Watch Out Bad Taxi Drivers in Beijing

No only Shanghai has bad taxi drivers. My friends arrived in Beijing airport yesterday and took taxi to San Yuan Qiao. I know the destination is near and does not worth the long time waiting for the taxi driver (see more explaination in this entry), but the taxi driver cheated them by going to the farther way.

The trip should cost 50 RMB at most, but the taxi driver asked for more than 100 RMB accordign to the meter.

10 thoughts on “Watch Out Bad Taxi Drivers in Beijing

  1. The title of this might hurt Beijing people ( I am not Beijingness). It is like the feeling when you hear “Bad Taxi Drivers in China”. Of course I noticed you wrote about Shanghai driver too.

    My view is that it is a common sense that people are good and bad every where. You might got cheated when you take a taxi in a foreign city. Ask for an estimation before you go, if you are over charged, (Provided it is safe) you argue with the driver when you arrive the place, or tell him that you complain to the company. If it is not safe( in the night, nobody around), you better pay the money and go.

    Anyway, safety is the main thing when you travel.

  2. Ellen, you know I didn’t mean anything bad to people in Beijing. There is no imply of the percentage of bad taxi drivers are higher than anywhere in the world. It is just a personal experience that the taxi driver took the wrong way when they are less lucky to pick up the smaller business (nearer destination). :-)

  3. Hey Jianshou, do you tip taxi drivers or hotel staff (i.e. your cleaning lady) I was just curious what is the common practise, and if people expect to be tipped.

  4. Love your blog. I’m moving from New Zealand to Beijing in January, and love the photos lots.

    In Christchurch (where I’ve been living), taxi drivers will sometimes rip off foreigners too, it happens everywhere in the world.

    Awareness is the best asset.

    Thanks for the read, it’s been very enjoyable.

  5. I think it’s probably related to the huge population China has.

    Say if the average ratio between good people and bad people is 100 to 1. Then in a small country like new zealand we’d probably meet 1 bad persons a day, and in China we might meet 10 bad persons a day. (just my point of view)

  6. I believe taxi drivers in Shanghai are very frightened of being reported for ripping off customers. For example the other day a taxi driver accidentally went the wrong way. The meter said 20RMB and he said he would charge 15RMB. I knew that the trip normally costs 17RMB, so I gave him that.

    The number for reporting problems with taxis in Shanghai is 63083200 (open during office hours).

  7. I’ve personally had many experiences with bad taxi trips, and what I do is i take a picture of the drivers ID card in front of the passenger seat and say that I’m going to complain, and typically they give you a lower price, and do the correct thing.

  8. I graduated from Beijing University in early 1980s. I don’t know what’s been happening there as far as people’s honesty is concerned. From my experience with Beijingers here in U.S. and in Beijing, I found it is fair to say that in today’s Beijing, there are more cheaters, dishonest people than any other places in China.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *