How do people get around Chinese cities, and what does it usually cost?<\/p>\n
One common method for getting around the city is \u51fa\u79df\u8f66<\/strong> (chu1zu1che1) taxis, but depending on where you are in China, the prices and availability can vary.\u00a0 The \u4e0a\u6d77\u8d77\u4ef7<\/strong> (shang4hai3qi3jia4) Shanghai starting price is 12 RMB.\u00a0 While in Shenzhen it fluctuates.\u00a0 Formerly it cost 12RMB at flagfall, but this cost was later lowered to 10RMB.\u00a0 Before long, a gas levy of 2RMB was assessed for each cab ride, making the effective price once again 12RMB.\u00a0 I was recently in Xi’An, but I don’t recall the flagfall price (it may have been around 8-9RMB) as much as I remember the difficulty in getting cabs.\u00a0\u00a0 Drivers might be afraid that \u8bed\u8a00\u4e0d\u901a<\/strong> (yu3yan2bu4tong1) we wouldn’t be able to communicate and therefore would not acknowledge the presence of me and my two traveling buddies.\u00a0 Drivers that weren’t concerned about linguistic concerns were \u4ea4\u73ed<\/strong> (jiao1ban1 switching shifts).\u00a0 By the end of the trip, when we saw passing cabs that we couldn’t flag down it was \u89c1\u602a\u4e0d\u602a<\/strong> (jian4guai4bu2guai4 – nothing strange to look at.\u00a0 It would’ve been nice to at least find a \u9ed1\u8f66<\/strong> (hei1che1 – unlicensed taxi), given that we had only 2 days in Xi’An.<\/p>\n Subways are another way to get around the city, and they too vary depending on city location.\u00a0 During the day, the inside of the subway car can be rather \u62e5\u6324<\/strong> (yong1ji2 – crowded), this is the case regardless of city.\u00a0 In Beijing, you can travel the whole city’s subway system (excluding the airport express train) for 2RMB, while in cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, your fare is \u6309\u76ee\u7684\u5730\u7b97<\/strong> (an4mu4di4di4suan4) calculated by your destination with a top fare of 5RMB.<\/p>\n Public Buses (\u516c\u4ea4\u8f66<\/strong> gong1jiao1che1)<\/p>\n Public buses are the cheapest form of transportation, with Xi’An’s cheapest bus not costing more than \u4e09\u6bdb\u94b1 (san1mao2qian2) 0.3RMB (about 0.04USD).\u00a0 In Beijing, it’s more likely to cost several RMB, with pricing based on end destination.<\/p>\n Coming up next, I’ll be discussing the different ways that public transport fees can be paid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How do people get around Chinese cities, and what does it usually cost? One common method for getting around the city is \u51fa\u79df\u8f66 (chu1zu1che1) taxis, but depending on where you are in China, the prices and availability can vary.\u00a0 The \u4e0a\u6d77\u8d77\u4ef7 (shang4hai3qi3jia4) Shanghai starting price is 12 RMB.\u00a0 While in Shenzhen it fluctuates.\u00a0 Formerly it…<\/p>\n