Q about shanghai

[origami]

(XP)
I just got home from a trip to China and have a question I didn't get answered before I left. I was at the Bund late (10:45 PM ish) on a Friday. I tried to take the subway back to my hotel but didn't realize the line I needed to change to shut down at 11p. So I ended up stranded at a subway station by the pedestrian mall type thing on nanjing (sp?) street. It was raining and my 90yr old grandma was with me. We tried hailing taxis and no one would agree to take us to our hotel, which was about 15min away by car. Why was that? The taxis wouldn't even slow down to see where we were going. They'd just shake their head and drive on. Empty ones I mean. It wasn't just us either; they rejected everyone around us too. We ended up finding a Marriott that called one for us so we didn't have to walk (for an hour in the dark in the rain without a map). Is there only a certain kind of taxi that runs late? I was so confused.

[GilliC]

Did they have the indicator on that they were available?

I always found that once a Chinese taxi driver was done for the day, there was no way he was working a minute more. No indicator, no ride.

[origami]

May 19, 2014 18:47:44 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Did they have the indicator on that they were available?

I always found that once a Chinese taxi driver was done for the day, there was no way he was working a minute more. No indicator, no ride.

yah they had their light on. That part made me mad. If you don't even want to slow down and see where I need to go shut your light off. WTF.

[GilliC]

They make you even madder if you actually get into the taxi. Two accidents in two weeks, driving across town the wrong direction, stopping at green lights so the meter ticks, and oh that lovely garlic-in-winter taxi aroma. Yeah, I don't miss them.