Taxis, Beijing

After Olympic, taxi is also a good choice, because you can get the receipt, so the price is fair.
During the day, first 3 km cost 10 yuan and 2 yuan per km, and 3 yuan after 15 km. At night (11pm-5am), first 3 km is 11 yuan and 2.4 yuan per km and 3.4 yuan after 15 km. Most driver cannot understand english, so it is better you write the destination in chinese character.

Don't use the unofficial taxi's in Beijing. They are twice as expensive as the official taxi's.

Not all drivers speak English. Show them your destination on a map or have a note with the name written in Chinese.

I just came back from Beijing (13 September 2008 weekend) and the taxi ride from Beijing Capital Airport was almost hassle free. After clearing customs, I exited the secure area and was surprised not to see the touts that we were warned about. It seems the police cleared them out during the Olympics. I had my hotel name and address written in Chinese characters and this is where the hassle began. It seems the taxi driver did not know that particular hotel (strange since it was on Wangfujing, a major tourist street). Fortunately, I had the hotel telephone number which the driver called through his mobile phone. The hotel operator gave him detailed instructions on how to get to the hotel. My tip then is to make sure you also have the hotel telephone number since most if not all taxi drivers have mobile phones. My last resort would have been to stop the taxi, open my suitcase and show him the street map of Wangfujing. Fortunately it was my second trip to Beijing and was confident that I can find my way around. To summarize - name and address of hotel in Chinese characters, telephone number and worst case, city map showing hotel location.

When ever you travel in Beijing on Taxi's, have the desitination in Chinese or FORGET IT! You say Tianimen Square they look at you with a "What the".
Also think about luggage.
The taxis are Protons so don't look at heading back to the airport with 4 suitcases, plus hand luggage, etc.
We booked a private shuttle BUS back so he could fit our luggage in the back.
Only use the two tone cabs, not the red ones...could be other colours, with a stenciled sign on the door of the cab. They are fake cabs...with cheating meters.
One last bit of advice...BRING CASH. I went to a big dept store in Beijing and presented my Citibank Mastercard only to be told we don't accept this card...even though they had signs accpting Visa & Mastercard everywhere.
After yelling and screaming at them for 10 minutes, they swiped my card, I signed and went on my way.

You would think with the Olympics around the corner, taxi drivers would be taught some English.

But say Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Airport, Silk Market to a taxi driver in China and you'll get a blank look.

Give you a good trip. Decide what places you want to visit and look the place name written in Chinese on the internet. Get an A4 sheet of paper and copy the words onto the page making the words as big as you can and you should get 3 names a page.

Tear them in Strips and take them with you, hand them to the driver and he will be able to read it and take you to your destination.

Get a few business cards off your hotel that has the name in Chinese writing so agian you can get back.

Don't do this and you'll be like a ship at sea with no engine...going no where fast.

And always insist on using the taxi meter otherwise you'll pay 4 - 5 times what the fare should be.

Taxis are buy far the best way to get around.
Firstly, always insist on the meter, if they say 50 RMB chances are the ride will cost as little as 11RMB on a meter. You are a dumb westerner and you can afford more than the meter they think.
There are three types I found, the two toned honest ones, the Red fake taxi with suspect meters and the luxury black cabs.
Be prepared for the ride of your life as they drive fast, go through red lights, almost kill pedestrians and dart and weave with almost not a care in the world...words just can not discribe the driving skills, you will just see when you get here...but we did not see many accidents so I guess they are luck drivers.
The fares were so cheap I tried to tip well to make there day as most work 24 hours without a break.

beijing taxi's are cheap (compared to the rest of the world) and you will usually have no trouble hailing one except during rush hr and if it's raining.

just make sure you're not standing around a bus stop or near a police car, they'll usually hesitate to pull over as fines in beijing are very high on the cab drivers.

beijing taxi's start at 10 RMB for the first 3 km (about 2 miles) then it is 2 RMB/km

after the 15th km they will charge an extra 50% for the empty return trip and also an extra 20% btw 23:00-06:00

a trip from the airport to the city would be btw 60-120 depending on where you're going (beijing is BIG!) and you also need to pay for toll fees, so don't be surprised if you're final bill is higher than on the meter.

if you feel you have been ripped off, ask for the receipt and tell them you have been overcharged, mark down their license plate, the fine is pretty heavy if they overcharge you on purpose, but keep in mind, these poor drives are being exploited by the taxi companies and they usually need to work around 6 hrs everyday just to pay for renting the cab. So don't take advantage of them on purpose. if your taxi driver has been nice/helpful, tipping (even the change eg. giving 20 for a 19 rmb ride, "bu 2 yong 4 zhao 3 le 1" keep the change, makes their day!)is welcome and they appreciate it very much!

it is also a good idea to keep your receipts anyway, in case you forget something on the cab you can call the company and tell them the numbers on the receipt, they can call the cab driver and if you actually left it on the cab (not pick pocketed) you can usually get it back.

DO NOT TAKE CABS THAT DO NOT HAVE A METER! esp at night and if you are alone, they usually over charge you, and there have been incidents of women traveling alone getting hurt or robbed!

Taxis can be had cheaply, and are relatively easy to find.

Meter starts at 10 yuan, and is good for three km. Goes up from there in increments, which are stated on the passenger windows.

Taxi from the airport to downtown (Wangfujin) should run you 80 yuan: 70 for the drive, plus 10 for the highway fee.

You can hire drivers for the day, as well. Should cost you about 600 for the day.

The government has pushed all of the drivers to study English, because of the upcoming Olympics, so it should be relatively easy to comunicate with your drivers.