Tips for Trouble-Free Taxis
Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z
Despite the manic driving, travelling by taxi in Běijīng is safe, inexpensive, and convenient when done with intelligence. Select your taxi according to the following recommendations, but don’t let these alarm you.
Never go with a driver who approaches you, most likely to happen at airports, railway stations, and at the most popular tourist sights and markets. It is an absolute guarantee that you will be cheated, and perhaps even left luggage-less and wallet-less at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (although this is extremely rare — China is generally very safe). Head straight for the rank at airports and stations, and elsewhere walk out into the street and flag down a passing taxi. Drivers who approach you are usually hēi chē (黑车): illegal, unlicenced, and meter-less ‘black cabs’.
Similarly avoid taxis waiting for business outside major tourist sights whose drivers call out to you and who may seem particularly interested in foreigners. If a driver asks where you want to go even before you can get in there is again an increased chance of shenanigans. Flag down a passing cab and the other precautions listed here will mostly be unnecessary.
If you’re staying in an upmarket hotel, do not go with taxis called by the doorman or waiting in line outside. This is less of a problem than it used to be but even at some very famous hotels, drivers pay bribes for permission to join the line on the forecourt, or to jump the line at the airport. Some cabs are merely waiting because many guests, Chinese and foreign alike, will be out-of-town people who can be easily misled. Instead, just walk out of the hotel and flag down a passing cab for yourself. Take the hotel’s business card to show to a taxi driver when you want to get back.
Don’t take a cab whose plates begin with anything but 京B. In Běijīng official taxis’ number plates always begin with 京B (not 京A, 京C, or anything else) although it can’t be guaranteed that plates aren’t faked — once run into the ground taxis are sold to scrap dealers for a few hundred kuài, part of which may recouped by selling the plates. And there are, indeed, fake taxis complete with fake livery.
Look on the dashboard to see if the supervision card, with a photo of the driver and a telephone number, is prominently displayed. If it isn’t, choose another cab as the one you’re about to board may well be fake.
The photo on the card may well not resemble the driver, but his card is probably behind the one you can see. Many vehicles work 24 hours, with the time divided between two drivers. The card also displays the driver’s registration number, the name of the company supplying the taxi, and the number of the Běijīng Municipal Bureau of Transport Supervision, t 6835 1150 in case of any complaint. Complaining is not likely to bring any redress, although threatening to complain by waving a mobile phone and pointing at the number may do so.
Is the meter plainly visible? If it is obscured in any way, completely hidden, or non-existent, choose another cab. If there’s any attempt to suggest a fixed price, other than for trips out of town negotiated in advance, choose another cab.
Have your destination clearly written down in Chinese characters, or point to the large characters given for each site discussed in this book. Despite promises made to the IOC in order to win the 2008 Olympics, very few drivers speak any English at all or recognise the English names for even the most famous destinations, restaurants, or hotels.
Don’t assume the driver has a clue where he’s going. Once all Běijīng cab drivers had to be born and bred in the city centre, but now people from outlying rural areas under Běijīng’s control may also drive cabs. In 2013 a notional examination of geographical knowledge was introduced immediately followed by claims that most drivers simply bribe they way around it. There’s certainly no London-style ‘knowledge’ test, so you may occasionally find yourself being driven by a yokel whose knowledge of the city centre is worse than your own.
Remember that navigation is principally by landmark, and if you’re not heading for one then make sure you know what the nearest is, and have the Chinese characters for that ready.
The number on the supervision card mounted on the cab’s dashboard will give you some clue as to the geographic canniness of the driver: the higher the number, the more recently he began driving, and the less he knows.
Drivers with numbers beginning 13 have usually been driving for a decade or more; 25 four years or less, but still enough to know most destinations; 06 drivers have been on the road for 18 years or more, but those were the bad old days before significant regulation of the taxi industry, and some retain the worst habits of that era, with circuitous routes and an antipathy to charging what’s on the meter.
Make sure you see the meter reset. If you didn’t actually see the flag pushed down, which shouldn’t happen until you actually move off, then you may end up paying for the time the cab was in the rank. This is popular at the airport and outside top-end hotels.
If you are by yourself, sit in the front seat. Have a map with you or a map programme on your phone, gps, or tablet device, and thus look as if you know where you are going (even if in fact you don’t).
Have small notes ready. Most trips come to under ¥20 and drivers do not like being handed ¥100 for a ¥13 trip.
Watch your change. If handing over ¥100 or ¥50 (not a good idea — see above) let the driver see you check the number on the bill before handing it over. Occasionally notes the driver rejects as fake and hands back are indeed fake, but are not the bills you gave in the first place.
Pay what’s on the meter (plus indicated legal surcharges, typically a flat fuel surcharge when price per litre exceeds a certain level, and any highway tolls), and don’t tip. Any driver hinting at such or being hesitant about the return of change (very rare) is simply exploiting the ignorance of the foreigner. There are no extra charges for luggage.
Always ask for a receipt. Saying anything resembling fāpiào (发票) will do, and context will overcome any mispronunciation. You may not need to bàoxiāo (报销, claim expenses), but should you happen to leave anything in the taxi, your chances of getting it back are surprisingly good if you have someone call the number on the receipt and provide the details given on it.
‘Black’ (unlicensed) cabs are on the increase as ever greater numbers of people reach income levels enabling them to afford cabs but the capital’s fleet stays fixed at around 67,500 (according to drivers), and as the expanding metro network and stratospheric accommodation prices lead ever more people to live further out, and still a long walk from a metro station.
If you use one of these you’ll risk invalidating any travel insurance you may have, should expect to be asked to pay woefully high prices, which you should firmly negotiate before getting in and not pay until reaching your final destination. Try to negotiate with drivers out of earshot of each other, but you are likely to discover that none will anyway let his neighbours see him undercut them.
There are also numbers of meter-less motorized three-wheelers, often very uncomfortable, and there are motorcyclists who will offer to take you pillion. None of these are legal or recommended.
Above all avoid the cycle rickshaws (三轮车, sānlúnchē) that cruise tourist-haunted areas. Your trip, brief and slow, will certainly end in tears, typically with demands to be paid ¥300 for what you thought a ¥3 trip, or demands that the ‘30’ quoted be paid in dollars not ¥RMB.
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