First Taxi Ride

The first taxi ride you take will not be a dull one. I think this goes for most of China but I have only been in Xi'an. Getting a taxi for me was an easy task. I had long blonde hair so the taxis would spot me and just stop, even if I didn't wave them down! My first taxi ride was to the Drum Tower. The taxi rolled down the front passenger side window for me to tell him where I was going. I showed him a map of Xian and pointed to the picture of the Drum Tower. He nodded his head and I got in the back seat. I looked around quickly making sure I was in a real taxi looking at the meter, making sure it was working and that the driver had an "employee card" on the dash board. The taxis have bars separating the front and back seats like a police car. I found this odd. Also a magazine chained onto the bar to look at. I will tell you right now you will not be looking at the magazine your first time in the taxi because it you will be trying to breathe! As the taxi took off I decided to fasten my seat belt because we were whizzing through traffic, we didn't stay on the proper side of the street, never slowed down for pedestrians, and apparently stopping at a red light is optional! I could not believe it. A "U turn" is also very common even though there are signs everywhere saying not to do it.
It is interesting to say the least to be driving on a two lane street which they manage to make five lanes squeezing in between bikes, people standing on the road waiting to cross, double decker busses, mopeds and rickshaws! Everyone is honking their horn at each other and I thought to myself "why does everyone drive like this and then get angry and honk because of their road rage?" I soon realized that the honking is not so much for "yelling" at the driver in front of you but for many other purposes such as "I'm behind you" or "I'm about to pass you" and "I'm coming towards you" but not in a rude manner. Really they pretty much honk for everything. When the tower was in sight I was relieved. The price of a taxi in Xi'an (within the city walls) will probably never cost you more then $2 CAD. There is a certain way to pay for the taxis as well which didn't take me long to realize. If the price is 5.60 for example the REAL price is 6 Yuan. If it is 4.40 the REAL price is 4 Yuan. It is always rounded to the nearest number. If it is right on the half mark there are 50 Cent bills (very small red ones) and you can give exact change which is what they want! Do not try to pay with a large bill, when you go anywhere and are planning on taking a taxi home make sure you have a small bill. If you know your way around and you think the taxi took advantage of you and made the ride longer then needed take the receipt when the ride is over. They will hand you or you can ask for one. There is a number on the receipt that you can call and complain. There will be a taxi number on the receipt to give them. I’m not sure but I think some how you can get free taxi rides by doing this…?