ABSTRACT
Hei che (黑车) refers to an unlicensed taxi, also known as a ‘black taxi.’ Hei che are common throughout China, from small towns to global metropolises such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Through an ethnography of the hei che phenomenon in Shanghai, I argue that rather than the stigmatized ‘trouble-maker’ or illegal operation, hei che can be understood as an informal urban street market where self-employed rural-urban migrant workers strive to make a living in the context of the Hukou System. This system of household registration determines whether someone can work in a place, or have access to housing and social services, such as education and hospitals, in the city where they are currently working. Many rural to urban migrants (nongming gong) do not have a Shanghai Hukou card, as they are very difficult to obtain. Shanghai is a leading global city, and was the leading “dragon head” (Longtou) during China’s reform era. As Lucian Pye (1981) explains, “serious analysis of nearly all important aspects of life in China must, eventually, confront Shanghai and its special place in the Chinese scheme of the things” (p. xi).
