Beijing Airport/Taxi
Discussion
2 choices.
Regular city taxi. Going rate is 150-200RMB depending on location.
Go out the terminal, follow signs for taxi 2 min walk - there you will find them. Its a bit of a free for all - so just make eye contact with a driver and ask "how much". They will either say a price or they will say meter. Meter will be cheaper but 90% will just say a price. The price includes all tolls etc.
Ride share. DiDi.
Follow signs for ride share. You will have a 5-10 min walk to the ride share pick up area.
Going rate is 100RMB to 200RMB depending on vehicle type.
A small car will be c.100. A nice SUV will be closer to 200.
You will need to use the pick up lanes. They are huge. If you never used it before can be confusing.
Basically you have the lane number and then a big screen showing the car reg's.
Take a pic on DiDi and send to your driver so he knows the lane. Take serious note - the GPS does not work. Your driver might be upset because your phone may GPS you in a different place which causes him problems. So if this happens have 20/50 in your pocket for a tip - its obviously not the done thing in China to tip but he might have to pay in/out fees.
Once you have DiDi down and you can message exactly where you are (because GPS does not work) then you are golden.
So for the first trip I would actually suggest a city taxi even though its more expensive but once you have used DiDi a few times and understand how it works then use that.
Hopefully this all makes sense.
Regular city taxi. Going rate is 150-200RMB depending on location.
Go out the terminal, follow signs for taxi 2 min walk - there you will find them. Its a bit of a free for all - so just make eye contact with a driver and ask "how much". They will either say a price or they will say meter. Meter will be cheaper but 90% will just say a price. The price includes all tolls etc.
Ride share. DiDi.
Follow signs for ride share. You will have a 5-10 min walk to the ride share pick up area.
Going rate is 100RMB to 200RMB depending on vehicle type.
A small car will be c.100. A nice SUV will be closer to 200.
You will need to use the pick up lanes. They are huge. If you never used it before can be confusing.
Basically you have the lane number and then a big screen showing the car reg's.
Take a pic on DiDi and send to your driver so he knows the lane. Take serious note - the GPS does not work. Your driver might be upset because your phone may GPS you in a different place which causes him problems. So if this happens have 20/50 in your pocket for a tip - its obviously not the done thing in China to tip but he might have to pay in/out fees.
Once you have DiDi down and you can message exactly where you are (because GPS does not work) then you are golden.
So for the first trip I would actually suggest a city taxi even though its more expensive but once you have used DiDi a few times and understand how it works then use that.
Hopefully this all makes sense.
gotoPzero said:
2 choices.
Regular city taxi. Going rate is 150-200RMB depending on location.
Go out the terminal, follow signs for taxi 2 min walk - there you will find them. Its a bit of a free for all - so just make eye contact with a driver and ask "how much". They will either say a price or they will say meter. Meter will be cheaper but 90% will just say a price. The price includes all tolls etc.
Ride share. DiDi.
Follow signs for ride share. You will have a 5-10 min walk to the ride share pick up area.
Going rate is 100RMB to 200RMB depending on vehicle type.
A small car will be c.100. A nice SUV will be closer to 200.
You will need to use the pick up lanes. They are huge. If you never used it before can be confusing.
Basically you have the lane number and then a big screen showing the car reg's.
Take a pic on DiDi and send to your driver so he knows the lane. Take serious note - the GPS does not work. Your driver might be upset because your phone may GPS you in a different place which causes him problems. So if this happens have 20/50 in your pocket for a tip - its obviously not the done thing in China to tip but he might have to pay in/out fees.
Once you have DiDi down and you can message exactly where you are (because GPS does not work) then you are golden.
So for the first trip I would actually suggest a city taxi even though its more expensive but once you have used DiDi a few times and understand how it works then use that.
Hopefully this all makes sense.
Great information, thanks. I actually travelled on Saturday morning and you were correct on everything. I gave up on the hailing a cab situation as it was underground and GPS said I was overground. It was nightmarish in there. Regular city taxi. Going rate is 150-200RMB depending on location.
Go out the terminal, follow signs for taxi 2 min walk - there you will find them. Its a bit of a free for all - so just make eye contact with a driver and ask "how much". They will either say a price or they will say meter. Meter will be cheaper but 90% will just say a price. The price includes all tolls etc.
Ride share. DiDi.
Follow signs for ride share. You will have a 5-10 min walk to the ride share pick up area.
Going rate is 100RMB to 200RMB depending on vehicle type.
A small car will be c.100. A nice SUV will be closer to 200.
You will need to use the pick up lanes. They are huge. If you never used it before can be confusing.
Basically you have the lane number and then a big screen showing the car reg's.
Take a pic on DiDi and send to your driver so he knows the lane. Take serious note - the GPS does not work. Your driver might be upset because your phone may GPS you in a different place which causes him problems. So if this happens have 20/50 in your pocket for a tip - its obviously not the done thing in China to tip but he might have to pay in/out fees.
Once you have DiDi down and you can message exactly where you are (because GPS does not work) then you are golden.
So for the first trip I would actually suggest a city taxi even though its more expensive but once you have used DiDi a few times and understand how it works then use that.
Hopefully this all makes sense.
Wandered back inside and a guy offered his taxi. Walked outside, jumped in a large electric people carrier and were away, Alipay sorted the payment as well. Just got to get a handle on the food situation now!
Cool beans. You would think given how advanced everything is they would be able to feed a GPS signal down into the car park basement or have some QR code or something you can scan which fires in your pick up point as basement etc.
Well, good luck with the food. My advice is scan the QR code and hope the menu has photos....
Well, good luck with the food. My advice is scan the QR code and hope the menu has photos....
Massive language barrier with taxi drivers.
I had A Map installed with favorites and handed it over with directions running.
I had Didi downloaded and ready to go, never used it. Price saving is pennies given taxis cost the square root of nothing anyway.
Midnight run on the meter from right by the Forbidden City to T2 at the airport was 90 // £10 …. he did offload us in a car park 2 minutes from the terminal though, I suspect to dodge a drop off fee.
I had A Map installed with favorites and handed it over with directions running.
I had Didi downloaded and ready to go, never used it. Price saving is pennies given taxis cost the square root of nothing anyway.
Midnight run on the meter from right by the Forbidden City to T2 at the airport was 90 // £10 …. he did offload us in a car park 2 minutes from the terminal though, I suspect to dodge a drop off fee.
Massive language barrier with taxi drivers.
I had A Map installed with favorites and handed it over with directions running.
I had Didi downloaded and ready to go, never used it. Price saving is pennies given taxis cost the square root of nothing anyway.
Midnight run on the meter from right by the Forbidden City to T2 at the airport was 90 // £10 …. he did offload us in a car park 2 minutes from the terminal though, I suspect to dodge a drop off fee.
I had A Map installed with favorites and handed it over with directions running.
I had Didi downloaded and ready to go, never used it. Price saving is pennies given taxis cost the square root of nothing anyway.
Midnight run on the meter from right by the Forbidden City to T2 at the airport was 90 // £10 …. he did offload us in a car park 2 minutes from the terminal though, I suspect to dodge a drop off fee.
Regarding the almost constant surveillance -
As we got back to Beijing airport to leave, we showed our boarding pass outside to gain entry to the departure building. Fine.
Then the two of us were made to stand in a flexi barrier area just inside the door for about ten seconds, then told thank you for our patience, before being let through. Only us two.
What's that all about?
As we got back to Beijing airport to leave, we showed our boarding pass outside to gain entry to the departure building. Fine.
Then the two of us were made to stand in a flexi barrier area just inside the door for about ten seconds, then told thank you for our patience, before being let through. Only us two.
What's that all about?
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