I agree with you DanTheMan. The drivers are not out to rip you off. I've even had them get lost and when they finally arrived to my destination, they only would accept partial fare from the meter. Stuff happens.
I am just pointing out that the taxi's do have a public responsibility to provide service to whom requests it (within reasonable limits). My point is, that it is the the norm rather than the exception that taxi's screen you and decide if they want to provide service based on where THEY want to go and not where YOU want to go. I wish I could run a business that allows me to not serve people who come in only to drink tea and play cards all night and only serve people who come in to eat dinner and drink Bai Ju. Business just doesn't work like that. Especially a business that is empowered to operate as a public transportation system. There needs to be some sort of regulation.
BTW TheSwedishGuy, that's great Chinese is so easy for you to read,write and speak. Frankly it is not the same for me. Still I do try, and in time I expect to be conversational at some point. I'm not around here for long enough stretches to attend scheduled classes, and I must learn on my own which adds a degree of difficulty to the process.

are you kidding ? the taxis are awesome...i can't even afford taxis back in gud ol' blighty, i mostly stagger home the 10 miles or so from a club and use the 7/8 quid (bout 80/90 rmb) to stock up on kebab takeout ! Plus... they let you smoke in the cab in China, sometimes they even offer you one if your out and all this for answering a few 'where are you from' s and 'what do you do' s ! Woo Hoo !