‘Just earn a little less’: Hong Kong cabbie impresses mainland Chinese tourist short on cash by waiving part of fare
- Short-of-cash mainland traveller impressed by kindness and generosity of Hong Kong taxi driver
- Woman’s experience contrasts sharply with recent reports of tension between locals and mainland tourists returning to city after pandemic
A feel-good story about a Hong Kong taxi driver who took a mainland woman to her desired destination despite the fact that she did not have enough cash to pay the full fare has resonated with other travellers to the city, prompting them to share their pleasant experiences.
The outbreak of positivity follows recent reports about tensions between locals and mainland tourists who are returning after three years of border closures during the Covid pandemic.
Locals have complained that mainland tourists behave rudely, drive up prices and cause traffic jams while some mainlanders say they have been discriminated against for speaking Mandarin.
In May, Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific fired three cabin crew accused of discriminating against a mainland passenger for not speaking in English.
The taxi-ride woman said in a post on the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu that she visited Hong Kong to attend a concert by K-pop singer Jung Yong-hwa on July 1.
She hailed a taxi to West Kowloon Station the following day to catch the high-speed train back to mainland China.
However, during the taxi ride with her husband, she realised she had spent almost all her cash and had just HK$17 (US$2.2) left.
She asked the taxi driver: “Can I only pay in cash?”
After the driver confirmed he only took cash, she immediately apologised and suggested that he either let them out there after a few hundred metres or, if he took them to an ATM so she could withdraw money.
To her surprise, the driver, whom she had expected to get frustrated or angry, reassured her.
“It’s OK. It’s not too far, and I wouldn’t have earned anything if you hadn’t boarded. So I’ll just earn a little less,” he told the woman.
“The driver was really nice. Seeing me getting anxious, he even comforted me and asked how my trip was going,” she wrote in her post.
To show her gratitude, she and her husband gave the driver two pineapple buns they had bought at a restaurant that morning.
When the taxi reached West Kowloon Station, the fare had come to HK$49, “which was a lot more than HK$17,” she wrote in her post.
She was even ready to ask for the driver’s bank account number to transfer him the money, but fortunately, an ATM was available at West Kowloon, and she withdrew cash and paid the fare.
“The Hong Kong people I met this time were all very friendly. I had no issues speaking Mandarin throughout the journey. I will come again,” the woman said.
Her story resonated with many on social media, who shared their positive travel experiences in Hong Kong.
One person said: “I had a similar good experience with a nice taxi driver last week. I only had a pile of coins and a HK$500 note. As we approached the destination, I started counting my change while checking the metre.
“The driver told me to pay with whatever change I had. Fortunately, I had enough change, and he even waived the luggage fee for me.”
Another person said: “Once, in a hurry, I mistakenly took a Watson’s membership card instead of my Octopus card while on a bus. I only had HK$100 in cash, but the bus driver didn’t charge me.”
A third person agreed: “I was in Hong Kong a few days ago, and everyone we encountered was really nice. An auntie even guided us to the Golden Bauhinia Square after 9pm.”
