tauphi

For foreigners who have a valid residency permit things are easy because you'd already have income tax receipts and such. However, for non-local Chinese nationals who are trying to work as a taxi driver, I doubt they'd have the requisite income tax receipts to prove that they're working legally in Shanghai. IOW they simply can't get a Shanghai registration even if they have the money. There's also the issue that simply having enough money is no longer sufficient to win the Shanghai registration auction since there is now a price cap. It's essentially a lottery just like Beijing but you stil have to pay 100K for it.

Akiestar

Quite late, but yes, Didi works with foreign credit cards. Although my Didi account is tied to my ICBC US UnionPay card, I have registered non-UnionPay cards with it before. The downside though is that you can only register one credit card at a time. I've only used Didi in Shanghai and Guangzhou, but in both instances I found my drivers to be generally pleasant and capable of coping with my halting command of Chinese.

Another frustration with Didi is that while you used to be able to charge driver tips to your foreign credit card, this is no longer the case, and you'll need to tip them using Alipay, WeChat Pay or some other local system. I usually use Didi on long trips (like hotel to PVG), so I don't tip, but on shorter trips if this continues to be the case I'm going to start handing a cash tip to my driver to go around this, given my own troubles with trying to set up an Alipay or WeChat Pay account.

lsquare

Is tipping mandatory? I almost always don't tip in China. Do you know what Didi code as on a credit card?

moondog

I almost never tip myself, but with Didi you can pretip to make yourself more desirable. This comes in handy when the weather is bad and/or on weekend nights. One thing I have noticed about foreign cards is that the taxi options disappear from my menu when I switch to foreign cards. This isn't a huge deal because the lower priced Didi options are about the same price, but it obviously does result in a smaller pool.

lsquare

You actually had trouble getting someone to pick you up with Didi when there was bad weather or on the weekend in Shanghai?

What do you mean by the "taxi options"? I don't have any Chinese payment methods and I think I was counting on some dp in the other thread as to whether I would try to open one up in SZ when I was in HK before the COVID-19 became a pandemic. If Didi accept my Chase cards (I wonder if Didi code as ridesharing with my Hyatt card?), that would solve one problem when transit isn't available (like the time I missed the last subway back to the Courtyard near PVG; fortunately I was able to use Apple Maps and followed the instructions back by bus!)

moondog

1. It's not hard getting cars during bad weather if you book an expensive class or significantly up your offer
2. Almost all taxi drivers use Didi (and similar) to the extent that legacy booking channels are almost completely obsolete

Akiestar

Tipping isn't mandatory (e.g. I never tip at restaurants), but when it comes to taxis I want to make the trip worthwhile for the driver. If LAX to my office is $40 USD and my trip from the Fairfield on Gonghexin Road to PVG is about Ą200, of course I'd want to give more.

You have the option to pre-tip and to tip at the end of the journey. The latter for sure you need a Chinese payment method; the former, I believe you also need one but it may be possible to pass tips using foreign cards. I need to check this again the next time I'm back (whenever that will be).

I've never tried booking taxis with Didi, but I see the option in the app. Is this a more recent development?

ICBC doesn't code it as anything, but perhaps I should try using a different card the next time I'm back in China to see what it codes as. I think it will code as ridesharing though, similar to Uber.

travelinmanS

Taxis are fairly priced in Shanghai, there is no need to tip and it certainly isn’t expected by the drivers. They are more than happy to get that Zhabei to Pudong run for 200!

moondog

I'm not sure how recent it is, but it is a nice feature to have at your disposal:

Akiestar

Oh no, I mean I know I can book taxis with Didi, but how recently was it that I can't pay for one with a foreign credit card?

moondog

As I mentioned in post 19, the taxi option disappears when I switch to a foreign card, so I don't think it's possible.

tauphi

No they almost certainly are not fairly priced. The per-km rate hasn't gone up in over ten years.

travelinmanS

And yet it's never been easier to get a taxi to or from the airport (including didi). If it's so unfair why are there so many people looking for the gig?

tauphi

Because it's about the only ride that pays more than a pittance? Seriously how much has the cost of living gone up in Shanghai over the last ten years? The cost of housing in Shanghai is similar to most Western cities and the taxi fare is nowhere near the Western average.

moondog

The more relevant metric is how much have wages increased over the last 10 years, though there is obviously a strong correlation. But, I approach things from the wage perspective because it's important for people who make 6k per month to be able to afford taxis. Based on my own company's salary data (small sample size, and our industry is not necessarily representative of the big picture), 5k per month 10 years ago was the rough equivalent of 6k per month now. As such, I suppose a ~20% (e.g. flag drop increases from 14 to 17) bump in fares might make sense. Didi rates would obviously follow suit.

That having been said, I'm uncomfortable with the idea tipping just because you feel drivers deserve more money. This just sets expectations, and unevens the playing field. I have a little more sympathy for pre-tipping. While this practice still screws over poor people, if they venture outside on a rainy Friday night, they know what they know what they're getting themselves into. Furthermore, tippers jumping the queue aside, it's much better to book a didi and wait (in comfort) for an hour v standing on the side of the street for 30 minutes.