Getting Around by Taxi

The Safest Ways to Get a Car

In order, from the method that records the most about the ride to the one that records the least.

1. DiDi, 滴滴 in the app. The price is agreed before you get in, the plate, the car and the driver are recorded, the route is tracked, and a foreign card is accepted.
2. Ride-hailing inside Alipay or WeChat. The same cars and the same record, booked from an app you may already have set up.
3. The official taxi queue at an airport or a station. It is staffed and metered. Never follow someone who offers you a car inside the terminal.
4. A car arranged by the hotel. A fixed price and a driver holding a name sign, which matters most on a late arrival.
5. Hailing a taxi in the street. Fine if the meter is running. Avoid the late-afternoon shift change, when a driver may refuse the trip or offer a flat fare instead.

Scams, and What to Do

Most of these happen at the two places a traveller cannot walk away from: the arrivals hall and the station exit.

Before You Get In

1. Have the destination in Chinese on the screen. The card on this site, your address book, or a screenshot. Show it rather than say it.
2. In an app ride, check the plate, the model and the driver’s photo against the app before opening the door.
3. In a taxi, look for a lit roof sign, a company name on the door and a service card on the dashboard.
4. Say 师傅，请打表，谢谢！— please use the meter, thank you.
5. Say 师傅，请按导航走，谢谢！— please follow the navigation, thank you.
6. Alone at night, use the app’s trip sharing so somebody at home can see where the car is.

Both lines are buttons on the taxi card page: press one and this phone says it in Chinese. The Chinese stays on screen either way, so you can show it instead of playing it.

During the Ride

• Keep your own map open. A detour is easy to spot and hard to argue about afterwards.
• Do not let the driver scan your payment code with your phone in their hand. You scan or you pay.
• Keep bags on your lap or on the floor between your feet, not in the boot.
• Before you get out, look at the seat gap, the floor and the charging port.
• If the driver recommends a shop, a restaurant, a tea house or cheap tickets, decline.

Paying, and the Receipt

• App rides charge the card or the wallet in the app, with the price agreed before the trip.
• Taxis take Alipay, WeChat Pay or cash. Ask for the printed receipt — 发票, fāpiào.
• Tipping is not expected and not required. Do not offer one.

The receipt is your proof: it carries the plate, the distance, the fare and the time. Keep it for a dispute, a lost bag, or an insurance claim.

If Something Goes Wrong

Collect this before the car is out of sight:

• The plate number and the driver’s name or number on the service card.
• A screenshot of the order, or the payment record.
• A photo of the receipt.
• The route on your map against the route the car took.
• A voice recording, if you need one. Recording your own conversation for your own protection is allowed.

Then call one of these:

• Police, or being held against your will 110
• Ambulance 120
• Taxi and transport complaint 12328
• City service hotline 12345
• Travel emergency line 12308

In the app, the order itself has a complaint route: open the order, choose Complaint, and pick what happened — a detour, no meter, or the service.

Before You Arrive

• Install DiDi, Alipay or WeChat, and Amap or Apple Maps before you land.
• Carry some cash as a backup. Some taxis take nothing else, and a payment app can fail on the day.
• For the first night, book a transfer with the hotel. It takes the negotiation out of a late arrival.
• The metro is cheap, signed in English and free of touts in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hangzhou.