Taiwanese Taxi Driver Offers Free Rides To Passengers Who Sing Karaoke

A taxi driver in Taiwan gives people free lifts if they sing a bit of karaoke for him during their trip.

Tu Ching Liang, 57, has managed to launch a successful YouTube channel off the back of his unusual discount-scheme, which has racked up millions of views.

While it probably sounds pretty weird to you or I, karaoke taxis are quite popular in Taiwan, the Guardian reports.

With potential passengers even able to choose a 'karaoke' vehicle from the options on taxi apps.

However, no one else is doing what Tu is doing, which is filming and sharing videos of his passengers and offering them freebies in return.

Clips uploaded to the video sharing site show a wide range of singing styles, not to mention levels of sobriety.

Tu started the whole thing almost 10 years ago, when he would offer his passengers a discount if they could correctly guess the name of a song.

From there he decided to set up cameras inside his cab and ask people to sing karaoke as he took them to their destination.

As bizarre as it sounds, it's taken off and his videos picks up millions of views.

He told the Guardian: "I've been driving a taxi for 27 years, giving money [as rewards for singing karaoke] for eight years, and filming videos for six years. I've filmed 10,000 videos.

"I was on TV shows from 10 different countries."

His YouTube channel has more than 20,000 subscribers, with Tu joking that he's 'an international influencer' now.

He added: "Taiwanese love singing. So it's normal there are many [taxis with karaoke].

"But it's hard to both film and sing, like what I do.

"And police can fine me for the speakers outside. That's also difficult."

Tu admits that sometimes people can be a little bit shy of performing - personally I'd rather walk home than have to sing for my fare - but said he likes to encourage the timid folks.

"It's to train their courage," he said. "To train them become a superstar."

When asked who his dream passenger would be, Tu chose Ed Sheeran.

You can check out Tu's channel here.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@tcl830271

Topics: Interesting, Weird, YouTube

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19