Beijing's public transportation system is much better than any other US city I have visited. The subway lines are clean, go almost everywhere in the city and the bus lines cover all the spots on the map not occupied by subway stations. However, if you need to get somewhere quick, a taxi is your best option. The taxi drivers drive like it's their last day on earth and they are always fun to talk to (if you can get past their incredibly thick accents). Most importantly however, taxis are cheap. The meter starts at 10 RMB ($1.50ish) and doesn't start going up until the distance you are driven is over 10 RMB. Most taxi rides end up costing 20-40 RMB which doesn't even equal $10. One thing I would like to point out though, is the mysterious mini microphone masterfully tucked away in a corner of the dashboard right across from the front passenger seat. What is it's purpose? Why is it there? Is it the government spying on its citizens? Or just for recording taxi conversations in case a belligerent foreigner decides to pick a fight with the taxi driver? Please give your opinion in the comments section.
3 comments:
definitely to record people like me:) Although it probably explains why no drivers like to criticize the government when you ask them pressing questions.
It's had to believe that these are there to record anti-govt. views. My guess is it a quality control measure to keep taxi drivers from swearing or over charging. It would be interesting to see if this is done in Japanese taxis.
Hey readers. I asked a taxi driver what the microphone was for and he said it was mainly used durring the Olympics to talk to a central language translation center. If a passenger didn't speak Chinese the driver could radio in the the language translation center and a translator would tell the driver what the passenger was saying! Cool right?
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