Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Traveling in China via Taxi Hawker

After being in China for a few weeks, I have been feeling stressed from too much structure -- not in my work but in the transportation/ability to move without a schedule! So on my recent return from a business trip to Taiwan, I did not request a scheduled airport pickup! Decided to just get a taxi on my own!!

Similar to Korea, there were "taxi hawkers" at the exit from the arrival hall. Rather than waiting in line (okay pushing in line), I took one of the offers from the hawker. The taxi that was offered was a legitimate taxi/green etc. And on the way we started for the one hour trip to Fuzhou city.

Approximately 10 minutes or so into the trip, the taxi pulls to the side of the road where the migrant workers were waiting for work. After a few minutes discussion, the driver asks me to move to the front and the three additional passengers put their luggage and food in the trunk before they pile into the backseat. At this point, I decided that just in case something happened along the way, I should at least send myself a text message with the guy's license plate. If I was missing maybe someone would think to search phone records??!!

The trip was actually uneventful: The three extras were polite and agreable not to smoke, the taxi driver made alot more money, I actually contributed to being "green", and I can now say that I have at least experienced a typical long-distance taxi ride in China.

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