Tourists are not permitted to drive in China. This is a good thing. The traffic is very heavy in China. For instance, Atlanta has one circular road around the city and are thinking of adding another. Beijing currently has 5 circular roads. In certain cities the Chinese have imposed new rules for people thinking of buying a car. Most involve heavy taxes up to 60,000 and a wait of 5 years before you can buy a car.
Maybe you noticed that I described the traffic as "heavy" verses calling it "crazy". Chinese traffic is for the most part orderly. My observations are that there are two general rules. One, 4 wheeled vehicles always have the right of way. Two, whoever is in front can cut in front of the other. They do use their horns to enforce these two rules. Two things you will likely not see on Chinese roads are people on cell phones (or any other distraction) and people driving while intoxicated. People realize that they need their full facilities to survive and if you get caught DUI forget driving again.
China for the most part does not have any motorcycles or scooters over 149cc. This was very strange for me as I expected lots of motorcyles. The Chinese consider bigger bikes dangerous and any that you see were either grandfathered before the law was passed. You will see many scooters under 149cc. They generally have their own road that is shared with bicycles. Unfortunately, cars and scooter frequently meet resulting in many scooter injuries and deaths.
I only saw one Harley Davidson the whole time I was in China and it was in a small town close to the Great Wall.
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