Beijing - is it true?

Reading some forums about Beijing it seems as though many people have complaints about being ripped off by taxis.


Literally taken for a ride....


And complaints of being given counterfeit money as change?


There is no smoke without fire I am sure, however can anyone give tips or tricks for one time visitors to the city?


We are doing our best to learn some basic Chinese to help us out but would appreciate any advice from "locals".


Thanks

Be a peking man, i am sorry to hear that ,be a guide,i have not experienced that,but i could give you some suggestions ,when you get the taxi from the hotel ,the waiter will give you a card with the info about the driver and the car , so you do not need worry about that issue,if you want to get a taxi on the street ,just remember the number of the driver license,just in front,if that unhappy things happened,you could do sth about it

avoid the street sellers,they have the fake money,if you really want to buy some little things ,you should change some small face money first


except that i want to give you some advices about the trip

first , you should take the soft shoes with you ,because maybe you could feel the great wall through climbing it

second, bring the sun cream for the ladies and umbrella with you

third, not to drink the tap water, it is not clean ,buy the bottle of water to drink



ok wish you have a good trip in china in beijing haha

chinabeijing, thank you for your kind advice we will be sure to take heed. We are very excited about visiting such a fabulous city.

I'm not local but had made a couple of trips to Beijing . I cannot communicate in Mandarin, though I know some basic words which actually doesnt help much!


Some tips that I can share :

- Pick up a map(English & Mandarin version if possible) at the airport/hotel or worst case, you can buy one for RMB6-8.

- Circle the places that you will be going to, identify by # and get Hotel Conceige to write it down in Mandarin & label corresponding to the map.

Identify nearby hotels to the tourist locations, so that you can get taxi/help easily

- I use it together with the map, so that the driver knows that I know my location and will not attempt to rip me off. You can always gauge from the map how far to the next location.

- Once you step in the taxi, make sure that driver uses the meter. If not, then point to him the meter and he will understand. Collect the receipt before stepping out of the taxi as all information can be traced thru it if you need to file a complaint.

- Each family member to keep a hotel card ( this is impt as pronunciation of hotel is different in Mandarin and you want to be able to go back to hotel).

- Take only licenced taxi driver, meaning that the " taxi sign" is fixed on top of taxi and not something that is placed on dashboard.

- Ask help from the police & army personnel (plenty walking & monitoring the city) for directions etc. They are very helpful, especially to tourists.

- If beyond the 4th ring, ask conceige to check whether taxi driver knows the way, as many of them have no opportunity to go beyond the inner city.


I had experienced once, getting a counterfeit from a small shop vendor, so as advised above, keep small change. Best to exchange at the China Bank, to avoid getting the counterfeit RMB100 notes.


Many tourist spots are within walking distance and with the cold weather, it is quite relaxing to walk.


It's a good time to visit and enjoy your experience!

We got an early morning taxi from our hotel to the airport and thought it would be OK as the hotel rang it for us and it was waiting when we came down. Unfortunately the taxi driver pretended to have the meter on and had a fake receipt sticking out the bottom. He tried to charge us twice what the price should of been so we refused to pay and said we would get the police to sort it out. He then agreed the proper price and we left. It was the only problem we had and as we where aware of the taxi problem we where always careful to ensure meters where on etc. It can be very difficult making yourself understood so use the great tips given above. Before you leave for Beijing ask your hotel to email you the full name and address of where you are staying and print it off, we couldn't make our self understood and had to phone the hotel and ask them to give directions.

Haven't read any of the above so apologies in advance if I'm repeating what others said. Credentials - lived in Beijing for 3 years before returning to SG in Feb, currently in Beijing on biz trip. I got around Beijing (and still do) using taxis often at times mashed (the dawn magic carpet) and was never ripped off. I don't speak Mandarin but can give very basic instructions. Best to know where you are going first, so grab a card from the hotel (so u can get back), ThatsBj or Time Out or any of the local mags to show the driver, pick up cards (most outlets have them) and get a local SIM card when u arrive. The magazine, cards etc you can show to the driver, if that fails call your destination.

It is very common for Beijing taxi drivers (and other taxi drivers in mainland for that matter) to not to take the shortest possible way when driving visitors / tourists. But in most cases the difference to the cheapest possible fare is less than 10 RMB, so it does not really matter. Extreme cases of overcharging also occasionally happen, but these are usually so obvious that you always have the option to refuse payment.

Just to let you know....

Beijing was great, the taxi drivers that could understand my pigeon mandarin and handsignals took us places, quickly and safely. Those that could'nt understand simply waved us off and drove on, no issues from us.


A tip received from a local.... if you want to be sure only take the taxis with the yellow stripe along the side (blue, green or white), these are the government taxis. And yes, always make sure the meter is switched on.


Hope this information helps others.

Just to let you know....

Beijing was great, the taxi drivers that could understand my pigeon mandarin and handsignals took us places, quickly and safely. Those that could'nt understand simply waved us off and drove on, no issues from us.


A tip received from a local.... if you want to be sure only take the taxis with the yellow stripe along the side (blue, green or white), these are the government taxis. And yes, always make sure the meter is switched on.


Hope this information helps others.

Yup, happened to me. But I'm in Guangzhou, not Beijing. But if it's happening down here it's happening up there for sure. We flagged the taxi down at the train station and he actually asked us where we were going before he let us in the taxi (looking back, a sign because he wanted to make sure it was far enough we would have to use a big bill)


Anyways, we got our destination and paid with 100 RMB. Very quickly he passed it back saying fake (my girlfriend is Chinese, I was just sitting there all confused). She told me what was happening. We took the bill back and passed him another 100, trying to figure where we would have got the fake bill. But then the taxi driver got greedy. He did it again. I was still wondering what the hell was going on as everything was happening so fast. That's when my girlfriend clued in and started yelling at the guy.


I climbed into the front of the cab and took the car keys while we tried to figure out what was going on. The guy never backed down, saying we were wrong and all this crap - He was being really rude and had a smile on his face the whole time that made me want to punch him. I started to think he might be right though, maybe he wasn't ripping us off. Then as good luck would have it the police turned the corner and I ran out to flag them down. They started asking all kinds of questions, search the guy and couldn't find anything. I started feeling a little bad at this point.


As my girlfriend was talking with the police, I started thinking he may have ditched something. I dropped down under the car and started looking around, looked in behind the tires. But I couldn't see anything. I walked around the car and saw something sitting in the gutter (really dark outside) I reached down and sure enough, it was a wallet full of fake 50s and 100s. He had thrown it when the police came around the corner and we weren't looking.


Little weasel. It felt so good. Anyways, he's probably out of jail now doing the same thing to other unsuspecting tourists who can't speak a word of Chinese. But every time I'm in a taxi now, I watch the money like a hawk when I pass it forward, never letting it out of my sight.


Been here a while now, and it's only happened once though. I think most taxi drivers are pretty good.

that is a very good reply to make people wary of all kinds of trickery in this Country.Counterfeiting is one of the most popular modes of deception here,for everybodies money, local and tourist's alike.That is good advice,do not be too casual when dealing with money transaction's,keep your eye's open.Now that it is getting colder you will have a more desperate variety of thieves -pickpockets are more active in the winter.Watch your mobile,easy to sell-easy money.

This is great info - thanks all. How about hiring a driver? Any leads to someone trustworthy?

It is very easy to avoid this problem. By the time you pay the driver, please ask for invoice first. If the taxi driver could not understand you, just simply point at the counter. If you were ripped off, the invoice could help you to get your money back and cliam your lost properties. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN IN BEIJING.