I don't have enough Uber experience outside of China to make a comparison, but the surges have definitely become more common and more pronounced here recently...not so much on black which is already expensive, but on peoples and to a lesser extent x. In the morning, 2x is typical, at lunch 1.5x, and 3x happens a lot after work and on weekend nights. I'm pretty sure this price structure and the upward trend are both by design because supply demand hasn't shifted noticeably from what I can see.