Glad I saw this - I wasn't aware tourists were allowed to rent vehicles at all. I knew you needed a Chinese licence, but hadn't heard that there was now a tourist licence and as far as I knew you could only do the regular test if you had a working or family visa.

In Shenzhen, they told me that I can take the full test on any visa if my permitted length of stay is 90 days or more. Supposedly the US embassies now issue 90 day visas for Americans, so I am hoping to try that route soon as I have already been through two temporary licenses...

Usually it would not make a lot of sense. Long distance driving is OK, but within the city a car is often a burden, especially as a tourist as rush hour and parking are problematic. 1st tier cities have good public transport, which often gets priority anyway during rush hour. And yes, got my license while having a Z-visa many moons ago.

Note: Beijing and Shanghai are older and have less parking within the inner city, as Shenzhen is more a planned city (in the 80s it was mostly still farming land), so they have parking garages, etc.