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Numbers tell a story. And the number emblazoned upon a Shanghai taxi’s dashboard tells a tale of experience -- i.e., how long the particular driver has been in the job. The higher the number, the less time he or she has spent behind the wheel (numbers are issued in sequence, just like baggy green caps).
There’s nothing quite as frustrating as jumping in a cab to find a driver with a shiny new license placard and a very large number -- something starting with “27”, for example -- and receiving a quizzical look when you ask to be taken to Xintiandi. (Unless that look is actually a reflection of the driver’s disdain for Xintiandi, rather than his ignorance of its location. That would perhaps be fair enough).
So when we jumped in a cab the other day to find a driver wielding a dog-eared, sepia-toned license picture reading “000022” we knew we had a veteran on our hands. Not surprisingly, our trip was a pleasure. The bloke was a bit gruff and didn’t speak much English -- hence his inability to gain more than one star over such a long career -- but he certainly knew his zuo guai from his you guai.
Anyone encountered 000001 before?
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I really like your writing style in this post and the one below about the airline giving too much head.
I've been trying to figure out the taxis. I thought a driver will get 2 stars automatically once he has been driving for 3 years. That doesn't fit with your 1 star dude with his number starting with 00.
To get 3 stars they need to take an exam, then they can get a whopping salary of 200 per month ontop of whatever percentage they get.
If you can clear this up for me I'd really appreciate it - only for curiosity's sake.
I actually ran into 0000001 in Beijing about 5 years ago. It was amazing. He was working for the Zhuyuan Guesthouse near the Drum Tower in Beijing, don't know if he's still there, as a house driver. His brother worked at the guesthouse. He was a great guy, in the Beijing cab driver style. I ran into a Chinese tv crew that very same day and tried to convince them to go directly to the guesthouse and shoot a story, but they didn't seem as excited as I was...
The driver is not always the one on the dashboard license, it is most obvious when the picture and the driver are not the same gender.