Uber Beijing experience?
 

I'm visiting Beijing for the first time in a few days. I recently tried Uber car service for the first time in New York and was very impressed with the convenience. I just read that Uber has started a few months ago in Beijing?

Has anyone used Uber in Beijing to or from the airport? I am wondering about the wait times for a car given that the service only started very recently. I would like the convenience of a private car over taxi, and Uber is quoting slightly less than half the price my hotel is for a transfer.

Uber Beijing has only sort of launched (very limited fleet). Ctrip's car service is a pretty good deal from the airport.

Any option will be cheaper than a hotel car service.

As follow-up, I used the hotel's car service from the airport (I know, I know).

Just for jollies I opened up the Uber app a few times whilst at my hotel (Wangfujing). At certain times of day I'd see a few cars roaming around nearby on the map, however when I left the hotel finally at 7am Monday morning the app could not detect a single car anywhere. I took a taxi - 30 minutes and Y100.

Last I was in Beijing, taxis are plentiful, no need to use an app to flag them down. Also, taxis in Beijing are a lot more regulated than any of the US cities. Once, my cab driver got quite a bit lost and my fare ended up almost double what it should have. Friend called cab company and they quickly sent the cab driver to my dorm to apologize & hand me a full refund. My friend explained that the taxi company could be in serious trouble if we report it to the authority.

There is a phone number on the bottom of all official taxi receipts that you can call to report discrepancies. Always get a receipt!

Haha!

-CBD/Jianguomen between 3p and 8p
-Guanghua Lu between 4p and 10p
-SLT between 8p and 2a
-Guomao any time
...MANY other examples

I struggled to get taxis sometimes, as did staff at my hotel and also another that I used. I think it very much depends on time of day, how far you want to go etc. many 'available' taxis were refusing fares. Doorman at hotel seemed to indicate it was common.

The procedure for hotels fetching taxis on the fly consists of: 1) waiting for drop-offs and hoping those taxis will transport their guests; and 2) sending staff out onto the street to fight with everyone else who wants to leave the area.

#1 does not work very well during around shift change times. Meanwhile #2 is often a hopeless case. I used to work near the St. Regis, and learned that there was simply no point in standing in their queue during the afternoons. By strategically positioning myself on the street, I was usually able to succeed within 15 minutes, but struck out on numerous occasions, and didn't even try when it was raining.

Most taxi drivers in Beijing now use an app. I guess it works a bit like Uber to the extent that the driver gets messages from people looking for taxis in the area where he is. People leave a voice message saying where they are going and while driving the driver is notified that someone is looking for a taxi 100 meters from here then they hear the message. Not sure how efficient it is compared to just flagging one down. It's not like the Beijing taxis are lacking clients.

IME the taxi apps are effectively meaningless during busy times because there is simply no incentive for drivers to detour to the St. Regis when hundreds of people are taxi hunting along the way.

Apps work a little better in Shanghai because price controls are less stringent (i.e. high bidders win), but this has caused a bit of an uproar because it undermines the government's pledge to keep taxis affordable for the 老百姓.

Just FYI, official taxis in Beijing are NOT allowed to refuse a fare unless it is going past fourth ring road after sundown (might be 10pm, can't remember which). They may give excuses that are not actually refusals (for example: I am done my shift, waiting for the other guy to take the car) but they cannot outright refuse, otherwise they are fined when reported.

That is why I learned to just get in. Just open the door, ask "shi fu, zou ma? 师傅，走吗?" and if they ask you where you're going just sit down first and tell him. If you can read the ID plate on the front seat you can report them or threaten to do so if they refuses you out right. If he has a good excuse then it comes down to your bargaining or complaining skills (please? pretty please?). If your telling the guy at the hotel where you're going and he's trying to get cabs there and telling the driver where you're going before the cab gets to you then the hotel employee should know this rule and tell the cab he cannot refuse a fare simply due to it being inconvenient for them.

I know this may sound mean, but when your standing around for an hour trying to get a cab you lose regard for such niceties.

Also travel in general in Beijing is the opposite of convenient. Taxis are not easy to come by, basically anywhere in the city at all waking hours. Some taxi companies offer a service where you can call and they will take down your information and call you back in a few minutes to arrange a convenient time for the taxi to pick you up, but I can't remember where I found the phone number that I had saved in my old phone, I think they are just written on the rear windshields of taxis.

1) "Unofficially", they can and will tell you to pound sand if they don't care for your destination. (This was not true ~10 years ago before McDonalds employees surpassed them in the income category.)

2) Advance bookings are okay during off peak times, but good luck pulling one off during an afternoon in the CBD.

I used it in Guangzhou once. Cheaper than in Seoul and Tokyo but the car was older than my own vehicle and reeked of smoke. Wasn't too happy about that.

True, it depends a lot on the taxi company. The company I find that has the best overall service and cleanest/newest cars is 首汽 Shou Qi, but especially in the East of the city it's hard to find empty 首汽 cars around. All the taxi company names are printed on the outside of the cars though, so if ever you have the choice you can opt for them.

Advance bookings are useless at certain times and places though, it is most useful if your calling a cab at 2AM and don't want to be standing out on the street for 20 minutes or if you're booking ahead for the next day.

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.

Most visitor's Chinese is not up to snuff to direct a taxi: have everything printed in Chinese, incl. phone number of destination. Taxi will likely be less hassle than uber.

Likelihood of a scam is very low if you go to the official taxi line.

However, after midnight, waits can be long: up to 1 hour at times...be forwarned.

tb

Thanks, hmm I'll probably stay at the airport hotels then.

Really? Although I guess with jet-lag, you could always relocate at 05:00 before the traffic gets bad!

Do note that it _can_ be long waits: not always the case -- although usually at least 20 minutes late at night.

tb

Not a smart idea unless you need to be at the airport the next day. You're probably not going to walk to any of them either. And, the area is a ghost town at night.

To be fair, he's arriving at midnight, so unlikely to 'out and about' after arrival. Makes sense if not too much baggage, and can relocate early the next morning.

The nice airport hotels are pretty pricey though, and the not so nice ones, really not so nice!

tb

Thanks guys.

I saw the Hilton and Langham airport hotels are expensive! :eek:

Maybe I'll just wait for a cab and book a hotel in town.

Beijingers use Uber clone Didiche and some other apps to book taxis. There is a bidding war now between the Paypal clones which are offering drivers extra incentives to pick up customers off the apps, so many drivers will not pick you up off the street as they would rather wait for an app pick up to make an extra buck.:(

As for Uber, one difficulty is that drivers usually do not speak English and visitors lack a SIM card, yet passengers need to call the driver to arrange a pick up location at the airport.:eek:

Visitors to Beijing should also be aware that many drivers -- especially taxi but also some Uber -- do not know the city and expect the passenger to provide directions -- in Chinese -- even to popular tourist sites or major hotels. So, just having an address printed out is often not enough for the driver to know where to take you.:o

For non-Chinese speakers, I'd recommend a hotel car or (less expensive), book a car from ctrip.

Good luck!

Anyone used "People's Uber" in Beijing? It's very cheap, but not sure how reliable it is.

Link to People's Uber web site here

I'm crying foul on the "providing directions" bit. Pretty much the only times I've EVER had to provide directions to drivers in Beijing were to/from the airport, and this was only to request the ring road of my choosing (i.e. still would have made it even if I hadn't spoken up). This is because Beijing's layout is extremely EASY... very difficult to screw things up.

In spite of the fact that I've panned Uber-Beijing in past posts to this thread, I have to say that it's rising up the ladder at lightening speed. Baidu's enormous investment is also a pretty good vote of confidence.

have lousy Internet connection to site so only thread I could get to come up on uber was this older one. I went to sanlitun last night and when I went to go hotel and went to taxi queue I could not get any cabs to pick me up at all. After about 45minutes of trying a Chinese girl told me I should use uber and she was going where I needed to so she took me in her uber car. How is uber in Beijing now, is it something English speakers can use? At this point I am concerned about going out at night if I'm going to get stranded with no cabs.