Mui

We will travel to Shanghai in April 2007. We are worried if taxi service is good in Shanghai since we will need taxi from Pudong airport to old JingJiang Hotel. Three years ago we had a very bad taxi experience in Guangzhou. Any advice? Thanks a lot.

agedpink

Hi we've just got back from Shanghai and we used taxis a lot and had no problems at all, they are very cheap! We did carry a card from our hotel on which was written 'please take me to -------- Hotel

nagiffag

You shouldn't have taxi problems within the city because most drivers will automatically turn on their meters. From airport to hotel though make sure you take a taxi from the taxi queue (out the exit to the right) and not from the fake "airport information" people who will ask in english if you need a taxi and guide you to the parking lot. Taxis from the queue will use a meter and it should cost less than 200RMB to get to JinJiang on Maoming Lu, as I assume that's where you're going. Write down the name, address and phone number because I think there are a few hotels with similar names. Sometimes hotel websites will have their Chinese info so you can print and use for trip from airport. Drivers will call if they aren't sure where to go. When we first moved here we stayed at the XingGuo and were taken to the JiangGuo...so much for our pronunciation!

Most recommend tourists stay away from the burgundy-color taxis because they're run by independent drivers. Sometimes they pretend their meters are broken and negotiate high rates from tourists. Navy ones too. Turquoise are best...clean and drivers tend to know how to get places. White, green, yellow are ok too. I think taxi problems are relatively rare in Shanghai with exception of the airport.

Johnmango

I found this very useful info on TAXIs on the web:

Real taxis have a logo light on the top of the car. Around the driver's seat is a transparent shield protect the driver from robbery. A meter & illuminated vacancy disk on the dashboard are required for a cab. The vacancy disk will help you know which cab is available. When the disk is upright and illuminated showing two Chinese characters -- ¿Õ³µ -- it means the cab is vacant.

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

In Shanghai, pooling a cab with strangers is banned.
Besides flagging down a cab on the street, you can also book a car by phone. There is no service fee for phone bookings except Dazhong company, which charges 4 yuan for each telephone or online reservation. The taxi hotline is, 96965 and English is available.
You can also send a short message of your detailed location to the call center's short message service (SMS) platform to ask for a taxi. The center will notify you in about 10 minutes whether a cab is available. China Mobile subscribers should send messages to 555596965, and China Unicom users to 2196965.
But the SMS platform is not available yet in English.
In addition to the 96965 hotline, the four biggest taxi operators in Shanghai have their own call centers, but no SMS service.

Cabbies in Shanghai are also not allowed to take a tip. Most of them are amicable, but their English is limited. So it's best to get someone to write down your destination in Chinese.

Remember to take the receipt Fa Piao. The slip will contain information on the taxi, including its plate number and the taxi company. In case you leave something in the car, the receipt will give you clues to find it.

nagiffag

That's a good point about getting a fapiao (receipt). My colleague left his mobile phone in a taxi, called the taxi, the driver came and dropped off the phone to him - and didn't charge him any special fare for the service. (Of course my colleague offered him a reward, but I don't recall if driver accepted.) How great is that?