[QUOTE=moondog;16419435]

Having gotten that preamble out of the way, here's another driver who I chanced upon yesterday that deserves props within our community:

Mr. Zhou (Guang)
13011097572

He drives a fairly new (2010+) Passat, which I found to be a step up from a Sonota and no worse than an A6. I asked him (in Chinese) if he spoke English and he replied (in Chinese), "a little." His current Mutianyu rate is y700. I asked him if he'd consider y500, and he laughed at me.


Last week, Oct. 9, I had the concierge at the Cap Ren call Zhou and set up a drive to Mutianyu with no shopping stops. Just drive us there, wait, and drive back dropping us off at one of the hutong streets. The price was to be RMB 750.

When we went down to get in the car at 7:30 am, it was a taxi and driver, and a girl named Deena who spoke English. I did not ask for a guide/girl. I told her we wanted to be driven to Mutianyu, wait a few hours, drive us back to Beijing with no shopping. On the drive, Deena was very chatty about Beijing, her job as a guide during the Olympics, etc.

As we're on the way to the Wall I do not see any road signs that say Mutianyu. When we got there, I don't know where she took us. Maybe Badaling? I could see the large part of the wall across the parking lot, but there were no cable cars and not many people on the Wall. I asked her about it and Deena said there was an accident last week, tourists, were killed, so the cable car is gone. Yea, right. What a crock of s#*t.

We gave her 100 for 2 tickets which she bought, she walked a bit with us, and we started climbing the Wall. It was a steep, narrow section leading up to towers. It was a hard climb, quite exhilarating. Great views up high. But I don't think it was Mutianyu.

After a few hours we head back to Beijing. The taxi leaves the main road and we pull into a jade factory. I emphatically said no and we refused to get out of the car. Next we drove near the Birdsnest Stadium and stopped to take pictures of it from behind a fence. Deena said we couldn't go closer because there was a bicycle race going on with lots of security. More bulls#*t.

Then she stops at a place near the Olympic site called Mr. Tea for a government sponsored demo on Chinese tea. We did sample the teaand use the bathroom, but bought nothing. Third b.s. moment.

She suggested a local lunch, we stop in front of a restaurant with tour buses in front, go in , and there is a show with singing and dancing for the tourists while they eat. We told her we did not want to eat there, we walked out, and we told her to take us to the hutong with no more stops. Her attitude changed dramatically. Lots of angry words with the taxi driver. No more chatting with us.

She stops at the hutong street, tells us we owe the taxi RMB500. We pay the driver and just turn our backs and walk away from her. I know she was waiting to get paid something, but I didn't ask for her or need her.

Mr. Zhou was not there. He churned us to someone else. I was pissed as seeing the Great Wall at Mutianyu was the number one thing on my list of things to do in Beijing. Although the air was so bad we probably would not have seen much.

Bad Zhou.