Hefei Driving Experience
This content was automatically generated by gpt-4o-mini (No human review). The original post is in Chinese.
First Driving Lesson: Bayi Driving School
I first enrolled in a driving school during the first semester of my sophomore year, which was the fall semester of 2015. I signed up for the VIP class at Bayi Driving School, and the fee was 4,800 yuan, which did not include pick-up and drop-off services.
Subject One
The registration point was on Dongzhi Road. I remember that before taking the Subject One exam, I needed to score over 95 points in two consecutive mock tests at the registration point to book the exam. I started practicing questions on the app, but I didn’t meet the requirement in my first mock test. After a few days, I went back to the registration point for another mock test and finally succeeded in booking the exam. I found this rule quite unreasonable; the passing score for Subject One is clearly 90 points, and during the actual exam, if you fail, you get one free retake immediately. This rule from the driving school seemed purely aimed at increasing their pass rate, making it very inconvenient for students. Despite such strict requirements, I passed Subject One with a score of 100.
Dropped Out of Subject Two
I remember that the practice location for Subject Two at Bayi Driving School was near the West Second Ring Road. Since there was no pick-up and drop-off service, it was very inconvenient to get there. I tried riding a bicycle, taking the bus, and hailing a taxi, but the taxi fare was not cheap. My instructor wasn’t particularly harsh; he didn’t yell or scold anyone, but the efficiency of the lessons was very low. In one afternoon, there could be six or seven people waiting for a car, and it would take one or two hours before it was your turn, allowing only 15-20 minutes of driving time. I only learned how to reverse into a parking space, went there three or four times, and each time took half a day. I felt the efficiency was just too low, so I decided to drop out. The attitude at Bayi was also okay; they refunded me 3,900 yuan.
Second Driving Experience: Zhong’an Driving School
The second time I registered for driving school was in the spring semester of my fifth year. Since I had decided to go to the United States for graduate school, driving was a very important life skill, and I hoped to obtain my driver’s license in China first. This way, I could practice driving more during the summer before going abroad.
Registration
In the 2019 Study Abroad group for USTC, many classmates wanted to learn to drive in China, so we decided to form a group for registration. With recommendations from classmates and teachers, I organized a group at Zhong’an Driving School with over 20 classmates. The normal registration fee is 3680 yuan, but it was cheaper for group registration (not convenient to disclose), and they provided transportation. All of us in the group had the same instructor.
When registering, a car came to USTC to pick us up, and we went to the driving school for registration, a physical examination (vision test), and photo-taking. It took about 3 hours in total. Those who are not from Hefei also need to apply for a temporary residence permit. After registration, we waited to schedule the Theory Test (Subject One).
Subject One
For Subject One, I only spent two evenings going through the questions on the driving test app, mainly to complete all 1300+ questions and review the incorrect ones. I took the test on March 20 and passed on the first attempt with a score of 97. The exam took about half a day because the testing site was at the Binhu Vehicle Management Office, which is quite far. We first took a taxi from USTC to the Linquan Road branch, and then the driving school’s bus took us to the exam site.
Subject Two
I started learning Subject Two two weeks after passing Subject One. Although we sent our schedules to the instructor, the actual driving times were arranged by the instructor. Generally, the instructor would ask you the day before if you were available to drive the next morning or afternoon. If you were free, you would go. After three or four sessions, the exam time for Subject Two would be confirmed/scheduled, and the training frequency would increase in the week leading up to the exam.
The practice area for Subject Two was at the Linquan Road branch of Zhong’an Driving School. The instructor would pick us up at the agreed time from the East Gate of USTC or the North Gate of the West Campus, taking four people at a time. Once at the driving school, there were two cars, with two people practicing in each car. Below is my practice schedule for Subject Two.
| Date | Time | Learning Items |
|---|---|---|
| 4.3 | 1:45 PM – 5:30 PM | Steering wheel, clutch |
| 4.9 | 7:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Left reverse parking |
| 4.15 | 7:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Left reverse parking, right reverse parking |
| 4.16 | 1:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Parallel parking, hill parking, reverse parking. Four people per car, efficiency was relatively low |
| 4.18 | 2:15 PM – 7:00 PM | S-curve, right-angle turn (a very hot day, 30℃) |
| 4.19 | 2:15 PM – 7:30 PM | All five items |
| 4.20 | 7:30 AM – 10:50 AM | All five items |
| 4.22 | 6:30 AM – 11:45 AM | Visit the exam site, mock exam practice, four people per car, each person practices two rounds, 187.5 yuan per person |
| 4.23 | 11:00 AM – 3:50 PM | Jinwu Joint Exam Site, Subject Two exam |
I practiced for a total of eight and a half half-days (including mock exams) before taking the test, which can be considered very efficient. The times in the table are the departure times from USTC East Campus and the return times after practice. Generally, each session lasted half a day, with about four hours of practice. If there were two people per car, each person would practice for an average of two hours. Except for the situation I specifically noted as four people per car, the rest were two people per car, so there was no long waiting time. Even when the other person was practicing, you had to help keep an eye on things.
Before the exam, the instructor took us to another driving school for a mock exam, which cost 300 yuan per hour. Four classmates practiced together for a few rounds, and the cost was split evenly.
The exam site for Subject Two was at the Hefei Baowan International Jinwu Joint Driving Test Center. Similarly, we took a taxi to the Linquan Road branch, and then the driving school’s minibus took us to the exam site. We left USTC at 11:00 AM and arrived at the exam site around 12:00 PM. We entered the waiting area after 1 PM and waited for nearly an hour (there were two people ahead of me), feeling extremely nervous. The large screen in the secondary waiting area displayed which car you would be using for the exam and the exam progress (queue status), and there was also an audio announcement of the current status. By the time it was my turn to take the exam, it was already 2:30 PM. I was assigned to car number 13, and when adjusting the seat, I encountered a situation where the seat could not be fixed, which made me panic. Fortunately, it was resolved afterward. The exam also allowed for two attempts; if you failed the first time, you could take a free retest immediately. I passed on my first attempt, only receiving a 10-point deduction for stopping more than 30 cm but less than 50 cm from the designated spot on the hill. When I heard the audio announcement saying I had passed, my nervous heart finally relaxed.
Subject Three
By the time I started practicing for Subject Three, it was already May 29. At this point, I had completed the plagiarism check for my graduation thesis and began learning Subject Three the afternoon before my thesis defense. Learning Subject Three is much more exhausting than Subject Two for several reasons: first, the distance is far; second, the car is hot; and third, it may require waking up early. The training site for Subject Three is at the Jinwu Lian Subject Three test site, which is over 20 kilometers away from the East Campus of the University of Science and Technology. When the roads are clear, it takes about 30 minutes to drive there, but during traffic jams, it can take 50 minutes or even over an hour. During Subject Three practice, there are four people in one car, and the coach’s car runs on gas, claiming that using the air conditioning would reduce power. Therefore, no matter how hot it is in the afternoon, the air conditioning is off during practice. The front seat gets very sunny, and the three people in the back are cramped. Sitting in the car for half a day taking turns practicing, if classmates hit the brakes suddenly, it can be quite dizzying. Additionally, regarding the schedule for practice, for Subject Three, we might have to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning to practice, which disrupts our usual routine. After practicing, I would need to take a long nap. Waking up early to practice sounds painful, but the experience is actually much better than leaving at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. First, there are fewer cars on the road in the morning, making the trip very smooth, and we arrive in just 30 minutes. Second, there are not many passing vehicles during practice, and there are fewer cars practicing, making it easier to run. Third, it’s not as hot in the morning; around 4 o’clock, the sky is just starting to brighten, and the sun hasn’t risen yet, making the temperature quite comfortable.
Here is my practice schedule for Subject Three (recording the time from the East Campus of the University of Science and Technology to back):
| Date | Time | Learning Item |
|---|---|---|
| 5.29 | 2:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Two rounds for each person |
| 5.30 | 2:30 PM – 7:45 PM | Two rounds for each person, Line 1 |
| 5.31 | 4:00 AM – 7:30 AM | Two rounds for each person, one round Line 1, one round Line 3 |
| 6.1 | 4:00 AM – 7:40 AM | Two rounds for each person, Line 3 |
| 6.2 | 10:00 AM – 2:10 PM | Two rounds for each person |
| 6.3 | 5:10 AM – 9:30 AM | Four people, mock test, two rounds for each person, 240 yuan |
| 6.4 | 11:00 AM – 2:40 PM | Exam |
Every time I come home after practicing Subject Three, I am completely exhausted and feel dizzy from the heat.
During the Subject Three exam, I was also very nervous. I failed both rounds of the mock test, consistently losing 100 points for straight driving, and I always seemed to cross the line just as I was turning or making a U-turn. During the actual exam, there weren’t many people, and I was the first to take the test in that car. The exam car had air conditioning, so it was quite comfortable, and surprisingly, I passed without any deductions. The experience of practicing for Subject Three, aside from being tiring, is that it is not as simple as I imagined; in fact, I find it even more difficult than Subject Two.
Subject Four
The Subject Three safety and civilized driving knowledge exam is also called Subject Four. I took Subject Four on June 19. Before the exam, I spent more than half a day reviewing questions, but in fact, the exam was particularly easy, with only 50 questions, much simpler than Subject One. I even feel that you can pass Subject Four without having to go through the entire question bank. I scored 100 points. After the exam, there was a safe driving education session, which involved watching some videos and then taking an oath. I chose to pay 20 yuan to have my driver’s license mailed to the school, and I received it on June 21.
Costs and Timeline
So far, my driving school expenses are:
- Group registration fee 3X00 yuan
- Medical examination, photo, and study card fee 90 yuan
- Subject Two simulation test fee 187.5 yuan
- Subject Three simulation test fee 240 yuan
- Personal taxi fare totaling over 100 yuan
All together, it amounts to around 4000 yuan, which can be considered quite cheap.
Looking back at the progress of learning to drive, it took 3 months from passing Subject One to obtaining the driver’s license. The timeline is as follows:
- March 1, successfully registered at the driving school
- March 20, took Subject One
- April 23, took Subject Two
- June 4, took Subject Three
- June 19, took Subject Four
Driving School Learning Suggestions
I think the most important aspects of learning to drive are: having a good instructor, high efficiency, and reasonable costs.
Pick-up and Drop-off, Driving Efficiency
When selecting a driving school as a group, we placed great importance on the pick-up and drop-off service. This is a benefit for students at the university, as everyone lives nearby, making it convenient for the instructor to pick us up. The pick-up and drop-off service saves time on the road; if we were to take a taxi, it would cost 16-20 yuan one way, which is quite expensive. Of course, if four people share a taxi, it can be much cheaper, but that depends on whether the driving schedule is arranged reasonably (whether we can gather four students to learn at the same time).
In addition to the pick-up and drop-off service, another important factor is the number of people per car for practice. I personally believe that having two people per car is the most efficient. We generally switch drivers every 15-20 minutes because driving for too long while constantly pressing the clutch can lead to fatigue. Having a partner to observe your performance and give you suggestions is also very important. Three people is okay, but four or more leads to too low efficiency, as waiting can waste a lot of time. Besides the number of people per car, the duration of practice sessions is also crucial. Some driving schools claim to have two people per car, but in reality, you can only book 1-2 hours, as there are other people who need to practice during the remaining time. This means that each person only gets about 0.5-1 hour of practice, which is still too short, especially since travel time can take over half an hour. Generally, practicing for 3-4 hours at a time is more appropriate.
Costs
Regarding the costs of driving lessons, I found that from 2015 to 2019, the fees for driving lessons in Hefei actually decreased instead of increasing. The 3900 yuan refunded by Bayi Driving School back then was surprisingly enough to cover the registration fee at Zhong’an Driving School. Learning to drive in Hefei is quite affordable; with pick-up and drop-off included, a registration fee between 3500 to 5000 yuan is reasonable. There’s no need for gifts, no need to treat anyone, and no need for red envelopes.
Choosing a Coach
The most important point is to find a good coach. I strongly recommend Coach Yu Huichun from Zhong’an Driving School. She is a straightforward middle-aged woman, has a good temper, is responsible, experienced, and her teaching arrangements are quite reasonable. In recent years, most of her students have been from the University of Science and Technology, so when learning to drive, you are surrounded by classmates (rather than unfamiliar people), and the feedback has been positive. We chose Zhong’an Driving School out of trust in her; I am not familiar with the other coaches at Zhong’an Driving School.
Currently, we have a problem with our group learning to drive: after completing the first subject, some classmates have not started learning the second subject for a long time, which is quite urgent. I believe this is related to the coach’s schedule because we mainly practice driving intensively before the exam. The time from starting to learn the second subject to taking the exam for it might only be two weeks, but after finishing the first subject, we might have to wait 2-3 weeks before starting the second subject. On one hand, we all signed up with the same coach, and there are quite a few of us, so we need to queue. On the other hand, I prefer practicing four times a week for two weeks rather than practicing twice a week for a month. Anyway, I’m not in a hurry to get the license; as long as I get it before graduation in June, that’s fine. For example, after finishing the second subject yesterday, I asked the coach when we might take the third subject, and she said it might be at the end of May. So, for the next 20 days or so, I probably won’t spend time on driving lessons and can focus on other things.
Don’t Forget Sunscreen When Learning to Drive
Currently, spring and autumn seem to be the best seasons for learning to drive. Winter is too cold, standing outside can be freezing, and summer is too hot, making the inside of the car even hotter. Even when learning to drive in spring, it’s important to check the weather; on sunny and warm days, sunscreen is still necessary. There’s a saying: “Raising children is fine when you’re old, but applying sunscreen is essential.” Another saying highlights the three key points of skincare: cleansing, moisturizing, and sun protection. Prolonged sun exposure can significantly increase the risk of skin cancer, and even if it doesn’t, it can lead to skin aging, darkening, and spots.
Regarding sun protection while learning to drive in spring and summer, I recommend wearing long pants and a jacket (a thin sun-protective shirt when it’s hot). For exposed areas like the face, neck, and hands, just apply a waterproof sunscreen with a high SPF, as it’s easy to sweat when the temperature is high (if you’re really under strong sunlight for several hours, you’ll need to reapply sunscreen). When outside the car, wearing a wide-brimmed hat or using an umbrella is also a good idea; after all, no sunscreen can compare to physical sun protection. In addition to sun-protective clothing, sun umbrellas, and sun hats, sunglasses and sun-protective gloves can also be worn.
When I was learning to drive, I carried the following items in my bag: tissues, a power bank/charging cable, keys, a water bottle, snacks, gloves, sunglasses, a hat, a fan, lip balm, sunscreen, a pen, a small mirror, and hand cream. After all, it’s easy to get hungry after a long time of learning to drive, so having something to eat is important. There were a few really hot and sunny days, so I put drinking water in the fridge beforehand and brought it in a thermos; it was really refreshing.
For guys, just wearing a big hat or using a sturdy sun umbrella will suffice.
P.S. This article introduces some general situations about learning to drive, but specific details should still be based on what the instructor says.
