Car insurance recommendations?

Hey everyone,

I am living in Kunming and am planning to buy a car and take a Protected content roadtrip through China. I am trying to understand what my options are for insurance.

I am planning to sell my car at the end of my roadtrip, so my net cost there won't be too high. However if the car is stolen that I could be losing a lot of money. So I am trying to see which if any of the insurance companies are reliable and if there was a way for me to feel confident that a theft claim would actually be accepted. I do not know what the typical practices are for Chinese insurance companies.

So, what kind of insurance do all of you get? Do you have any insurance claim stories to share? I have been told to get comprehensive. It looks like increased 3rd party coverage, driver and passenger coverage, and theft coverage would be a minimum.

I also read that last year foreign insurers were allowed to offer the mandatory insurance. So who are the insurance companies, Chinese or foreign, and what is your experience with them? What have you heard about them? Is there some way to look up their performance / behavior, get quotes, compare them, like you could in the US?

Are there any gotchas I should watch out for, e.g. will the car be covered across all of China? Under what circumstances is coverage usually negated?

Also, is there any way to buy (the non-mandatory) coverage for less than a year?

I know of PICC and Ping An, that's about it. I saw that AIG is in China but they don't seem to offer auto insurance.

Thanks!
Matt