Nothing wrong with VPNs. Mine is free too. I wish there were a better way, but until or unless China removes it's firewalls, VPNs remain a necessity, though there are alternatives such as freegate (which is freeware).

As has been mentioned before, there is no need for a residency permit to apply for the driver license test, just a valid visa is fine (unless things have changed now, I doubt it, but you never know in China). When I originally registered for my test in late 2010, that's all I had and it was accepted. You could claim you are in the process of obtaining a residency permit or other type of long-term visa if pressed, even if you aren't, but this is unlikely to be asked. Apart from English, other languages are available too, including Russian, Korean, Japanese, German and French. I'm not sure how many of these are actually available at the Kunming location, but you can always ask if you would rather do the test in one of these languages instead of Chinese or English.

@danmairen, there are always much, much more Lao vehicles driving in neighboring countries than Burmese ones in my experience. Even near the Burmese border west of Jinghong I only saw one car that may or may not have been Burmese registered, but the rest were all Lao registered. Burmese cars probably aren't allowed to travel very away from their border, which is why I've never positively identified any Burmese cars driving in China (I haven't been to Tengchong though). When I was in Mangshi for example, I didn't see a single one. However, I hear that all you need to bring in a car from a neighboring country into China away from the border is by contacting a Chinese person who needs to vouch for the imported car as a guarantor - this would need to be done at immigration upon arrival and then the border guards print out a form that allows travel deeper into China than just the border area.

Anyway, aren't Burmese cars really expensive? Would make more sense to buy a car in China and register it with Burmese plates if you ask me.

It's easy enough to get an extension of stay once you're in China, for at least 30 more days beyond your original visa at any PSB office. However, I agree that a longer period than just 30 days is what should be requested given that China is a large country and 30 days (or even 60 in some cases) isn't enough time to explore the country in depth. In western countries 1 year Chinese visas are possible, but usually there is a requirement to exit the country every 60 or 90 days. I do agree however that it shouldn't be necessary to go back to Europe, the US or Australia just to get a longer validity Chinese visa.

Although it's not a big deal (in terms of the requirements to show hotel bookings etc.), but is the tightening of regulations a reason why so few foreigners visit China compared to SE Asia? For example, in Jinghong, we were the only visible foreigners visiting a particular temple complex in the south of town, although there were plenty of foreigners on the backpacker street (Menglong Lu) at night, but not a single foreigner was visible walking the nearby gem market or any other part of town other than that one street.

However, it should be pointed out that in western countries such as Australia, it is still easy to get a Chinese visa except that the visa application form is now quite lengthy. Individuals may be required to submit additional documents, but probably it's just a case of paying the fee, filling out the application form, providing a photograph and submiting the application like before. In SE Asia, this will vary but I'd say use an agent who will smooth things over even if they charge a bit more than the consulate directly.

@Geezer, it is not normal at all to be talked to at random by Chinese people (except at English corners, where it is expected and perfectly acceptable). Chinese people are very shy and even in a group they will only say hello AFTER you have walked past them, not while you are right in front of them. I doubt anyone could say you're rude for not talking to them, UNLESS they were asking for directions, in which case I might agree with them.

Case in point, a Lao looking man along with about 3-4 others got out of a Saiyabuli, Laos registered Toyota Fortuner just under the big bridge in Jinghong, along the Mekong River where all the bars are located (this was last Saturday evening). A Thai friend of mine simply wanted to ask for directions and started by asking the man if he was Lao, so they could continue in the same language (although I probably would have said "Sabaidee" first to start the conversation) and then that man promptly ran away from him!! Now that's rude (and odd!) coz we simply wanted to ask for directions. Fortunately, Chinese people don't do that, and incidentally, that has never happened to me personally, but yeah, it was odd.