moondog

The hotel person clearly doesn't have a clue about airport taxi rules and the role played by dispatchers of ensuring compliance. I would have called BS on the "probably more than Y2100" quip on the spot.

BTW, my cousin used to live in Huairou and took taxis back and forth between there and town several times per week. He never reported any problems.

LapLap

BS from a diseased bull with diarrhoea.

It's because I don't believe a word of it that I just want to do what I usually would do and stay well within in my comfort zone.

I understand that my comfort zone is not considered particularly comfortable by others, I'm fine with that.

With the hotel concierge out to scare us into giving them money, the hawkers at the Great Wall looking to tempt cash from us and the taxi drivers potentially sizing us up to see what they can relieve from us without getting caught, reported or penalised, the only Chinese people we might meet during our first day who we would have genuine interactions with are the passengers on the buses. That in itself is extremely important to me, not something I want to pay to avoid.

moondog

As I (and other people here who have spent a lot of time in Beijing) can attest, taxi drivers almost always play by the rules. Furthermore, getting scammed from the airport is almost unheard of because the system there is very strict and they have lots of cameras documenting you getting into the car and the car leaving. You can always ask for a receipt, which will allow you to track down your driver if you decide something is a amiss after the fact.

I've had similarly good experiences with taxis in Tokyo, the only difference being that fares are an order of magnitude higher in Japan. When I first came to China as a teenager, the taxi driver profession as held in reasonably high regard. But, in the ensuing 20 years, their real wages have fallen while the salaries for other types of jobs have skyrocketed.

I'm of the opinion that $100 (the driver ends up pocketing about $30 of this based on my rough calculations) for an entire day of a guy's time and 120 miles in driving distance is a VERY good deal by global standards. Try that in London, Tokyo, or New York and you're looking at $500+.

LapLap

You've pinpointed my problem.

I just wouldn't try to buy an entire day from a taxi driver in London, Tokyo or New York and I really wouldn't want to. The fact that I can just about afford to do this in China doesn't change how I feel about doing it.

Have already determined in this thread that a taxi from the airport to Mutianyu might cost 300RMB. That's assuming I get taken straight there and not via some lengthy detour. Being scammed and then going through the whole business of reporting it is exactly the sort of thing that would ruin my visit, because I would report it, I feel strongly that it would be my responsibility to do so. A bus related delay is NOTHING compared to that.

Have realised that I can't ask the driver to stop at Huairou as I don't know nor could I communicate the drop off point to get the minivan to Mutianyu.

From my perspective it's just SOOO much easier to get the Airport Express and the bus.

I started this thread to try and gauge the worst case scenarios and consequences of using (mostly) public transport to visit Mutianyu.
Have got some good tips (esp. Using Maizidianxiu station for the return to the hotel) but never did find out what the real pitfalls are to using a bus service that runs every 15 minutes or so.

moondog

Again, I've had almost universally positive experiences with taxi drivers in Beijing. Do they get lost on occasion? Sure, to err is human. However, Mutianyu from the airport is pretty difficult to mess up.

LapLap

[strokes chin]

Thanks for the hand holding whilst I'm skittishly mulling over the initial Airport - Mutianyu part of the visit.

Is there any way to calculate what the price of the trip should realistically be?
By my own calculations - the trip is 60kms - 43RMB to get to km15, then about 160RMB for the remainder portion of the journey - about 200RMB total.
Source: http://www.tour-beijing.com/taxi/

Knowing that I would be deeply unhappy if the fare came to any more than 250RMB unless I could see for myself what the cause of the detour/delay was.

So I know that there is a police station at Mutianyu near the gate to the Great Wall. What details should I be looking out for in the cab so that he can be identified should I need to make a report?

Will not be asking the taxi driver to wait for us under any conditions.

drewguy

As I read through this I'm a bit worried you're using the wrong exchange rate for RMB. 600 RMB is about US$100. From the Disney Tokyo website, a 1-day Tokyo disney ticket costs Y6400 (about $62), and a 4-day passport costs Y16500 (or $160). So 8 days would cost at least $320, unless you can get some large discount (which I'm sure exists).

I realize $100 isn't a small amount of money to anyone other than the ultra-rich, but in the scheme of travel, when you're paying for hotels, meals, and admissions, it's not a huge expense for a good part of the day, especially when you're saving on the taxi ride (RMB100) or airport express (RMB26/person) into the city and avoid the hassle of multiple changes on public transit, with luggage, a stroller, and a lap child, plus the risk (however small) of being stranded.

moondog

I don't know how to make this point any clearer. I've taken well over 5,000 taxi rides in Beijing, and have only filed TWO complaints, both of which were because the drivers were rude to me, not because they tried to scam me. The odds of you getting cheating during your single data point are so remote that planning for the worst in advance strikes me as a huge waste of mental energy. BUT, since you asked, the proper way to file a complaint against a taxi is to call the service hotline and provide the number on your receipt, your origin, and your destination. Police generally don't like to be troubled by matters such as these.

BTW, in spite of the fact that your fare calculus makes sense, I would budget Y300 for PEK to Mutianyu (iirc, there is a toll or two along the way).

LapLap

4 days at Tokyo Disney = 16,500 JPY
16,000JPY = 990RMB
8 days = 1,980RMB or 320USD

Less than the 2,100RMB my hotel quoted for a round trip to Mutianyu and not including entrance and chairlift/slide fees.

Exchange is more straightforward for me than you as 1RMB is roughly 10 pence as used in the UK (GBP is my base currency). In other words, 2,000RMB is roughly 200GBP. Simple!

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moondog
I have a habit (not intentional) of collecting unfortunate experiences with taxis. Considering how rarely I use them, my track record is not great. Rather than take the "it will never happen to me" approach, my assumption is that it will. Driver getting lost (regular occurrence), driver breaking his thumb during the drive and insisting on continuing despite going into shock, driver shunting another car on the way to the airport, driver going out to relieve himself and not returning for 20 minutes, and not to mention the number of times I've forced the driver to stop and then got out of the vehicle because the seatbelts don't work.
Taxis are a crapshoot, for me at least.

MSPeconomist

How do you plan to deal with the stroller and rest of your luggage? I don't understand the comment "Leave stroller at the airport (checked in with rest of luggage)."

Upon arrival into China you must collect all your luggage and take it through customs. I would be very surprised if you could then check it in for your next flight, which would be the next day at the earliest. If you're staying more than one night, when do you plan to return to the airport to get the luggage and stroller?

LapLap

If Air China cannot keep on to the luggage (I have limited experience with transfers and, yes, I am staying in China for just one night but more than 24 hours):

Beijing Airport, left luggage service:
http://en.bcia.com.cn/server/service...econsign.shtml

Yet another example of how the costs of a short visit start to rack up if you don't keep an extremely tight reign on the spending.
Air China uses the piece system for flights to/from Japan, we will have quite a lot with us.

---
Not including the extra 200RMB required to take the more direct rout to Mutianyu, foreseeable frittered away spending is already racking up and comes to: 300RMB or so for +24 hours of luggage storage, 200RMB for an extra night at our hotel (a luxury when we booked but now should be used by friends, so that makes me happy), potentially, 100RMB+ for a taxi to the airport on departure (our flight leaves at 1:30am, daughter should be asleep and a dead weight by 11pm as I plan to exhaust her). Running total so far is 500+RMB. Add on the Airport to Mutianyu taxi and "money-spent-to-make-our-lives-easier-and-more-comfortable" is already 700RMB
Hope this brings some extra context on why I need to keep our costs to the absolute minimum.

moondog

Why not consider using this Y300 to bridge the gap between the one way and round trip taxi (you could leave your luggage in the car)?

moondog

The more I think about it, Y300 for luggage storage strikes me as completely over the top (most hotel rooms near PEK cost less than this).

LapLap

There's no chance I will be handing a large chunk of our worldly goods to a stranger to look after in the boot of their car (that's assuming 5 bags + stroller would even fit). Already didn't want to pay someone to wait for us, that person having all our luggage just makes something that already makes me uncomfortable even worse. You may as well advise someone who hates dogs to spend part of their holiday in a bikini in a puppy kennel when that person is actually looking forward to visiting the reptile house.

The other option is to take a taxi to the hotel and do the Badaling itinerary suggested by jiejie. Only thing is that I would prefer not to take our luggage out of the airport. Wasn't long ago that I spent a year bedridden and public transport with a wheelchair is not high on my list of experiences I wish to repeat. My back isn't great so 300RMB for airport luggage storage knocks out most of the other alternatives.

Another alternative is to get the luggage to the hotel using a taxi, back track by subway to Maizidianxiu and then get on the 916 express at Sunyuanqiao (West Station) Biggest difficulty with that option would be identifying the bus stop at Sunyuanqiao. Especially as most English speakers in Beijing seem to have the same attitude towards buses as I do towards hiring drivers and taxis.

pushmyredbutton

Just to chime in. I've done this trip from PEK to Mutianyu with my family and friends on a few occasions.

Reading through this thread, all I can say is good luck to the OP. There's absolutely no 'scare' in negotiating 500rmb from the airport to mutianyu. Take a picture with your phone (let the driver see you) of the ID card in the taxi if you really worry about leaving your stuff with him.

This is China, not Thailand. And if you think your cost and time estimates are even close to accurate for the public transport options (I speak some Mandarin and I've tried them including the 916 bus)...you're gonna have a bad time.

You've been offered some good advice; my advice is to take it.


EDIT: Let me also add that you're far far far more likely to be scammed with the public transport option rather than a taxi, especially with the minibus of someone pretending to be the 916 bus, if you look even remotely like a tourist.