TAXIS (Beijing)
TAXIS (Beijing)
TAXIS (Beijing) – there are around 67,000 taxis operating in Beijing. The models typically found being used there are Citroen AZ, Volkswagen Jetta, and Sonata; Elantra and Citroen AZ (Fukang). The colors of the taxis tend to vary (according to the company operating them): they can be green, red, purple and blue, and they usually feature a yellow stripe across the middle. On the roof of each taxi, there is an indicator lamp stating ‘TAXI’, and a license plate starting with ‘京B’ on the front of the car. If the taxi is unoccupied, the lever with the red symbol ‘空车 (For Hire)’ in the middle of the front window of the taxi will be up. After you get in, the taxi driver will drop the ‘For Hire’ lever indicating the taxi is occupied.
The fare for a Beijing taxi ride is rated by taximeter, starting with the initial fee or ‘flag-down price’ of RMB 10. The flag down price includes an initial distance of 3 kilometers (1.86 miles). After the initial distance is traveled, an additional unit fare for each kilometer traveled is calculated and added to the flag down price. The unit fare is RMB 2.00 per additional kilometer. Note: due to language barriers, international visitors should have a bilingual (Chinese-English) person write down your destination in Chinese before getting a taxi, in order to minimize getting lost.