Using Didi in China
 

I have to admit I have never used Didi in China before, but I've been told that apparently I can use a foreign credit card (Visa, MC, AMEX?) in the app. So is it as simple to use as Uber? I'm assuming I can download the app while I'm still in the US, register, add my credit card, and start using it in China? Is it simple and safe to use? Does it avoid the problems with taxis? I can speak Mandarin so I'm not worried about the language barrier. Is it much cheaper than taxi?

Trying to flag a taxi on the road has become very difficult. Even taxis are booked via apps. I find that in many place, using Didi is the only way to get around.

If you use the AliPay Tourpass (which should be available to you as a foreigner), you can pay for Didi with it, which is quite convenient. I tried this in Shanghai a few days ago, and it worked well.

This is now insanely hard! I use the metro as much as possible, but it's not an option after it closes:p

Totally agree with ya!

My taxi from the bar to home on January 1 set me back y100, but I sucked it up.

Didi is as easy to use as Uber, afterall you know who they spy to make sure they get all the good features.

I've had it linked to my US CC for a longtime, no issues. Like you I can speak, but can't read, so I love the English Didi options. As to Didi you can book taxi with them, or private cars ( more Uber like ), generally find minimum difference with the private car options and the better thing with them the car/driver are in general better than the taxi drivers, but less interesting people to talk to IMHO

For those in the UK who are finding that the app isn't available, I just set up a second US appleid with a fake address. Downloaded the app and linked a UK credit card. It appears to be working, I shall know definitely in a few weeks.

I'm probably in the minority with this opinion but generally I prefer the taxi drivers to DiDi drivers. I get that taxi drivers can be evil at times, but for my general usage of getting to/from the office, here in SZ, I'd rather a taxi driver than the Didi driver. These are short trips, the fare is usually 13-16¥. Even when taking longer trips, I see very little difference between the Didi and taxi fares.

I find that many of the Didi drivers seem inexperienced and are timid drivers. They follow the GPS blindly, probably need to follow GPS by Didi rules, and as a result seem to have limited knowledge of alternate routes in case there's some need to be creative. Maybe it's because I'm an old impatient fart but I routinely find myself backseat driving the Didi drivers. With the taxi drivers, I never do this and usually trust them to get my to my destination the quickest. Mostly they know the roads very well and understand traffic patterns, construction detours,etc.

I do use Didi a lot because I can't speak Chinese and the English version of the Didi app works great. I can speak enough to tell the taxi drivers how to get to my office. So in the morning it's a taxi to work and if I go back to my girlfriend's apartment, I need to use Didi since I can't relate the location properly to the taxi drivers.

I guess I'm a little old school. I get the benefit of using Didi but in practice I feel the taxi drivers are consistently better, at least my experience in SZ.

My DiDi thoughts:

Long distances, such as to the airport, I generally do Premium, the usual home to work or restaurant run I take Didi Express or Select. Between 7.00 AM and 9.00 AM and 5.00PM and 10.00 PM and on Fridays and Saturdays in the late night it becomes harder to get a Didi. The surcharge system does not help much. Uber was much more aggressive in charging higher surcharges, and the chance to get a car in those situations was much better.

I am also very relentless complaining about Premium drivers to the customer service, if there was something I don't like, e.g. charging extra fees without informing me or providing fapiao for it or almost falling asleep and slowly moving into the adjacent lane. I got real furious once while I was travelling with my kids to the airport. Funny enough, sleepy drivers happened to me mostly in the morning like 7.00 or 9.00 AM.

But in general I think DiDi Preimum drivers drive quite careful. For Premium you also get a bottle of water. Especially arriving at an airport, rushing to the pick up spot, it is a nice little add-on.

For taxi drivers, I had even more experiences with sleepy drivers. But complaining there to the hotlines is useless.

Normally I find Didi drivers are driving more careful, less heart attack likelihood compared to taxi drivers. And that also goes for Didi Express or Select drivers - after all it is their own car. On the other side, I agree with synthkeys that they are less familiar with the roads, although in a city like Shanghai taxi drivers also do not know every corner and shortcut. In Guangzhou they usually knew the streets better.

In some cities I always use Didi, because I am just fed up with the taxi drivers there. Especially in Tianjin I had more than half of my times the experience, that they tell me some BS about the meter is broken, and they have to charge higher, there is a airport charge of 50 CNY without fapiao, or drive a really long extra route in the evening, saying there is less traffic - but then had felt like hundreds of red lights with each 2-3 minutes of waiting. Beijing experience is similar, although slightly different reasons. Some of the best experiences with Didi drivers I often have in very small cities. They are usually so overwhelmed that they can drive around a foreigner in their car in their town. Bit of Chinese helps wonders ...

Helping with luggage, only Premium drivers consistently help on their own. All other you need to ask to help in 90% of the cases. Some taxi drivers help when we are with kids, but I believe more because they are worried we damage the cars' interior when lifting in and out the buggy. Only exceptions are airports when there is supervising staff. I believe the drivers would get in trouble there, if they don't help.

As I have a local bank card, Didi is linked to my Alipay, so I cannot add anything in regards to foreign credit cards.

There are also other services besides Didi in China, which you can also use via Alipay app - but with English service I only know Didi so far.

I think the majority of Didi drivers rent their car. Only a very small number of drivers own their car outright.

I know a few people in China who work as Didi drivers and they all do it with their car. It is because that they own a car that they stated this sort of work in the first place.

For all practical purposes these rental drivers may treat it as their "own" car. These are long-term rental contracts lasting at least a year.

This is especially the case in Beijing (and perhaps Shanghai) where non-local drivers can't even legally get a Beijing car registration, which is required for driving through Didi. So rental is the only option for anybody except Beijing locals (and very few Beijing locals drive Didi or taxis). Here is an article in Chinese explaining the mechanics behind this:

https://www.weiyangx.com/330997.html

1. Beijing is challenging because of the lottery system
2. Registering cars in Shanghai costs a lot (i.e. ~60x) more, but my understanding is that anyone, including foreigners, can do the drill