Taking a taxi is a fast and convenient way to get around Shanghai. The city, has the best-managed taxi service in China.

An upright vacancy disk shows the cab is for hire.

Most cabbies know their way around and expertly negotiate the city's busy traffic. Taxis are usually readily available, but hailing one in rush hours is difficult and on rainy days almost impossible.

Shanghai's taxis are colorful, unlike New York City's, which are all yellow. Cyan, yellow, white, green, blue, red, dark blue and dark red are the main colors of the taxis in Shanghai and the colors denote different taxi companies. Dark blue and dark red are the colors for the city's hundreds of small and medium taxi companies.

Real taxis have a logo light on the top of the car. Around the driver's seat is a transparent shield protect the driver from robbery. A meter and an illuminated vacancy disk on the dashboard are also necessities for a cab. Without all these things, the taxi is probably unlicensed and you should avoid it, even if the driver solicits you. You have no rights if injured in an unlicensed taxi.

Taking a taxi is much more expensive than taking a bus, but it is far from a luxury.

The minimum fare is 11 yuan (US$1.38), which covers the first 3 kilometers, and then 2 yuan is charged for every additional kilometer. After 10 kilometers, the fare jumps 50 percent - to 3 yuan for every additional kilometer. Being stuck in a traffic jam bumps up the bill. Five minutes of waiting time costs the same as a kilometer.