Long-term students who learn Chinese in China would like to travel around during their vacation. The most commonly used transportation media are bus, train and plane. Traveling by car can be a great option, but it limits many students from enjoying the pleasure of driving because very few students can get a valid Chinese driving license. E Tailong in the small group class told us an exciting news that he got his Chinese driving license last week.

E Tailong and his wife are both from America and they have been studying Chinese at Keats for many years. They like Kunming so much that they wish to stay here forever. They love traveling during the school holidays and Xishuangbanna is one of E Tailong’s favorite places to visit in China. He always imagines that one day he could drive his car and take his wife to Xishuangbanna. How wonderful that could be! Therefore, E Tailong started to study hard for his Chinese driving test.

Since E Tailong already has a valid American driving license, he could receive his Chinese driving license simply by passing the theoretic test in Chinese. He first downloaded a mobile app so that he could study the Chinese traffic regulations anytime anywhere. He successfully passed the theoretic test last week and soon got his Chinese driving license. He told us that there are so many differences between Chinese traffic signs and American ones and it really took him a long time to prepare the test. Although there is an English version of the test, the translation is not very clear and he needed help from his friends to make sure that he understood everything. 

Now E Tailong received his Chinese driving license. His dream to take his wife to Xishuangbanna finally came true. While we are very happy for E Tailong, we congratulated him for a freer life in China. We also reminded E Tailong to be careful when he drives in the city. It is better not to travel during the national holidays to avoid the crowds and traffic jams.

We wish E Tailong and his wife a happy and fantastic life in Kunming!