A couple of months ago, two friends of mine told me they were planning to drive to China and wanted to crash on my couch in Kunming. I thought they were joking. Turns out they were serious.
The first one is from Lithuania - he drove a black BMW 520d touring all the way across Russia, Kazakhstan, and entered through the Khorgos border crossing in Xinjiang. His car has Lithuanian plates, and once he cleared customs he got a Chinese temporary plate.
The second one came from Germany - a Mini Countryman with German plates. He went down through Southeast Asia first, rode through Laos, and crossed into China at the Mohan border in Yunnan.
A few things I learned from watching them go through this:
1. You can't just drive your foreign-plated car across the border on your own - you need a Chinese travel agency to sponsor you and handle the customs paperwork.
2. They get a temporary Chinese license plate that's valid for 3 months.
3. Right-hand drive cars are also allowed at these crossings.
4. Insurance has to be sorted out before you enter.
5. There's a customs deposit you pay on entry, which gets refunded when you exit.
They ended up spending about 6 weeks driving around Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet together. Said it was one of the best trips they've ever done.
Here's a recent RV entering through Mohan port:
The first one is from Lithuania - he drove a black BMW 520d touring all the way across Russia, Kazakhstan, and entered through the Khorgos border crossing in Xinjiang. His car has Lithuanian plates, and once he cleared customs he got a Chinese temporary plate.
The second one came from Germany - a Mini Countryman with German plates. He went down through Southeast Asia first, rode through Laos, and crossed into China at the Mohan border in Yunnan.
A few things I learned from watching them go through this:
1. You can't just drive your foreign-plated car across the border on your own - you need a Chinese travel agency to sponsor you and handle the customs paperwork.
2. They get a temporary Chinese license plate that's valid for 3 months.
3. Right-hand drive cars are also allowed at these crossings.
4. Insurance has to be sorted out before you enter.
5. There's a customs deposit you pay on entry, which gets refunded when you exit.
They ended up spending about 6 weeks driving around Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet together. Said it was one of the best trips they've ever done.
Here's a recent RV entering through Mohan port:
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