Despite a government initiative to improve taxi drivers’ English, little to no English remains the norm. Street numbers are meaningless. Places are sometimes identified by obscure names that haven’t been in use for the last few hundred years. Even taxi drivers themselves may not be all that familiar with the city.
To help residents and tourists not get lost taking taxis in Beijing, Immersion Guides has recently released the Beijing Taxi Guide.
The motivation behind the project was to simplify the process of getting from one place to another in Beijing. Project Manager Jackie Yu said, “As a local Beijinger, even I find it pretty hard getting to some places that I’m not familiar with. So we decided to produce a taxi guide in order to help people navigating the city.”
Small enough to fit inside a pocket or purse, this bilingual guide includes over 400 key venues. Not only are major tourist sites and Olympic venues featured, but important places such as embassies, hospitals, restaurants, shopping centers and more are included as well.
Written in both English and Chinese, the Beijing Taxi Guide also includes venues, maps, tips and practical phrases for dealing with a taxi driver.
But the most useful part of the book may be the directions, which no other taxi guide provides.
“There are lots of different similar publications. However, none of them provide detailed directions to certain places, which is the biggest disadvantage,”
Available in shops around Beijing and online at http://www.immersionguides.com, the Beijing Taxi Guide is out now and ready to take Olympic visitors where they need to go.
Beijing Taxi Guide
by Immersion Guides
ISBN: 978-7-80202-
Price: RMB 50 / USD 9.95
Release Date: April 2008
Immersion Guides