Taxi Taxi Taxi

Episode 1
To go from the hotel to the station we grabbed a taxi. That turned out not to be that easy as the hotel is located on a round about so it's hard for taxis to stop.
Finally one stopped and accepted to take us to the station.
That taxi ride was one of the fastest and most dangerous I've ever been into since I'm in China. The driver drove like a maniac, changing lane every 2 seconds, never willing to stop for more than 3 seconds, etc. We nearly killed 5 pedestrians or bikers and probably nearly died as many time in fights with buses or red lights.
Despite the stress of the ride we made it, safe and sound, and let's face it in almost no time given the rush hours.

Episode 2
Back at the station from the Terracotta army visit we needed a taxi to get back to the hotel. Getting one was not that easy as obviously they would not stop in front of the station where the police woman regulating the traffic could see them. Once we figured that out we walked further away from the station and after quite a significant number of failures (we actually wondered if taxi drivers were so rich or business was so good that they became picky on their rides...) we finally found one that stopped and was willing to take us in.
Struggling between traffic and rain we eventually reached the hotel in quite a smooth ride and while I was explaining to the driver we wanted to go to the airport from there in my best Chinese Wolfram jumped out of the car to pick up the luggage.
That choice of us to keep the same taxi seemed reasonable on the spot given how hard it was to get one turned out not to be so smart in the end. The driver drove 50km/h sometimes 70km/h on the highway. Instead of 30min it took us 1h to get to the airport. Of course the 2 of us were more and more stressed because we had roughly 1h to go before the end of check in. Of course we could not tell him to go faster as from experience if you do that Chinese drivers get upset and either go even slower (hard to believe it's possible) or just kick you out of the car (definitely not an option). Wolfram spotted after a while that his gas tank looked pretty empty and most likely he was trying to save gas... still 50km/h on a highway!
We did make it right on time to check in though so I guess we stressed for nothing.

Episode 3
After a 2 hour flight we landed in Shanghai. Now let's get a taxi to go to the hotel. The shuttle service closes at 9pm and we did not know for sure where was the hotel so not easy to get a bus. Thus taxi.
The moment we stepped out of the hall a lady came to us asking if we needed a taxi. Of course we ignored her and tried to figure out where was the beginning of the line to get an official metered taxi.
That lady was smart and stubborn. She did not let go and followed us insisting even more. She was reassuring, saying she would use the meter, that it was official taxi, etc. Everything in me was telling me there must be something wrong, but we ended up following her to the parking lot where indeed a taxi was waiting. Maybe I was wrong.
Once we got in and started the car she switched the meter on. Maybe my instincts were really wrong this time. Now she was smart as the way the ticket was position on the meter was hiding the display and the amount. But I could see the reflection of it on the side window and it looked like the meter was turning normally.
I have to confess I was still feeling uneasy about it and literally kept my eyes on the meter or its reflection the whole ride. At some point the driver pushed some button and the amount changed and did not move anymore.
When we arrived at the hotel, they asked us 350RMB, as shown on the meter. I knew it!
For perspective the ride should be between 100-150 RMB according to the travel guide. So clearly that was way to much. I argued, I debated, I calculated based on the number of km and cost per km, etc. 160-180RMB it should have been, not 350RMB. After 5min of tough negotiation we agreed on 200RMB. Way less than what they asked first but still too much. Gosh I hate being screwed like this.