Taxi for 1 day in Beijing
Oct 16th, 2008, 06:53 PM
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Taxi for 1 day in Beijing
We are traveling to Beijing next month and need to hire a taxi for one of the days (10 hours) to go out to the Great Wall (Mutianyu and/or Badaling), Summer Palace, Sacred Way, Ming Tomb .... or at least as much as we can do in the 1 day.
What is the best way to line up a taxi and what is the usual fare?
What is the best way to line up a taxi and what is the usual fare?
Oct 16th, 2008, 11:03 PM
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That is rather a lot to do in one day, although if you go flat out for ten hours it could be done.
You would be best to omit the Ming Tombs (and the Sacred Way is the route leading to those) since if you're visiting the Forbidden City you may find the Ming Tombs a little disappointing in comparison, simply in terms of the scale of architecture and the contents. (If it's tombs you want, the Eastern and Western Qing Tombs are the way to go, but this are each more than 100km out of the city.)
It's fashionable now to deride Badaling, but it used to thrill everyone before other sections opened and it isn't difficult to get clear of the crowds. However, Mutianyu has fewer visitors (although still a lot) and is preferred by taxi drivers because the highway tolls and parking charges are both lower than at Badaling. Badaling is, however, closer to both the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs, if you still want to see them.
I suppose the main point here is that trips such as this are done off the meter. You can hire a cab for the day for as little as ¥350, but few foreign visitors actually achieve that, mostly because they've been told to expect much higher figures, and so they don't try hard enough.
Some real-world recently-paid price prices for day trips to points around Beijing:
Mutianyu Y250
Jinshanling (with pick-up at Simatai) Y400
Jiankou, Huanghua Cheng, Gubeikou (pick-up at Jinshanling--a very long day involving some doubling back--more than 12 hours away) Y600
Western Qing Tombs Y400 exc. tolls and parking; Y500 all-in
Cuan (aka Chuan) Dixia Y400
And here's how to do it:
Be clear about exactly what you want, and if you can't speak Mandarin get someone at your hotel's reception to write down for you in characters exactly what you require. Resist any attempt to offer you a hotel car, to offer you an uncle's car, or anything similar just get clearly written down;
Date of travel (next day or later)
Pick-up point
Pick-up time
Destinations in order
Time you want to be back at the hotel.
The day before you want to travel (or earlier) start flagging down taxis in the street away from your hotel. Give them the paper, and bargain for the price (pen and paper, pocket calculator, or mobile phone screen will do to talk numbers).
Expect to pay road tolls on top, if asked, but don't insist. Personally I usually buy the driver lunch somewhere en route, too. Not by any means required, but seems only civil. Do not tip: the price you agree is the price you pay, and that's it. Giving any more will usually only be met with puzzlement.
The arrangements each taxi driver has for driving are different. Some cars work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with two drivers sharing the driving. Most do not own their cabs but pay a rental to drive them, and pocket everything they can make. Some have other arrangements and give themselves time off. This means that the response to any suggestion of an out-of-town day trip will vary, and a flat 'no' or two doesn't mean that there's some structural problem with your proposition. It can mean that the cab company won't let the cab go that far out of town; that the driver is one of the new breed who has no idea where these places are and doesn't want to risk it; that the times you've chosen cross the hour at which the handover of the cab usually takes place (although usually your driver just gives his successor a cut of what you pay); or you've chosen a day when the driver actually plans to play with his child. Just stop a few and see how you do.
If you find a driver you take to, who strikes you as cheerful and trustworthy (as sometimes happens), then consider paying a little more if necessary. A day with a grumpy driver is never fun, and a day with a driver who right from the beginning is calculating every possible option to renegotiate for a higher price en route, is never fun.
What's likely to happen is that the driver will get on the phone to a trusted contact and try to get some idea just how many kilometres are involved. Then he'll suggest a very high price because after all, you're foreigners. Just smile and bargain pleasantly, and offer dramatically less.
If you make an agreement, leave him your paper as a reminder, and get his mobile phone number in case of a no show (although that's unheard of).
Consider that there are 67,500 or so cabs in Beijing, very many of them charging around doing nothing for much of the day, and bringing in ¥300-500 for the driver. A guaranteed sum, with no driving around empty, and a chance to get out of Beijing's dreadful traffic, is very attractive to many drivers not intimidated by their almost universal lack of geographical knowledge. Some you'll speak to will insist that the 'proper' price for a half-day trip to Badaling, or wherever, is ¥500, which is what many a daft expat will also tell you (only some will say ¥1000). Naturally, in a bargaining situation there by definition is no 'proper' price, and if the deal looks right to the driver, having done his best to get as high a figure as he can, he'll take it. See the quoted prices above for evidence, and in November (when I'll also be in Beijing, as it happens) there's almost zero tourism, more available cabs, and things are in your favour. And of course if you're taking taxis around town, find yourself in a vehicle you like and with a driver who seems both sane and pleasant, you should always have your bit of paper ready. Get it written out on day 1.
Do wrap up well, by the way. Out on the Wall its several degrees C lower than it is down town.
Hope this helps.
Peter N-H
You would be best to omit the Ming Tombs (and the Sacred Way is the route leading to those) since if you're visiting the Forbidden City you may find the Ming Tombs a little disappointing in comparison, simply in terms of the scale of architecture and the contents. (If it's tombs you want, the Eastern and Western Qing Tombs are the way to go, but this are each more than 100km out of the city.)
It's fashionable now to deride Badaling, but it used to thrill everyone before other sections opened and it isn't difficult to get clear of the crowds. However, Mutianyu has fewer visitors (although still a lot) and is preferred by taxi drivers because the highway tolls and parking charges are both lower than at Badaling. Badaling is, however, closer to both the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs, if you still want to see them.
I suppose the main point here is that trips such as this are done off the meter. You can hire a cab for the day for as little as ¥350, but few foreign visitors actually achieve that, mostly because they've been told to expect much higher figures, and so they don't try hard enough.
Some real-world recently-paid price prices for day trips to points around Beijing:
Mutianyu Y250
Jinshanling (with pick-up at Simatai) Y400
Jiankou, Huanghua Cheng, Gubeikou (pick-up at Jinshanling--a very long day involving some doubling back--more than 12 hours away) Y600
Western Qing Tombs Y400 exc. tolls and parking; Y500 all-in
Cuan (aka Chuan) Dixia Y400
And here's how to do it:
Be clear about exactly what you want, and if you can't speak Mandarin get someone at your hotel's reception to write down for you in characters exactly what you require. Resist any attempt to offer you a hotel car, to offer you an uncle's car, or anything similar just get clearly written down;
Date of travel (next day or later)
Pick-up point
Pick-up time
Destinations in order
Time you want to be back at the hotel.
The day before you want to travel (or earlier) start flagging down taxis in the street away from your hotel. Give them the paper, and bargain for the price (pen and paper, pocket calculator, or mobile phone screen will do to talk numbers).
Expect to pay road tolls on top, if asked, but don't insist. Personally I usually buy the driver lunch somewhere en route, too. Not by any means required, but seems only civil. Do not tip: the price you agree is the price you pay, and that's it. Giving any more will usually only be met with puzzlement.
The arrangements each taxi driver has for driving are different. Some cars work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with two drivers sharing the driving. Most do not own their cabs but pay a rental to drive them, and pocket everything they can make. Some have other arrangements and give themselves time off. This means that the response to any suggestion of an out-of-town day trip will vary, and a flat 'no' or two doesn't mean that there's some structural problem with your proposition. It can mean that the cab company won't let the cab go that far out of town; that the driver is one of the new breed who has no idea where these places are and doesn't want to risk it; that the times you've chosen cross the hour at which the handover of the cab usually takes place (although usually your driver just gives his successor a cut of what you pay); or you've chosen a day when the driver actually plans to play with his child. Just stop a few and see how you do.
If you find a driver you take to, who strikes you as cheerful and trustworthy (as sometimes happens), then consider paying a little more if necessary. A day with a grumpy driver is never fun, and a day with a driver who right from the beginning is calculating every possible option to renegotiate for a higher price en route, is never fun.
What's likely to happen is that the driver will get on the phone to a trusted contact and try to get some idea just how many kilometres are involved. Then he'll suggest a very high price because after all, you're foreigners. Just smile and bargain pleasantly, and offer dramatically less.
If you make an agreement, leave him your paper as a reminder, and get his mobile phone number in case of a no show (although that's unheard of).
Consider that there are 67,500 or so cabs in Beijing, very many of them charging around doing nothing for much of the day, and bringing in ¥300-500 for the driver. A guaranteed sum, with no driving around empty, and a chance to get out of Beijing's dreadful traffic, is very attractive to many drivers not intimidated by their almost universal lack of geographical knowledge. Some you'll speak to will insist that the 'proper' price for a half-day trip to Badaling, or wherever, is ¥500, which is what many a daft expat will also tell you (only some will say ¥1000). Naturally, in a bargaining situation there by definition is no 'proper' price, and if the deal looks right to the driver, having done his best to get as high a figure as he can, he'll take it. See the quoted prices above for evidence, and in November (when I'll also be in Beijing, as it happens) there's almost zero tourism, more available cabs, and things are in your favour. And of course if you're taking taxis around town, find yourself in a vehicle you like and with a driver who seems both sane and pleasant, you should always have your bit of paper ready. Get it written out on day 1.
Do wrap up well, by the way. Out on the Wall its several degrees C lower than it is down town.
Hope this helps.
Peter N-H
Oct 17th, 2008, 08:34 AM
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If by 'the statues' you mean what the OP is calling the 'Sacred Way', then yes, you pay an entrance fee at the big red gate (Da Hong Men, also sometimes called Da Gong Men--'big palace gate') at the southern end. The road parallels the original ceremonial way at some distance on the east side.
All of this can be done by public bus, by the way.
Peter N-H
All of this can be done by public bus, by the way.
Peter N-H
Oct 17th, 2008, 09:00 AM
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flycatcher -- By drive through, if you mean the sacred way, that's a no. As Peter said, the road for taxis and buses parallels the it. If you go to the Ming Tombs, you should walke the sacred way to see the statues.
Oct 17th, 2008, 10:23 AM
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PeterN_H: great information!
Assuming a 7:30am start (not sure if we should be heading out earlier than that to avoid traffic or enable us to see more), how would you order those destinations?
Assuming a 7:30am start (not sure if we should be heading out earlier than that to avoid traffic or enable us to see more), how would you order those destinations?
Oct 17th, 2008, 11:52 AM
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Mutianyu, Summer Palace.
Or
Ming Tombs, Badaling, Summer Palace.
But instead of Badaling, go to much less visited Juyong Guan, just south of Badaling on the same expressway.
Ming Tombs, Juyong Guan, Summer Palace, ought to make for a busy but satisfying day out.
Peter N-H
Or
Ming Tombs, Badaling, Summer Palace.
But instead of Badaling, go to much less visited Juyong Guan, just south of Badaling on the same expressway.
Ming Tombs, Juyong Guan, Summer Palace, ought to make for a busy but satisfying day out.
Peter N-H
Oct 17th, 2008, 12:29 PM
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What is the distance between Mutianyu and Badaling?
We were told that we should visit more than 1 section of the wall -- head up Mutianyu and just have a look at Badaling. In view of the fact that we want to see as much as we can in 1 day, I'm not sure if stopping off at Badaling for a photo is worth it!
We were told that we should visit more than 1 section of the wall -- head up Mutianyu and just have a look at Badaling. In view of the fact that we want to see as much as we can in 1 day, I'm not sure if stopping off at Badaling for a photo is worth it!
Oct 17th, 2008, 12:50 PM
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Stopping for a photo at Juyong Guan would be worth it as the Wall can be seen sweeping up hillsides to both sides, and there's hardly anyone there. But Badaling, I agree no.
As for locations and distances: Google Earth and Google Maps?
Peter N-H
As for locations and distances: Google Earth and Google Maps?
Peter N-H
