On first arrival, many tourists probably aren't aware of all the scamming "vultures" around at every corner - myself included. So I'm going to share some of my unpleasant experiences with you. Perhaps you can avoid some of it. Usually, if you travel in China with a tour group, and have a tour guide, there isn't too much to worry about, as everything is taken care of for you. In one of my first visits to China back in summer of 2005, I joined a tour group in Beijing, which took care of all transportation, meals and accommodation.
In this trip back to Beijing, China, I decided I was familiar enough with China, and that I was comfortable enough to travel through China all by myself. After all I spoke fluent mandarine, and as long as people didn't ask me to read any Chinese writing, there was little to indicate that I was a "foreigner".
But.... yeah, always a but... I got conned. Here's how it happened.
Be Ware of Illegal Taxis In China
After picking up my luggage, and having exited the baggage claim area, I managed to get hustled into taking an "illegal" taxi. As I was walking out the airport, I was reading my notes on my hotel booking and the address, and I suppose that gave me away as a "non-local", who the scammers would be pretty good at picking out from the crowd.
Some guy came up to me and asked if I needed to take a cab. Having been in China several times by now, my first instinct was to say "no", which is what I did. But I guess they wouldn't be able to scam anyone if they weren't persistent. After a few attempts, I caved - after all I've taken these types of "illegal" cabs many times, and nothing major has happened.
So I followed the guy in to the parking lot, got in the "taxi", and was on my way. I was told the base cost is $10, and $1.60 yuan each additional kilometer, and of course, that's what it said on the meter! Little did I know that the price per km would get jacked up to $5.95 per kilometer after 5km! Just enough distance to get out of the airport road, and on to the highway into Beijing city.
Bastards!
I know for a fact that it would cost only around $100 to $150 yuan (roughly $12 to $18usd) to get from the airport into Beijing city. But this would end up costing about $350 rmb! So I asked the driver how much it's gonna cost me approximately. He was sort of dodging around the topic. So I was getting annoyed. I told the driver up front that I know for a fact it costs at most $150 rmb to get to city center, and that there's no way it would cost $350.
I told him straight up that he can forget about me paying him $350, and we got into a pretty heated argument. I told him the most he was going to get was $150, but obviously he wasn't going to accept it. The taxi was on the highway, if it was easy to find another cab I probably would have done so. But I also know that having driven this far out, he wasn't going to easily give up on making some quick cash, and just drop me off in the middle of nowhere and not get paid.
So, he counter offered me that the lowest he would take was $250, and I said $200rmb. Finally, we agreed on $220 rmb. Arriving at my hotel, the meter had rung up to a little over $350. Sure I didn't get completely swindled, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
In China, there are many unlicensed taxis at every airport, bus station, and train station. Their incessant questioning of where you’re going, and if you’d like to take their taxi, makes it pretty hard to say "no". Often times, they rip you off. I should’ve known better! In a nutshell, if you ever travel to China, ignore people who come up to ask you to take their taxi – you will be better off hiring legitimate taxis. At every airport, there will be a designated taxi station where you can make sure to get on licensed taxis that won't rip you off.
How do you know if a taxi is legit? At every airport, near the main exit, there will always be a taxi station where legitimate taxi lineup for business. So take a few extra steps, get to these designated taxi stations, and ignore people who come up to you asking if you need taxi service. I've learned my lesson well. |
