Hongqiao airport taxis - Ughhh!
Boys and girls, I think I have made a basic decision about airports. I am going to boycott Hongqiao and try Pudong exclusively for a while. The reason? The taxi drivers and the taxi queues at Hongqiiao!! The whole this is sooooo disorganised and dirty and I wouldn't be surprised if it was corrupt in some way as well. The little emperors of the Hongqiao taxi queue as it was two years ago were prosecuted for playing games. Basically involving feeding the high paying customers -- people who want to travel a long way -- to certain chosen taxi drivers.Anyway, the situation now is even worse. You have a choice. You can line up in the main queue to take one of the small company taxis, a very high proportion of which are driven by thieves, rogues and crooks. I had my bag stolen by one of them just over a year ago, and I have had any number of conversations with these guys over the years where they try to convince me to go a long route round to avoid the 15-kuai highway toll booths. Attitude, driving skills, road knowledge -- the taxi drivers who line up at Hongqiao are the pits, the worst in Shanghai. And most of them smoke in their cabs too. Yuk!!!! For the past year or so, we have had a choice -- there is a second queue in between the two terminals for the Qiangsheng taxi company. But they say they only do short trips to the Hongqiao area -- they won't take you into more civilised regions. Previously I have always lied my way into the taxi, saying I'm going to Hongqiao area, then suddenly change my mind and give the driver the chance to take a larger fare for once. They always agreed, especially when I told them I was a loyal Qiangsheng customer and wanted to avoid the tamade crooks in the main taxi line. But yesterday, the Qiangsheng driver refused to take me where I wanted to go, and threatened to drive me back to the airport. I know it's not his fault. Qiangsheng has ordered the dirvers to do it this way. But the whole system is based on the lazy, inefficient, unreasonable attitude of the small company taxi drivers who only want to do Suzhou. I was in a hurry, so I gave him some opinions on service, the market economy and the way the adminsitration of China is organised. Then paid and got out of the cab. If I had had the time, I would have agreed to go back to the airport, refused to pay and wasted two hours of the drivers time in animated discussions with the police. Next time. IF there is a next time. Pudong airport is looking more attractive every day. The taxi queue is orderly and there's no nonsense. If you want to get to civilisation cheaply, you can take the airport bus for just 19 kuai, which takes you to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The driving time is a bit longer. And the number of stop sign intersections they have placed along a major highway is ridiculous. But at least it doesn't leave you feeling dirty. Ughhh!! and
 Byeeeee!!!!
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