OK, well I have a valid 6-year Chinese driver's license which was quite easy to get (apart from the test, which due to a lack of study and the Chinglish I didn't pass the first time, but did pass eventually last October).

I have heard that temporary licenses can be issued at border crossings, for example the Mohan crossing coming in from Laos or at Beijing international airport; not sure if they are issued once inside the country. I am not sure about the requirement to only be allowed to drive "small cars" or "automatic cars" on these licenses although my guess is it's basically Chinglish that means "can't drive large vehicles such as semi-trailers or buses" rather than not being allowed to drive pickup trucks for example. I say this because I saw a ton of Lao-registered vehicles in Sipsongbanna (Jinghong, Mengla and all points in between) just last weekend and most of them were much larger than the average Chinese car; we're talking pickup trucks (made up the majority of all vehicles I saw and mostly Hilux Vigos), Hummers and SUVs (typically Toyota Fortuners). Basically, most of these Lao registered vehicles are very rare or unavailable in China. For example, I have never seen a Chinese registered Fortuner, though I have seen 2 Chinese registered Hilux Vigo pickup trucks (apparently they are manufactured in Guangzhou now).

Anyway, I digress, but I believe that all these Lao drivers have at least temporary Chinese licenses (or perhaps some of them were actually Chinese with business interests in Laos and thus had Lao registered vehicles? Didn't get a chance to ask, because the Lao looking driver of one Saiyabuli registered Fortuner in Jinghong ran away when my Thai friend asked him if he was Lao so he could ask for directions in that language, really weird...)

It is easy enough to get a 6-year license here in Kunming, but if you really only want a 3-month temporary one, go to the same place (Traffic Management Station) that issues the permanent ones as I don't know if any travel agency would know anything about this.

Finally, I don't think anyone driving into China with say, a Lao-registered vehicle, particularly if they are not going beyond Jinghong would be required to "take classes on Chinese road traffic rules". Similarly, foreigners flying into Beijing and obtaining their license their would also not be required to do so - this would just deter too many people.

Here's a tip. Just respond to anybody like this trying to speak English with you by telling them you can't speak it. In Chinese: "wo bu neng hui shuo Yingwen". For me, apart from when I first arrived when I couldn't speak any Chinese, I always respond to someone trying to speak to me in English with Chinese, as I didn't come to China to speak English, I came here to learn Chinese (even if I'm not that good yet, but still).

Alternatively, just say you are Russian or speak to them in Russian and they won't bother you...few Russians can speak English, so that'll probably make these people lose their enthusiasm quite soon.

Basically, it's the equivalent of someone in Saigon or Bangkok coming up to you to "practice" their English or to ask you something about where you come from etc. It's an obvious scam, I never talk to these kinds of people that just come up to you and speak to you randomly. Clearly they must have an ulterior motive so just smile and move on.

Anyway, I feel sorry for you, but what I find strange is that no one saw anything happen or made any attempt to help you or anything like that. In general, starting a conversation in a foreign language on a Kunming bus is enough to get people to start looking in your direction, so I'm surprised that nobody noticed anything unless of course the persons in question were very skilled at what they were doing.

@sgnguy, I feel that knowing the local language, even if it's only a little can help enormously. In Thailand and Laos I feel very happy and confident due to my language skills in those countries, however, in Vietnam it's different as I speak no more than a few unconnected words of Vietnamese, so I have to rely on friends or English, which works in the bigger cities but not in the countryside. In China, things are improving for me as my Chinese improves and I expect to move back to China in the future, but anyway, language does help a lot as I feel much more connected with the people and place where I know the local language - which is why I still don't have a strong attachment to Vietnam for example.

@sgnguy, I am about to embark on moving in the opposite direction, namely from Kunming to Vietnam, but not Saigon, but rather another nice city in southern Vietnam.

I have been to Vietnam around 20 times, most recently for business, which has culminated in a new job opportunity here. I first came to Vietnam (Saigon) around 7 years before I came to China (Kunming) for the first time and despite the horrible traffic and poor infrastructure, I still feel that Vietnam, like its other South-East Asian counterparts (Myanmar is an exception) is a much easier place for an expat to live than China, particularly compared to a lesser known city such as Kunming.

In spite of China's infrastructure being quite good, in fact China these days looks more like Europe than it does the rest of Asia (Shanghai's infrastructure, streets etc. are almost indistinguishable from the west), the fact is, China and cities like Kunming are more difficult for foreigners to live in compared to any SE Asian city for the following reasons:

Although Vietnam, Thailand, Laos etc. are more exotic and the lifestyles are quite different to the west as well as to China, those countries are very foreigner friendly and are used to dealing with foreigners - China is generally not used to foreigners at all (Shanghai and Beijing are exceptions). English (and sometimes other foreign languages) are widely spoken in SE Asia (and English language menus in restaurants are available in most places, not just a handful as in Kunming), international credit cards can be used almost everywhere and there is never a question about foreign credit cards being acceptable; if credit cards can be used to pay for goods or services, then naturally foreign issued ones can be used too, unlike in mainland China. Also, there are large and visible expat communities and foreign travellers present in these countries, something not particularly visible in Kunming or most other Chinese cities. Finally, there are plenty more reasons but there is also a lot more western and other international food available in SE Asian cities compared to Kunming.

@hedgepig, yep, I've met that guy at the bus station in Hekou, which is only about a minutes' walk from Chinese immigration before the bridge. That guy speaks very good English, but his exchange rates are a bit on the low side; only exchange small amounts with him since you can easily exchange Yuan in most cities in Vietnam. If you are travelling overland from Kunming, just exchange your Yuan to Dong in Lao Cai - you won't need to pay for anything before you reach a currency exchange facility anyway, and even if you do (for example to pay for a taxi, either pay in Yuan or ask the driver to wait for you to exchange money somewhere near the Lao Cai train station). The exchange rates in Lao Cai are better than across the border in Hekou, China anyway, although the Bank of China branch in Hekou might also be able to help you out with purchasing Dong - in any case, I normally only exchange Yuan to Dong or vice versa within Vietnam itself; there is simply no need to do it any other way.