Rent a Car in Chengdu and Drive by Myself

Rent a car in Chengdu and drive by yourself as a foreign traveler. This is possible but complicated and it may not worth the time & money since it may cost more than you hire a car with driver.

As a foreigner traveling in China, can I rent a car and drive by myself?

Yes you can but it's complicated. The international driver's license that is recognized by many countries is not recognized here in China by Chinese traffic police. You will need to apply for a temporal driver's license from the authority before you can drive a car in China.

How do I get a temporal driver's license in China?

You may go to the traffic police station to apply for a temporal driver's license. You may do this in major cities in China such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu. You will need go through several process and do test and test drive and it will take multiple days up to a week's time. You will also need to pay a fee (around USD200 to USD250 total).

After I get my Chinese temporal driver's license, How do I rent a car?

You may go to one of the car-rental companies in the city to rent a vehicle although most car-rental companies haven't done any business with foreigner who has a temporal driver's license and it may take a long time to do so or you may simply be denied because of problems on language, communication, or simply the car rental companies may think risk is too high to rent you a car.

The Challenges:

1, the complicated process at traffic police station, it takes a long time (up to a week) and the process can be stressful if you don't speak mandarin.

2, the high risk of being denied by car rental companies because you may not speak the language or don't understand or be familiar with a lot of traffic rules in China.

Solutions

1, Using an agent such as we if you still keen to rent a car and drive by yourself. We can take care of the application process first before your arrivel to Chengdu, that you may only need to go to the traffic police station for only 1 or 2 days. We will guide you through the whole process by traffic police station and get you a driver's license. We will charge you USD600 for help you getting a license and save your time. Then we will assist you to rent you a car from car rental companies that we keep a relation with that won't deny foreigners but you will be required to buy a high rate insurance. This will add on the car rental fee around USD260 to USD280 a day. And this doesn't include cost on fuel, toll, parking, etc.

2, You may simply hire a car with driver from us, this is the normal transfer service we provide without extra time and effort from yourself. It costs around USD200 to USD300 a day for a 5-seater and includes all fuel, toll, etc with a driver.

Our Suggestions

It's not worth to drive a car in China by yourself if you are a foreigner and don’t have a Chinese drivers license. It doesn't save money. It doesn't save time. If you want to save money, use public transport; if you want to stay flexible, book a transfer service from us. Besides, some roads in Sichuan are in the mountains and not one of the easiest roads to drive.