Ha...it's not that complicated. As long as you can prepare for your driver license exam before you arrive and do some practice tests so that you will pass the first time around when you do the exam on a Thursday in Kunming, you'll be OK. I believe a temporary Chinese driver's license can also be obtained at Beijing Capital Airport on arrival quite legitimately, but why not go for the full driver's license from Kunming?

I have a Chinese driver's license and while I didn't pass the first time round, I did pass once I studied the manual in sufficient detail (my previous attempts helped me to score 89 and 86, just short of the passing grade of 90) - this was due to a lack of study and nothing else. BTW you have two attempts to pass during any one session.

Driving in China ain't easy, but certainly easier than in many other developing countries, particularly out on the expressways. It's a nice and easy way of getting around, although you'll have to factor in fuel costs, toll fees and possibly parking fees as well as car rental expenses if you're renting. Still, if split between a few people it can be remarkably affordable and a great way to see the country.

In short: do a search for the .pdf or word version of the Chinese driver's license manual on this site or google it and then go for your license once you're in China. If you pass, you'll receive your license the same day and it will be valid for 6 years - make sure you go at least a day before the test to register with all your documents and a Chinese speaker if you don't speak Chinese sufficiently to go yourself.

@Blade, basically there is only one Thai bank that does not charge you a 150Baht withdrawal fee when withdrawing money using a foreign issued card; that bank is Aeon. I am fairly sure that is the only bank in Thailand that continues to charge nothing - the 150 Baht fee was only introduced a few years ago and adopted by every bank except Aeon, before that it was completely free for all.

In regards to China, no ATMs should charge you a fee for withdrawals using a foreign issued card - at least the Bank of China doesn't.

Also, Bank of China does NOT charge a fee for withdrawing money from your own account using your Bank of China card in the city the account was opened. Maybe other banks do, but the Bank of China doesn't charge from what I've seen.

Beware that not many banks in China have ATMs that take foreign cards. The only three that are trouble free with foreign issued cards are Bank of China, China Construction Bank and ICBC (and foreign banks, such as ANZ which are only found in major cities like Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Beijing). However, the limit per withdrawal is 2500 Yuan at the Bank of China and often less elsewhere. It seems that it is not possible to make a cash advance using your foreign issued credit card for more than the ATM limit in one transaction. This is probably a government law to put a limit on funds that can be brought into or taken out of China in any one day.

@crazy.laowai, the OP didn't want to go to Thailand, so obviously he doesn't want to go to a Thai island.

While there aren't any direct flights from Kunming to Vietnam anymore, it only takes 8 hours on a bus to reach the Vietnamese border town of Hekou and there are cheap flights on China Southern via Guangzhou to Ho Chi Minh City, from where Mui Ne is a 4 hour bus ride away. Nha Trang is a 7 hour train ride or 8-9 hour bus ride or 35 min flight away from Ho Chi Minh City. Great beaches, lots of backpackers, booze cruises and fun are to be had in places like Hoi An and Nha Trang. Everyone is in Vietnam these days and while it's not as wild as Koh Phangan on Vietnamese beach resorts it's probably going to move in that direction eventually. Alternatively, try Cambodian beaches.

Flying out of Vietnam to Europe is easy; there are plenty of direct flights. Vietnam Airlines flies non-stop from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Moscow and Paris. Air France also flies daily from Ho Chi Minh City to Paris and Lufthansa flies three times weekly to Frankfurt with a stopover in Bangkok. Aeroflot also offers a cheap connection from Vietnam via Moscow to the rest of Europe.

Geez, some of these responses are starting to sound like every foreigner is playing up the "us" vs. "them" mentality in relation to the local Chinese. The reality is, for most Chinese around us, few of them have had much contact with foreigners and probably only in recent years have ever even seen a foreigner and therefore I doubt any would have some kind of pre-conceived negative notion of an otherwise well behaved, law abiding foreigner. The younger generation in particular, is far more accepting of foreigners than the older generation is as you can imagine. Not only are they more accepting, but they want to meet us and become friends with us!!

I have met some of the nicest, most generous people in the world in China and while sometimes it feels a bit weird, I don't go home deliberating as to why some kids screamed "hello" when I walked past (they did so cause they thought it was funny, no other reason) this despite it being very annoying for us. If you were to teach these kids that screaming "hello" is neither amusing nor respectful, then I'm sure they'd stop, after all, Chinese kids are very respectful. Similarly, the number of times I've shared a meal or a few drinks with a hospitable Chinese family who've always paid more than makes up for the annoying comments about how westerners have bigger noses and different colored hair from the locals (which is about as annoying as it gets for me, everything else is a piece of cake). Again, it's because of these differences that we get noticed in the first place.

Well dazzer, that's because they're racist. Only racist and ignorant people would not want their children to marry "outside the race".

Besides even in this day and age, foreigners are still exotic in China and until China overtakes the USA in per-capita income, a foreigner is still a potential ticket to a good comfortable life in a foreign country for a Chinese person.

Also, I remember a story about how one Swiss man married a Thai girl in a village in the north-eastern part of Thailand (Isan). Within only a short time, about 20 other girls from that town also married Swiss men. I personally don't see any reason why this can't also happen in China.

Only difference is...foreigners don't like travelling to China because it's not considered "cool" or "fun" and there is a perception that no one speaks English in China. That's why all the backpackers are livin' it up in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. and very few of them travel to China.