Guangzhou Travel: My 'Don't Get Burned' Guide - True Story! ⚡

[Jose Beahan]

Hey, friends who are coming to visit Guangzhou, listen to my advice! When you take a taxi here, you should keep your eyes on the road by using your phone map to track the driver's route; otherwise, you may end up paying two to three times more than necessary!

The story is like this:

A few days ago, I went with my friends and children to play at Guangzhou Chimelong Park.

• It's a large theme park area in southern China that has several different sections, and both Adults and kids love it.
• We wanted to go from "Birds World" (a place where you can watch various types of birds) to "Chimelong Happy World" (mainly roller coasters and other thrilling rides).
  • There were free shuttle buses within the park, but they only run every half an hour; we were tired of waiting with our kids.
  • Even though it was around 8 km (not far), so we decided to travel by taxi.

But then, something strange happened:

• First Taxi (ordinary taxi we got off the street):
  • Cost us 39 RMB.
  • He actually ran 10.5 miles and took 25 minutes.
• Second Car (car booked by my friend via online taxi booking like Uber or Lyft, in China the most used ones are "Didi"):
  • Only cost 14 RMB!
  • Actually covered 8.3 km and arrived at 15 minutes.

I fell asleep as soon as I got into the first car because I was exhausted from visiting the Birds World.

• When I woke up and paid, it just felt wrong. After seeing the meter reading, I was sure the driver took some extra roads! But since I was sleepy at that time, I had no hard evidence.
• In the end, the driver offered 5 RMB refund. Since we were eager to reach Happy World to continue playing, we didn't argue much.

Inside the park, we found our friends who took the second car reached a few minutes earlier (they left later though!), and asked them about the price: Wow, only 14 RMB; less than a third of what we paid! I was shocked.

Actually, sometimes ride-hailing platforms might give discounts, so cheaper prices are common. But such a huge difference is not normal! It's true that the extra money isn't much, but the feeling that you're being deceived as an ignorant tourist is really annoying!

Fortunately, things in Chimelong were indeed fun, all the attractions were great, and all these negative feelings gradually faded away.

In conclusion, let me remind everyone enjoying Guangzhou:

• Important warning, tips to avoid getting scammed when hailing a taxi:
  • What's wrong: In Guangzhou (actually many tourist cities have similar problems), some taxi drivers will specifically extend routes for foreigners, raising their fares significantly.
  • Avoidance measures:
    • Use navigation, always pay attention to whether the driver is going along the way proposed by the navigation: Open your phone app (such as Google Maps, or use high-standard Chinese navigation App named "Gaode Map" or "Baidu Map"), input your destination, and check if the driver takes the recommended route.
    • Ride-sharing online app usually offers safer choices: Prefer services such as "Didi", which provides reasonable estimates in terms of distance and fare. Such apps record the drivers' route, making them less likely to cheat.
    • Keep in mind: Before hailing, check the distance and fare prediction with your own navigation app, and raise doubts about significant increases in actual charges.

I hope everyone can enjoy Guangzhou and not be worried by these minor problems!

[Theodore Wiza]

From the South Station to the hotel, a ride-hailing service costs 30, while a taxi is 100.

[Tanya Bogisich IV]

Ah, sounds like you've been through that too, huh?

[Delia Jast]

So, you're saying it's better to get a ride-hail instead of a taxi?

[Elaine Boyle PhD]

I think either is fine, you just have to make sure the driver doesn't take a detour.