text: A taxi driver has entered the Chinese record books by taking 30,000 selfies with passengers. Teng Jiazhi or 'Uncle Teng,' from Shenyang, North China, came up with the unique tipping system ten years ago when he picked up a couple of tourists in -30C. ‘They had been standing in the cold for more than an hour for a taxi' he told reporters from People’s Daily Online. Popular: Teng Jiazhi poses with three passengers in one of the thousands of selfies taken in his cab . Happy snappy: Taxi driver 'Uncle Teng' and his passengers are all smiles for the cab camera . 'When they got in my car, they kept thanking me and offered tips. But I could not take the extra money,’ said Uncle Teng. ‘Before they dropped off, they wanted to take a photo with me. The gratitude they had was very comforting and that photo was the first selfie I took with my passenger.’ Since then the cabby, who starts work at 3am each day, has kept a camera in his car and captured thousands of happy passengers. On average, he picks up as many as eighty passengers a day and at least twenty take selfies with him. The 58-year-old then uploads them to his page on a popular Chinese social media website, making him one of the most recognised faces in the region. Passengers have even commented on how his smile always looks the same and Uncle Teng said it is because it comes from within. Say cheese: Passengers comment on how Uncle Teng's smile is always the same on his thousands of selfies . Infectious smile: Uncle Teng asks passengers for a picture in lieu of a tip in Shenyang, China . Many have said it brightens up their journey and commented on how his smile is contagious. ‘Why not live every day with a jolly mood?’ said Uncle Teng. ‘I try my best to help my passengers with their troubles. It takes just a chat, some sing along or a joke to make them happy again. ‘A few years ago, an upset young lady got on my taxi and she refused to take a selfie with me. So I started chatting with her. 'I found out that she had a fight with her mum so I sang her a folk song about how mothers always worry. She started sobbing after I finished my song and immediately called her mum to say sorry. 'Before she dropped off, she gracefully took a selfie with me and told me that it was a good day.’ Smile: Passengers pose with phones and balloons in a couple of the thousands of selfie photos Uncle Teng has gathered . Record breaker: Uncle Teng is awarded the Shanghai Big World Jinisi Record for his 30,000 selfies with passengers . Feel good factor: Taxi driver Uncle Teng is happy to have a chat to passengers and asks for a quick snap at the end of the journey . When Uncle Teng first got media attention, he already had 5,494 selfies with passengers and he already had more than 700 followers on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. He challenged himself to get 10,000 selfies for ‘Smile Shenyang’, part of the National Games of the People’s Republic of China that was held in 2013. ‘I have met many taxi passengers who recognised me from the news. I particularly enjoy people calling me Uncle Teng because it is such an intimate name.’ He handpicked 6,402 selfies from his collection for the ‘Shanghai Big World Jinisi Record’ featuring passengers came from all over the world and hopes his record will let people see what a happy place Shenyang is. The popular driver has no plans to stop taking she snaps when he retires, saying he will find other ways to make people smile.
target: Uncle Teng took first snap 10 years ago when couple offered him a tip .
  Set himself target of 10,000 selfies for 'Smile Shenyang' event .
  Became online star after posting pictures on Twitter equivalent Weibo .
  He has no plans to stop taking she snaps when he retires .