Sometimes, something happens in China that really irks me. Ok, well, maybe a bit more often than “sometimes”…
3 days ago, the Ministry of Public Safety, via relevant news outlets and traffic management bureaus, announced an overhaul of the license plate system (specifically, enhancements to the 1992 standard that was running the risk of running out of available plates - at least here in Beijing).
Um, o.k… so?
Well, long story short, one of the new provisions is they are phasing out the black plates for foreign-owned vehicles. We will need to swap our plates for the “normal” ugly blue plates that is given to anyone. 
Remember, Foreigners were lucky and had much sexier black license plates, instead of the boring blue plates that everyone else has!
Information is a bit hazy (as my Chinese character recognition isn’t the greatest)… Let’s keep an eye on the Wikipedia article for developments.
And here’s the Beijing Traffic Bureau announcement.
Now, officially, normal foreigners (i.e. not diplomats) aren’t given any special privileges on the road. Now, for the 4.5 years I’ve been driving, let’s just say I’ve had only one parking ticket (and that was 3 years 7 months ago - EVERY car on the road was ticketed, so I guess the cop was just being “fair”).
Seriously… Will having a blue plate change anything?
Man, I hope not! As my friend Tom pointed out, most likely the implementation of the new license plate policies won’t coincide with the police sporting a sudden proficiency in the English language.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 10:47 am
You do not to change it now. You only need to change it when you transfer, re-apply or lost your plate.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Ah, that’s good news. How about if I need to replace my blue book (the registration booklet ) - left it in a cab one day!!!!
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:49 am
It said that the plate change is not mandatory for existing plates; change happens only if you change your plate or re-apply your plate. I do not think reapplying your blue book falls in this range.
November 4th, 2007 at 2:31 am
Dude, presumably you only got one parking ticket in 4.5 years because you always park correctly.
A less generous reader might misinterpret your comments as suggesting that you should have received more tickets, but only did not because the police overlook the parking violations of non-Chinese drivers.
It may be worth clarifying that this is not the case and that Chinese parking officials treat all parking violations with equal seriousness.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:49 am
That could be, Ben. That could be…
November 7th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Good thing I still have my Swiss-German weapon up my sleeve. If cops can master English, they’ll take some time to adjust to Swiss-German…
…Then again, maybe I’m too mean!