Taxis in Xi'an

There are about six taxi cab companies in Xi'an. The less expensive ones are green colored.There are also black colored cabs that often line up at the airport.Here are some tips for taking taxis in Xi'an.

• Write down directions: Unlike other cities in China, the taxis in Xi'an aren’t regulated, so there is a greater chance that you might be taken for a long ride or go around in circles. To avoid this, try to have your directions written in Chinese on a piece of paper.
• Within city walls: If you travel within city the old city walls from place to place, the charge should be less than about 10 RMB.
• Airport: The Xi'an International Airport is about 50 kilometers or 30 miles northwest of central Xi'an. It should cost about 100 RMB to take a taxi to the Bell Tower or the Xi'an Train Station and the Xi'an Bus Station in central Xi'an.
• Airport Toll: If you travel to the airport, the toll fee for the airport expressway is 10 RMB. This charge isn’t reflected in the meter’s tally.
• 3-5 PM: During these two hours, there is a driver’s shift change. A driver might not pick you up because he or she needs to get off work. Since this happens during rush hours, you might have a more difficult time to find a taxi.
• Use the meter: To avoid problems with taxi drivers, make sure they use the meter. Locals often negotiate about prices and don’t use a meter, but taxi drivers may try to charge tourists a lot more.
• Carry change: Counterfeit money is common in tourist cities. Since tourists generally aren’t familiar with how Chinese money looks, they often get fake coins and fake bills. In one kind of scam, a taxi driver will take a bill from a customer and secretly switch the bill for a counterfeit bill of the same denomination. He hands the bill over saying that the bill is fake and asks for different money. To avoid these problems, carry small bills and coins.
• Problems: If there is a problem, write down the driver’s ID number, the license plate number and other information. Tell him you’ll call the Taxi Management Bureau or the police. Just doing these actions will often get them to change their behavior. However, the industry isn’t as well regulated as in other cities.