Taxis

Riding in taxis is pretty cheap and convenient in Xi'an. The problem is taxi drivers don't really like to pick up foreigners, because we can't tell them where we want to go.  So on Sundays when we need to travel clear across the city to attend church, we text Henry, a private taxi service.  His drivers know where we want to go, and even though it costs a little more we just schedule a taxi pickup and away we go.  Then he returns to pick us up when we're finished.

We've tried to take pix of our bus stop, and other landmarks to show the taxi drivers.  Last week we rode the bus, which is extremely cheap, but often smelly and crowded, to the German Metro (aka Costco).  It was raining when we emerged with our 4 bags of Gouda cheese, meat, cream, avocados, Greek yogurt and other delicacies.  Tim was anxious to get home to listen to the BYU game, so we hailed a taxi.  We stuffed our bags in and hopped aboard, only to discover a female taxi driver.  We showed her a picture of the Rainbow Bridge, which is our drop-off point.  She didn't have a clue where to go but took off anyway.  Finally she pulled a U-turn, so we thought we were headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, she was a very timid, conservative driver, which does not serve one well in China.  We got into terrible traffic and she was letting all the cars cut in front of her.  I thought Tim would have apoplexy.  The meter was running, and we were still miles from home.  Soon we spied the International Mall, which has a bus stop  we recognized.  We motioned for the driver to pull over and let us out, paid the fee to nowhere, and climbed the steps of the footbridges over the street intersections to catch a bus.

Of course, it was standing room only, and still raining.  We tried to hang on to our 4 bags and case of yogurt.  I stood by the door so I could breathe occasionally when the bus stopped for passengers.  The windows were so fogged up we couldn't see anything familiar, and weren't sure when we were getting close to home.  Finally, after several miles, we rode into familiar territory, and were able to get off at the right bus stop.  Then we carried the bags home and up the stairs to our apartment--still training.  We really enjoyed the groceries, but basically it was the trip from Hades.  Tim will never get into another taxi with a female driver!

Basically, riding in a taxi is a bit of a gamble.  There are bars between the front and back seat, so you just hang on, cross your fingers they're taking you to the right place, and rejoice when you arrive at your destination!