I did not take too much taxi this time, I used the Metro (subway) a lot: more convenient, no traffic jam, besides it’s only 2 minutes ride from where I stay to where I work (more than 15 minutes walk though, good for me).
I like to talk to taxi drivers from time to time; I feel I can learn new things from them. The taxi driver who took me from Pudong airport (PVG) is a lucky guy, he bought a truck license for RMB 20,000 five years ago. One year ago he exhange that license for the taxi license and it’s worth RMB 400,000 now. He told me he also bought an apartment in Minghang for RMB 110,000, and you can imagine its value increased several fold as the real estate price in Shanghai went through the roof. I admire his risk taking, execution ability and congradulate his success. A lot things are easy when we look back. But not so before the facts.
Another taxi driver, a guy who is 54, told me an interesting story: a young professional (maybe businese person) took his taxi from work to home, for about RMB 84. The driver asked the young guy why he took taxi because he could take the bus from starting point to end (and he could have seats on the bus). The young guy told the driver he can got home one hour early (than taking bus), get better rest and make more money the next day. The driver strongly disagrees and I believe this is very common between generations.
Last but not least, I saw the famous “Shanghai taxi driver” on CCTV, the DaZhong taxi driver knows how to make most money while using least effort (resource). I believe he gave lectures to many companies about management, resource planning and business.