I have gotten into the habit of always checking if the seatbelt is there before I get into a taxi and if its not I ride on the front seat. Well, I guess at least now I can tell a story about a famous guy who died from not wearing a seatbelt in the taxi whenever I get those odd looks from people.
I have always wondered why its so common to find cars with the rear seatbelts missing. The common story I get from taxi drivers is that passengers who don't like sitting on top of belt buckles shove them into the seat.
This is probably true. Most Beijing taxis are missing rear seat belts, usually shoved somewhere. Given Beijing traffic, it is quite scary, especially when the taxi driver looks like they are at the end of a 20 hour shift.
When I was working in Beijing, the seatbelts were usually there, but tucked underneath the seat cover (and so inaccessible).
I'm from the UK, where using a seatbelt is pretty much universal, and when getting into the cab I'd automatically pluck at where the seatbelt should be.
Once when I was taking a ride with our agent there, a local, and he saw me do this, he told me off quite sharply for it...
You should use didi zhuanche in Beijing, it's like Uber and the vehicles are nicer (Buick or high end VW usually in Beijing) without seat covers...so the seat belts are always usable. They also give you free bottled water. A bit more pricey than the taxi, but maybe living is worth it.
I have always wondered why its so common to find cars with the rear seatbelts missing. The common story I get from taxi drivers is that passengers who don't like sitting on top of belt buckles shove them into the seat.