Wow, thanks for the insight.

Anyone else able to comment about taking Uber from PEK to the Peninsula? What is getting Uber like at PEK after traveling for 18 hours ?

I wouldn't use them for an airport pick up because finding the driver could be far more annoying than waiting in the taxi queue (which seems to move pretty quickly these days).

But, I've been meaning to update this thread because my recent Beijing Uber experiences have generally been positive. Often, there are no cars nearby, but when there are, this can spare you of having to battle others for a taxi.

Actually if you can speak/read Chinese, Di Di Taxi (滴滴打车) is very good, I tried it twice during a recent trip to Beijing, and both times during rush hour. The first time going from the Doubletree to Chaoyang Park at 17:45, got a taxi within 3 minutes with no extra fee on top of the fare, even though there was a taxi line in front of the hotel. The second time from Chaoyang Men to the Doubletree at 19:00, got a taxi within 5 minutes also no fees. It's great if you speak Chinese, and if you have an AliPay account you can pay with your phone. There is the option in the app to "sweeten" the deal for the driver by offering up to 20RMB tip too.

I didn't know about the tipping thing, but my one experience with 滴滴打车 consisted of me being stood up. Do you know if they accept Tenpay/Wepay?

Many drivers who participate in DiDi do have a QR code in their cars you can scan to pay, I don't know if you can use it with Wepay though.

Also a tip for DiDi is to use the voice feature, to say where you are and where you're going by voice, like this more drivers see/hear it than those who can't keep up with the text stream. You can also mention larger tips in your voice message than the 20RMB limit, although I didn't need to tip at all.

I don't use DiDi since my spoken Chinese is awful and writing non-existant. But yes, it does accept wechat/pay (apparently preferred according to some sources!).

I am surprised, given that non-Chinese speakers make up <0.4% of the Beijing population, why there are cabs that pick up passing traffic at all these days...but in all honesty, it's been (touch wood) no worse than usual.

The additional benefit of the voice feature is the ability to really, really annoy the customer currently sitting in the cab...:rolleyes: :D

tb

"...The additional benefit of the voice feature is the ability to really, really annoy the customer currently sitting in the cab... ..."
Agree, it is quite annoying.

One of my flights next year is to PEK but arriving right after 12 midnight.

Should I go for the regular Taxi at the official stand or try an Uber there? Like someone mentioned, I wonder how the Uber is gonna find me. My spoken chinese is very poor and written/reading skills are non-existant.

Haven't decided on Hotel yet.

Yeah it goes off frequently in the Taxi when I was in Xiamen.

Taxi is simple. Follow the sings and get in line. Wait is never that long. Have you hotel name and address in writing in Chinese (found on the hotel website).

Okay will do, hope I don't run into any trouble or scam etc...

Don't worry about that stuff.

Will do, cause my mandarin sucks big time. I've only been to PEK once for 2 nights only.