Where is the license plate 'Shan A' from?
2 Answers
There is no 'Shan A' license plate in China. The Chinese character at the beginning of a license plate represents a province or municipality directly under the central government, and the letter following the first character represents a city or district. Generally, by looking at the first Chinese character and the letter following it, you can determine where the vehicle belongs. A license plate is a mandatory requirement for every car to legally drive on the road. Driving without a license plate is considered illegal. Below is relevant information about license plates: 1. License plates are categorized into formal license plates and temporary license plates. 2. Temporary license plates are paper-based and do not need to be fixed to the front or rear of the vehicle. However, temporary license plates must be affixed to the inside of the front and rear windshields. Failure to adhere to this regulation is equivalent to driving without a license plate. Temporary license plates have an expiration date. Continuing to drive with an expired temporary license plate is also considered driving without a license plate. Therefore, when using a temporary license plate, it's important to note that you should not continue driving if it has expired. 2. Formal license plates are made of metal and must be fixed to the front and rear of the vehicle. Formal license plates come in different colors, and different types of vehicles require different colored license plates. The most common colors for license plates are blue, green, and yellow. Most large buses and trucks use yellow license plates, while most ordinary household vehicles use blue or green license plates. Green license plates are for new energy vehicles, which include pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Having driven for so many years, I've seen quite a few license plates. As for the prefix 'Shan A,' I think it might be a typo. In China's license plate regulations, there isn't a direct code 'Shan A.' Among the common prefixes, 'Lu' represents Shandong Province, with 'Lu A' being the license plate for Jinan; 'Jin' represents Shanxi Province, with 'Jin A' being the license plate for Taiyuan. If you see something like 'Shan A' on the road, it's most likely a miswriting referring to these two places, especially the license plate of Jinan, Shandong. The first Chinese character on a license plate is the abbreviation of the province, and the letter represents a city within the province, usually 'A' for the provincial capital. It's quite common to encounter such misreadings when I'm repairing cars. I recommend that everyone familiarize themselves with the local license plate code manual before driving to avoid misjudgments that could affect navigation. Although license plate information seems trivial, it's important for driving safety. Don't underestimate the value of this kind of knowledge.
