Taking a taxi in China could be both, fun and frustrating. My first taxi ride ever in this country took place in Guiyang a bit over two years ago. To my fortune, I wasn't alone and one of the other people spoke very little Chinese and roughly knew the way to the place we wanted to go. Since there are no taxi ranks in Guiyang and in many other cities and since you can't call a centre to order one, you can call a driver directly if you have his number, you have to go to a street or corner and hope to get one. Don't hope for an empty one, because they hardly are. Just waive and wait until they stop in front of you and tell them where you want to go. If you're lucky, the person or people already sitting in the taxi are going more or less the same way or direction, so the driver tells you to get in. The fare isn't split, each one pays the full fare for their ride.
So, plan ahead if you need a taxi and either don't live downtown or don't want to go to popular places. It's more time consuming if you are in a group and need a taxi for the three or four of you. You'll have to wait longer (or very long) until you find an empty cab. It took me more than half an hour to get a taxi to the airport. Luckily I had plenty of time.
Even hotels are often not able to call you a taxi and tell you to hail one on the street.
Finding the place you want to go is another hurdle to master. If it's not the airport or a train station, the driver will surely surprise you. Why and how? For a start, the drivers don't speak English of course - I happened to have only two drivers who understood and spoke little English. The next surprise is that many can't read. Of course they can't, you may probably think. How could they read if they don't speak. I'm not talking about English or any other foreign language, I am talking about Chinese. A former Canadian colleague of mine who has been in Guiyang for a while, produced some little paper cards with little phrases, names and addresses to show to people and drivers. The surprise is big when the drivers shrug with their shoulders because they can't read the Chinese writing. I tried to be more creative in my struggle to go places and started taking photographs of the places I have been and want to visit again. So instead of showing a paper card with Chinese on the one and English on the other side, I started showing photos of landmarks. And they never seize to surprise you... Why? Well, there's ONE rainbow bridge, ONE Grand Theatre, ONE shopping centre with the name Estee... and what do you get? Shrugs and funny looks. The other strange thing is, that they don't have sat navs in their cars, so I use my phone to show them the way. To my surprise I have never had any major problems going back home. They all seem to know the street Jinyang Bei Lu. Hand signs are another challenge, because they don't understand what we are trying to tell them. They often stop when you show them 'go straight' and don things you don't want them to do. Sign language is different in this country and I learnt the sign for 'go straight' by accident, because one driver used it and I copied it.
Finding house numbers is difficult too, because they either don't exist or are where they are not supposed to be or the entrance is somewhere around the corner, etc. Be in for many surprises.
Of course Guiyang isn't representative for the entire country, but I have had very similar experiences in Shanghai, too. The driver couldn't find the club we wanted to go, didn't know one of the towers in Pudong, etc. However, I had a very nice ride on one of my nights out. The driver had a screen in the centre console where a show from a club was broadcast. Ladies in sexy outfits dancing on a dance floor isn't something you expect to see in a taxi (photo and video underneath).
The inside of the taxi looks odd to us at first. The driver is in a cage for his protection.
So, plan ahead if you need a taxi and either don't live downtown or don't want to go to popular places. It's more time consuming if you are in a group and need a taxi for the three or four of you. You'll have to wait longer (or very long) until you find an empty cab. It took me more than half an hour to get a taxi to the airport. Luckily I had plenty of time.
Even hotels are often not able to call you a taxi and tell you to hail one on the street.
Finding the place you want to go is another hurdle to master. If it's not the airport or a train station, the driver will surely surprise you. Why and how? For a start, the drivers don't speak English of course - I happened to have only two drivers who understood and spoke little English. The next surprise is that many can't read. Of course they can't, you may probably think. How could they read if they don't speak. I'm not talking about English or any other foreign language, I am talking about Chinese. A former Canadian colleague of mine who has been in Guiyang for a while, produced some little paper cards with little phrases, names and addresses to show to people and drivers. The surprise is big when the drivers shrug with their shoulders because they can't read the Chinese writing. I tried to be more creative in my struggle to go places and started taking photographs of the places I have been and want to visit again. So instead of showing a paper card with Chinese on the one and English on the other side, I started showing photos of landmarks. And they never seize to surprise you... Why? Well, there's ONE rainbow bridge, ONE Grand Theatre, ONE shopping centre with the name Estee... and what do you get? Shrugs and funny looks. The other strange thing is, that they don't have sat navs in their cars, so I use my phone to show them the way. To my surprise I have never had any major problems going back home. They all seem to know the street Jinyang Bei Lu. Hand signs are another challenge, because they don't understand what we are trying to tell them. They often stop when you show them 'go straight' and don things you don't want them to do. Sign language is different in this country and I learnt the sign for 'go straight' by accident, because one driver used it and I copied it.
Finding house numbers is difficult too, because they either don't exist or are where they are not supposed to be or the entrance is somewhere around the corner, etc. Be in for many surprises.
Of course Guiyang isn't representative for the entire country, but I have had very similar experiences in Shanghai, too. The driver couldn't find the club we wanted to go, didn't know one of the towers in Pudong, etc. However, I had a very nice ride on one of my nights out. The driver had a screen in the centre console where a show from a club was broadcast. Ladies in sexy outfits dancing on a dance floor isn't something you expect to see in a taxi (photo and video underneath).
The inside of the taxi looks odd to us at first. The driver is in a cage for his protection.
Here it's plexiglas instead of metal bars.
Live show in a Shanghai taxi.
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