Taken for a ride

Taking a taxi in China is challenging. Despite a handwritten note in Chinese or a business card with a map, the chances to end up at your desired destination are around 50%. Interestingly enough, many of the - generally senior - cabdrivers are near to blind. Not only is that unhelpful when you hand over your handwritten note, it is quite dangerous as well. If they have proper eyesight, they often cannot read. Pretending to read your map, they are looking for pictures of landmarks close to the street you are pointing at. Also, chances are likely that your map will be the first map the cabdriver has ever seen in his life. The various responses include frowning, laughter, curiosity, shouting, or some muttering in Chinese. Rule of thumb: find another cab if cabdriver is still unsure or in doubt after 2 mins. You'll never make it!

When lucky, the cabdriver nodds affirmatively when hearing your bastarized version of the street name and gives you a broad smile. He knows where it is, yeah! So far encountered three possible outcomes:

1. You end up at the right location and do not have the feeling you have been taken for a ride.

2. You end up at the right location, but you can tell from your map reading skills that the driver has made a detour and end up paying too much. This rarely happens btw.

3. After a few minutes in the car, at the point where you start digging in your bag for a city map cause your sense of direction tells you the car is heading in the wrong direction, the cabdriver starts murmuring and slows down... When you ask: you know where it is, right? He stops the car and starts asking questions in Chinese. Your "I do not understand" does not stop him from repeating the question many many times. At the point you decide to step out of the car and walk, he starts driving again with his head stuck out of the window asking random people for directions. Sometimes this works, often you simply have to stop the car and get out (they understand they don't get paid).

One time, the cab driver stopped in the middle of a busy street, no buildings around and refused to drive any further cause in his opinion we arrived at the correct address...a hotel.




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Location:Al around China