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I just crossed back to Shenzhen from Hong Kong yesterday. A few random observations... In HK, a lot of the taxi drivers are old guys who can barely read, don't

I just crossed back to Shenzhen from Hong Kong yesterday. A few random observations... In HK, a lot of the taxi drivers are old guys who can barely read, don't speak English or mandarin, and are a real hassle to deal with unless you are a Cantonese speaker. A lot of the taxis have weird fare manipulation lookup tables instead of correct metering. Although the mass-transit oriented stored value card, Octopus, was established decades ago, you still can't use it in taxis. Further, if you want to top it up, you literally can't top it up with anything smaller than HKD50 (USD$9) even if your fare costs less and you only have small denomination local money. There are no electric taxis, but plenty of rich people own Teslas. If you ask 20 odd Hong Kong banks about cross-border RMB payment APIs (HK is supposed to be a financial center, after all) not a single bank can offer you one. In fact, just to open a regular bank account is now so difficult standard waits can exceed 2-3 months (and success is far from guaranteed). So what does HK still have to offer? (1) A legal environment under Beijing's auspices but with nominal resistance to mainland corruption and manipulation. (2) Superior international financial connectivity and services if you can get a bank account. (3) Liberal visa-free travel policies for people from most countries. That's about it.

larrysalibra 9y ago
Right on about Hong Kong taxi drivers. They also tend to be racist opting to skip non-Chinese looking passengers. > A lot of the taxis have weird fare manipulation lookup tables instead of correct metering. The fare table is because the Transport Department raised taxi fares on April 9th and taxis that haven't had their meters adjusted are required to use the fare table. http://www.td.gov.hk/en/publications_and_press_releases/press_releases/transport_department/index_id_2706.html http://www.td.gov.hk/en/publications_and_press_releases/pres... > You literally can't top it up with anything smaller than HKD50 (USD$9) even if your fare costs less and you only have small denomination local money. This is the same as Shenzhentong card in Shenzhen which can't be loaded with less than CNY50 at a reload machine. If your fare costs less than HK$50 and you don't have more cash, buy a single trip ticket. If you really want to pay with Octopus, top up your Octopus card with HK$50 and get a refund of the value after your trip. Those of us that live here in Hong Kong never have to deal with adding value to our Octopus card because we can link it to our Hong Kong-issued credit cards. > If you ask 20 odd Hong Kong banks about cross-border RMB payment APIs (HK is supposed to be a financial center, after all) not a single bank can offer you one. Mainland China has capital controls - that is why transacting in RMB cross border is difficult. Banks aren't allowed to offer that service. > just to open a regular bank account is now so difficult standard waits can exceed 2-3 months (and success is far from guaranteed) You are right...the difficulty in opening a bank account is a huge problem for business in Hong Kong. > So what does HK still have to offer? * civil society * amazing mountains & beaches * great food * excellent sports infrastructure * public transit that is a pleasure to use * no capital gains, interest, dividends, import, VAT, or sales taxes. * territorial taxation (Hong Kong residents are only taxed on income sourced from Hong Kong) * great people both local and from abroad * ubiquitous gigabit fiber to home for < US$30/month. 10 gigabit fiber to home available in many locations.
goobynight 9y ago
Note that you can use Octopus for way more than just transit. You can buy groceries or stuff at 7-11 with that, so you can easily use it all. 9 usd will go quickly here.
emodendroket 9y ago
I don't know why it's so shocking that the taxi drivers should not be masters in speaking foreign languages. I would find it odder if they were all well educated and fluent in three languages.
- rz2k 9y ago
  It sounded like a contrast to Shenzhen. Throughout the world, taxi drivers in international cities know a couple dozen words in multiple languages. Paris, Rome, Berlin, Madrid? Even if they didn't grow up speaking Mandarin, it sounds like a conscious decision, if they don't understand a request in Mandarin from a rider today. Of course, this is just one person's set of impressions, too.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    There are no English speaking taxi drivers in Beijing. I was freaked out when a taxi driver in Shanghai talked to me in English, it just isn't common anywhere else in the mainland.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    The conscious decision would probably be learning Mandarin phrases. Presumably a mainlander who was having trouble could always write the name of their destination. I haven't been to Europe but in Asia I don't think it's the case that most taxi drivers know much English. Some of the Japanese ones offer an in car interpretation service over the phone but I've never had occasion to use it.
    - rz2k 9y ago
      I meant that they might know phrases in French, German, and Spanish more than English, though in the case of Europe English is pretty common. However, to be fair, in my experience, some people in Europe have hang ups too about different languages. I speak Italian, can pass with a little French, and know no German. In the northern Italian mountains people would start conversations with me in German based on my appearance, and in resort towns there were a number of people who chose not to learn Italian, but English was okay. Similarly, a friendly lady was trying to help me in a train station in Paris, my French wasn't good enough to understand some detail, her English wasn't any better than my French, and I asked her if she spoke Italian. She curtly answered no, and seemed a little offended. I imagine I'd have similar stories if I only spoke English and French, English and Spanish, or English and German. Would people react with occasional distaste if you tried communicating using Cantonese in Beijing?
spacehunt 9y ago
> There are no electric taxis We did have them, from BYD no less. Unfortunately they kept blowing up. The owners did the only sensible thing, which was to dump them.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  I thought exploding electric BYD taxis was a Shenzhen thing?
  - spacehunt 9y ago
    They imported the same model - the e6 - to HK (only change was right hand drive), so they imported the same problems too.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
I've never encountered a taxi driver in HK who didn't at least speak mandarin, many could even speak English. Perhaps it's just most of my interactions were to and from the airport?
- ksec 9y ago
  There are two type of Taxi ( Actually three, but we leave it out for now ), and three type of Taxi Drivers in Hong Kong. Two types of Taxi are Green Taxi for N.T Area, and Red Taxi for Kowloon and Hong Kong Island Area. And the three type of Taxi drivers are separated by the areas mentioned before. If you arrive in Hong Kong Airport, or take Taxi in Hong Kong Island, you will highly likely meet a taxi drivers who could speak Mandarin, English and Cantonese, some even speak another dialect of Chinese. In Kowloon you may only see this in Tsim Sha Tsui Area where there are lots of tourist. So if the parent arrived to HK by crossing Mainland border, you will be served by Green Taxi and I wouldnt be surprise if they dont speak anything buy Cantonese.
richardknop 9y ago
I haven't met a single taxi driver in Shenzen who understood English so that is the same across the border from my experience. I agree with the bank account. When I worked in HK, opening a bank account was problematic. But that has been in other countries as well I worked from because I rarely had a permanent job, mostly doing contracts.
- baobrain 9y ago
  You can't possibly take Shenzhen taxi drivers and compare them directly to HK drivers... Shenzhen was a tiny fishing village in the 1970s, HK was already a metropolis. There are many people from rural areas that flock to cities in mainland China to work, not so much in HK. Shenzhen is less than 40 years old, HK had been a British territory from 1842 to 1997.

larrysalibra 9y ago

Right on about Hong Kong taxi drivers. They also tend to be racist opting to skip non-Chinese looking passengers. > A lot of the taxis have weird fare manipulation lookup tables instead of correct metering. The fare table is because the Transport Department raised taxi fares on April 9th and taxis that haven't had their meters adjusted are required to use the fare table. http://www.td.gov.hk/en/publications_and_press_releases/press_releases/transport_department/index_id_2706.html http://www.td.gov.hk/en/publications_and_press_releases/pres... > You literally can't top it up with anything smaller than HKD50 (USD$9) even if your fare costs less and you only have small denomination local money. This is the same as Shenzhentong card in Shenzhen which can't be loaded with less than CNY50 at a reload machine. If your fare costs less than HK$50 and you don't have more cash, buy a single trip ticket. If you really want to pay with Octopus, top up your Octopus card with HK$50 and get a refund of the value after your trip. Those of us that live here in Hong Kong never have to deal with adding value to our Octopus card because we can link it to our Hong Kong-issued credit cards. > If you ask 20 odd Hong Kong banks about cross-border RMB payment APIs (HK is supposed to be a financial center, after all) not a single bank can offer you one. Mainland China has capital controls - that is why transacting in RMB cross border is difficult. Banks aren't allowed to offer that service. > just to open a regular bank account is now so difficult standard waits can exceed 2-3 months (and success is far from guaranteed) You are right...the difficulty in opening a bank account is a huge problem for business in Hong Kong. > So what does HK still have to offer? * civil society * amazing mountains & beaches * great food * excellent sports infrastructure * public transit that is a pleasure to use * no capital gains, interest, dividends, import, VAT, or sales taxes. * territorial taxation (Hong Kong residents are only taxed on income sourced from Hong Kong) * great people both local and from abroad * ubiquitous gigabit fiber to home for < US$30/month. 10 gigabit fiber to home available in many locations.

goobynight 9y ago

Note that you can use Octopus for way more than just transit. You can buy groceries or stuff at 7-11 with that, so you can easily use it all. 9 usd will go quickly here.

emodendroket 9y ago

I don't know why it's so shocking that the taxi drivers should not be masters in speaking foreign languages. I would find it odder if they were all well educated and fluent in three languages.

rz2k 9y ago
It sounded like a contrast to Shenzhen. Throughout the world, taxi drivers in international cities know a couple dozen words in multiple languages. Paris, Rome, Berlin, Madrid? Even if they didn't grow up speaking Mandarin, it sounds like a conscious decision, if they don't understand a request in Mandarin from a rider today. Of course, this is just one person's set of impressions, too.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  There are no English speaking taxi drivers in Beijing. I was freaked out when a taxi driver in Shanghai talked to me in English, it just isn't common anywhere else in the mainland.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  The conscious decision would probably be learning Mandarin phrases. Presumably a mainlander who was having trouble could always write the name of their destination. I haven't been to Europe but in Asia I don't think it's the case that most taxi drivers know much English. Some of the Japanese ones offer an in car interpretation service over the phone but I've never had occasion to use it.
  - rz2k 9y ago
    I meant that they might know phrases in French, German, and Spanish more than English, though in the case of Europe English is pretty common. However, to be fair, in my experience, some people in Europe have hang ups too about different languages. I speak Italian, can pass with a little French, and know no German. In the northern Italian mountains people would start conversations with me in German based on my appearance, and in resort towns there were a number of people who chose not to learn Italian, but English was okay. Similarly, a friendly lady was trying to help me in a train station in Paris, my French wasn't good enough to understand some detail, her English wasn't any better than my French, and I asked her if she spoke Italian. She curtly answered no, and seemed a little offended. I imagine I'd have similar stories if I only spoke English and French, English and Spanish, or English and German. Would people react with occasional distaste if you tried communicating using Cantonese in Beijing?

spacehunt 9y ago

> There are no electric taxis We did have them, from BYD no less. Unfortunately they kept blowing up. The owners did the only sensible thing, which was to dump them.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
I thought exploding electric BYD taxis was a Shenzhen thing?
- spacehunt 9y ago
  They imported the same model - the e6 - to HK (only change was right hand drive), so they imported the same problems too.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

I've never encountered a taxi driver in HK who didn't at least speak mandarin, many could even speak English. Perhaps it's just most of my interactions were to and from the airport?

ksec 9y ago
There are two type of Taxi ( Actually three, but we leave it out for now ), and three type of Taxi Drivers in Hong Kong. Two types of Taxi are Green Taxi for N.T Area, and Red Taxi for Kowloon and Hong Kong Island Area. And the three type of Taxi drivers are separated by the areas mentioned before. If you arrive in Hong Kong Airport, or take Taxi in Hong Kong Island, you will highly likely meet a taxi drivers who could speak Mandarin, English and Cantonese, some even speak another dialect of Chinese. In Kowloon you may only see this in Tsim Sha Tsui Area where there are lots of tourist. So if the parent arrived to HK by crossing Mainland border, you will be served by Green Taxi and I wouldnt be surprise if they dont speak anything buy Cantonese.

richardknop 9y ago

I haven't met a single taxi driver in Shenzen who understood English so that is the same across the border from my experience. I agree with the bank account. When I worked in HK, opening a bank account was problematic. But that has been in other countries as well I worked from because I rarely had a permanent job, mostly doing contracts.

baobrain 9y ago
You can't possibly take Shenzhen taxi drivers and compare them directly to HK drivers... Shenzhen was a tiny fishing village in the 1970s, HK was already a metropolis. There are many people from rural areas that flock to cities in mainland China to work, not so much in HK. Shenzhen is less than 40 years old, HK had been a British territory from 1842 to 1997.