I should have seen it coming. In fact, I did, quite literally; it happened right before my eyes.
我本应该看到它的到来。 事实上，我做到了，真的；它就发生在我眼前。
That’s why if you ask me whether to take a taxi or the metro, my answer will lie in the latter. For I be forever scarred, mentally rather than physically.
这就是为什么如果你问我是坐出租车还是坐地铁，我的答案就在后者。 因为我永远是伤痕累累，精神上而不是身体上。
It was 1993 and I had just arrived in China, to Shanghai. There were no e-bikes, just millions of push bikes on the roads. All of them at once it seemed. Meanwhile, the only motorised vehicles to be seen were taxis, the government or the military.
那是1993年，我刚到中国上海。 路上没有电动自行车，只有数百万辆推力自行车。 他们似乎一下子就全部了。 与此同时，唯一能看到的机动车辆是出租车、政府或军队。
The taxi in question was a Xiali TJ7100U. See one today and consider yourself lucky; they are a rare find indeed. Especially those not damaged by accidents such as this.
有问题的出租车是Xiali TJ7100U。今天看到一辆，认为自己很幸运；它们确实是罕见的发现。 尤其是那些没有被这样的事故损坏的人。
Manufactured between 1990 and 2000, this one was red, and the hatchback version. Getting in outside our hotel dwelling, the driver acknowledged us and our destination, and then proceeded to drive out of the City Hotel’s forecourt and onto Shanxi Lu.
这款是1990年至2000年生产的，是红色的，是掀背版。 进入酒店住宅外，司机认出了我们和目的地，然后继续驶出城市酒店的前院，进入山西路。
And straight into the side of a bus.
直奔公交车的侧面。
Still in Shanghai, in those days a taxi ride from Puxi to Pudong involved a toll. Why remains a mystery, since in 1993 there was nothing there. Nevertheless, the City’s enterprising drivers, being true Shanghainese and not ones to miss a trick, realised that a hapless foreigner could easily be convinced that it be necessary for them to pay the driver another toll in order for the driver to return across the river, running on empty as it were. Most happily did. The drivers’ resulting MO, quite obviously, was to simply hang around in Pudong for a bit and wait for a fare back across the Huangpu, and hence pocket the additional toll. Not rocket science, but it worked. Most of the time, but not always.
还在上海，在那些日子里，从浦西到浦东的出租车要交要交。 为什么仍然是一个谜，因为在1993年，那里什么都没有。 尽管如此，该市有进取心的司机是真正的上海人，不会错过任何把戏，他们意识到一个不幸的外国人很容易被说服，他们有必要再向司机支付一条路费，这样司机才能回到河对面，就像空空如也一样。 最开心地做了。 很明显，司机们产生的MO只是简单地在浦东闲逛一会儿，等待黄浦的票价，从而支付额外的收费。 不是火箭科学，但它起作用了。 大多数时候，但并非总是。
And I still have an extra love line on my hand to prove it.
我手上还有一条额外的情线来证明这一点。
Then onto Nanjing, where there was to be that which turned out to be a narrowly-avoided and potentially-serious spinal injury.
然后进入南京，那里有一场险些避免且可能严重的脊柱损伤。
The year was 2009 and we had just exited the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in a southerly direction to ascend that long section of single-lane and elevated road that leads downtown, when…
那年是2009年，我们刚刚从南京长江大桥向南走出来，爬上通往市中心的单车道高架路的长段，当时……
Bang! Rammed from behind.
砰！ 从后面撞了。
Struggling around to the back of the car, it was immediately apparent that my neck had taken the brunt of it all. Why, oh why could that taxi’s rear end not have been completely destroyed? That would at least have been a comfort of sorts.
挣扎着走到车后，很明显，我的脖子已经承受了这一切的冲击。 为什么，哦，为什么那辆出租车的后端没有被完全摧毁？ 那至少是一种安慰。
The irony, of course, is that those were the good old days. Today, passenger and/or driver above’s behaviour would likely land them with a law suit faster than you can say the last four digits of your phone number.
当然，具有讽刺意味的是，那些是过去的美好日子。 今天，上述乘客和/或司机的行为可能会比说出电话号码的最后四位数字更快地让他们提起诉讼。
And in the meanwhile, the world has grown. Chinese cities are bigger now. Today, taxi drivers need three phones and five apps to simply make it around the corner.
与此同时，世界已经发展了。 中国的城市现在更大了。 如今，出租车司机只需要三部手机和五个应用程序就能在拐角处走。
But once a taxi driver, always a taxi driver. And often with the attitude to go with it.
但一旦是出租车司机，永远是出租车司机。 并且经常带着与之相干的态度。
Bringing this tale up to date, one evening a few weeks ago, this correspondent ordered a Didi to go just a few kilometres for a journey totalling just 16 minutes in duration (to my chagrin, no Metro station nearby).
让这个故事更新，几周前的一个晚上，这位记者命令一辆滴滴车走了几公里，总共只有16分钟（令我懊恼的是，附近没有地铁站）。
The driver was, as we say, a piece of work. Talking loudly on speakerphone to his friend, he was blissfully unaware he was being understood.
正如我們所说，司机是一件工作。 用免提电话和他的朋友大声交谈，他幸福地没有意识到自己被理解了。
“This customer is a pain in the ass; had to wait ages for him as he went to the wrong gate.”
“这位顾客真麻烦；他走错门了，不得不等他很久。”
No, YOU went to the wrong gate.
不，你走错门了。
“I’m going to drop him the hell off as soon as possible then come and meet you.”
“我要尽快把他送走，然后来见你。”
That’s Nanjing taxi drivers for you, or at least some of them.
那是你的南京出租車司機，或者至少是其中的一些人。
