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China Elevator Stories
“If They Don’t Take You, You’ll Have To Trick Them Into Taking You”
Cabs in Changchun are hard to come by.
26/10/2013
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
My husband and I are in Changchun. Changchun (literally “long spring”) was once the capital of Manchuria, which was the name of Northeast China under Japanese occupation from 1931 to 1945. Today, it’s the capital of Jilin province and China’s biggest auto manufacturer.
After lunch, we set out to take a cab to Kangde’s former palace. The Kangde emperor, or Puyi, was China’s last emperor and the emperor of the puppet state of Manchuria (满洲国).
We stand on the roadside, waiting for a cab. One after another, cabs pass, all occupied. Those that aren’t will sometimes stop and ask where we’re headed. When we tell them, they say they don’t go there. Changchun cab drivers are encouraged to take more passengers at any one time. So, if they already have one or two passengers, they might still stop to ask you where you’re going. If it’s the same direction, you’re lucky, and they’ll let you jump into their car.
If not, you’ll end up like us. We wait at the roadside for more than half an hour. It’s not the lack of cabs that bothers us, but the lack of drivers willing to take us to the palace. Ten cabs pass to no avail. Twenty cabs pass to no avail. Thirty cabs pass, and we still don’t find a single driver who will take us to the palace. There are even a few empty cabs, but they either won’t stop or won’t take us. After about 40 cabs have passed, we give up. We go back upstairs to my cousin-in-law’s place, where we’re staying in Changchun.
In the evening, we have dinner with his wife and their daughter. After that, they take us to Culture Square (文化广场). We walk by Jilin University, a beautiful old building that was once the office building of Kangde’s government. There are other old buildings across the square, also former office buildings of Kangde’s government. Today, they have been transformed into a hospital.
The square is filled with life. Young people dance hip hop and breakdance; older people perform traditional dances. The centerpiece of the square is a huge statue. It looks communist. The statue is a naked muscle-man who raises both hands towards the sky. The statue looks like it’s supposed to represent freedom, but it’s unlike any other communist statue I’ve ever seen. I google it and find information about another statue, but not about this one, which, according to my husband, was put up around 20 years ago.
The other statue I google is located at People’s Square (人民广场). It was put there after the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. Not only did the Soviets force the Japanese out of Manchuria, but also what is today known as Inner Mongolia and northern Korea. Those were very turbulent times in Northeast China in the 20th century, and it would go beyond the scope of this article to get into more details, but it’s definitely worth reading up on.
The second day we stay in Changchun, my husband’s cousin takes us to the bus station by car. We tell him that finding a cab in Changchun is wicked. He says: “You have to trick them. Just tell them you want to go to the airport to pick up a friend. If you tell them you want to go to the airport, they’ll definitely take you. There’s no driver who wouldn’t go to the airport. When you’re in the car for a while, you’ll have to tell the driver that your friend’s flight is delayed and he or she won’t arrive until a few hours later. Then tell them where you originally wanted to go. If they don’t take you, you’ll have to trick them into taking you. Remember well what I just told you—you’ll need this advice the next time you’re going to take a cab in Changchun; it really works.”
Have you ever tried to take a cab to no avail in a city in China?
On a different note: Today marks Austrian National Day. On this very day, 58 years ago, all foreign troops left Austria, and the Austrian Parliament declared the country permanently neutral. I hope Austrians will always remember the reason for celebrating Austrian National Day and work as hard as possible to keep our neutrality and freedom.