuing country in the year you got the licence is in the ministry regulation. We do not turn that into “you will definitely get it”.

5. 05

   For an ordinary car, Subject 1 (the theory test) is the usual exam. Some countries have exemption agreements — use the ministry list that day, not a blog.

6. 06

   Window addresses change. Confirm the branch on 12123 the morning you go. Consult 12345.

Who this is for

Temporary permit — short stay

A visit, a landing month, or a rental car before the conversion. This permit does not let you bid for a Shanghai plate.

1. 01

   For a visit, a landing month, or a rental car before conversion. Apply for a temporary driving permit — not an IDP.

2. 02

   Shanghai’s one-stop service page: “apply for a temporary motor-vehicle driving permit”. Promised same-day issue; official fee listed at ¥10 per permit, confirm at the window.

3. 03

   Stay of three months or less: a 3-month permit. Longer stay or residence: validity can extend to one year. Carry it with the original overseas licence and the Chinese translation.

4. 04

   Renting a Chinese car: take the rental contract. Classes C1 / C2 only, and not beyond the overseas licence.

5. 05

   Airport windows exist at Pudong and Hongqiao. Hours on old pages are not a timetable — do not time a last flight around a blog.

Who this is for

Buying a car and a Shanghai plate

A temporary permit cannot bid. Convert first. Current auction prices change; check the official channel when ready.

• A fuel or plug-in hybrid plate needs a non-commercial passenger-car quota. New-energy cars have a separate free-quota path. Auction prices and free-quota availability change; check the official channel when the application is ready.
• A temporary driving permit is not enough to bid. You need a Chinese driving licence first.
• Without permanent residence, the official FAQ asks for a passport, a visa or residence permit of six months or more, and a Shanghai Overseas Talent Residence Permit — plus, on the non-local path, one year of Shanghai social insurance or individual income tax.
• Most assignees drive a company or leased car with a plate already on it. Ask HR whose name is on the car, and whose licence takes the fines.
• Villa, Huacao SAS and Qingpu Eurocampus households: “do we need a car” is a housing question in week one, not after you move in. Jing’an heritage blocks often cannot park even if you win a plate.

Who this is for

An out-of-town plate

It can be driven here. Weekday peaks on the inner ring and elevated roads still cut a Jinqiao or Gubei morning. Check Suishenban that day because the current road list can change.

• An out-of-town plate can be driven in Shanghai. Weekday peaks cut it in two: elevated roads in the daytime, and the inner-ring surface in the morning and evening peaks. Check the rule that day in Suishenban or on sh.122.gov.cn — the elevated-road list has changed before, so confirm the current map that morning.
• Inner-ring surface (municipal notice 2021-04-25, in force 2021-05-06): 07:00–09:00 and 17:00–19:00 on workdays, not Saturdays, Sundays or nationwide public holidays. Inside the inner ring, not on the boundary roads. Outside the ring this clause does not apply.
• Elevated / express roads: public replies from the city police say workdays 07:00–20:00 for out-of-town small passenger cars on the listed viaducts, weekends and nationwide holidays excepted. Trust the sign and the app that morning.
• A temporary out-of-town plate is tighter. Do not take verbal exceptions. Look up that day.
• Weekends to Suzhou or Hangzhou, and a late airport run, often work better than a Jinqiao or Gubei morning peak. Living inside the inner ring with an out-of-town plate can mean you cannot even leave the compound at 08:00 without a fine. Qingpu, Sheshan and Huacao villas sit outside that cut.

Who this is for

Compulsory insurance and 12123

The legal floor to be on the road. Fines and points live on 12123. Insurer names and sums do not live on this site.

• Compulsory traffic insurance (jiaqiangxian) plus a valid inspection and a valid plate or temporary plate is the legal floor to be on the road. Commercial cover is commonly added; ask the insurer or dealer to quote the cover and insured amounts for that car.
• 12123 is the app for bookings, fines, licence points and the electronic licence. A passport signup is slower than a Chinese ID. Later SMS often wants a mainland number.
• sh.122.gov.cn is the desktop path for fines and points. You need a clean year of this record before you bid for a Shanghai plate.
• A villa driver employed as staff: whose licence, whose points, written into the service contract. Company-car fines that land on a personal licence can stall a departure.

Daily travel

Four stations, passport on 12306

The ticket is the passport. Hongqiao is the high-speed default. A search for “Shanghai” does not include Hongqiao.

1. 01

   12306 English accepts a foreign passport. The e-ticket credential is the passport itself — an itinerary sheet is not a ticket at the gate.

2. 02

   Gates often cannot read a passport. Use the staffed lane with the same passport you booked.

3. 03

   China Railway will not fix tickets bought on other websites. Trip.com English is a fallback, not a 12306 substitute.

4. 04

   Four names: Shanghai, Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai South, Shanghai West. A search for “Shanghai” does not include Hongqiao.

5. 05

   Hongqiao railway sits with SHA T2 — the high-speed default for Suzhou and Hangzhou. Shanghai Station is a different district. West is not a spare Hongqiao.

6. 06

   Sale and change windows close at night (tighter on Tuesday). Foreign-card checkout is that morning’s screen. A travel eSIM will not receive a mainland-bank SMS.

Daily travel

Taxi ranks, DiDi, airport buses

Official ranks only at the airport. Write the address in Chinese. A foreign card almost never pays the meter.

1. 01

   Street-hail taxis: cash or a mainland QR. They print a fapiao. A foreign card almost never pays the meter.

2. 02

   English in the cab is poor. Write the Chinese address and the metro station name before you sit down.

3. 03

   Late night, older visitors, anyone who will not open an app: a rank taxi is more stable than DiDi.

4. 04

   Airports: only the official taxi rank. Do not follow a tout in arrivals. DiDi: use the airport-pickup product.

5. 05

   Airport buses sit on the group ground-transport pages and change by season. Huacao and Qingpu: the bus will not reach the door.

Daily travel

Hire a car — an IDP is not enough

Temporary permit or a converted licence first. Then the chain’s own desk — the deposit varies by chain, so ask there.

1. 01

   A foreign licence plus an International Driving Permit is not enough. Hertz’s Pudong English desk has said so in those words.

2. 02

   Get a temporary permit or convert first. Then book eHi, Zuche, or the desk on that airport’s page — official sites, not a tout.

3. 03

   A Chinese mobile number is common at booking. International cards can fail at the counter; many desks take Alipay with a bound card.

4. 04

   Carry the rental contract with a C1 / C2 permit. Cars are usually limited to the mainland.

5. 05

   Airport permit windows are narrow. Do not time a last flight around an old blog hour.