Peace 2nd Day License Test Record
As a Hongkonger who often travels both ways, I have always wanted to get a tricycle license - not to drive a truck, but to ride an electric tricycle to take pictures in the countryside on weekends. But thinking of the hell of queuing for driving test in Hong Kong, the idea has not been moved for two years. Until recently I went to Shenzhen to visit a friend, and suddenly I had a whim: Why don't you try to take the exam in Mainland China?
As a result, the whole process was so fast that I thought I was doing an experiment.
“Waiting” in Hong Kong: A daunting hurdle
Let's talk about the situation in Hong Kong first. In fact, the license examination procedure for a tricycle (motorized tricycle) in Hong Kong is almost the same as that of a motorcycle. You have to go through a written test, a road test, and accumulate enough experience to get a formal license. The problem is not difficult, but waiting.
I saw the news earlier that the Department of Transport had to implement online bookings and cancel same-day tickets in order to cope with the large number of applications issued for exemption. My friends told me that when I queued up at Golden Mile, I used to get tickets at 9am. At 8am, I had already beaten all the snake cakes. Even though you can now book online, there are only 550 places available, and you have to grab them four weeks in advance.
For those like me on the spur of the moment, wait? Forget it.
"Fast" in Mainland China: same-day exam, same-day pickup
On the day I got back to Shenzhen, I stopped by the traffic management office and asked for directions. After listening to me, the lady at the window said, "You have a Hong Kong motorcycle license? You can take subject one. You can take it today. If you pass, you can get your certificate the same day."
I thought he was joking.
Then he handed me a piece of paper with the conditions listed: over 18 years old, under 70 years old, physical conditions met. I have a Hong Kong motorcycle license, which belongs to the situation of "holding an overseas driving license". If I have accumulated more than 90 days in the issuing country or region, I only need to take subject one (written test) to redeem it. And I have lived in Hong Kong my whole life, of course.
Same day physical examination - there is a designated hospital next to the DMV. I finished it in 10 minutes. I went back to the queue with my physical examination report. Then I studied the question bank for two hours using the mobile app, entered the examination room at two in the afternoon, and came out in half an hour - passing.
I went back to the vehicle management office at four. Before five, the fresh and hot Chinese tricycle driving license was already in my hand.
The whole journey takes less than eight hours.
Contrast between the two places: It’s not about the difficulty, it’s about the mindset
When I talked about it with my friends when I returned to Hong Kong, their first reaction was: "The Chinese license exam is so fast, will it be easy?"
Actually not. There are over 1,000 question banks for subject one, including traffic signs, points deduction rules, and emergency response. Moreover, the assessment standards in mainland China are actually very strict, but the process is designed smoothly - physical examination, registration, examination, certificate collection, all done in the same area, no need to rush around.
In Hong Kong, the biggest problem is "waiting": waiting for appointments, waiting for tickets to be distributed, waiting for approval, waiting for certificates to be sent. The Transport Department often talks about optimizing the system, but from the same day to online booking, it is actually just moving the queue from physical to online. Booking online requires pressing buttons quickly and preventing automatic programs from grabbing tickets. It sounds even more tense than the license exam itself.
Once I asked the Department of Transportation hotline, why can't it be simplified? The other person said, "We have to verify qualifications, it's very strict." I understand, but strictness and slowness are two different things.
Thoughts after the experiment: Quick, it can be that simple
In this experiment, the biggest gain was not getting the card, but experiencing the possibility of being “fast”.
The practice in mainland China is very straightforward: if you meet the conditions, you will be allowed to take the exam; if you pass the exam, you will be given a certificate. There are no unnecessary levels in between, no “wait four weeks for an appointment” design. The whole process, from start to finish, is about “getting things done”, not “managing things”.
Of course, the systems in the two places are different, and there is no saying which one is definitely better. But as a user, I just want to get my license faster and be able to drive out and play faster. This kind of "same-day test, same-day pickup" efficiency in mainland China is really addictive.
Now I’m already thinking about driving around the countryside around Guangzhou on my next vacation with this freshly baked tricycle license plate. The screen of driving a tricycle in the sunset, flanked by rice fields, I waited for two years to finally materialize.
And it all just stemmed from an impromptu decision and an afternoon that didn’t have to wait.