Originally Posted by dawei
The que that taxi drivers must wait in for local routes is very short compared to the wait they have to pick up long distance passengers.
Living a 13 Kuai ride from SHA led to some pretty heated dipustes with cab drivers who had waited for hours only to get a joke of a fare (not my fault really).
I've posted this once before, but will do so again due to relevance.
When you arrive at Hongqiao, go to the short distance line and tell the dispatcher that you want to go to the Hongqiao Hotel. Once you get in the cab, reveal your actual destination to the driver.
(I realize this strategy isn't all that fair to the guys that wait 4 hours to serve the long distance queue, but if you hate Hongqiao as much as I do, the 15 minutes saved are well worth the ethical transgression.)
BTW, I plan on starting a thread of similar taxi tips in the Asia forum soon. I'm currently in the process of compiling a list.