少许善意就能让车轮滚动A little kindness can help keep the wheels rolling

Since moving to Beijing, I've become something I never imagined I would be: a frequent taxi commuter.

我从未想到，自从搬到北京以后，会成为打车一族。 

In other places I've lived, it would have been unthinkable, the cost so prohibitive I would have had to take a second job just to pay for the convenience—and maybe even a third job to help out with the transportation costs to the second.  

在我之前居住过的城市里，我需要同时做两份，甚至三份工作才能负担得起打车费用。

Here the price is so moderate I've often wondered how the companies and drivers get by.

但北京的打车费用如此低廉，我经常在想出租车公司和司机怎么能赚到钱呢。

Still, taxis are omnipresent in Beijing, and I indulge myself.

北京遍地都是出租车，我随时都可以打车。

In seemingly countless 15- and 20-minute conversations in hobbled Chinese (me) sometimes broken English (the driver), I've come to know some of the drivers and had some memorable experiences.

有时我和出租司机会用各自支离破碎的中文和英文聊天，由此认识了一些司机，拥有了宝贵的经历。

There was the time I got into a cab feeling stressed that I was already running late and ended up spending 10 minutes I'll never forget stuck in deadlocked traffic, listening to and, as I loosened up, humming along with a taxi driver who was singing full-throated the Chinese folk song he had on the radio.

有一次，我在打车时候就已经迟到了，结果还在路上堵了10分钟。这期间我听着司机高声跟着收音机唱民歌。

Many's the time I developed what felt like the deepest of friendships with drivers through rudimentary conversations along the lines of:

有很多次，通过下面这些初级对话，我都觉得已经跟出租司机成为朋友了。

Driver: Ni laizi shenme guojia (What country do you come from)?

司机：你来自哪里？

Me: Meiguo (The United States).

我：美国。

Driver: Meiguo hen hao (very good). Obama hen hao.

司机：美国很好。奥巴马很好。

Me: Zhongguo (China) hen hao. Xi Jinping hen hao.

我：中国很好。习近平很好。

Funny, only once did I hear a driver pay the same compliment to "Telangpu", the current White House resident. I guess Obama just rolls off the tongue.

有趣的是，我只听到过一个司机这么夸过特朗普。我猜是奥巴马的名字比较顺口。

Spending time with taxi drivers has reinforced my basic perception of the kindness, generosity and decency of the Chinese people.

和出租车司机相处，让我更加认识到中国人的善良、慷慨和正派。

That's not to say there haven't been a few exceptions. Those who pay their taxi fare with 100-yuan bills will sooner or later run into a driver who fumbles around under the far side of his seat and then hands back what is supposed to be their 100 yuan, saying he can't change it.

当然这不说明没有例外情况。用一百块现钞付车钱时，有的司机会拿着钱找一番，然后把钱还给我，说没有零钱找钱。

I've kept one of those counterfeit 100s as a souvenir. I've got a fake 50, too, and I hope one day to complete my collection with one of the phoney 20s I've heard about.

我保留着一张一百元假币留作纪念，我也收到过假的50元钞票，希望未来会收到20元的假钞。

On the whole, though, Beijing taxi drivers come across as good, hardworking, pleasant people. But how do they make ends meet given that the fares are so low.

不过总体而言，北京出租车司机品质是好的，他们工作努力而快乐。但打车费这么低，他们怎么养家糊口呢。

In the nine years I've been in Beijing, inflation has crept steadily along. Yet taxi fares only increased once.

我在北京九年了，通货膨胀下，打车费用只涨价过一次。

That was in 2013. Almost all Beijing taxis were owned by companies, Hu Yongqi and Zhang Yuchen reported in China Daily. Drivers had to pay a franchise fee of 4,500 to 7,000 yuan ($714 to $1,110) per month, depending on the vehicle.

那是2013年，根据《中国日报》的报道，北京几乎所有的出租车都属于出租车公司。根据不同车型，司机每月必须上缴4500元到7000元的份子钱。

One driver they interviewed said he had to come up with 150 yuan per day for the franchise fee plus 200 yuan for fuel. He worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day, and needed to pick up about 30 passengers per day to take in 500 yuan in fares.

我们的记者采访过一个司机，他说每天需要150元交份子钱，另外200元的油钱。他每天工作12小时，一周上路七天，每天拉够大约300个乘客才能挣到500元。

At the end of the month, provided he got the 500 yuan each day, he would have 15,000 yuan. After deducting the 4,500 franchise fee and 6,000 for fuel, he would have 4,500 yuan, $714 for 360 hours' work? One assumes the 12.5 yuan ($1.98) he took home per hour was taxable.

到了月底，假设他每天能挣到500元，他就有15000元。去掉4500元份子钱和6000元油钱，他工作了360个小时候只能挣到4500元，而且还要上税。

Shortly after Hu and Zhang's article, Beijing raised the basic taxi fare from 10 to 13 yuan for the first 3 kilometers and the per-kilometer fare very slightly. But the 1-to-3 yuan variable fuel surcharge was fixed at 1 yuan.

报道刊登后不久，北京市就提高了打车起步价，前3公里价格由10元提高到13元，每公里加价不等。不过出租车的燃油附加费由1-3元的浮动价格固定在了1元。

As inflation still creeps along, there's nothing that says we can't pay a little extra to show our appreciation.

通货膨胀还在继续，但我们还是可以多付一点钱表达感谢的。