I would like to go Beijing and Shanghai for my upcoming holidays and there I have a very specific question regarding communication especially in transport.
Hello everyone,
I would like to go Beijing and Shanghai for my upcoming holidays and there I have a very specific question regarding communication especially in transport. One of my friend told me that he had quite a hard time when he was in Beijing to communicate with taxi drivers.
My friend introduced me two websites: Guanxi and Geogini which provide you location information in Chinese and English via SMS/internet or something like that
Anyone has ever tried those services? Do they work on foreigners mobile? I went on their websites but it’s not very clear and I would prefer some feedback to know if it’s really useful or just a crappy mobile/internet tool.
I know it’s somehow a small detail and perhaps I shouldn’t bother with that but I had my amount of troublesome taxi misunderstandings when I was in Vietnam
Thank You for your answer
Cheers,
Emilie
Reply to this Hello Emilie 😊
When I was in Shanghai, I found taxi drivers a real pain in the a$$. They seem to be totally dishonest. The way I managed to get a better and more honest service was to have a coffee in an expensive hotel, and then take one of the taxis that are parked just outside it. This works expecially well if the hotel is of the type where the door man opens the taxi door for you. I think the taxi drivers dont dare irritate the customers of those hotels.
I never met a taxi driver who spoke English in Shanghai, but just have somebody write down where you want to go, and they will take you there, no problem.
Mel
Reply to this Hi,
Guanxi is for sure going to work very well in Shanghai. You can trust that one, I've lived 5 years in Shanghai, don't speak much chinese...but it worth to be able to say left and right in chinese.
You will not find taxi drivers who speak english, maybe 2% of them do...and that's a max. So have the place you want to go written in english for you ahead of time.
Sorry for your experience Mel, but for me you will find 90% of the taxi in Shanghai are honest. The main problem for them is to understand where they should go. They do not work by numbers on road, but by intersections between 2 roads. And some time just trying to prononce these...if you are new...or not new in the city ...is a challenge.
So use Guanxi, use hotels who can give the direction to the driver. You do not have to drink a coffee, or stay at the hotel for the driver to give the direction.
We could do a chart of the worst and most dishonnest drivers in Asia...
Hong Kong and Singapore are ahead...easy as they speak english proper english...
In the category "we want to cheat you"...vietnamese taxis are way ahead of the crowd for me.
Peter
Reply to this Sorry for your experience Mel, but for me you will find 90%!o(MISSING)f the taxi in Shanghai are honest. The main problem for them is to understand where they should go. They do not work by numbers on road, but by intersections between 2 roads. And some time just trying to prononce these...if you are new...or not new in the city ...is a challenge.
I will take your word for it, that things have changed since I was there 10 years ago. 90%!h(MISSING)onesty would be a definate improvement. I look forward to enjoying those improvements when I next get around to visiting China.
Reply to this Bringing a dual language map into the cab works reasonably well, although not always. Having a written note is good too, you can also try refering to well known landmarks nearby and then try to take it from there. Getting into a cab unprepared though, and trying to explain in English where you want to go is a guaranteed failure. 😊
I never had problems with dishonest drivers in China, except at airports where no-meter-fix-price-scams seem to be the norm, especially in Beijing. Capital Airport drivers often refuse short distance journeys as well. Take the train to dongzhimen or a bus instead and then hail a cab downtown.
P.S. In the category
we want to cheat you, I nominate Bangkok drivers. Never pick up a taxi waiting outside a hotel, those drivers regularily try to scam you without using the meter, always hail them in the street. You'll often find though, that with so many customers to choose from, they won't always agree to take you where you want to go if they don't consider it profitable.
Reply to this ...where no-meter-fix-price-scams seem to be the norm,
Not to mention the hiding the meter from view, so you dont know if it started at 0 or if it suddenly took a big step up in the middle of the journey...., but with the end result being a huge fare to pay.
Reply to this Johan,
Agree with you for Bangkok. I've got a simple rule...a "stopped" taxi is a cheater. So never take a taxi which is just waiting, and hail one on the road.
The two biggest fists I had in shanghai where out of the airport...but you know what...a cheater can be...taken care of...and at the end of the day, the taxi driver got a serious lesson...and a lot less money than he expected!
Peter
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