A taxi is usually your first real conversation in China: no menu to point at, no front desk to translate, just you and a driver who speaks zero English. The whole interaction — getting in, naming a destination, stopping, paying — runs on about a dozen fixed lines.
Every phrase on this page is a real recording by Joy, a certified teacher from Nanjing. You will find all of them, with her audio, in the free 30-phrase guide — so you can play them out loud instead of gambling on your tones.
Never take a ride from anyone who approaches you inside an airport or station hall. Licensed taxis wait in the official queue outside; touts inside quote flat rates several times the metered price. Our airport arrival guide shows how to find the real queue.
In a legitimate taxi the meter goes on as you pull away. If the driver quotes a flat price instead, this one sentence usually settles it — and if it does not, take the next car.
Traveling with luggage, you will also want:
Every phrase on this page — and 200+ more — lives in the China Survival Kit app: tap to show it big, play it in teacher Joy's real voice, and let locals tap their answer back. Works 100% offline.
Get the appFree 30-phrase audio guideDo not say the address out loud. A Chinese address spoken with wrong tones is noise even to a patient driver, and most drivers cannot read pinyin or English. Show characters instead.
Before you leave your hotel, take its business card from the front desk, and screenshot your destination's name and address in Chinese from your booking or maps app. Then hold up your screen and say:
When someone — a waiter, a receptionist — knows your next stop, hand over your phone's notes app and ask:
Getting home is the same move in reverse — show the hotel card:
One destination deserves its own sentence, because it tells the driver you are on a clock:
Keep a photo album called "Addresses": the hotel card plus every place you plan to visit. It works offline and survives a dead SIM.
The classic tourist overcharge is not a rigged meter — it is the scenic route. Open your own map, keep the screen visible, and say:
The driver now knows you are watching, and that alone ends most detours. For getting out you need two versions: one for right here, one for up ahead where stopping is safe.
China runs on mobile payment. As of 2026, Alipay and WeChat Pay both accept foreign cards, but setups change — verify yours actually works before you fly. Cash is still legal tender and drivers will take it, though many carry little change, so keep small notes.
Always take the printed receipt. It lists the taxi company and the car number — your only realistic way to recover a phone left on the back seat. If a fare dispute turns serious, 110 is the police number everywhere in China.
Ride-hailing removes most of the language problem: destination and payment happen inside the app. What remains is the pickup. Your driver arrives, cannot spot you in the crowd, and calls. Answering in English usually ends with a cancelled ride.
This is the one long phrase worth having ready. Send it as a message in the app — or better, play it into the phone when the call comes.
Swap the B for whatever exit or gate you are standing at. In the China Survival Kit app, this exact line exists as Joy's recorded voice for precisely this moment — hold the phone up, press play, and the driver hears a native speaker telling him where you are.
New to Didi entirely? Set it up before you land with our step-by-step Didi guide.
Almost never, including in Beijing and Shanghai. Show your destination written in Chinese characters and use a few fixed phrases — that covers the entire ride.
Show the address in Chinese characters — a hotel business card or a screenshot from your booking app — and say "Qǐng sòng wǒ dào zhège dìzhǐ" (please take me to this address). Never read the address aloud in pinyin.
Yes, cash is legal tender, but drivers often carry little change, so use small notes. Most locals pay by Alipay or WeChat Pay; check that your setup works before you fly.
Don't answer in English — that often gets the ride cancelled. Message through the app instead, or play a recorded Chinese phrase telling the driver exactly which exit you're standing at.
Every phrase on this page — and 200+ more — lives in the China Survival Kit app: tap to show it big, play it in teacher Joy's real voice, and let locals tap their answer back. Works 100% offline.
Get the appFree 30-phrase audio guide