Dodgy Beijing taxi driver

I owe a huge thank you to my friend in Beijing.

You see, I am now back in Beijing. I got in last night and as usual, I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel (after all, the company is footing the bill). Normally, I wouldn't have a clue as to which route would be the best - which basically means that I am normally at the mercy of the taxi driver to take the best route. Its no surprise when I tell you that I have been conned by taxi's before.

Last time I was in BJ, my friend showed me a map of BJ and explained to me how the road system works. In Beijing, there are several major roads which run in concentric rings around the center of BJ. Basically, to get anywhere in BJ, you need to get onto one of these concentric rings and then follow the ring round. Which ring you go to depends on which road you need to get to.

Some roads will be served by several rings. In this case, taking one of the outside rings means that you end up with a significantly longer journey. Bear in mind that the outside ring, simply by virtue of the fact that it is further out, means that you will be traveling in a larger circle.

The airport in BJ is just outside Ring 5. The hotel I am staying in is right in the center of BJ. To get to the hotel from the airport means that you have to cross all 5 Rings. Normally, the taxi driver would take Ring 2 or 3 (or sometimes even Ring 4 if they believe there may be big traffic jams).

The taxi driver yesterday took Ring 5 - which means a pretty large detour.

I immediately asked him why he took Ring 5 instead of one of the inner Rings. He gave me some wishy washy excuse. At least, I assume it was wishy washy as he didn't sound very confident. I don't actually know what he said as my mandarin is very poor and the taxi driver spoke too quickly for me to understand.

I immediately started to practice my mandarin - preparing to argue with him about why I wasn't going to pay extra for his detour. However, when we were nearing the hotel, the taxi driver, once again, explained his (wishy washy) reason for taking Ring 5 and then said that I could pay what I pay normally.

End result - I payed what I payed last time and saved a chunk of money (relative to the actual price shown on the taxi meter). Granted, even if I had payed the taxi meter amount, I would have claimed back the amount as expenses. However, the point is that no-one likes being conned.

So - huge thank you to my friend for explaining how the road system in BJ works.