News You Might Have Missed: Bad Cabs, Bad Guys, and Bad Santa

Lauren McCarthy | Aug 1, 2011 10:00 am | 4 comments | 1905 reads

Beijing has been reeling from a slew of bad cab drivers and guilty felons. For most Westerners Christmas decorations in early November are seen as too early which means Londoners will be fed up with Christmas come September.

Over the last two weeks Beijing has been cracking down on its cab problem. Teams were out across the city looking for taxi drivers that refused fares when on duty or that took roundabout routes to boost fares, frequent occurrences for anyone that’s been stuck hailing down empty cabs for any length of time. If you think Beijing cabs are bad you’re in good company. A weibo survey found Beijing “had the most unwilling or dishonest drivers.”

How dishonest are some drivers? One man was just given a 20 month sentence for cause 27 accidents in 9 months. According to reports the driver purposefully got into “not at fault” accidents in order to get money off the other drivers for not calling the cops. He then would call the cops.

Not all transportation news is bad. Beijing has made new amendments for the welfare for the physically disabled, which includes free bus rides. Whether this new amendment applies to foreigners is uncertain.

Beating out the multiple accident cabbie is a Beijing robber who plead guilty to over 500 crimes. Named “Beijing’s master thief” his range of crimes including thefts and robberies netted him over 7.5 million RMB.

China is having some interesting effects well beyond its borders. The Brits apparently have China to thank for its current Christmas shopping which began in July. High numbers of Chinese tourists that love to shop for Christmas decorations and kitsch are making stores role out the trees, Santas and elves nearly half a year in advance.

In less festive news, Xinhua is continuing the trend of Chinese ads in Times Square. The News Agency bought a big ad space at the new York landmark leaving us to wonder what will pop up next.

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britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 09:28

AH... That I can understand... Have been going through jetlag and coffee withdrawal for the last week while visiting non-coffee drinking relatives, and boy, am I ever feeling it.

Sorry for my obsessive compulsive grammar nitpicking... Hope the coming week is a better one for you.

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Tue, 08/02/2011 - 08:22

Ok, I know some readers are going to roll their eyes at this comment, but I have to ask... Lauren, is that really your writing? I've never seen you write so badly...

The intro was mashed together with absolutely no attempt at relating the Christmas intro sentence to the preceding taxi drivers/felons sentence.

Then the proofreading errors just kept coming...

3rd paragraph: "for cause 27 accidents..." should be "for causing 27 accidents..."

4th paragraph: "for the welfare for the physically disabled..." should be, I believe, "for the welfare of the physically disabled..."

5th paragraph: "a Beijing robber who plead guilty..." should be "a Beijing robber who pled/pleaded guilty..."

6th paragraph: "making stores role out the trees..." should be "making stores roll out the trees..."

Is someone ghost writing for you? Where's Lauren McCarthy?

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

Jerry's picture Jerry Submitted by Guest on Mon, 08/01/2011 - 10:31

Quote:
Over the last two weeks Beijing has been cracking down on its cab problem. Teams were out across the city looking for taxi drivers that refused fares when on duty or that took roundabout routes to boost fares, frequent occurrences for anyone that’s been stuck hailing down empty cabs for any length of time. If you think Beijing cabs are bad you’re in good company. A weibo survey found Beijing “had the most unwilling or dishonest drivers.

And what's up with the cabbies that have their "For Hire" signs on, but drive right past you after they've obviously spotted you wildly flailing your arms around on the side of the road to get them to stop?

This happened to me three times this morning on the way to work. I can understand that many of them are changing shifts, but why shouldn't they be displaying their "Out of Service" signs at these times?

Jerry Chan, Digital Marketing & Content Strategy Director

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