In the mood of writing again. Maybe just a little bit more, before I take a 3 day break from the writing scene. :)
Taxi (and Taxi Drivers)..
Taxi is a very common means of transport in the cities. In fact, the way I see it, some locals may not even advise you effectively on their local bus services. But they can give a pretty good estimation of taxi fare (and duration of the journey) from one place to another. I mean they seldom say “ 你可以在那里乘搭 123 号的大巴到 XX 。” They often say, “从这里 da3 di1 (means to take a taxi) 过去，十分钟就到了。很方便。”
We met a good range of taxi drivers.
Unfortunately, our very first encounter was a scary one. I remember we were near the infamous Guangzhou train station. We approached two taxi drivers waiting nearby (with our backpacks) and told them our intended destination. Both gave us that kind of can’t-be-bothered-with-you kind of face, and merely looked away. Mm..
When we flagged down the next taxi, I remember the driver looked frustrated. I said our intended destination. There wasn’t any visible respond from him and so I repeated myself. Surprisingly, he agitatedly uttered, “Ji1 dou2 la.. (means I know in Cantonese)” and was slowly driving away. We opened the door and hopped in anyway, for we didn’t feel particularly good near that station. Argg.. That fellow over-charged us somemore.
Another strange thing was…
All taxi in the cities has an iron grill separating the front row seat and the back row seats. There is instruction saying only children and ladies can be seated in front, next to the driver. No adult male is allowed to take that seat. Wa.. There must be some kind of event leading to such a measure. But if all drivers behave like what I described just now, erm .. kena hamtam is just a matter of time.
In Guangzhou, we were advised to take the yellow cabs. The yellow cabs are the most reputable ones. We tried. Indeed they are, for I remember on our last trip from Guangzhou 中央大酒店 to our accommodation, that yellow cab driver shared merrily with us and gave us some good tips along the way as to where to shop / makan / etc..
To be on the fairer note, we met many more good drivers. I like to mention 2 more.
(1) The driver (马东) that brought us from Songpan to Huanglong and then to Jiuzhaigou.
Upon seeing that we were under-dressed, he kindly advised us to get socks for our feet. Huanglong was really cool. We really under-estimated the coldness. I thought it was summer. But… Altitude made a difference.
Also, when we told him that we had not booked the accommodation at Jiuzhaigou, he voluntarily activated his lobangs and suggested/hunted down a pretty decent place well within our budget.
(2) The driver that brought us from 川主寺 to 九黄机场.
That guy was super friendly and knowledgeable. He knows the dates when the airport was first built and when the extension building was completed and started operation.
He advised the best dates (after the 15th of October) to visit 九寨沟. For that is when the leaves will well be red enough. Haha..
Besides, he knows our country leaders pretty well and the year of their visit to China, particularly to 松潘.
Plus, the meter showed the fare of RMB34, but he insisted in collecting only RMB30. Wa..
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