The 40 Minute Taxi Ride

The taxi ride. It was not hard to find a taxi at the airport because there are signs almost everywhere in English and Chinese directing people where to go. My university let me know ahead of time that I needed to take the New Territories taxi to get from the Hong Kong International Airport to the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I thought I had to call my own taxi, but there was someone by the road assisting passengers into taxis. I showed him a map with the name to my university, but he seemed to already understand where I wanted to go, when I told him the name in English.

The night before I left, I printed out a map of my university with the university name written in English and Chinese, just in case I needed it.

Arrival. Even though the taxi driver did not speak any English and I did not speak any Chinese, we made it! It took us about 40 minutes, because it was a farther drive, but since it was past midnight, there was barely any traffic. The university mentioned that it would cost around $340 HKD, but my fare came out to $313 HKD. My taxi driver was so nice he dropped me off right in front of my hostel (international house 3 is on the opposite side of the university entrance) and told me I only needed to give him $310.

The final amount. After adding the final fare and extras, it came out to about $313 HKD.

Tip #1: Don't rely on Google Translate, because unless you find a good deal on a SIM card at the airport, the app won't work when you have neither service or wifi.

Tip #2: Don't forget to convert your cash to pay for your taxi.

Tip #3: Don't forget to thank your taxi driver! Thank you (for a service) in Cantonese is m̀hgòi (mm-goy).

#HongKong #taxi #hostel #arrival