--- title: "Can You Rent a Car and Drive in China? The 2026 Rules for Foreign Visitors" description: "Your home licence and your International Driving Permit are both invalid in China — but you can still drive legally. Here is the permit that actually works, what it costs, who gets rejected, and when a road trip genuinely beats the train." type: "guide" published: "2026-08-20T00:00:00" updated: "2026-08-29T06:38:29.617289Z" reading_minutes: 9 word_count: 2813 tags: ["Transport"] related_route_ids: ["route_draft_6536dc2c8ab2", "route_draft_8706b933cf36", "route_draft_11974df1c0c7", "route_draft_d8ed51d3e3f7", "route_draft_1dbdced640bc"] related_routes: [{"route_id":"route_draft_6536dc2c8ab2","slug":"china-end-to-end-18-days","title":"China, End to End","url":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-end-to-end-18-days","duration_label":"18d","price_label":"$6,360","image":"https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lgRtYUwR.jpg","route_stops":{"en-US":["Beijing","Xi'an","Chuanzhusi","Jiuzhaigou","Chengdu","Zhangjiajie","Guilin","Yangshuo","Shenzhen"],"zh-CN":["北京","西安","川主寺","九寨沟","成都","张家界","桂林","阳朔","深圳"],"de-DE":["Peking","Xi'an","Chuanzhusi","Jiuzhaigou","Chengdu","Zhangjiajie","Guilin","Yangshuo","Shenzhen"],"fr-FR":["Pékin","Xi'an","Chuanzhusi","Jiuzhaigou","Chengdu","Zhangjiajie","Guilin","Yangshuo","Shenzhen"],"es-ES":["Pekín","Xi'an","Chuanzhusi","Jiuzhaigou","Chengdu","Zhangjiajie","Guilin","Yangshuo","Shenzhen"],"it-IT":["Pechino","Xi'an","Chuanzhusi","Jiuzhaigou","Chengdu","Zhangjiajie","Guilin","Yangshuo","Shenzhen"]},"sort_order":0}, {"route_id":"route_draft_8706b933cf36","slug":"zhangjiajie-5-days","title":"Above the Pillars, Then Below","url":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/zhangjiajie-5-days","duration_label":"5d","price_label":"$1,430","image":"https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6r6KBlWN.webp","route_stops":{"en-US":["Zhangjiajie"],"zh-CN":["张家界"],"de-DE":["Zhangjiajie"],"fr-FR":["Zhangjiajie"],"es-ES":["Zhangjiajie"],"it-IT":["Zhangjiajie"]},"sort_order":10}, {"route_id":"route_draft_11974df1c0c7","slug":"canton-fair-foshan-3-days","title":"After the Last Booth","url":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/canton-fair-foshan-3-days","duration_label":"3d","price_label":"$840","image":"https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ACVuoNa.webp","route_stops":{"en-US":["Guangzhou"],"zh-CN":["广州"],"de-DE":["Guangzhou"],"fr-FR":["Canton"],"es-ES":["Cantón"],"it-IT":["Canton"]},"sort_order":20}, {"route_id":"route_draft_d8ed51d3e3f7","slug":"silk-road-xian-kashgar-13-days","title":"All the Way West","url":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/silk-road-xian-kashgar-13-days","duration_label":"13d","price_label":"$3,500","image":"https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9cI5H2ZV.webp","route_stops":{"en-US":["Xi'an","Dunhuang","Turpan","Kashgar","Shanghai"],"zh-CN":["西安","敦煌","吐鲁番","喀什","上海"],"de-DE":["Xi'an","Dunhuang","Turfan","Kaschgar","Shanghai"],"fr-FR":["Xi'an","Touen-houang","Tourfan","Kachgar","Shanghaï"],"es-ES":["Xi'an","Dunhuang","Turfán","Kashgar","Shanghái"],"it-IT":["Xi'an","Dunhuang","Turfan","Kashgar","Shanghai"]},"sort_order":30}, {"route_id":"route_draft_1dbdced640bc","slug":"beijing-xian-chengdu-12-days","title":"Axis to Kitchen Table","url":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-xian-chengdu-12-days","duration_label":"12d","price_label":"$4,060","image":"https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2WLhk97i.webp","route_stops":{"en-US":["Beijing","Xi'an","Chengdu"],"zh-CN":["北京","西安","成都"],"de-DE":["Peking","Xi'an","Chengdu"],"fr-FR":["Pékin","Xi'an","Chengdu"],"es-ES":["Pekín","Xi'an","Chengdu"],"it-IT":["Pechino","Xi'an","Chengdu"]},"sort_order":40}] url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026" canonical_url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026" locale: "en-GB" alternates: {"en-US":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","en-GB":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","zh-CN":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-CN/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","zh-TW":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-TW/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","de-DE":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/de-DE/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","fr-FR":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/fr-FR/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","es-ES":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/es-ES/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","it-IT":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/it-IT/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026","x-default":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/guides/can-you-rent-a-car-and-drive-in-china-2026"} --- # Can You Rent a Car and Drive in China? The 2026 Rules for Foreign Visitors _Last Updated: 2026-08-29 | Reading Time: 9 min_ Tags: Transport ## Table of Contents - Can You Rent a Car and Drive in China? The 2026 Rules for Foreign Visitors - Is an International Driving Permit valid in China? - So can foreigners drive in China at all? - The four gates you have to pass - How do you get a provisional driving permit? - Where can you actually rent a car? - What a rental actually costs - Is a China road trip actually worth it? - What about campervans and motorhomes? - The three alternatives, ranked - Frequently asked questions - The bottom line ## Related routes - [China, End to End](https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-end-to-end-18-days) — 18d · $6,360 - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lgRtYUwR.jpg - Stops: Beijing, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen, 北京, 西安, 川主寺, 九寨沟, 成都, 张家界, 桂林, 阳朔, 深圳, Peking, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen, Pékin, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen, Pekín, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen, Pechino, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen - [Above the Pillars, Then Below](https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/zhangjiajie-5-days) — 5d · $1,430 - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6r6KBlWN.webp - Stops: Zhangjiajie, 张家界, Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie - [After the Last Booth](https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/canton-fair-foshan-3-days) — 3d · $840 - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ACVuoNa.webp - Stops: Guangzhou, 广州, Guangzhou, Canton, Cantón, Canton - [All the Way West](https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/silk-road-xian-kashgar-13-days) — 13d · $3,500 - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9cI5H2ZV.webp - Stops: Xi'an, Dunhuang, Turpan, Kashgar, Shanghai, 西安, 敦煌, 吐鲁番, 喀什, 上海, Xi'an, Dunhuang, Turfan, Kaschgar, Shanghai, Xi'an, Touen\-houang, Tourfan, Kachgar, Shanghaï, Xi'an, Dunhuang, Turfán, Kashgar, Shanghái, Xi'an, Dunhuang, Turfan, Kashgar, Shanghai - [Axis to Kitchen Table](https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-xian-chengdu-12-days) — 12d · $4,060 - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2WLhk97i.webp - Stops: Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, 北京, 西安, 成都, Peking, Xi'an, Chengdu, Pékin, Xi'an, Chengdu, Pekín, Xi'an, Chengdu, Pechino, Xi'an, Chengdu ![A paved mountain road descending toward a river valley town in southwest China](https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fXuDejty.webp) ## Can You Rent a Car and Drive in China? The 2026 Rules for Foreign Visitors \*\*The short answer:\*\* your home country's licence is not valid in China, and neither is an International Driving Permit\. China is not a signatory to any of the international driving conventions, so the IDP you may have bought before your trip has no legal standing here\. You can still drive legally — but through a different document, the \*\*provisional motor vehicle driving permit\*\*, which is issued on the spot, costs 10 yuan, and lasts three months\. If you plan to rent, that permit only covers small cars, and you have to apply for it in the city where the rental company is based\. That last sentence is where most travellers get caught, and it is the reason this guide exists\. ## Is an International Driving Permit valid in China? No\. An IDP does not let you drive in China, and no rental company can lawfully hand you keys on the strength of one\. The reason is structural rather than bureaucratic\. An International Driving Permit is only meaningful between countries that have signed one of the international road traffic conventions — the 1926, 1949 or 1968 agreements\. \*\*China has signed none of them\.\*\* An IDP issued in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada or anywhere else is, inside China, simply a translated booklet with no legal force\. This is worth stating bluntly because the search results for "car rental China" are unusually poor\. Several of the pages that rank are published by companies that \*\*sell International Driving Permits\*\*, and they are written to leave you with the impression that an IDP plus your home licence will get you on the road\. It will not\. Read anything on this topic with one eye on who benefits from the advice\. \*Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ## So can foreigners drive in China at all? Yes — and this is the part the "you can't drive in China" articles get wrong in the opposite direction\. Short\-stay visitors can apply for a \*\*temporary motor vehicle driving permit\*\* \(临时机动车驾驶许可\), sometimes translated as a provisional driving permit\. It is issued by the traffic management department of the public security authorities, and it exists precisely so that visiting foreign licence holders can drive during their stay\. The legal basis is a set of four instruments, of which the operative one is the Ministry of Public Security's \*\*Order No\. 90, Provisions on the Administration of Temporarily Imported Motor Vehicles and Drivers\*\*, alongside the Road Traffic Safety Law and its implementing regulations\. So the honest framing is neither "foreigners can't drive in China" nor "just bring an IDP"\. It is: \*\*your paperwork doesn't transfer, but a replacement is available, and getting it has real conditions attached\.\*\* \*Sources: Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Traffic Management Bureau, official service page \(page dated 2026\-01\-04\); Tianjin Municipal Government English portal, Q&A for Provisional Driving Permit \(page dated 2025\-01\-08\)\. Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ## The four gates you have to pass Before you compare rental prices, check whether you clear all four of these\. Failing any one of them makes the rest irrelevant\. | Gate | The question | What stops you | | --- | --- | --- | | \*\*1\. Eligibility\*\* | Do I hold a valid foreign licence? | An IDP alone is worthless; you need the provisional permit | | \*\*2\. Vehicle class\*\* | What do I want to drive? | Rentals are restricted to small cars only | | \*\*3\. Jurisdiction\*\* | Which city am I renting in? | You must apply where the rental company is based | | \*\*4\. Record\*\* | Have I been to China before? | Unresolved traffic violations bar you outright | Gates 2 and 3 are the ones almost no English\-language guide mentions, so they get their own sections below\. ## How do you get a provisional driving permit? The process is genuinely designed to be same\-day\. According to the Tianjin municipal government's own English\-language guidance, you bring: \- \*\*Your entry/exit identity document\*\* — passport, or the relevant travel permit for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents\. \- \*\*Your foreign driving licence\*\*, together with a \*\*Chinese translation\*\* if it is not already in Chinese\. You can arrange this through a translation agency, or ask the vehicle management office staff for help with the translation service\. \- \*\*Two recent 1\-inch colour photographs\*\*, white background, no hat\. These can also be taken at the service window\. \- If you are in China for an organised competition or similar event, a certificate from the relevant Chinese authority\. You then pay a \*\*certificate fee of 10 yuan\*\*, complete a short \*\*education session on China's road traffic laws\*\*, and receive the permit on the spot\. The permit is valid for \*\*three months\*\* if your stay is three months or less\. If you are staying longer, the validity can be extended to \*\*up to one year\*\*\. One caveat that matters: implementation details vary between cities\. Some vehicle management offices ask for a \*\*medical certificate\*\* covering eyesight and colour vision; Tianjin's published checklist does not list one\. Treat the list above as the shape of the process, and confirm the specifics with the vehicle management office in the city where you will actually apply\. \*Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ### Gate 2 — if you are renting, you can only get a small-car permit This is the single most consequential rule in the whole system, and it is buried in the regulations rather than on any rental website\. If you are driving a \*\*rented Chinese vehicle\*\*, the provisional permit is issued \*\*only for class C1 \(small passenger car\) and C2 \(small automatic\)\*\*\. That is the entire menu\. If instead you have brought your own vehicle temporarily into China, the permit class must match the vehicle you brought — a different pathway with its own, considerably heavier, import formalities\. In both cases, the class can never exceed what your foreign licence already authorises you to drive\. The practical consequence: \*\*motorhomes, campervans, larger vans, motorcycles and anything above a small car are not available to you through the rental route\.\*\* If you arrived at this page planning a campervan trip across China, this is where that plan stops\. \*Source: Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Traffic Management Bureau, official service page, article 6\. Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ### Gate 3 — where you apply is determined by where you rent Most guides say you can get the permit at the airport when you land\. That is true only in a narrower set of circumstances than it sounds\. The regulation draws a distinction: \- If you are driving \*\*your own temporarily imported vehicle\*\*, you apply to the traffic authority of your \*\*point of entry or point of departure\*\*\. \- If you are driving a \*\*rented Chinese vehicle\*\*, you apply to the traffic authority of the \*\*municipality or prefecture\-level city where the rental company is located\*\*\. So "get it at the airport" works when the airport is in the city where you are picking up the car — which, for most visitors landing in Beijing or Shanghai and renting there, it is\. Shanghai, for instance, lists vehicle\-administration windows at both Hongqiao and Pudong airport traffic police detachments, with same\-day completion\. But if you are planning to land in one city and rent in another, the permit does not travel with you\. Plan the paperwork around the rental city, not the arrival city\. \*Sources: Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Traffic Management Bureau, article 7; Shanghai "One Network" government services portal\. Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ### Gate 4 — who gets turned away The regulations list conditions under which a provisional permit \*\*will not be issued\*\*\. Two of them catch returning visitors by surprise: \- \*\*Unresolved traffic violations or accidents from a previous entry into China\.\*\* If you drove here before and left something outstanding, that record follows you\. \- \*\*Any record of a hit\-and\-run while driving in China\.\*\* The remaining grounds are medical or procedural: conditions that impair safe driving \(including organic heart disease, epilepsy, Ménière's disease, vertigo, and neurological conditions affecting limb movement\); unresolved drug dependency; invalid supporting documents; and failing to meet the statutory conditions generally\. There are also baseline physical requirements\. For C1 and C2 — the classes you would hold as a renter — you must be \*\*18 or older\*\*, have \*\*corrected or uncorrected vision of at least 4\.9\*\* on the standard logarithmic chart in both eyes, and have \*\*no red\-green colour blindness\*\*\. Applicants over 70 must pass a memory, judgement and reaction test\. \*Source: Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Traffic Management Bureau, article 5\. Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ### If your licence was issued in France, the rules are different Buried in the same regulation is a reciprocity arrangement that applies to exactly one country\. Holders of a \*\*French\-issued licence\*\* staying in China for no more than one year — including foreign nationals, overseas Chinese citizens, and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents — are \*\*exempt from the medical examination, the training and the test\*\*, and may apply directly for a provisional permit valid for up to one year\. The permit covers classes B1, B2, C1, C2, D, E and F, with the same split as everyone else: C1 and C2 for rented cars, the rest only for a vehicle you brought in yourself\. If you hold a French licence, this materially changes your calculation\. No other national licence is named in the provision\. \*Source: Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Traffic Management Bureau, article 7\(3\)\. Last verified: 2026\-08\.\* ## Where can you actually rent a car? ![A row of compact rental cars parked at a pickup area in a Chinese city](https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1GACZCVz.webp) Two categories of company operate in China, and they behave differently towards foreign customers\. \*\*International brands\*\* — Hertz and Avis among them — are the ones you will recognise, and they are the easier starting point precisely because their counter staff have seen foreign documents before\. Search interest reflects this: queries for these brands in China have been climbing\. \*\*Domestic operators\*\* — eHi \(一嗨\) and Shouqi \(首汽\) are the large ones — have far denser networks, more locations, and generally better pricing, but they are built for domestic customers\. Apps, deposits and identity verification are designed around Chinese ID numbers and domestic payment methods\. The failure mode to plan around is this: \*\*holding a valid provisional permit does not guarantee a company will rent to you\.\*\* Deposit handling, whether a Chinese mobile number is required, and whether your card will clear their verification are separate hurdles from the legal one\. Confirm the rental company's foreign\-customer requirements before you spend a morning at the vehicle management office\. ## What a rental actually costs Comparison sites quote a daily rate, and the daily rate is the smallest part of the picture\. Budget for: \- the daily rental rate \- the \*\*deposit hold\*\*, which is not money spent but is credit tied up, and can be substantial \- \*\*expressway tolls\*\*, which on intercity routes add up quickly \- fuel or charging \- \*\*parking\*\* — in major city centres this routinely exceeds the daily rental rate itself \- one\-way drop\-off fees, if you are not returning to the pickup point \- and, once, the \*\*time cost of the permit\*\*: the trip to the vehicle management office, the translation, and the road\-law session Only the last of those is a one\-off\. That is why the arithmetic changes sharply with the length of your stay — and it is the single most useful thing to understand before deciding\. ## Is a China road trip actually worth it? ![A paved two\-lane highway curving through highland meadows toward snow\-capped peaks in northwest Yunnan, China](https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1sRkqLkE.webp) Here is the honest version, neither the "don't bother" of the car\-service blogs nor the "freedom of the open road" of the booking platforms\. | Your situation | Self\-drive | High\-speed rail | Private car with driver | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Between major cities \(Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai\) | ✗ | ✓ | — | | Sightseeing \*\*within\*\* a city | ✗ | — | ✓ | | Day trip to the outskirts \(Great Wall, rural Yangshuo\) | ~ | ✗ | ✓ | | Multi\-stop rural loops \(western Sichuan, northwest Yunnan\) | ✓ | ✗ | ~ | | Travelling with toddlers, elderly parents, or heavy luggage | ✗ | ~ | ✓ | | Staying under 7 days | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | | Staying 3\+ weeks, going well off the tourist track | ✓ | ~ | ~ | | Set on a campervan or motorcycle | ✗ | — | — | The pattern is consistent: \*\*in China, driving yourself is rarely the right answer between cities, and often the right answer beyond them\.\*\* The high\-speed rail network has made intercity driving close to pointless — trains run at over 300 km/h, require no permit, and drop you in the city centre\. Inside cities, licence\-plate restrictions, one\-way systems and parking scarcity mean a car is usually slower than a taxi\. What driving uniquely buys you is the countryside: the routes with no railway station and no tour bus\. If that is your itinerary, the four gates are worth clearing\. If it isn't, they aren't\. ## What about campervans and motorhomes? Not through a rental\. As covered above, a provisional permit issued for a \*\*rented\*\* vehicle is limited to classes C1 and C2 — small cars only\. A campervan sits outside that\. Bringing your own vehicle into China is legally possible and is how overland travellers do it, but it is a different regime entirely, involving temporary vehicle import formalities, and in practice it is arranged through a specialist agency rather than booked online\. It is not a substitute for renting\. ## The three alternatives, ranked ![A high\-speed train waiting at a modern station platform in China](https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/31AtsWkQ.webp) \*\*1\. High\-speed rail\.\*\* For nearly every city\-to\-city journey, this wins outright — no permit, no parking, city\-centre to city\-centre\. See our \[China train travel guide\]\(/guides/china\-train\-travel\-guide\) for booking as a foreign passenger\. \*\*2\. Ride\-hailing apps\.\*\* DiDi covers Chinese cities comprehensively and has an English interface\. The real prerequisite is not the app but payment — see \[paying in China\]\(/guides/paying\-in\-china\-2026\) for setting up mobile payment as a visitor, and \[getting around China\]\(/guides/getting\-around\-china\-2026\-the\-complete\-transportation\-guide\-for\-international\-travelers\) for how the pieces fit together\. \*\*3\. A car with a driver\.\*\* For day trips beyond a city, for travel with small children or elderly parents, and for anywhere you'd otherwise be navigating unfamiliar rural roads in a language you don't read — this removes the permit problem, the parking problem and the navigation problem in one step\. It is the option the four gates were quietly pushing you towards all along\. ## Frequently asked questions \*\*Can I drive in China with a US, UK, Australian or Canadian licence?\*\* Not on its own\. Your licence is the basis for applying for a provisional permit, but it does not authorise you to drive by itself\. \*\*Does an International Driving Permit work anywhere in China?\*\* No\. China is not party to any international driving convention, so an IDP has no validity anywhere in the country, including Hong Kong\-adjacent border areas of the mainland\. \*\*How much does the provisional permit cost?\*\* The certificate fee is 10 yuan\. Costs for the licence translation and, where required, a medical check are separate\. \*\*Can I get the permit at the airport?\*\* Only if you are renting in that airport's city\. Shanghai has vehicle\-administration windows at both Hongqiao and Pudong\. If you are renting elsewhere, apply in the rental company's city\. \*\*Do I need a Chinese mobile number to rent?\*\* It depends on the company\. Domestic operators generally build their verification around Chinese phone numbers and domestic payment; international brands are usually more flexible\. Confirm before you book\. \*\*How long does it take?\*\* It is designed to be completed on the spot once your documents are in order\. Actual queueing time varies by office and time of day\. \*\*Can I drive in Tibet or Xinjiang?\*\* These regions carry additional travel\-permit requirements beyond the driving question\. Confirm the current rules for your nationality before planning a self\-drive route there\. ## The bottom line China has not made driving impossible for visitors — it has made it conditional\. The IDP in your bag does nothing, but a 10\-yuan permit, issued the same day, does\. What actually determines whether the plan works is quieter than the paperwork: whether you want a small car \(the only kind you can rent\), whether you're applying in the right city, and whether the roads you want are the kind driving is good for\. For most itineraries — cities, landmarks, a fortnight — the train and a driver will beat a rental car on time, cost and stress\. For a slow loop through countryside with no railway, the four gates are worth clearing\. Work out which trip you're taking first, and the rest of the decision makes itself\. ## Plan this China trip with a specialist Share your dates, pace, and must-see places. We will turn the planning notes into a private route that works on the ground.