Taxi trouble in Beijing or HK

Old Oct 20th, 2013, 04:19 PM
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Taxi trouble in Beijing or HK

I was recently told by a couple of friends that they had horrible taxi experiences when traveling to China.


How would I avoid those taxis?


Is there a rule of thumb to go with certain taxi companies? Especially English speaking ones?
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 04:52 PM
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I've never been to Beijing so someone else will speak to that. I have been to HKG a number of times and I don't recall ever being in a taxi except to the airport in one the hotel put me in. I stay in proximity to the Star Ferry to get from Kowloon to HKG Island or vise versa and then walk. Or take the escalators up the mountain. Or take a streetcar or bus. You may find, as I have, that you don't need taxis at all.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 04:57 PM
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What kind of horrible experience? In Beijing none of the taxi drivers speak english (same as where you live where probably none of the taxi drivers speak mandarin), quite normal as you are in China.
One should only take legal taxis which are easy to spot given their colors, and the license plates start with the letter B. They all use meters, if not, get off and take another one.
You need to have your destination written in Chinese, usually the hotel does this for you or use your guide book.
The challenge in Beijing is getting a taxi, especially at certain hours. But the subway takes you everywhere.
In HK, on my numerous trips there, I have only taken taxis a few times. It was pretty smooth. I much prefer the subway in HK.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 05:31 PM
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I have used taxis a few times in both places with no trouble other than the language barrier, which as was said above, is easily remedied by having your destination written down.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 06:47 PM
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Vast majority of taxi drivers are honest in Hong Kong, and the meter is always run and all accurate. Having said that, it's not unheard of when one or two will try to take advantage of visitors - but often those incidents happen late at night, with cabbies taking drunk or half-conscious visitors from bars in Wan Chai, for example.

All taxis in Hong Kong has a yellow fare chart with licence number on, and driver has a govn't issued permit with his name and picture displayed on the dash board. Everybody has a cellphone in HK and if there's any trouble, just call the police. Therefore, it's safe and not an issue at all.

Taxi line attendants at airport and major hotels will give you a card with the taxi licence written on it. If you worry, you should also just not it down as well when taking cabs elsewhere.

The main "risk" associated with taking cabs in HK is leaving things behind. Anything you leave, including cellphones, are considered a "tip". Don't expect seeing them again, ever. So, make sure you take everything.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 07:41 PM
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In Beijing, always flag down a passing taxi (京B plate, in livery) and better than nine times in ten you'll have no problems whatsoever, other than that the traffic spends most of the day entirely coagulated and you'll get around many times as fast by using the metro (subway).

Avoid 'black' (unofficial) cabs at all costs, beginning with the people who approach you at the airport in the arrivals hall. Instead follow signs to the rank, and take a cab from there. Have you destination prepared in characters (e.g. by printing it out from the hotel's web page), show it to the marshal and to the driver. Make sure the meter is at zero, and that it is started just after you pull away. Pay what is on the meter, plus the Airport Expressway toll (for which you'll be given the receipt), plus a fuel surcharge of between ¥1 and ¥3 depending on current fuel prices, for which you will also be given a receipt. Ask also for the receipt the meter prints. Just say, 'fa piao'. There's no tipping. Should you leave anything in the taxi your chances of getting it back are quite good, so long as you have this receipt.

The journey from the airport has a slightly increased chance of shenanigans, but in general if you otherwise flag down a passing cab your chances of difficulties are slim. Avoid in general: taking any taxi waiting at the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, 'Pearl' Market or 'Silk' Market (to neither of which you should be going anyway), at the west end of Dazhalan Jie; drivers who call out to you; drivers who appear to have obscured their meters in some way; drivers who want to know where you're going before you get in; drivers who do not have their supervision cards (with their photo) clearly displayed on the dashboard. All of these are signs of an increased likelihood of problems, so just flag down another passing car. There are also shenanigans at a few of Beijing's most reputable hotels, with a separate line of cars which are called over for out-of-towners and foreigners in particular, which turn out to have very fast meters (the hotel staff get a bribe from the driver). So again, unless you can see it's a regular cab that has just pulled up, and especially if it's a larger than expected black-coloured vehicle called a Red Flag (Hong Qi), then again, just flag down a passing cab instead.

All of which makes it sound difficult and risky. It isn't; it's mostly no problem at all, so long as you have your destination written down in characters. But these few precautions will make it almost entirely risk-free.

As for Hong Kong, you need have few fears. And if you do leave something in a cab while in Beijing you get someone to call the number on your receipt, in Hong Kong you go to the police who put out a call, and who will give you the number of a private company that will broadcast a message to all radio cabs for a fee. And you may, as I have, get back what you forgot--a bag containing an assortment of electronics.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 08:47 PM
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thank you so much!!! This is extremely helpful!
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 09:26 PM
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You've gotten some great advice.

I still can't understand why you have apparently refused to get yourself a guidebook that would have given answers to all these questions and more, and probably would have saved you FAR more than even two or three of them would have cost.
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Old Oct 20th, 2013, 10:18 PM
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I can't speak to China, but Hong Kong taxis are generally efficient and easy to use. You have to be aware of a few rules:

In crowded areas taxis can only stop to pick up and let out at designated spots. There is usually an orderly queue.

Drivers like to stay on one side of the harbour. If you want to go from Kowloon to Hong Kong island and vice versa you may have to ask a few times before you get someone to agree. [If you see someone standing on the curb making a swooping gesture, it's a signal to the driver that he wants to go under the harbour.] The toll will be added to your fare.

If the taxi is "off duty" or on "radio call" it won't pick you up.
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Old Oct 21st, 2013, 10:54 AM
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In Beijing, avoid taking a taxi from Dongzhimen station during rush hour. They were trying to charge me $30 USD for a short ride to Tiananmen Square, where the cost should be less than $5 USD. Take the subway instead.

Definitely try to catch a taxi from the airport to your hotel and avoid the Airport Express train in Beijing. It's not like the one in HK, after having taking the one in HK a week before. I made the mistake of taking it and getting off on Dongzhimen station with my luggage, and no taxis available. Luckily 2 extremely nice Swedish twenty-somethings who were familiar with Beijing helped me navigate the subway station and carry my luggage up and down the stairs of the subways. It was such a nightmare experience.

In other areas, I didn't have problems. Make gesture to ask them to run the meter, and show the address in written Chinese. For out of the way places, show some bigger landmark, as I noticed a lot of taxi drivers were not too familiar with Beijing, probably newbies from the countryside.
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Old Oct 21st, 2013, 05:33 PM
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taxi traffic is very bad in beijing, you better take the subway
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Old Oct 21st, 2013, 06:57 PM
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The only requirement to be earn a living by driving in China is to get the vehicle moving and don't hit anything. They don't have the vocabulary "professionalism". So make sure you know where you're going and have name and address written out in simplified Chinese.

If you're lucky you may find a driver with a cheapo GPS with out-of-date pirated database.
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Old Oct 21st, 2013, 08:03 PM
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The biggest problem we encountered in china was finding an available taxi. We were bewildered by all the cabs that passed us and other customers seeking a ride. With perseverance though, you can eventually find a taxi. Be sure to have your hotel write out where you want to go and have a hotel card for the return to the hotel. Taxis are cheap. Just insist on using the meter before the start if the journey.

I agree though that the subways are the way to go in most cases. Don't be afraid to use them. They are clean, efficient and easy to use. There were good escalators and elevators everywhere. In most cases the subways are faster sue to the heavily congested roads.
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Old Oct 27th, 2013, 08:47 AM
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"...The only requirement to be earn a living by driving in China is to get the vehicle moving and don't hit anything. ..." Come on. Stop making stuff up.
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Old Oct 27th, 2013, 08:55 AM
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"Stop making stuff up."

You mean the part about not hitting anything? True, made up. Pedestrians may be hit.
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Old Oct 27th, 2013, 02:19 PM
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Beijing and Hong Kong are completely different, with respect to taxis. That said, I've never had a problem in either place. Do carry your hotel card with the address written in Chinese.
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Old Nov 11th, 2013, 07:39 PM
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We just returned from China on 10/30. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. We had the name written in Chinese characters and the taxi driver still had a difficult time finding our Marriott City Wall hotel which is huge and on a main road. In reading other posts, I would have been scared, but he really didn't know where it was. After asking 3 people, he and my husband finally got out at one hotel that he insisted was ours and the clerk at the hotel told he how to get to ours.
We also took a taxi to a brew pub and had to trouble getting there, however, when we tried to get a taxi back, they really didn't want to take us and had to try 3 times to finally get a taxi to take us back even though we had the name in written in Chinese characters.
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Old Nov 12th, 2013, 01:55 PM
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Most taxi drivers probably came from somewhere else and are not that familiar with places in Beijing. Don't just show them the name of the hotel, as most probably don't know where things are, show them the address (the street name) as well and any landmarks nearby, like Tianman Square. Most can't even read maps. My DH tried to show them a place on google maps in Chinese on his smartphone, and they didn't know how to make sense of it.

Best if the hotel business card shows street as well as intersection, or have your concierge draw one w Chinese characters.
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Old Nov 12th, 2013, 08:07 PM
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Been to HK so many times but only rode a few times in a taxi as you can get around pretty anywhere through MTR (trains) or buses. But those few times, I feel always safe. You just need to act you know where you are going and be confident so they don't screw you.
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