The taxi that quoted me four hundred yuan
It was at Beijing Capital, I had been travelling for fourteen hours, and a man in a dark jacket by the arrivals door asked where I was going and said four hundred. The actual metered fare to my hotel was about a hundred and twenty. I knew that only because I had looked it up on the plane, which is the entire difference between getting taken advantage of and not.
Taxis in China are cheap, plentiful, and mostly honest. They are also the place where a visitor’s first hour in the country goes wrong, because the airport rank is where the small number of bad operators work and because you are tired and cannot read the surroundings. This guide covers how to find a real taxi, what the fare should be, how the meter works, how to pay, and the specific tricks worth knowing.
For the app version, which avoids most of this, our Didi and ride-hailing guide for China covers setup with a foreign card, and the airport transfer guide compares taxis against metro and shuttle by city.
What a real taxi looks like
Livery varies by city, and that is genuinely useful, because a car in the wrong colour at an airport rank is a strong signal. Beijing taxis are typically blue and yellow or plain with a distinctive roof light. Shanghai’s are turquoise and white or a light green. Guangzhou runs yellow, green, and red depending on the company and the zone. Shenzhen uses red and yellow or green and white. Chengdu is largely green and yellow.
What is consistent:
- A roof light with the company name, lit when available.
- A meter mounted on the dashboard, visible from the back seat.
- The driver’s licence and ID card displayed on the passenger side of the dashboard.
- A municipal licence plate and a company name on the door.
- At airports and stations, an official rank with a queue and a marshal.
If the car has none of those and the driver approached you indoors, walk away. Go to the rank.
How the fare works
Metered fares are set by each city, and they follow the same shape: a flag drop covering the first two or three kilometres, then a per-kilometre rate, plus extras.
| City | Flag drop | Per km after | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 13 RMB (3 km) | about 2.3 RMB | Fuel surcharge, night rate higher |
| Shanghai | 16 RMB (3 km) | about 2.5 RMB | Night surcharge after 23:00 |
| Guangzhou | 12 RMB (2.5 km) | about 2.6 RMB | Fuel surcharge applied |
| Shenzhen | 11 to 12 RMB (2 km) | about 2.4 to 2.6 RMB | Colour-coded zones have different rates |
| Chengdu | 9 RMB (2 km) | about 1.9 RMB | Cheapest of the big cities |
| Xi’an | 8 to 9 RMB (3 km) | about 2 RMB | Short trips are very cheap |
Treat those as working figures rather than gospel. Confirm current rates with your hotel or the official municipal transport site when you arrive, because they are revised periodically and because the fuel surcharge and the night rate are the parts most likely to have changed.
Extras to expect: a small fuel surcharge per trip, a night surcharge on some cities’ tariffs, and tolls, which the passenger pays and which the driver will ask for in cash on top of the fare. If a driver proposes taking the expressway, agree first, because the toll is yours.
Getting one
Four ways, in order of reliability for a visitor:
- The official rank. At airports, stations, and most big hotels. There is a queue, a marshal, and no negotiation. This is the one to use at an airport.
- Street hail. Easy in most cities outside rush hour and the rain. Stand at the kerb where the road allows stopping, not in the middle of a junction or a bus lane, and hold your hand out flat. Numbers are high enough in cities that this takes a minute or two.
- App hail through Didi. You can order an actual metered taxi through the app, which combines the price transparency of the app with the legality of a licensed cab. Good fallback when no car is free on the street.
- Hotel desk. They will call one for you and write the destination in Chinese, which solves the language problem entirely.
In heavy rain, at shift change around 16:00 to 17:00, and during the evening peak, street hailing gets genuinely difficult. The app solves it and is covered in our ride-hailing guide.
Paying
Display your destination written in Chinese, confirm the driver is using the meter, and pay at the end. Most drivers take Alipay and WeChat Pay, most take cash, and fewer take cards than you would hope. Carry small notes, because “I only have a hundred” is a common and sometimes genuine problem with change.
- Qing da biao means please use the meter. Say it if the driver is slow to start it.
- Qing qu zheli means please go here, with the card or the phone.
- Ting che means stop here.
- Qing kai fapiao means please give me a receipt. Useful for expenses, and it is printed from the meter.
Tipping is not expected and is often refused. Round up if you want to, but do not be surprised if the driver insists on giving you the change. More on this in our tipping guide for China.
The tricks, and how they work
Most taxi drivers in China are honest. The problems cluster around airports, stations, and tourist sites, and there are about five patterns.
- The flat fare. A driver proposes a fixed price instead of the meter. Usually much higher than the metered fare. Refuse, or take the next car. At official ranks this does not happen, which is the argument for using them.
- The unlicensed car. Approaches you inside the terminal, no meter, no licence. The fare is negotiated and the negotiation starts high. Walk to the rank.
- The long route. Taking a scenic way to run the meter up. Hard to detect if you do not know the city, which is why having the route visible on your own map matters. Watch the map, and say something early if it looks wrong.
- The broken meter. Always convenient, never true. Get out.
- The closed-road story. “That street is closed, I will take you somewhere else.” Sometimes genuine, since Chinese cities do close roads for events. Ask to be dropped at the nearest corner instead of being redirected to a different destination.
The most effective protection is not confrontation. It is holding up your phone with a map and the route on it, which tells the driver you are watching. Our common scams in China guide covers the wider set of tourist-targeted tricks, including the tea house and the art student variations.
Practical notes
- Seatbelts exist in the back and are often buried in the seat. Dig for them.
- Front passenger seat is fine and commonly used, especially by solo travellers in cities where hailing is competitive.
- Drivers rarely speak English. Address card, always.
- Traffic in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou at peak is slow enough that the metro is faster for most cross-city trips. Our city transport guide covers when to take which.
- Peak changeover is around 16:00 to 17:00, when many drivers go off shift. Hailing gets harder then.
- Keep the receipt. It has the licence number on it, which is how you recover a phone or a bag left in the back.
Quick facts
- Flag drops run about 8 to 16 RMB depending on the city, covering the first 2 to 3 km.
- Expect a fuel surcharge, a night surcharge in some cities, and tolls paid separately in cash.
- Use the official rank at airports and stations, never a driver who approaches you indoors.
- Qing da biao means please use the meter. Insist on it.
- Tipping is not expected and is often refused.
- Carry small notes; change can be a problem.
- Peak changeover around 16:00 to 17:00 makes hailing hard.
- Keep the receipt. It carries the licence number.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a taxi in China?
Cheap by international standards. A ten-minute city-centre hop typically costs 15 to 30 RMB, a cross-town trip 40 to 80 RMB, and an airport run 100 to 250 RMB depending on the city and the distance. The flag drop is around 13 RMB in Beijing and 16 RMB in Shanghai, covering the first three kilometres. Confirm current rates when you arrive, since they do change.
Do I need to tip taxi drivers in China?
No. Tipping is not customary anywhere in mainland China and taxi drivers will often refuse it or chase you down to return it. Rounding up by a yuan or two is harmless, but there is no expectation. Our tipping guide covers the few exceptions, such as private drivers on multi-day hires.
Do taxi drivers in China speak English?
Almost never. Have your destination written in Chinese on paper or on your phone, or use ride-hailing where the destination is entered in the app. For the useful phrases and pronunciation, see our transport phrases guide.
Is it safe to take a taxi in China?
Yes. Licensed taxis are safe, regulated, and traceable through the receipt and the licence number. Women travelling alone at night use them routinely. The risk is not safety, it is overpaying at airports and stations, which the official rank solves. Our solo female travel guide for China has more on moving around after dark.
What if the driver refuses to use the meter?
Get out and take the next one, or move to the official rank. This is normal behaviour and not rude. At a rank, the marshal will usually intervene if you indicate the problem, and there are plenty of cars behind you.
Can I pay by card in a Chinese taxi?
Sometimes, but do not count on it. Alipay and WeChat Pay are near universal, cash works everywhere, and foreign cards are generally not accepted directly by the driver. Link your card inside Alipay before you travel, which our payment guide for China walks through.
Should I use Didi instead of a taxi?
In most cities, yes, if you have it set up. The price is shown before you book, the destination is entered in the app rather than spoken, and there is a record of the trip. Taxis are better when you are standing at an official rank with luggage, or when the app shows a long wait. See our Didi and ride-hailing guide for the setup.
Can I hire a taxi for a whole day?
Yes, and it is a good way to see the Great Wall or a set of outlying temples. Negotiate the price in advance, either through your hotel or directly, and expect somewhere in the range of 600 to 1,000 RMB for a day including waiting time. Our car rental guide for China covers the alternative if you would rather drive.
Those three habits eliminate almost every taxi problem in China. Add the app as your default in cities, and you will spend very little time thinking about any of it.
If you want airport transfers and drivers arranged in advance, with the addresses written in Chinese for you, contact us through the contact page.
Written by the ChinaTravelFood editorial team.
