I had 5 days to prepare for my driving test and so I let my Chinese go a bit and just concentrated on practicing and learning the 1500 questions I could be asked.
I generally didn't worry if I could guess or already knew them, I wrote them down if I didn't know or if I found them to be particularly obtuse or counter intuitive! I then re read these ones and ran through the whole lot once more, and it was time!
My test was an early morning test and so i got up at 6 and Elaine drove me over to wenzhou, she knew the test place so problem.... I thought! When we got to wenzhou the road to the town where the test center was (a suburb i guess) was out, under repairs and covered in diggers etc! We eventually found a way with lots of stopping and asking and found the test centre actually a little late!
We entered this huge compound, many big buildings, a whole huge area for the reversing test, and a small mountain to be included on the driving test practical!
We entered a huge building and went to the first floor where we found a room seating around 60 people, another room behind it seating the same, and a separate room for waiting if you were not taking the test.
In the room there was a very frustrated looking man who took my passport and added it to a huge pile which was taken into another room, there we all sat while three officials sat on a large desk waiting. When your name was called you went to the first official, took your documents and went to the next two, they checked a part each before you went through a metal detector into the testing centre.
Whilst you wait on huge screens they place a looping video of traffic crashes, blood and guts included!
My name was called and Elaine went though with me, I was worried about taking my phone and bag in but I shouldn't have, the metal detector is just for show and when it goes of nobody cares, and there is nowhere else to put your bag so you just take the lot!
Inside my room was 100 tiny half height wooden cubicles just big enough for an ancient computer and a wooden chair, in this you sit surround by people and on the computer you do your test!
The 100 people is constantly changing and people coming and going and asking questions of the examiner across the room can be pretty distracting, but I worked on through! I noticed there was also a we can setup taking continuous photos of my face as I worked, I guess to stop the person in the cubicle next door helping?? God knows!
I finished my test of 100 questions in 20 mins our of the 40 allowed and had to get 90% to pass, when I pressed the virtual 'hand in' button I was informed I had got 96% a safe pass! Awesome! The only problem now was... What to do now? I went to the examiners desk and she asked, in English, "how many points?" I replied "96" and she said "in sorry, better luck next time". I was a bit confused by this so tried in Chinese "jiu shi liu" ahh her face lit up! "Well done she said, go to the ground floor!" and returned to her paperwork.
I told Elaine and we headed downstairs to collect my document stating that I had passed and I asked where I could get my license, Elaine told me that of course not here, back to the traffic control department of the public security organ!
We drove over and after more form filling, more stamping and more waiting we received a new paper saying we could now go to another place to request the license! Yay! in the new place, more forms and more stamps later I finally held my Chinese driving license, valid for 6 years no less, and then I need to update my picture and I get another 10!
To celebrate we went to a wenzhou restaurant to eat pumpkin soup, frogs and snails... Tasty!
Thanks Elaine for helping, without her it would have been impossible! Or at least much less fun....!
Now... Where to drive???
I generally didn't worry if I could guess or already knew them, I wrote them down if I didn't know or if I found them to be particularly obtuse or counter intuitive! I then re read these ones and ran through the whole lot once more, and it was time!
My test was an early morning test and so i got up at 6 and Elaine drove me over to wenzhou, she knew the test place so problem.... I thought! When we got to wenzhou the road to the town where the test center was (a suburb i guess) was out, under repairs and covered in diggers etc! We eventually found a way with lots of stopping and asking and found the test centre actually a little late!
We entered this huge compound, many big buildings, a whole huge area for the reversing test, and a small mountain to be included on the driving test practical!
We entered a huge building and went to the first floor where we found a room seating around 60 people, another room behind it seating the same, and a separate room for waiting if you were not taking the test.
In the room there was a very frustrated looking man who took my passport and added it to a huge pile which was taken into another room, there we all sat while three officials sat on a large desk waiting. When your name was called you went to the first official, took your documents and went to the next two, they checked a part each before you went through a metal detector into the testing centre.
Whilst you wait on huge screens they place a looping video of traffic crashes, blood and guts included!
My name was called and Elaine went though with me, I was worried about taking my phone and bag in but I shouldn't have, the metal detector is just for show and when it goes of nobody cares, and there is nowhere else to put your bag so you just take the lot!
Inside my room was 100 tiny half height wooden cubicles just big enough for an ancient computer and a wooden chair, in this you sit surround by people and on the computer you do your test!
The 100 people is constantly changing and people coming and going and asking questions of the examiner across the room can be pretty distracting, but I worked on through! I noticed there was also a we can setup taking continuous photos of my face as I worked, I guess to stop the person in the cubicle next door helping?? God knows!
I finished my test of 100 questions in 20 mins our of the 40 allowed and had to get 90% to pass, when I pressed the virtual 'hand in' button I was informed I had got 96% a safe pass! Awesome! The only problem now was... What to do now? I went to the examiners desk and she asked, in English, "how many points?" I replied "96" and she said "in sorry, better luck next time". I was a bit confused by this so tried in Chinese "jiu shi liu" ahh her face lit up! "Well done she said, go to the ground floor!" and returned to her paperwork.
I told Elaine and we headed downstairs to collect my document stating that I had passed and I asked where I could get my license, Elaine told me that of course not here, back to the traffic control department of the public security organ!
We drove over and after more form filling, more stamping and more waiting we received a new paper saying we could now go to another place to request the license! Yay! in the new place, more forms and more stamps later I finally held my Chinese driving license, valid for 6 years no less, and then I need to update my picture and I get another 10!
To celebrate we went to a wenzhou restaurant to eat pumpkin soup, frogs and snails... Tasty!
Thanks Elaine for helping, without her it would have been impossible! Or at least much less fun....!
Now... Where to drive???
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