Results tagged “taxis”

Seems like taxis in Shanghai have been getting a whole lot of attention lately. Chinese in-taxi media company, Touchmedia, is launching an interactive map in more than 10,000 taxis around Shanghai next month, all in preparation for next year's Expo.

• Once seen as spies, Taiwan eases China media curbs [Reuters] "Taiwan has relaxed rules for Chinese media, long regarded as spy organizations for the Communist government, as relations warm between the two long-time political rivals, officials said on Wednesday. Effective immediately, Chinese media, which include state-run giants such as Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television, can increase staff from two to five people apiece and travel to any part of Taiwan or its outlying islands, officials said."
• Chengdu traffic gives rise to new profession: taxi chasing [GoChengdoo] "We've written before about how frustrating catching a taxi in Chengdu has become in the last few years. And although 800 cabs were allegedly added to Chengdu's streets last month, it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. But now help is on the way, in the form of a "chubby figure" who chases down cabs for passengers, collecting 2 RMB each time."
• In modern China, no place for totalitarian anthems [China Media Project] "How should we best understand the extravagance that marked China’s recent National Day celebrations? In the wake of the pomp and circumstance, a good friend of mine summed it up with a single phrase: “Four portraits and four anthems.” By portraits he was referring of course to the four massive portraits of state leaders - Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao - that gazed over the celebration."

Londoners living in major Chinese cities may find themselves feeling a little more at home in the near future. Geely Automobile Holdings, a Hangzhou-based budget car maker, plans to manufacture and sell about 1,000 of London's iconic black cabs throughout China by the end of the year.

The days of the hallowed Volkswagen Santana, long the automobile of choice for basically all Shanghai taxi companies, may soon be screeching to a full stop.

Under debate right now at the city transportation bureau: whether taxi fees need to be rejiggered. According to Xinmin, the bureau is considering abolishing the “night time fee” since low demand and strong supply was causing passengers to negotiate directly with drivers for lower fares. Instead, they would consider increasing fees during rush hours - a sort of “peak time fee” instead - that would hopefully help decrease demand for taxis during the most crowded parts of the day. The bureau said that since new regulations will effect everybody, they would conduct comprehensive feasibility studies before passing anything.

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Shanghai officials have issued a warning against taxi drivers that may be using black market devices to scam passengers. The gidgets, which can be had for "several dozen yuan" either make the meter tick faster or increase the distance traveled.

City Weekend brings us murmurs that the Shanghai government may soon crack down on those taxi televisions that broadcast ads nonstop (with nary an off button in sight). Declarations by the local government and officials from the World Expo Environment Improvement campaign hinted that taxi commercials could fall into the category of visual and audio pollution.

Photo from Laurence&Annie

Last Thursday, an irate passenger stole the taxi he had been riding in after having to wait in a blocked street. According to the Shanghai Daily, the man, surnamed Wang lost his temper when a truck blocked the traffic of Wanping Lu in Xuhui District. After arguing with the truck driver he "broke off the taxi's rear-view mirror and hit himself over the head with it", and then proceeded to smash the taxi's meter. Subsequently Wang injured the taxi driver, managed to take his keys and drove off. Wang was soon detained and the taxi later found abandoned.

Taxi driver strikes have been spreading from city to city lately. China Digital Times tells us of the latest one that took place in Guangzhou:

Cabbies in Guangzhou took to the streets Monday to protest the alleged beating of a fellow cab driver by a government official yesterday evening. The cab driver was beaten by three men after a traffic accident. Related photos, video clips and blog posts were all over Chinese cyberspace. The official media also quickly put out its own version of this protest. Read these stories from Xinhua and Shanghai Daily.

"Although senior citizens would be happier if their family visited more often, they are generally satisfied with their lives in the city, a survey by the Shanghai Quality Association revealed on Monday."

• In a Beijing-inspired move to reduce traffic, Shanghai civil servants will not be allowed to drive their cars on certain days of the week, decided according to their cars' license plate numbers.
• This Tuesday, government officials declared that more than RMB 4 billion will be invested in a move to improve Pudong New Area, the site for the 2010 World Expo. Among other measures, 200 square meters in 25 old neighborhoods will be "reconstructed", ie., torn down and replaced with skyscrapers.
• In a crackdown this Thursday cabbies who refused to drive customers to destinations in the Lujiazui area were named and shamed, as well as fined and cut off from work for 15 days. Some taxi drivers have avoided driving in this area since the distances are considered too short or because traffic is slow.

Photo by 2 dogs.

Another great production from Daedalum Films, this one directed by Arnaud Kamphuis:

There are over 45,000 taxi drivers in Shanghai. Zhou Senlin is one of them. Following him around the city, we learn more about a difficult profession many take for granted. Over his long shifts, Zhou tells us about his life as he observes and adapts to the metamorphosis of an entire city, bringing better opportunities for him and his family.

You know about getting tea-housed, you've heard about the 'art student' exhibitions, and now it's time to talk about fake red cabs.

The Maglev station in Pudong has long been a breeding ground for taxi drivers eager to rip-off new arrivals. You step off the train, and into a den of thieves.

News tidbits from the public transportation world:

Perhaps you have noticed that Shanghai taxi drivers are wearing orange T-shirts these days. They are for the Special Olympics (which, we assume, local cabbies are more interested in than the Women's World Cup?) and on the back we're pretty sure it says "I Know I Can," which is the event's slogan. We asked one of our drivers today if he liked being able to wear a T-shirt instead of the usual cabbie outfit (some...

Gold, silver, bronze? Nah. According to Bloomberg.com athletes the world over have smog on their minds when it comes to the quadrennial Olympics competition next year in Beijing. Gunn-Rita Dhale, Norway’s reigning world champion for women’s mountain biking had this to say about her future host city,

We have whined before about the dearth of decent restaurants in Shanghai's airports. Pudong travelers are still better off brown-bagging it, but it seems relief will soon be on the way for domestic travelers: Element Fresh is opening up shop at Hongqiao Airport. From their website:

Shanghaiist has a fondness for elephants retained since our childhood exposure to Barbar. In mid-May we linked out to a Washington Post report that stated that the world's illegal ivory trade was being facilitated by Chinese-run smuggling rings that have extended their reach into Africa over the last decade.

Shanghaiist has been hearing a lot of rumours of late of dodgy, well, more dodgy behaviour along the Tongren Lu bar strip south of Nanjing Road. This morning, Shanghaiist was forwarded an email by our golf-enthralled editor via one of his trusted acquaintances. The email contained details regarding the assault of two expat males on Tongren Lu this week.

Here at Shanghaiist, we think the Letters from China blog has been busy carving their own blogging niche by reporting on yet another novelty condom available here in China. Not content with sharing the news that police warrant card and Lei Feng frangers were to be found in China, they have now identified the big bopper — Chairman Mao condoms:

We have seen GPS units in Shanghai taxis before, but the one we saw yesterday (pictured) seemed a little cooler than most (if the word "cool" can in fact be used to describe a GPS unit in a taxi).

We received this message from a reader this morning:

Alright, it was probably a marketing gimmick, a poorly conceived and ridiculously expensive one at that, though more likely Dazhong was merely taking orders from senior city officials who, in their infinite wisdom, had thought that the move would spiff up Shanghai’s image as a modern and international metropolis. But, now that Chen Liangyu is public enemy No. 1, time to can the idea! Interestingly, back in June, Hangzhou quietly took its fleet of luxury cabs off the street, Shanghaiist doesn’t want to speculate on that city’s mayor’s political future …

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