Asia - beijing has lots of new cab drivers now

nearly 30% of the cab drivers i've encountered during the past 10 days are brand new to the job. while they all appear to be bj natives, their geography is pretty bad.

for example, i currently live in blue castle, which is it the heart of the new cbd development (an rc and a jw are opening right across the street) 200 meters from the dawang rd subway station, but none of these new guys have a clue where it is.

the good news is that, even if you speak no chinese, bj is easy to navigate once you familiarize youself with your tourist map that most hotels offer. but, if your destination happens to be tucked in a nameless hutong, be prepared to offer navigational assistance.

Beijing has too many cabs already, why do they need more? On my last trip there my cabbie on the ride to the airport told me how he's been at it for 15 years and in the past he could make a decent profit after his expenses but over the past 5 years its been whittled down to virtually nothing because there are so many cabs on the street now. Seems like its not that good of a gig for these guys anymore but maybe this is where to gov't is putting all the laid off workers.

In regards to directions, I've noticed this is a problem everywhere in China and not just amongst cab drivers.

Beijing has too many cabs already, why do they need more?

Hmm. When posting, I just assumed that the new drivers had been replacing old drivers (many of whom have left for the reason you pointed out and the improved earning potential in other vocations) rather than adding to the size of the taxi pool. Now, I have to admit that I have no clue which is the case (maybe a little of both).

I'd agree. Beijing has a lot of cabs, but I dont think the number is
outrageous. Most of them I find moving around.

I cant comment whether they are new or not, but most of them I found
were pretty good with navigation. I give them a name or point them
on a map, and they pick the best routes. only a couple of times
they tried to take me on a ride.. but I had to only correct them once
to get them back on track

Why is it that if you hail a cab and ask them to go the opposite direction, of which they are headed when they pull over,they refuse to take you? Maybe the new drivers
will not have this weird policy. :confused:

Why is it that if you hail a cab and ask them to go the opposite direction, of which they are headed when they pull over,they refuse to take you? Maybe the new drivers
will not have this weird policy. :confused:

sometimes they just don't feel like doing the u-turn think, in most cases, it's because the driver has a destination of his own (perhaps his house or the place where he turns over the car to another driver) that is in the direction he is traveling.

btw, i forgot to mention in my op that a taxi fare increase is in the works. aside from chancing upon several articles on the topic, in the past week i have noticed new 2.00 fare stickers on a number of cabs that normally fall into the 1.60 bracket(citroens, elantras, sonotas, santanas, etc). however, i've yet to see one of these with a recalibrated meter.