Late Night Arrival in Shanghai
 

I am arriving after 9:30 pm in late October into Shanghai airport. I have heard of certain types/colors of cabs that should not be taken. Could anyone recommend the safest and most cost effective method of transport to my hostel? Public transportation (train) is not an option at that hour on my first night, after a 12 hour flight. Thanks for all your suggestions.

I usually use a driver from my work but I recall an official rank just outside the departure area. Its perfectly fine and you will see everyone in the queue for a taxi. Its pretty modern and well organised at the airport so I would not worry. I feel pretty safe in China compared to some other places.

Siobhan, thanks for your response. So taxi "color" has nothing to do with anything?

Hi lollylo25 - we just went through the line at the Shanghai airport. It was very organized with a dispatcher pointing out the taxi we should take. It might be a trick for you to say no I want that one.

I had read some comments here as well about the colour of taxis. One said stay away from the burgundy taxis and take turquoise taxis (going from memory here). In fact I brought a copy of the thread with us to Shanghai. We always needed two taxis as there were six of us.

Well the first time we took two taxis, one was burgundy and one was turquoise. The fare for the burgundy taxi was 35 rmb and for the turquoise taxi it was 49 rmb - exactly the same start and end points. I am not saying the advice was wrong - it just wasn't right in our case.

Somewhere on this board there was discussion of Shanghai taxi colors, since I speak mandarin and shanghainese, I didn't pay much attention to it.

SiobhanP is correct, the official taxi stand is staffed, rogue drivers usually stay away from it. Just don't deal with the touts. Do you have the chinese translation of your lodging?

Basic rules:

Do NOT go with anyone who approaches you in the arrivals hall. Go straight to the clearly marked taxi rank outside.

For much of the day there's a marshall there who will ask you where you want to go, and then tell the taxi driver. But regardless of that, take the front cab, and have the characters for your hotel printed out (from its website). If the site has a mini-map with Chinese charactes (in its Chinese-language version) it doesn't do any harm to have that, too, although drivers are notoriously poor with maps.

The meter should be started just *after* you pull away. Insist it is.

All the properly licensed cabs are in livery and clearly marked as such. Colour otherwise makes no difference.

Peter N-H

Thanks all. Very helpful.
The hostel is right near the Marriot, & I got directions in Chinese.

Pete is right do not take an offer of a taxi inside arrivals but that is true for anywhere. Not sure i ever heqard about Colours...will ask my friend there. You will know its the official rank as someone wiill be supervising and miving people in the queue to the taxis and don't take a rougue one from the back like peter said. I still fell vefe and less hassled in China so don't worry...the hassle comes when shopping and haggling! :-)

Taxis from the queue should be fine. Just follow the signs. I can't recall a time when the queue was unmanned, but perhaps it happens. As PPs mentioned, you need to stay away from the touts. Often they wear suits and call themselves "airport information". You know you're being taken if you are guided across the street to the parking garage where you'll pay their parking fee and may even share a ride with someone else and still pay double what it should cost. I've seen it happen -- well, actually in that instance my driver stopped it from happening this March. And it happened to a well-traveled colleague. Never try to negotiate the fare because you'll always lose as they know the distance/cost and you don't.

The color of the taxi reflects the company they work for. There are large companies who IMO have more experienced drivers (lower license numbers received their licenses first, obviously) and do a better job enforcing their rules and there are smaller companies/consortiums. For example, I've seen airport touts send people to burgundy taxis in the parking garage but have never to a turquoise/cyan one. Ever try to complain about a driver? With larger companies there may even be recourse. What color are the taxi's with the "broken meters" looking for tourists outside Hooters at SuperBrand mall? Burgundy and dark blue. I even stood by Mr Tout and routed unsuspecting tourists away from these taxis with "broken meters." ShanghaiExpat website had a story maybe a year back about a dark blue cab who saw a fake dark blue cab running around with his license plate number. Of course a chase ensued as the fake cab was running up parking tickets for the real one.

I speak mandarin well enough to get where I'm going and I know many ways around the city from my 4 years living in Shanghai so I'll take whatever cab is nearest and I'm not opposed to giving the cabbie what the fare should have been even if he protests. But I'd caution a tourist to stick with the reputable taxi companies - just in case.

Keep your receipts. If there's a difference in fare or whatever that will allow you to figure out how it happened and to contact the taxi company, if required. It's helped a colleague get his mobile phone back too. Be sure you get a whole receipt as non-reputable ones will tear their particulars off so you can't find them. (Happened to me in Beijing, I'm embarassed to say.) The hotel bell-person can be helpful resolving disputes upon arrival to ur hotel as well. Oh, and taking a photo of a driver's license can move things in your favor if they are trying to scam.

Here's a recent article
published on ShanghaiDaily. com (http://www.shanghai daily.com/)
http://www.shanghai daily.com/ article/? id=373416& type=Feature

Shanghai cabbies really do play by the rules

Created: 2008-9-12
Author:Tan Xian and Kartz Qian

WHEN you need one, or it's raining, they are hard to find but Shanghai
has lots of taxis. And in spite of feelings to the contrary, they are
obliged to operate within a certain set of rules, write Tan Xian and
Kartz Qian.

Despite complaints that there are never enough taxis, Shanghai has
thousands of cabs and strict government rules and regulations
overseeing how they operate.

Shanghai now has dozens of taxi companies, differentiated by different colors. Mostly, the bigger ones have more veteran divers with about 25 percent able to speak simple English.

"As a girl, I loved the big companies,'' says Nova Wang, from Hong Kong, who has lived in Shanghai for 10 years. "The divers are more experienced, know their way around and negotiate busy traffic better. I also prefer the cabbies with stars."

Taxi drivers in Shanghai have to undertake strict exams and assessments to obtain heir "stars'' which are issued by Shanghai Taxi Administration.

The cabbies are evaluated on aspects such as language, service and the condition of the car. The number of stars they have is shown below the rearview mirror.

The highest ranking is five stars, representing the taxi to service in
Shanghai. Five-star cabbies are rare in the city.

"I used to prefer the big companies, but now I prefer the smaller firms as many of them don't mind if you smoke,'' says Ben Denton, an Englishman who has lived in Shanghai for seven years.

"Some of the taxis have great 'Chinglish' rules behind the driver's seat,'' says English teacher Oliver Knapman, from the UK. "It's a good idea to keep the receipt in case you forget something.''

It's important to understand a few facts about cabbies in Shanghai.
For example, according to regulations, taxi divers should follow the route a passenger requests, if they do so.

Some cabbies still try a few tricks and they will often suggest
several different routes.

"In this case, I will let the cabby choose the fastest route,'' says
Wang. "Sometimes cabbies will ask the passenger to suggest the route
first to avoid trouble.

"Big companies have a complaints center that can measure the route by
computer. If the cabbies route is not the proper one, the company will
give back three times the amount of money you paid,'' she adds.

Important things to know before you take a ride

1. Taxis should have a logo light on the top of the car. Around the
driver's seat is a transparent shield to protect the driver. A meter and an illuminated vacancy disk on the dashboard are also necessities for a cab. Without all these things, the taxi is probably unlicensed. You have no rights if injured in an unlicensed taxi.

2. Remember to take the receipt. If you leave something in the car the
receipt will help.

3. Take down the diver's working number if you want to complain.

4. Cab drivers are not allowed to take a route without the permission
of their passengers.

5. You can find the claim hotline of the taxi company at the back of
the diver's seat, or just call 962000.

6. Every cab should accept a transport card. If the driver refuses, the passenger has the right to take a free ride instead.

7. There is a special kind of cab in bottle-green. These cabs are not
allowed to go into the outer ring of the city.

8. Taxis of big companies ban smoking inside the car. Pooling in the city is also banned.

9. Don't try to hail a cab at a crossroads, as taxi drivers cannot
stop their cars within 30 meters of an intersection.

10.You may find cabs scarce in rush hours and on rainy days. Your best
bet is probably to head for places taxis haunt, such as restaurants.
Taxi facts

Taxi hotline: 96965
(English available)

Major taxi companies

Dazhong
Color scheme: Cyan
Call center: 96822
Simple English can be handled
Reservation surcharge: 4 yuan

Qiangsheng
Color scheme: Yellow
Call center: 6258-0000
No English service

Jinjiang
Color scheme: White
Call center: 96961
Simple English can be handled

Bashi
Color scheme: Green
Call center: 96840

Simple English can be handled

All other taxi operators are either small companies or private
drivers. Two rings have been established to better administer these operators and to standardize services:

Blue Union: A ring of 18 medium-sized taxi companies.

Color scheme: Dark blue

Premium Cab: A ring of small taxi companies and private drivers who
are required to pass a series of strict exams.

Color scheme: Red

Fares for daytime

(5am-11pm):
11 yuan (0-3km)
2.1 yuan a km (3-10km)
3 yuan a km (more than 10km)

Waiting 5 minutes equals traveling 1 kilometer

Fares for night operation (11pm-5am)
14 yuan (0-3km)
2.7 yuan (3-10km)
4 yuan a km (more than 10km)

Waiting 5 minutes equals traveling 1 kilometer

Nagiffag
You are the best! This is more than I ever could imagine finding out. Thanks a million!