Opening the Uber app in Beijing or Shanghai will find no drivers. Uber lost the Chinese ride-hailing war and sold its local operation to DiDi Chuxing in 2016 in exchange for a stake in the company. There is no Uber network to call.
This matters more than it sounds, because street taxis in China are cheap but the driver will almost certainly speak no English — so having a working ride-hailing app is what makes door-to-door travel simple.
Use DiDi instead#
DiDi (滴滴出行) is China's dominant ride-hailing platform and it handles foreign visitors properly:
- Full English interface. Change it under Settings → Language.
- You type the destination, so nothing depends on your pronunciation — the single biggest advantage over hailing a taxi.
- Payment is automatic through a linked international Visa or Mastercard, or through your Alipay or WeChat balance.
- The fare is quoted up front, which removes the meter argument entirely.
- Car classes run from Express (cheapest, similar to a taxi) through Comfort and Premier to Luxe.
There is also a DiDi mini-program inside Alipay, which is worth knowing: if the standalone app gives you trouble, open Alipay, search for DiDi, and book from there with no separate registration.
What to expect on the ride#
Drivers frequently phone to confirm the pickup point, especially at airports and large stations where the designated pickup bay may be several hundred metres from where you are standing. If you cannot speak Chinese, use the in-app message templates — they are pre-translated for exactly this situation — or simply stay put and let the driver find the pin.
Note that many Chinese airports and railway stations funnel ride-hailing cars into a specific car park level with a numbered bay. Follow the signs for 网约车 (wǎngyuēchē, "online-booked car") rather than the taxi rank.
The alternatives#
- Street taxis are cheap — flag-fall ¥10–14, then roughly ¥2.5/km. Insist on the meter (打表, dǎ biǎo) and show your destination in Chinese characters.
- The metro is faster than any car during rush hour in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, costs ¥3–10, and is signed in English in every city a visitor is likely to reach.
- Shared bikes unlock by scanning a QR code with Alipay and cost ¥1.5–3 per half hour, which beats a car for anything under about 3 km.
The full picture is in our guide to getting around China, and the payment setup that makes all of it work is in money and payments in China.