 | Beijing Taxis/Rickshaws Reviews | Tips 11 - 20 of 21 |  |
 | |  |  | Taxis/Rickshaws: Use a taxi - BEWARE of pedicabs. | |  |  | |  |
My wife and I finished our tour of Forbidden City and we wanted to have lunch at a restaurant that we'd been to before. We were just outside the gates of Forbidden City where a number of taxis and bicycle pedicabs were clustered. A taxi driver shook his head when we showed him the card for the restaurant, but a pedicab driver quickly offered to take us. We figured maybe too short a trip to interest the taxi driver so we agreed to ride the pedicab. I asked "How much?" and he said "three monies". Being a little too trusting and thinking this was probably 30 RMB, I agreed and off we went. Very soon another pedicab, obviously colaborating with our driver, came along side and shouted something we didn't understand. Our driver said that there was too much weight load, and one of use needed to ride with the other driver, whose passenger bench was empty. My wife and I are both average size and weight. Sensing a setup, we immediately said no way. Our driver continued down a couple of streets and then into a series of local alleys. Then he stops and says our destination is just beyond the wall where he'd stopped. His nice demeanor suddenly turned beligerant as he demandes an outragous sum. We refused and offered the 30 RMB. Then he pulls out a printed card that had a fee of 300 RMB ($39) listed. My wife sticks the 30 RMB in his shirt pocket and we walk off. As soon as we round the corner we realize that we're nowhere near our destination and that he'd simply dumped us.
We realized that this was a prearranged scam from the start. We'd used pedicabs several times before and none were a good experience. This ride finally taught us to avoid them altogether, at least as a mode of transportation. The pedicab tour of the houtongs in the Houhai area is the only exception, but for transportation in the city use a taxi. We quickly discovered that they are extremely cheap ($2-5) for most destinations within Beijing. A 40 minute ride across town during rush hour was our most expensive fare within Beijing, and it was 60 RMB ($8)!!!
Except for a houtong tour, don't use a pedicab. Use a taxi - they are extremely cheap!
|
 | |  |
|
 |
 |
Search Hotels
Find the best room rates |
|
 |
|
Beijing
on August 25, 2002
on August 25, 2002
on August 25, 2002
on August 24, 2002
on July 21, 2007
on February 17, 2003
on July 18, 2007
on September 2, 2004
on December 30, 2005
on August 24, 2002
