One of the first things I was tipped on upon arrival in Shanghai by colleague, Thomas, was the breakdown of taxi tricks. Basically, certain colored-cabs are legit and others…not so much. All sorts of shady stuff can happen… from looping, to meter jumping etc etc. So take note:

RED = THE WORST; AVOID RED CABS IF YOU CAN

Actually, my taxi from the airport to the school, when I first landed, was red and the total came out to something like 175rmb. I gave him 200rmb and he had the nerve to ask if it was OK to keep the change. (Tipping is NOT common here at all.) At 2AM in the morning, I muscled my hand motions to ensure that I wanted “two - five” back. Bastardos! So yeah, the red cabs are not legit ones… and they are more prone to take what they can get out of a foreign face.

Next BAD = DARK BLUE. (Though, I haven’t had any real incidents to report.)

Then it gets BETTER with the WHITE AND YELLOW. (But others may beg to differ.)

And finally, the BEST BETS would be GREEN AND TEAL. (I feel comfy in these.)

But! Despite saying all of this, ya still gotta watch yourself, check the meters, acquaint yourself with the roads etc. no matter what color cab you find yourself in. And I’ve been told, IF for any reason you do find yourself in a dispute with the charge and/or the driver is being mcshady, then whip out your camera and take a picture of his Driver ID Card (that sits on the head board); Supposedly, the driver will give into your wishes as he/she does not want to be reported… They end up paying 4 times as much back to the rider… something to that effect.

Okies, so take that as food for thought!

. . don’t burn the day. .