UPDATES
Uber just sold its China Operations to DIDI. Read the full story here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/uber-said-to-merge-china-business-with-didi-in-35-billion-deal
The Story
I’m on my way home after eating some delicious shrimp and hotpot with my girl, I called up a Chinese Uber. Now this isn’t the official Uber app that I’ve fallen in love with, but I hear it’s near the same quality so I use it.
First of all, I’ve never had problems with it before until today. We placed a pin near a corner of a mall and waited for our driver to roll up in a 2009 Prius for about 7 minutes. Only problem is this wait extended to about 15 minutes. My girl calls up the driver to ask what’s going on and we find out he passed us up and is literally on the other side of the mall.
The Mission
So fighting a plethora of mosquitoes, we raced to the other side of the mall. I’m crossing mini streets and trying to dodge all kind of mopeds on the way. Now I’m already 3 beers in and my stomach is full of shrimp and noodle gunk. This could be considered a great after meal exercise. (Ever get that feeling of invincibility after drinking?)
We finally make it to his white Prius and we get in the car. The seats are already warm as if someone already left their sweaty butt marks on the leather. This CHINESE guy is literally about 5’2 and has the head shape of a peanut. He explains the GPS caused him to miss the pin, but looking at the size of his glasses, I’m sure the technology wasn’t to blame.
Now I sit in a music-less car getting a body massage because this dude is driving a stick shift. Today is a good day. There’s hella traffic but for some reason, there doesn’t seem to be a bunch of horn honks as usual. Just bumper to bumper traffic with a bunch of Chinese nationals trying to get home at 10pm.
