Beijing's Awesome. Never Again. (Seriously.)
-
It's only been three days since I arrived in Beijing, and I already got scammed twice! This is fast making me lose my enthusiasm! This post is purely intended to vent about the unpleasant experiences during my Beijing trip, as well as warn fellow tourists. However, I am not targeting local Beijingers!
-
First Unpleasant Experience: Encountering a Greedy Driver
-
After departing from Daxing Airport (a major airport in Beijing, located far from downtown), I hired a taxi en route to the eastern part of the city. However, it turned out that the taxi driver intended to bring me through the Third Ring Road in the western part! In a city as vast as Beijing, you can imagine how ridiculous it was for her to take such a detour.
-
This lady was particularly enthusiastic, chatting with me nonstop throughout the journey, just aiming to distract me from her detour tactics.
-
Their common excuse for taking detours goes something like this: "The driving distance may increase by a few kilometers, but you'll avoid traffic congestion and save time!"
-
Result? A route that should've taken an hour ended up costing us over two hours! My afternoon schedule got completely messed up!
-
️ Tips for Avoiding Taxi Scams -
Before getting into the car or after getting in, it's best to open your own navigation app (such as AutoNavi, Baidu Maps) and monitor the route.
-
If the driver says they’re taking a detour, make sure to ask for the reasons and verify them yourself with the navigation app.
-
If anything feels suspicious, immediately voice your concern or find a safe place to request the driver to pull over so you can switch to another vehicle.
-
-
Second Unpleasant Experience: Getting Overcharged During My Great Wall Tour
-
My family and I went to Mutianyu Great Wall (a popular section of the Great Wall near Beijing), and we decided to hire a car for convenience.
-
Unfortunately, the car didn't drop us off directly at the cable car entrance; we still had to line up for the shuttle bus provided by the scenic area to reach the cable car station.
-
When we settled the bill, the vendor sneakily added extra charges!
-
The reason given: “Because your kid is from Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan, we have to charge adult fees, 155 RMB.”
-
Our kid has yet to reach the height standard for free entry (under 1.2 meters in China, many attractions do not charge this age height group admission fees), and we showed them a screen capture of the website rules.
-
Upon seeing that, the car service company quickly denied their earlier claim and deleted the reason for additional fees. It was truly infuriating!
-
️ Great Wall Hiring/Entrance Fee Anti-Scam Tips
-
Be clear about all costs regarding the vehicle before hiring (e.g., whether road tolls and parking fees are included) and where exactly you will be dropped off (entrance gate or cable car entry/fortress entry), by writing these details down on paper, or confirming explicitly in the WeChat chat.
-
Check out the ticket pricing policies for the attraction (especially related to children and seniors) beforehand on the official websites, and keep a screenshot of the information handy.
-
Carefully check the bill before paying, and raise any questions right away on-site, don’t be bothered by the inconvenience.
-
-
Some Heartfelt Words:
-
To be honest, I know these scams may not necessarily come from genuine local Beijinger folks, just some individual cases on their bad behavior. However, these experiences undoubtedly leave a negative impression on foreigners visiting Beijing.
* Nevertheless, I’ve also encountered many wonderful people here too, such as Teacher Zhang, who showed great hospitality, fun spirit, and politeness at the Forbidden City. This person truly embodies what I envision as someone from Old Beijing (referring to those warm-hearted, honest, and polite locals)!
-
-
Drivers taking detours has nothing to do with the region; it's all about the driver's conscience.
-
Exactly, it's all individual behavior. It just ruins your mood and impacts your trip.
-
Taking a taxi can't possibly be faster than the subway.
-
The main reason was that traffic conditions at the time showed a taxi would be faster than the subway. Plus, I was with my child and had two large pieces of luggage, so I opted for a taxi. But that was the only time; after that, it was all buses and subways for us.
-
I'm just wondering, if you're heading east, where exactly? How on earth could they detour via the West Third Ring Road…?
-
My destination was near Wangfujing. The navigation showed the route: Daxing Airport Expressway - South Fifth Ring Road - Dexian Road - Tiantan East Road - Dongdan Santiao - Xiaowei Hutong, with an estimated travel time of about 1 hour and 7 minutes, and no traffic. When we reached the interchange of Daxing Airport Expressway and the South Fifth Ring Road, it was raining heavily. The driver said, for safety reasons, taking an extra 2-3 km detour would be faster and safer. Then she drove west. I thought we were going to take the Jingkai Expressway, but to my surprise, she continued west, past the Jingkai Expressway. When I realized something was wrong, I immediately asked the driver to return to the original navigation route. Not only did this back-and-forth add over ten kilometers, but more importantly, the heavy rain caused traffic jams, wasting a lot of time!
-
On my very first day in Beijing, I had a meal at the entrance of Hongshan Residential Area in Panjiayuan. I didn't order many dishes, yet it cost 179 yuan, and the food was cold. I was so mad.
-
That's such a rip-off! Luckily, I haven't been scammed with food myself, but I still can't get used to Beijing cuisine. On the third day, I switched back to chain restaurants.
-
I just got back yesterday. We used the subway for all our travel, and it was very convenient. Ride-hailing drivers tend to drive quite aggressively; I don't know if it's because of the fast pace of life. Staying near a subway entrance, without chartering a car or joining a tour group, makes independent travel very convenient and enjoyable. The only thing is, when you're with elderly people and children, you can't use shared bikes after exiting the subway, so all the walking is quite tiring.
-
I'm planning to take the subway to the airport for my return trip as well.
-
For Mutianyu, no matter how you get there, everyone has to take their official shuttle bus to reach the foot of the Great Wall. Then you can choose your way up, whether it's hiking or taking a cable car. A private car genuinely can't take you all the way, so that part alone isn't a scam.
-
I didn't use the company in the picture. I just want to point out that many car charter services on Xiaohongshu and Taobao explicitly advertise 'skip the shuttle bus line.' Isn't that deceptive? Besides, many chartered cars can indeed take you directly to the cable car entrance.
-
Actually, it's not a Beijing problem, nor is it an issue with any particular region. It's a people problem! You really find such individuals everywhere. All one can do is sigh. I'm from Chongqing, and we have people like that there too, alas...
-
In my personal experience, this situation is much better in Shenzhen. Maybe it's because most people there are migrants, so they don't try to rip off newcomers.