the only way to skip the written and practical test, is to convert your HK drivers licence in Guangdong as guangdong is the only province in china has signed an agreement recognizing each others drivers licence. further, the main reason for that agreement, it is actually a scheme to benefit the guangdong residents so they can get an international drivers licence via a converted hong kong drivers licence, as china is not yet a contracting party to the Convention of Road Traffic.

I converted my Hong Kong drivers licence in Shenzhen. it is very easy and the medical exam is hilarious. :-) so if you want further details, just post here and i would post more details.

@abcdabcd :-) i think, 'biologically,' people living on the land in china do not really have a "better immune systems." what they really have is a very conservative taste bud. they like their food grow slowly whether it be soy bean or chicken, they reckon the food grow slowly (naturally) tastes better. the way to achieve that better taste is not to use excessive fertilizer or chemicals and not to use excessive feed when raising farm animals.

my MIL (mother-in-law) always brings a big bag of soybeans with her when she comes to visit us in Shenzhen because she knows the wife makes soybean milk at home. the wife only need use 2/3 of a cup to make one lot of soybean milk with much better smell and taste whereas 1- 1/3 cup of the brought stuff is needed to make the same quantity.as a matter of fact, if the wife puts more than 2/3 of a cup of the home grown beans in the machine, the milk is too thick resulting burns around the heating element and gum up the sensor, the milk will overflow and set off an alarm. you get the idea.......:-)

The same happens in Guangdong, fish farms have separate ponds for private consumption. :-)))))))$

My Chinese wife comes from a small village in guangxi around 100 km out of Guilin, called Yongfu. The people, young and old, living on the land live relatively trouble free health-wise while their migrant worker cousins returning home have more medical problems, especialy liver cancer and gastric ulcer. The 'funny thing' I discovered is, most the people on the farm have separate land for commercial crops and produce for private consumption. I have noticed they would use chemicals to spray tomato plants to make them look ripen when there are not enough sunlight to do the job, so they could meet the market demand. But the produce for private use on the other side of the hill will just grow naturally. I once asked why? Chemicals are expensive is the answer. I think ..... May be not.....

since the thread has off topic already. :-) i just can not resist stirring the pot with my own 'shxt-stick.' :-)))))

the fact that, the koreans, both north and south, participated in the Vietnam war. the south korean troops in particular were implicated in atrocities. it would be 'logical', according to the derived 'theory', that the south korean would have to pay visa fee like the Yanks would. however, in reality, it is the poor North Korean who have to pay visa fee while their southern cousin can enter Vietnam free. :-) the world is full of irony. :-)