Taking A Taxi in China

Taking taxi

Welcome! Taking taxis is probably our first choice in terms of public transportation. However, do you know how to tell the drivers your destination in Chinese? Do you know what kind of topics those hospitable drivers would discuss with their passengers? After reading the following article you will find the answers!

Taxi(chūzūchē/dīshì出租车/的士)

1.Charge:

   Initial Charge: RMB12/first 3km.

   Per Mile Charge: RMB2.6/km.

   After 23:00: add more 30% Per km.

2. How to take a taxi:   

   Driver: 你好！你去哪儿？

               Nǐhǎo! Nǐ qù nǎr? 

               (Hello! Where are you going?)

   Jack: 我去友谊宾馆。

            Wǒ qù yǒuyì bīnɡuǎn. 

            (I am going to the Friendship Hotel.)

 【30 minutes later.】

   Driver: 请问，你在哪儿下车？

              Qǐnɡwèn, nǐ zài nǎr xià chē? 

            （May I ask where you will get off?）

   Jack: 在这儿停车吧！

             Zài zhèr tínɡchē bɑ! 

             (Stop here please!)

   Driver: 好的。

               Hǎo de.

               (OK.)

【Jack has a look at the meter.】

  Jack: 给你钱。

            Gěi nǐ qián.

            (Here's the money.)

   Driver: 这是发票。下车小心。

               Zhè shì fāpiào. Xià chē xiǎoxīn.

               (Here's the receipt. Be careful getting off.)

  Jack: 谢谢，再见！

            Xiè xiè, zàijiàn!

            (Thanks. Bye.)

3.Culture:

     Taxi drivers like chatting with the passengers during the journey. 

Usually, they would ask "How old are you(Nǐ duō dà)?", "Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend(Nǐ yǒu nǚ pénɡyou/nán pénɡyou ma)?", "Are you married(Nǐ jiéhūn le ma)?", "What do you do(Nǐ zuò shénme gōng zuò)?" etc. 

If you feel being offended(though they actually don't mean that), you can just answer them "Mìmi(secret), wǒ yǒu hěn duō mìmi(I have a lot of secrets)".

Contents are provided by Guangzhou Kmandarin.

Supervisor: Crystal Huang

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What are some of your favorite Mandarin phrases and buzzwords! Comment below! 

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