An adventure, an experience, and a lesson
Just after leaving the Forbidden City, Stephanie and I were standing in the square in front of the South gate (the one with Mao’s picture above it) when a couple of Chinese students asked us how we were doing. We responded that we were doing well, and asked them how they were doing. They clearly knew this ritual and followed it pretty much as you’d expect anywhere in the world, articulating very carefully. Our good friend Art, who is teaching English at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, has told us that it’s very common for Chinese English students to try to spend time with native English speakers so they can practice. Consequently, we were not surprised by this behavior. She said her name was “Coco” and and he said his was “Shadow”. You can see a picture of them with Stephanie in today’s post on Lina’s page.
It turned out that they were going in the same direction we were headed (south to Tian’anmen Square). We had also planned to go to the Temple of Heaven, but Shadow informed us that the “famous places” all close at 3pm, so it was too late. He suggested that we go to the hutong district, and since this was what we had planned for after the Temple of Heaven, we agreed. They said they were also going there since Coco had not yet been there (she hadn’t been to the Forbidden City yet, either, which was why they were there in the first place).
Coco and Shadow were not a couple; they were neighbors in their home town in Wuhan who both came to Beijing to study English. They were two years into a five year program for translators, and both spoke very reasonable English, though there were some phrases they got stuck on and they occasionally used odd idioms.
It was nice to have local “guides”, and they were both friendly and interesting. They seemed to have a set of questions they had learned to ask, like “Where are you from?” (I tried to explain the difference between Washington DC and Washington State, but it is a bit confusing) and “How many people live in your country?” (neither of us was sure–we guessed 400 million). When we asked how many lived in China, they also didn’t know. Billions, they guessed. They did know numbers for Beijing (13 million) in and Shanghai (25 million).
Along the way, Shadow asked me whether I had seen the traditional tea ceremony. I said that I hadn’t, and he said that it was the time of the tea festival and that that later they were going to “see the tea ceremony” at a place that “a friend to us” had recommended. After touring the hutong area, we ended up in a shopping district that Shadow called the “First Walking Street” (our guidebook calls it Qianmen) and eventually in front of the location of the tea ceremony: the “Catital Tea House” [sic].
Mystic portal to the tea ceremong [sic]
[it's late and I'm tired, so the rest will have to wait for tomorrow...] [sorry for the intermission; now the story continues]
Shadow asked us whether we would like to “see” the tea ceremony, and we said that we would very much like to. We went in and up three flights of stairs (pausing to rub the buddha’s stomach along the way) and were immediately seated in a small private room (there were others along the same hallway, including one with a shrine and another where tea paraphernalia were on display for sale.
It turned out that “seeing” the tea ceremony, essentially really meant tasting, meanwhile learning about what ailments or parts of the body the teas were good for, what water temperature was appropriate for that tea, how to properly hold the cups (different for men and women), etc. For some teas, the first steeping was discarded, for others not. The leader of the ceremony was a young woman in a simple but elegant silk outfit. She spoke only Chinese, which gave first Shadow and then Coco chances to practice translation, which they did very well.
The five teas we tasted were:
- Oolong with ginseng
- Jasmine
- Fruit
- Green
- Black tea with something that I can’t remember right now
They were all exceptionally good. While we were waiting for the water to reach 100 degrees Celcius for the Fruit tea, the ceremony leader left for a moment and brought back “tea snacks”: some flavored in-shell pumpkin seeds and some crunchy-coated peanuts. All in all it was very enjoyable and we were happy that we were able to experience it.
Perhaps not surprisingly (if not for the fact that we are in a communist country), at the end we got a hard sell to buy some tea. It started with the offer of “free boxes”. Our choice of beautiful cardboard or “wood” (we’d call it pressboard) tea boxes, to be filled with whichever teas we liked. Again, much emphasis was placed upon the fact that these boxes were “free”. Since our luggage was already very full, we chose a single box (the first ones presented were double–two tea boxes inside a larger box). Coco chose the double wood box to share with Shadow.
Next, there was an opportunity to buy a tea set, which we declined (we didn’t even consider it due to our luggage space and weight limitations. Plus the whole “free” box thing reminded me too much of the hard sell at the end of a time share presentation, and I was sure I didn’t want to get suckered in to overpaying for a tea set.
At this point, you may be wondering about prices. I was, too, but our experience in Beijing has been that stuff is very inexpensive and besides, these two university students were in with us, so it couldn’t be that bad, right?
Yeah, yeah, I know. My hindsight is 20-20, too.
Our ceremony leader left to fill our tea boxes, brought them to us, and then left again to get the bill. When she came back, she brought a well-worn laminated price card and an itemized bill. Okay, first problem, there’s only one bill–we can work that out. Second problem, there are an awful lot of lines on it. On closer inspection it turned out that there was a room charge, a charge for each tea we tasted, a separate charge for the tea snacks, plus the teas we were buying–I’m sure I’m forgetting some miscellaneous charge. The third and most worrisome problem was that there seemed to be an extra zero the total. Not two zeros such as would be appropriate for “hundredths”. Could this bill really be over three hundred dollars? The “free gift” tea pot (a small one just like the one used in the ceremony) did not raise my confidence about the price. While I was still trying to rationalize this (that is, still in denial), Shadow asked, “You pay us?” I noticed (in a detached way, still not wanting to focus on the reality of this bill) how his (and Coco’s) English got worse when we–and they–got stressed.
I told them I’d pay for the ceremony, but not for their tea. They both looked very nervous and concerned (even before I said this) and said that they hadn’t known how expensive it was. The “friend to us” had just recommended it. They said that they would “go back the tea”. I agreed we should all go back the tea and they explained this to the tea master. After some negotiation in Chinese, they apparently got to go back their tea (which took $100 off the total), but we did not get to go back ours (it’s really great tea, but no, we would never pay this for tea on purpose). The explanation for why our tea couldn’t go back apparently had something to do with something belonging to the government, and at this point communication was really breaking down. With no knowledge of appropriate pricing for this kind of thing (our CHI coordinator Lina later told us “nothing in Beijing costs that much”), and with no ability to communicate in Chinese, it seemed the best path was just to pay and go, which we did.
Coco and Shadow said they felt very bad about all this. To make it up, they would like us to join them that evening for “the Peking duck”. We said no thank you and caught a cab back to the hotel. Coco, in particular, looked very upset as we waved goodbye and the cab drove off. It took an hour and a half to go 23 km, but that’s another story.
Was this a scam or just ripoff pricing? The prices were certainly set up to confuse, what with all the line items. Were Shadow and Coco in on it the whole time? I’d prefer to think that maybe we just paid the “dumb tourist” prices because we didn’t ask to see how much it cost in the first place, and that Shadow and Coco just got caught up in it, but my skeptical brain tells me…well, it tells me that we’ll never know.
What did I learn? Don’t underestimate the capitalistic side of this communist country. I’d never have gotten in this situation at home, where I’d have been much more skeptical or even suspicious.
November 9th, 2005 at 17:24
argh, I can’t believe this was a “To Be Continued” posting! but since you guys are the waiters that are used to waiting, I guess I can wait, too. - sigh - at least we know that you’re both okay and that they didn’t steal your laptop, or you couldn’t have posted this so promptly.
November 10th, 2005 at 07:55
This is a classic situation in China. Jim spent four months there and learned that you negotiate a price for EVERYTHING up front. If not, a simple bowl of rice will turn into a $25 dollar food item and four hours of charades negotiating. Best of luck you two, and just remember money agreement first!
November 10th, 2005 at 08:27
Yes, the individuals in China have capitalism down better than most of the west. Beware of the vendors on the Great Wall if you go there. Be thankful you’re not 9 - the vendors hounded Alex mercilessly until we discovered the trick for getting rid of a street vendor… say that what you’re looking for is a bowling ball… if you have a mission, and they don’t have it, they’ll go away.
They expect you to negotiate - everything - except your hotel room and dinner. Start at 1/2 of what they’re asking.
Extra luggage is cheap at the dollar market - it’ll make it home and that’s about it, but well worth it for your treasures. You put your dirty laundry in the extra bag, and pack the nice stuff in your hard sided bag.
Yeah - the English thing. Sorry I didn’t get to warn you about that one before hand. And don’t buy a watch.
Have fun - my sister & brother in law head out the 21st and they pick up their Sophie on the 24th or 25th! Excitement all the way around.
November 10th, 2005 at 09:52
I wasn’t sure if the “to be continued” aspect of your email was a suspense building technique (successful) or due to actual exhaustion (more likely). Six months ago we were in exactly your shoes…enjoying Beijing, trying not to get scammed. Jet lag? Time change? I think it’s a little like being in labor (or so I hear): you forget those things shortly after your return home with your miraculous baby. Anyway, I wanted to pass on a tip from our Beijing guide…she taught us to say Boo Yao (my phonetic rendition) to vendors, etc. You have to use the same tone of voice you would if, for instance, Lily piddled in a pair of $500 shoes. Apparently it translates to “we REALLY, REALLY don’t want the item. ” One more thing…beware of the guys who want to show you their artwork in some studio just around the corner. Our guide said this is another common scam. Having said all that, we hope you enjoy Beijing and its amazing history, though we know it’s just a way of biding time till family day!
November 22nd, 2005 at 07:01
Dont feel to bad, my friends and i have just returned from the very same city and visited the very same tea ceremony, which they wanted 4,580RNB for which equates to £340.00 which also included the girls tea price but our story was with a young girl from Shanghi and her uncle who lived in beijing. We offered to pay only 1,000RNB but still fell ripped off so there is a major scam going on in Beijing, please let all trvellers know, we are posting an e-mail to Forbidden Planet web site to let them know.
Regards,
Dave North
November 27th, 2005 at 08:06
A classic rip off in Beijing style. Touts asking if you want to go to a lady bar or Karaoke, students claiming to be from the Art Academy luring you into buying 20RMB paintings for several thousands of Yuan and the tea ceremonies. All scams. Call the police and make sure to tell the police and tourist authoirities to maximaze publicity on the subject if the bill is not waived. There is a special police unit for foreigners in trouble. They speak English and are very much interested in solving your problem.
In India a tout can be useful since, for a small fee, they will circumnavigate the red tape for you. A good service. In China you will have to TOTALLY IGNORE them no matter how sweet the girly students pretend to be (or maybe even are).
Best Regards,
Laurentius Metaal
Beijing
December 20th, 2005 at 03:05
damn. i wish i had read that story a few hours ago. the same thing happened to me with a young girl and guy. my bill came out to 70USD per person and they payed their portion which I am sure they went back for later. I would have argued, but just wasnt sure. I immeadiately googled beijing tea scam and there is the story. I was so pissed i went back to where they got me in front of forbidden city. I was immeadiately approached with the same con from two girls. I let them walk me all the way to another tea house telling them the whole way that I was poor, my mother just died and my house was destroyed in a hurricane. They kept leading me. They got me to the door where I told them I knew who they were, what they were doing and asked them if they felt wrong about it. They just looked stunned. I told them I hoped I wasted their time and walked off. It made me feel slightly better, but I want my 70 back.
December 30th, 2005 at 01:46
Same thing happened to me in early December 2005. My cons were 2 young women and I actually asked them if they knew a good place for tea as it was cold. They were very good at their job and like the first post had me believing that the cost of the tea was a shock to them too. We even comisserated on our bad luck and there was discussion on meeting later. Of course once the shock of the $300US bill had dissappated (I only could pay half) I realised that it was a scam and felt a total idiot.
I think if I go to Beijing again I’ll do what Charlie did and just play with a couple of them
February 7th, 2006 at 17:49
man what fools we are! i was conned in early dec 2005 too by two girls who picked me up in a mall. The started speaking to me, they seemed really nice and really pleasant, english students, blah blah, at the tea ceremony one seemed much more into it and the other more quiet, i hope it was because she was feeling guilty. It was actually my very first day in china and i looked at bill, did a calculation in my head, realised it was extortion and assumed i must have made the mistake and i would simply check it later cus nothing in beijing could cost that much, right? someone’s making a killing!
March 4th, 2006 at 09:13
Yep…sounds familiar, all right! When I recently returned to my Shanghai hotel and ran into a business associate who had attended the same conference earlier in the week, I filled him about the nice kids I met who took me to a tea ceremony shortly after the closing-time of the Shanghai Museum. He cut me off to “predict” what happened next and then, of course, filled me in on identical details. D’oh!…it had happened to him the previous day (…wish he’d mentioned it to me when I saw him the night before, but I guess he was embarrased).
In any case, since I’m now a reasonably well-off business traveler catching a couple days of extra tourism and far from the starving student traveler I was a few decades ago, the cash loss was was certainly manageable. And frankly, I considered it a reasonable deal for the fun I had — again recognizing that for many others (including myself 20 years ago) this would have potentially blown WAY too much carefully allocated travel funds.
In my case, the tea house at least presented a “cost menu” for the tea ceremony up-front, which I though was quite expensive for China. But having recently returned from trips to England, Sweden and France (where almost every price seems way out of line), it didn’t blow me away by any means. I’d fallen into some traps back in the “starving student” days where I got stuck with other people’s bills, so fortunately I was VERY clear up front that I was OK with the prices, but I was only able to pay for myself, and not able to play the role of American Host for my four (2 guys and their 2 girls) new pals. This kept the damage low. Of course, I still allowed myself to be scammed into paying “my gentleman’s share” of the girls portion of the ceremony (1/3 or the 330 Yuan or about $15).
In the end, I’m OK with the whole thing. Did I get “worked”? Yes. And I guess that’s the worst of it…the pathetic feeling of being a victim of someone else’s enterprise. But in the end: I still liked these kids; got to hang out with some Chinese people and learn about their lives (even if they did have alterior motives); picked up some stuff about tea rituals; contributed to the Chinese economy; and got a picture of us all that I can post on the web. I’ve had worse…
March 15th, 2006 at 10:33
Two guys approached me at the forbidden city. one pretended to be an english teacher (did not master the grammar very well) and the other pretended to be his uncle from shanghai and working as a acupunture specialist. after inviting me to a peking duck house we happend to end at the tea ceremony which cost at the 6800 yuan. when I was very reluctant to pay on of the “locals” offered that they pay there part and I my part: 2700 yuan! Of course ridiculous. As it was sure that I could not leave this room without paying (some tough guys in the hallway) I payed the amount with a credit card and cancelled the card immediately after entering the cab. My perception: This is no fun but destroying the trust of travellers - forcing them to be suspicous all the time - and destroys attempts of intercultural exchange. Therefore I hope that the local police will find ways to stop this scams before the Olympic games.
March 29th, 2006 at 20:51
Damn it! I can’t believe this… I feel like such a fool! I too had this happen. EXACT SAME SETUP! These girls were very good at what they did - it was actually ME that suggested getting tea (it was cold), and we looked around a bit for a tea house before we “happened” upon one. Even worse - I didn’t even pick up on the fact that the girls were a part of it, and bought them dinner later! I figured the tea house was a scam, but I just couldn’t accept that these two nice girls who spoke such good English and seemed so genuine were in on it. This MUST get more publicity - there was nothing about this in either of my guidebooks. In the meantime, I am having American Express look in to it. Let’s see if I get anywhere.
May 9th, 2006 at 00:53
This is great to see how many people were setup by this. I just got back from my trip alone to Beijing from Tokyo and the exact same thing happened to me. It’s almost perfectly choreographed, even the timing and their knowledge of the youth hostel I stayed in were on the mark. I’ve been thinking about trying something funny though. What would happen if instead, a group of friends went “fishing” and tried to lure these kids in for a little trickery of our own? An idea might be to contact a local pizza/western dining place run by one of the kind Westerners in the area to arrange an extremely high priced bill ahead of time, then, by going to the square alone, have a group of friends follow in the distance in order to lure them in. When the kids finally ask, whether it’s after guiding you around or just after talking a little, whether you’d like to go to a tea house, have your friends move in and surround the two of them. Maybe a group of three or more would be good, then drag them to that Western restaurant and force them to pay for your whole meal. I was so mad after this happened to me, I hated Beijing and hated Chinese people for using friendship to punish me while I enjoyed my siteseeing. They are hurting their country by scaring off tourists who would otherwise be fueling their economy with money from ticket sales and business sales. I got over it after a day, but it made me doubly as cautious and got me thinking of ideas to somehow reverse the table, as I will be returning within the year. I would savor the moment watching those two students endure a high priced bill from the hands of one of their potential victims. At the time of my scamming, I threw my fist into the table and stood up to leave. As I was about to walk out, the woman pouring tea darting to my side, holding something behind her back, and shouted “pay bill now!” I handed over only $100 claiming I had nothing more and she let me go. I wasn’t in the mood to be stabbed on my vacation, with whatever she was threatening me with behind her back. Is there nothing we can do? I’m still confused why we chose such an awful place for the Olympics, that country needs a lot of work before opening up to tourists like us. Can you imagine how many people each day will find themselves getting screwed at teahouses while the games are running?
June 1st, 2006 at 18:18
Same thing happened to us on 13th May. Has anybody reported this to the police? I was so pissed off. The girl is such a good actress. She deserves an award. NOT. I took a photo of the girl that took us to the tea house and the girl doing the ceremony, I will try to put it on the web. I think it is the same tea house as pictured above. The girl called it Walking Street.
July 4th, 2006 at 01:51
Well, it happened to me too. Today. At least I don’t feel as bad knowing I wasn’t the only one!
July 6th, 2006 at 14:24
Some comfort in seeing it has happened to so many others. The shame at feeling like such a sucker is the worst feeling. Thought I was a fairly seasoned traveller! My husband and I totally fell into this one. I usually wave away all the “practising English” types around the tourist spots, but these three “students” were very charming. We walked around with them for ages just chatting, so my “scam radar” mellowed out.
The tea ceremony sounded harmless, and at the worst I thought we might be pressured into buying tea which I could easily resist. When faced with an enormous bill for just the tasting (2300 RMB) we just didn’t know what to do. The students busied themselves with buying their own tea and acted like nothing was unusual. Students affording expensive tea was definately an alarm bell, but too late. We paid. The next day we took an interpreter from our hostel with us to go back and demand a refund. The place was closed. We then went to the police who were more than familiar with the scam, but seemed incredibly disinterested. They looked at our photos of the tea place and the students, but did not record anything. They showed us examples of price boards that tea houses are required by law to display in their entrance so that no one is unaware of the potential cost.
The police did not record our names either. I don’t see this getting any better with the olympics coming, only worse. It left a horrible taste in our mouths and I am so angry. To take advantage of people wanting to trust is so wrong. Makes me want to hate Beijing, but we know rationally that so many others are wonderful.
Now we have fantasies about ways to get them back. I’d love to get “picked up” again and go through with it until the point of the tea being poured, and then making a huge scene.
Spread the word……its all we can do!
July 8th, 2006 at 05:54
Too late! another victim 8P I feel so stupid! In the end i payed 30E still couldnt believe i was cheated. We had such nice chat and im such a naieve person.. To bad i was enormously thirsty that moment too so lol. Well at least i got a little box of tea extra in the end and 3 urinating figures! (When you hold them in water they pee) gee she even asked for another figure because one had a tiny crack in its head haaaaa. I stayed friendly to them and wont make a big deal of it. Tomorrow i will go there again with a group of people maby someone try us again. (i admit i did not tell the others yet) At least i learned something and 30E well i save that in the coming weeks i take profit of cheap prizes here
greetz and dont feel embarresed to much.
August 1st, 2006 at 09:49
We don´t know if feeling better or worse after reading your stories. It happened yesterday to us, exactly the same story; the worst part is that it was difficult to believe that such poor and nice girls were involved in the scam! We are sure now. It was the same tea house, unbelievable! When we left the tea house, still discussing between us what happened (in Spanish so they couldn’t understand), a police car came to the place looking for us! we had to hide to in a construction site nearby, can you believe this?
We are calling this the “Beijing F…”, its beauty resides in the fact that everything tells that you have been f…, but you still need to check the internet to be sure. This is what we learned from our 10 days in China, “nothing is what it seems but at the same time it is what it seems”.
We are in Shanghai now, tomorrow we will try to find someone offering art around the corner (an offer that we have already declined) to see what it is about; we´ll tell you tomorrow.
BTW, we are still shocked from what we saw in these streets, the hutongs are something we have never seen before.
August 28th, 2006 at 10:53
I haven’t fallen for this particular scam, but I was unfortunate enough to be lured by one of those shady “taxi pimps” that lurk around the Capital Airport exit (I just made it to Beijing from NYC); they look perfectly legit, and help you with your bags and stuff, but then you get on a ride with a ridiculous accelerated meter that somehow ends up at ~700 RMB for a trip to city center. You grudgingly fork over the cash because:
In any case, a totally reprehensible scam that made me feel like a complete idiot…
So my initial experience in Beijing has indeed given me a pretty dismal view of capitalist China; but hopefully the (free) city sights will outweigh the incessant and downright nauseating hustling that seems to be everywhere.
August 29th, 2006 at 00:26
I had exactly the same experience
August 29th, 2006 at 02:59
[...] http://atomicpug.net/shane/2005/11/09/an-adventure-an-experience-and-a-lesson/ [...]
October 14th, 2006 at 06:21
Why do we only look up these things after we are screwed!! My husnabd and feel like total tools. we insisted on paying for the stundents in this case beccause we didn’t want them to be embarassed!!!!
October 16th, 2006 at 13:13
This happened to me yesterday in Shanghai. Almost word for word. As someone else said, the shame of the con is the worst feeling. I will try to go back, but I expect to find the place closed like everyone else.
Wish my guide book would have warned me about this. Lonely Planet are you listening?
October 18th, 2006 at 01:43
I just had the same thing happen to me today in Shanghai, it was two girls and a guy, they were so nicely dressed I thought surely they couldn’t be dodgy, they were also very sweet, we even exchanged emai address; half way through it really dawned on me what was happening, but then I thought maybe I’m just be too suspicious…oh well we live and learn. I’ll definitely be telling every perosn I know that is travelling through China from now on, and yes hopefully Lonely Planet will be adding it to their much needed Shanghai update.
October 23rd, 2006 at 06:12
Just happened to me in tianamin square! I only paid for my share RM 1,000 and they didn’t seem to mind. The guy even paid his share in front of me! Although the money is a lot which i lost (i reckon about 5 times more than the value of the experience), whats worse was i thought i was on the receiving end of real chinese hospitallity and given me a very different (but hopefully not representative view of china. The tea house is called Yamingxuan
October 28th, 2006 at 07:56
These kids are making a killing… This whole scam has happened to me almost word-by-word just two days ago in my first day in Beijing.
Just like others, I was “totally had” by two wholesome-looking guys and a gal. So good in their acting it almost felt I was the one to led them into the tea ceremony. I actually felt I fought them to pay for the final price!
If it make anyone feel better: I take the award for the dumbest of us all, as I was ripped off an small fortune of 5.678 Yuan Renminbi (That is US$720 or 566 Euro)… And, in my bewildered stupor, did not even make the numbers right in my head. Only afterwards, when I took them out for Peking Duck (see other stories for similar behavior) that I started feeling weird about the cost difference (dinner for me and my three kind hosts: 160 Yuan Renminbi).
The sheer feeling of stupidity, shame and deception are quite hard to bear (lets not talk about the damage to my budget)… I am now “trying” to continue enjoying this land as I am accosted in Shanghai by “students trying to practice their English” or see their “art exhibit” every two steps.
By the way, prior to this scam I was also ripped-off by taxi drivers and rick-shaw porters. Now I see this country and their inhabittants with much lesser candor: In the “tea ceremony scam” were involved at least a dozen participants… And everyone in town MUST know what is going on when the see “student-looking” kids with a foreigner in tow. Nobody lifted a finger.
Not exactly the best publicity for a country that will be hosting the Olympics in a couple of years. By then, with this problem unchecked, they will be so refined at it they will take half of the unsuspecting visitors for a different game of their own. For now… It sucks to be me.
November 12th, 2006 at 09:48
So funny to read your experience, because the EXACT SAME TWO KIDS pulled the same scam on me in Beijing. I’ve got a picture of them up on my blog (follow the link), and it matches your picture.
Ah well, what can you do? Remember, if you are in China, ask how much before agreeing to anything, I guess is the lesson.
November 25th, 2006 at 02:24
Same as all the above happened to me too. Another twist is that I offered to take a picture of them. They said that they couldn’t because they were Buddist and it would be unlucky. So, that should be another warning sign.
November 29th, 2006 at 16:01
To: Elan Bergschmidt
How did you cancel your card?
It took me weeks before I figured out the scam, confirmed by internet talk. My credit card company said it will not dispute a charge that we willingly signed for, no matter what the circumstances.
January 10th, 2007 at 09:31
LOL - Reading all these entries really brings home the expression: ‘Caveat Emptor’. I was only in Beijing 12 hours on a stop over from Bangkok to Vancouver when the exact scenario described by so many here unfolded - I swear we could all be actors with the same script. But I was extremely lucky: one other posting here mentioned being a starving travellor in the past, well, that pretty much describes me well at this point in my life, and it turns out that is what saved me. So what happened was when it came time to pay, I was on the tail end of one month trip in Thailand and I simply didn’t have the 2200 Yuan! I didn’t bring my Visa, my debit card didn’t work (this was carefully acted out at the bank machines by choosing ‘view account balance’ instead of ‘withdrawal’ - but the other funny thing is it would have shown NSF anyway) So what are they going to do? They likely won’t call the police. Still I felt bad and got one of the girls email to send her the money from home. When I got back I sent an email asking for her bank account info (Bank of China she said) just before I realized the full extent of the scam. She sent me an email with her account info, to which I replied: ‘Thanks for your banking info, but I have changed my mind; $275 for tea seems silly - do you know anything about the Beijing Tea Scam? Oh by the way: be careful about who you give your banking information to!’ lol - perhaps some small measure of poetic justice, I hope will uplift the spirits of those who have unfortunately been ‘had’.
January 12th, 2007 at 19:07
Same thing happened to me in September. Same set up even the same couple - thanks for posting their picture. I paid the bill and when I got back home disputed the charge with my credit card company. Eventually getting it eliminated. Live and learn.
March 5th, 2007 at 12:50
Haha, in the park behind the Forbidden City, same thing hapenned. Two girls asked me to take a picture of them, which I did. I had lived in China for a year already and knew about the tea scams, so wasn’t totally unprepared. However, I still almost fell for it. She said “maybe we can walk and talk” so we walked, I was heading up anyway to make some pictures of the Forbidden City from the top because it was an exceptionally bright day.
It was pretty cold and they wanted to go to a place for hot drinks.. Sure, I said. So we went to a tea house nearby, and sat down. I saw some other people (including a Westerner) enjoy their tea and asked for the prices to be sure. My tea was 30 RMB, which is on the expensive side but in a park like that it’s plausible. Their tea was a little more expensive but still not extravagant. Soon snacks came, which none of us seemed to have ordered but the girls were not surprised. Another funny detail was that they claimed to be Shanghainese but upon saying something in Shanghainese they said: “Only people form the Shanghainese countryside speak that dialect” which isn’t so because my long time friend over these who is born and raised in a well-off family in Shanghai also speaks it. Odd!
Then the Westerner on the other side stood up, walked to me and asked: “Where did these two pick you up?” Here in the park, I replied… He said: “I think it’s some kind of scam, I’m not paying anything.” And he left. The girls on my table said he was crazy, but their reaction was so extreme that I got suspicious and asked for the bill. Altogether it was 260 RMB, the girls wanted me to pay for them too because that was my honor. I said, I don’t even know you two and I did not order these snacks! They went on about Chinese culture and it being pollite to pay for girl’s food and drinks. I said I only paid for my part of the bill, dit that, and left.
No one came after me, proving they were all in on it and had somehow suspected me to do this after the other guy had left without paying. None went after him, either. In retrospect, I think I shouldn’t have paid at all like he did. I was most surprised to still initially fall for it, even though I was well aware of the Tea Scams and friends of mine had been ripped off earlier.
-Peter
May 2nd, 2007 at 09:05
Yup, same scam here just yesterday as I was walking my last hours in Shanghai. Got picked up by 3 students, 2 guys and one girl in People’s Park. I saw the pricelist and thought the prices were on the high end, but was willing to pay 70RMB (one tea + show; I triplechecked this saying I didn’t have much money on me). I started getting suspicious as one tea came after the other. In the end, my suspicion unfortunately came true…
Anyway, my part of the bill came down to 310RMB which I felt bad about especially since I had read something about this kind of scam on wikitravel.
May 28th, 2007 at 16:23
Yeah, this is a scam.
Same thing happened to me yesterday in Beijing. Two students, good English. We walked and chatted as we left the Forbidden City, and and somehow wandered into a street level tea house. It was very nice (seemed legit) and the cerimony was actually charming. But the bill came to over 2000 yuan. I refused to pay for the girls’ tea (which lowered it to 1580 yuan). They ended up “buying” their tea (ah, right!).
I’m sure I was handed the price list early on, which clearly stated “50 yuan / per person / per tasting.” But I paid it no mind. Why should I? A couple of students would know better…
June 1st, 2007 at 22:51
This charming little scam happened to me this morning in Shanghai. I feel like such a gullible fool, although it is some comfort that I am not the only one this has happened to.
I ended up getting taken for 1300RMB. I asked to see the price before, and it seemed reasonable (i.e. 50 RMB a person). The two worst things about this are:
a) I was initially suspicious, but was completely taken in the by the three ‘friendly students’ who had spoken to me for a good half hour before mentioning the tea ceremony.
b) when the bill came, I didn’t even feel coerced, because I was still massively jet-lagged and dopey, and since this was my first time in China, I didn’t compute how much the money really was. It was only about 20 minutes later that it hit me. I felt so stupid, but also furious and ashamed that these people had taken advantage of me.
ironically, I felt less suspicious because I had heard about how friendly Chinese people are, and how many of them do genuinely want to practice their English. This little bunch must pick on gullible tourists like me several times a day.
I had heard about similar things happening to acquaintances (like being taken to bars, and being left with a big bill). I had always thought how obvious these scams were. Hindsight really is 20/20. My guard was down because it was the middle of the day, and simply because the trio of ’students’ were so convincing and friendly. I now realise that this was because they must have this routine down to a fine act.
The worst part of this is that I now feel extremely hostile and distrustful towards the Chinese. I just have to remember that this is a small minority, and that (relatively) rich Westerners are an irrestible target. Still, I now have a very sour taste in my mouth.
June 3rd, 2007 at 13:54
Luckily, we said no after spending 3 1/2 hrs. touring Shanghai with the two very cute and fun Chinese girls. We toured the entire city together and they even bought us dinner. At dinner they said they wanted to go to a tea ceremony. I had been traveling India and Europe for several weeks and was really tired of seeing local arts and crafts so I knew a “tea ceremony” was a possible scam to buy tea. The same thing happened at the Taj Mahal. “Do you want to see the ancient art of stone inlaying?” Then you find yourself being pressured into buying crap you don’t need or want. So, the moment I said no to the tea ceremony, the girls English got worse and they both turned cold to myself and my friend. Interestingly enough when we were walking down street, prior to dinner, a young lady touched my arm and mentioned to me to “watch out” as she eyed the two girls we were with. This was a fortunate meeting and I was able to use this in making my decision to not go have tea. Sorry to hear about all the people that got burned.
June 11th, 2007 at 05:13
I nearly got scammed. I met 2 cute, english speaking girls who after chatting a while, offered to take me for a drink. One was living in Beijing while the other was her cousin who was visiting from the north of China. In the end I turned them down as I was needing to get back to my hotel. On leaving the Forbidden City, another 2 girls got chatting to me and suggested going for a drink. Alarm bells started to ring but I still wasn’t sure. So after a couple of questions, it turned out they were both cousins as well, with one of them living in Beijing and the other visiting from the north of China!! It must be the standard line. Anyway I did a quick google search of my experince and found this thread. So sorry to hear the stories and although i thought someting was up I still very nearly joined them for a drink for the hell of it-looking at some of the prices being touted, my wallet is certainly happy I didn’t!!
All part of life’s experience…
June 20th, 2007 at 12:07
Same thing happened to me and my friend in Shanghai. Two girls posing as students and wanted to practice english tagged along with us. They asked us to attend Tea festival. We went to a small tea shop. One lady showed us few photograhs of how tea is grown and is being carried to markets on horses back. After that we tasted 3 different kind of tea. We end up paying bill for us and both of them. It was 1500RMB. After this girls took us to lunch for which they paid. I am not really sure if it was a scam or not. But sure feels like I was ripped off witha very high price of tea.
July 17th, 2007 at 20:17
Thanks to everyone who wrote on this page. I was a victim of a similar scam in Beijing yesterday.
When I realized later I checked on the web and decided to do something about it today. I got all my money back.
I was approached at the exit of the Imperial Palace. I have read before about art students triyng to con you selling art but nothing about Tea Ceremony. Two girls approached me, they wanted to take a picture of them with me. It has happened to me many times in Beijing, as they must see me as quite exotic.They started chatting. They said they were from a different province in China and they were on vacation in Beijing. After a while they said they were going to a tea ceremony and invited me to join them. I followed them. I had fun, I must confess, but when they suggested to buy some tea and I saw the prices…I thought well, this cannot be right. I denied buying any tea. One of the girls pretended to buy some. Then the bill came for the ceremony. They charged 50 y for the room and 50 for each tea we tried , a total of 10 teas. I calculated in Euros and I thought it was mega expensive, I said it was so expensive and that I did not have any more money. I gave them half of what they asked.
When we came out, I suggested to have a picture of them taken by the shopgirl. Strangely they felt unease it about it and they preferred to take it in the garden nearby. The picture was a bit blurry and I thought it was odd they think it is a good picture. Then I asked them their email to send it. They gave me an address and they said bye very quickly. I sat down and thought about everything. I did not want to think that the girls were part of the scam and that I have been conned. I went back to the tearoom and asked for a business card pretending that I was going to pass it to a friend. The owner gave me his, and I asked for a receipt too
After reading all the reports on the web I felt really bad but decided to do something about it. First idea was to search if there was a Tourist Police in Beijing. Difficult to find the information , I decided to have a go and be back there next morning. The owner was not there and the shopkeepers pretended not to understand English. I refused to come in the shop, stayed outside and loudly said I want my money back if not I will call the police. They called the owner , I threatened him with calling the police, he asked me to keep quiet. Next moment the shop girls came back with my money
A sad lesson to learn but a good one at the end. I feel proud of myself. I think the problem is that many people do not dare to do anything about it later on, because it is too embarassing or thinking you will get into further trouble.
I have kept the receipt and the ticket and just before I leave China next week I will pass it to the police, also a picture of the girls faces. Just sorry to think how many more people would be conned. On my way home this morning, I saw two tourist and two Chinese girls being over friendly to them. I warned them
July 21st, 2007 at 04:43
The same has just happened to me outside the Shanghai museum. I will get in touch with the police tomorrow and see what happens.
July 24th, 2007 at 14:39
Just came back from a month trip in China.
We were approached by the tea ceremony scam squad everyday day in Shanghai (once we were also offered to go to a kung fu festival , I guess it is another scam).
The first time it was close to the Bund, two nice “students” from Xian offered us to go with them at a tea ceremony, we were not interested and told them we had planned to go to the art museum that morning, to get rid of them in a polite way. Instantly the guy told us they just came back from there and that it was closed. They insisted so much for us to go with them at that ceremony that I felt that something weird was going on. My husband felt kind of bad we had turned them down after (poor nice students who wanted to be friendly and practise English…) but when the next day two other students offered us the same thing, I was sure I had guessed right from the very beginning. During the following days we turned down a lot of so called students (once we were approached by a girl who had approached us two days before, when she had told us the first time she was in Shanghai with her friend visiting for the week end, I laughed in her face the second time). Anyway, when I came back home after our trip and googled “tea ceremony china” to finally know what all was about I was appalled to find about the scam and the incredible sums of money they manage to steal from travellers. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth even if we didn’t fall for it. I’m furious just at the memory of these “nice students” trying to rip us off. I remember even one girl telling us, when we said we dind’t want to go with her and her friend,” you have to come with us, the more people, the more happiness”. How cynical can you get ? The Chinese authorities should do something to stop this now.
August 2nd, 2007 at 17:21
I feel so stupid. I was suckered into an identical tea scam last week in Beijing. And this was right at the end of my stay there, after I had brushed off a number of watch-sellers and “student artists”. I wish I had done some research before leaving for Beijing.
I have a question for those who were able to dispute their credit card charges and get them cancelled. On what grounds did you file a dispute? If I could see some possibility of success, I would like to try and dispute my charge too.
August 14th, 2007 at 01:30
Also met students visiting Shanghai and trying to lure me into a teahouse (twice, always a guy and a girl of which one spoke better English than the other). When finding that I am German one guy even told me he would like to practice his German with me (seems like these guys are expanding their business). Fortunately I was in a hurry to see all Shanghai tourist sites on one day and did not go with them. Thanks to everybody for sharing their information on this website!
September 5th, 2007 at 23:29
Couldn’t sleep last night after I googled the Tea House Scam to confirm i was trapped..I went back to the Tea House where I was conned yesterday evening and asked for my money back (500 RMB)…and got it back! The pure and inoccent little lady didn’t even refuse to give me back…even smiled to me…hehehehe! This eve I’ll walk along the sidewalk to play with the fake students…but this time I’ll con them…
September 6th, 2007 at 11:49
The same scam happened to me in 2005, right down to the offer for peking duck. Hindsight 20/20. Ours was at the Baofulai teahouse (or that’s what appeared on my credit card).
September 17th, 2007 at 05:42
A couple of days ago I would have thought that only gullible Americans fall for this kind of thing, yet if they can rip off a cynical Brit like me this scam must be good. And all this after I had fought off all the street sellers as well as the student artists…
Yes I had exactly the same act: a couple posing as English students, a big guy with them for extra security in case I did not pay, right outside the Forbidden City, usual elaborate ceremony, buying tea at the end etc. RMB28860 in my case.
I called my credit card company who said they could cancel the charge if I filled in a form. In answer to one of the posts, I think it depends on which credit card company. Mine is CapitalOne and they were quite helpful. I just told them the transaction was fraudulent and hence void. Let’s see if they really manage to cancel it though.
Looking at it from the Chinese point of view, they probably think it is totally justified. The bulk of their population is working in sweatshops producing consumer goods for the west for a pittance wage. These goods are then sold for a handsome profit by western retailers. So why not do some ripping off of their own, in a different way? Not sure if that makes anyone who has gone through this any better.
September 17th, 2007 at 05:46
I had two tea scam approaches today in Beijing, once outside the Forbidden City and once in Wanfujing. I was aware of the art scam and it seemed reasonably harmless, but had not heard of the tea scam.
Both times I was approached by a nice polite English-speaking young girl who claimed to be from out of town who was happy to walk and talk for a long time before she suggested we go for some tea. Fortunately, I don’t like Chinese tea, so I quite innocently said “No, I don’t like Chinese tea”. She did try to convince me but I do have a tendency to be a bit stubborn when people repeatedly press me to change a decision, and she quickly gave up and said goodbye, which struck me as a bit odd at the time since we’d spent the previous 45 minutes having a very friendly conversation.
The next time in Wangfujing, when another girl suggested we go for tea my alarm bells went off. Surely 2 Chinese girls in one day don’t find me so charming that they want to go to tea with me? Either I’ve suddenly become much more attractive or there’s something fishy going on. I suggested to her that we should go for a drink in a nearby hotel instead, and at that point her she remembered she had to phone a friend, and after a brief phone conversation decided that she had to meet her friend straight away.
I then go on the internet and find this page. This seems such a common scam. As others have said, why do the guide books not mention this?
At the time the girls seemed so sweet and genuine. I would never for a moment have thought they were scammers.
September 22nd, 2007 at 07:37
Sorry my amount was RMB2860 not 28860! Otherwise my credit card would have been declined! Still a mega rip-off though.
Back in the UK now…I’ll keep you posted on whether my credit card company does actually cancel this…just filling in the paperwork now.
September 25th, 2007 at 06:42
I just returned from my second trip to China. Boy, do I feel like a total idiot! I came back home telling everyone about my “two new best friends.” Then… my visa bill came. I spent $175.00 at a “tea ceromony.” I googled the name of the tea house in Shanghai (SHH YU QING CHA LOU SHANGHAI) and the name popped up with a warning attached! I then became engrossed in learning more about the “tea scam”.
We are headed back to China with our family to live. I am determined to pass information regarding this scam around to all Westerners. We need to get the word out there so this kind of thing does not continue to happen. I also plan on seeking out those “best friends” and hope to expose their dishonesty and cruel intentions.
I really love China and have had more positive experiences than negative ones. Most of the people that I have met have been lovely. I guess this “adventure was an experience and a lesson.”
September 26th, 2007 at 12:45
I am writing again so soon (yes I am obsessed, although this is my last rant). I came upon a warning from the American State Department regarding the tea scam. I usually don’t bother with this site because I find the State Department too conservative in their advise on travel. However, I have noticed this scam has been going on for YEARS! So maybe it is wise to check out the State’s website.: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cispatw/cis/cis_1089.html
I think what makes this scam so infurating is not the money we have all lost, but the trust in people we have lost. It is really sad.
O.K. enough said. I have done my mourning. Now it is time to move on. And the next person who writes, believe me, you will too.
October 7th, 2007 at 04:52
Same thing happend to me! It was my second day in Beijing and two girsl came and just started to ask simple friendly questions like where are you from, what is your name etc. Then they just said than let’s walk and talk, let’s go here. This happend before the enterance to the forbidden city around late noon. We walked and they enjoined me to welcome to have tea with. I didn’t reliase anything at that point and deceded to go as China is well known its tea history.
Then we came up to tea house at wang fu jing area. It was a nice ceremony, we tried 12 different sort of tea and we also got snacks, piscuits and fruits. Finally the bill came and it was a huge! I refer to pay it and said that I’ll only do my part of the bill. Still it was huge, 1200RBM. I had to paid it with my credit card as I didn’t had that much of cass wiht me. I need to keep my eyes on my credit bill now and hope that there will not gonna be any extra sum. I got the receit after asking it many times.
So, shit happens! I am still bissed(to be a stupid and trust peope) of but need to continue and leave this behind. Hope people read this ‘forum’ and don’t do same mistakes.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:13
Shanghai, Yesterday, I am alone walking into People’s Park when I bump into four young Chinese students aged 21 to 24. Two boys and two pretty young girls. They wanted me to take their picture, and seemed eager to practice their English. I was not surprised, as this seems to happen a lot in Shanghai. It’s even written in the guidebook. “Don’t be surprised by Chinese students wanting to practice their English with you.” Maybe we hold some sort of fascination with them. Westerner = Success, money, contacts, English, ambiance, GwaiLoh etc.
One tells me she is on her first visit and has traveled 22 hours by train from some place I could not pronounce. They were armed with street maps, tourist cameras, money belt, and genuinely looked the part. One said they had never met an Englishman before and they were learning English in their home town. I expressed surprise at this as very few Chinese seem to learn English, and even more so since they were not from a big town. They chatted amicably and seemed like tourists just like myself.
Still they seemed nice kids and I did not object to them showing me some of the sites in the Peoples Park in exchange for them practicing their English on me. One guy seemed to speak better English and did most of the talking whilst the others spoke whenever they could manage to compose a sentence in English. I complimented them on how well they spoke it.
After a while the guy speaking the best English said that they were going to the Shanghai Tea Festival and that it is world famous and I could come if I wanted to. Well I know tea is very important in China so I did not hesitate to take an opportunity to immerse myself in this unusual ritual for us westerners. I quickly figured that this is going to cost me a few cups of tea, but if students are going it can not be expensive, and, hell, I remember when I was a student at the Munich Beer festival some rich Americans bought me and a friend beer all night. So why not, I could afford to buy them a cup or two of tea which is definitely not too expensive in China.
I followed them out of the Park and into a fast paced shopping Mall of Shanghai, until we were suddenly climbing some stairs and walking along a corridor of lots of little shops or boutiques some of which looked like tattoo or acupuncture places. Then the main guy led the five of us into one of the Boutiques which was subdivided into 4 or 6 smaller rooms and we were ushered into one in which there six teas laid out and an array of small cups and teapots. A girl in Chinese dress came in and started to talk in Chinese about the tea and showed us a price list. The guy who spoke the best English explained it item by item and I saw it as nothing more than a price list to buy some tea later and I was OK with it because the prices were around 60 RMB per tea, very expensive, for China, but fine if it came with a show.
Looking back on it I should have found it strange how these kids knew their way right to the front door of this off-the-street tea room when they themselves were supposed to be new in town. Three of them said they had never been to Shanghai before, and the fourth, the oldest (23) who spoke the best English said it was the second time.
The hostess objected when I wanted to video her, but I still managed to snap quite a few pictures as my camera has a silent mode with no flash.
Then began an elaborate ceremony of talking about the first tea, describing its health qualities (prevents cancer), telling us where it grows, how when and where it picked, then the making of the tea which involved many elaborate and ceremonial steps, including pouring the tea all over the cups (which were the size of thimbles) and over the tray. We got to smell the tea leaves of each one.
I was taught how to hold the cup and how to drink the tea and learned how to say “cheers” in Chinese - its “Cam Pay”. It was great fun as she went through the six teas one after the other and I certainly learned something and could have learned alot more if I could remember it, and I was really enjoying the company of these young students. All the while the guy who spoke the best English was translating everything so well. I was surpised that he was remembering it because the hostess would speak for several minutes before he translated. I thought he must be some kind of genius to remember so much of what she had said, He knew so many technical words for someone who hours earlier only spoke broken English, and he was readily translating the names of teas, fruits, roots, perfumes plants and aromas into English.
Some of the 5 or 6 teas we tasted were performed with little tricks. A little man who pees when you poured boiling water on him, a ball which opened into a flower when put in boiling water. Each tea was served with a different type of tea pot, and in a different size or shape cup, but always no bigger than a large thimble.
The whole ceremony seemed quite long and I was concerned to be missing my site-seeing, but on the other hand the ceremony was fun and I was learning something about tea, China, and making friends with people who live on the other side of the world.
When we had finished we were all presented with “free” boxes for the tea we could buy and I was shown the price list of the tea. As it was all in Chinese I could not make out anything except the prices of the teas which seemed to be 59 or 60 RMB each. I did a quick calculation and decided to order two or three as I assumed my Chinese student friends would not be able to afford such prices and there were five of us. However, they all happily ordered teas themselves.
Then the bill came. RMB 4800. At first I figured it was 480 RMB and they had got the zero in the wrong place. I stared at it because I knew it was a huge amount of money for anything in China. I asked my Chinese friends to check it which they did with a calculator and said, yes it is right. It consisted of 6 teas for 5 people at RMB 60 each, plus the fee for the rental of the room plus the fee for the Hostess, plus the cost of the tea that we had ordered. Even then the bill made no sense, so I stared at it more and asked for more explanations, and it turned out that the price for the teas I had bought was 60 RMB per 50g and apparently the pots hold much much more than that and I had just bought three pots.
I simply did not have that sort of money on me and the lead guy then helpfully suggested that they take credit cards (which I definitely do not want to use in such a place). I checked my cash. I did not have that much.
He suggested that I just pay for the tea ceremony and my tea, and he would pay for their purchased tea on his credit card. He worked out that my share was 2800 RMB and he gave his credit card for the rest. I felt sorry for him because I doubted that such a person could afford the remaining 2000 RMB and it looked like he was picking up the tab for the other three who did not seem to have much money on them. I figured that his Dad must be rich. After all what would a poor Chinese student from thousands of miles away be doing in Shanghai anyway? Furthermore, only the rich would have access to English language classes I reasoned.
The hostess cleaned me out with the 2800 RMB which was literally all the money I had on me. I am sure I heard one of the girl students gasp when she saw all this money. I do not think she had ever seen a bankroll like that in her life. The hostess brought in a gift for the group, a large teacup in a nice box. Very pretty, but you could barter that for about 15 RMB outside on the Nanjing road.
Then the student who had allowed his credit card to be taken out of the room had to leave the room to put in his PIN number. I thought it was strange that he would have a credit card in the first place. Most Chinese don’t have such a thing, especially not students, and especially not one from a town thousands of miles from Beijing or Shanghai. That reassured me that his dad must be a big-wig somewhere.
Whilst he was out of the room no doubt dealing with his PIN number, the other three decided that they would give me the teacup for being their honored friend. After the hostess came back, the lead guy also offered me the teacup as a gift.
For a moment I thought I was going to learn that his Credit Card PIN had failed and could they use mine, so I pre-empted this by saying “its a good that I had the cash because I have no credit cards with me”. At such a price for tea, they could give theirs back if they could not afford it. I was still in shock at the price but I had no idea how much all this was in real money. I just knew it was outrageous for China where a taxi ride costs only 11 RMB. I kept trying to work it out in my head, but my brain would not do the maths. I must be getting the zero in the wrong place. The Hostess kept the confusion up by giving out more gifts, some of the little peeing men, and some red and blue Chinese hand woven tassels which one of the girls helpfully attached to my bag.
My group of friends offered to buy me a meal of dumplings and we went in to some run-of-the-mill Chinese kitchen come restaurant with the strange name “Yun Fatdog Meet” where we had several plates of meat dumplings and a couple of beers which they paid for. Very nice. By now I was starting to work out what 2800 RMB was in real money - about £200, and i was starting to wonder if I had been scammed. I could not believe these innocent young
Chinese student tourists who did not look or behave like the thousands of hustlers I had so successfully dodged could be part of it. No, the tea-house was the scam, and they were as much embarrassed victims as I. But the doubt was setting in.
We exchanged email addresses and took a few photos and I waived goodbye to my “friends”.
As I walked back down the Nanjing road, a pretty young girl appeared asking if she could practice her English with me. I replied “Je ne parle pas Anglais, je suis francais, parlez vous francais?”, She tried a few more pick up lines to which I feigned lack of understanding and then she walked away in disgust because the only Gwai-Loh in the entire street was me and I did not speak any English.
Today I went to the highly rated but totally deserted Science Museum. Afterwards in the subway as I was negotiating the thousands of boutiques I bumped into another foreigner who seemed to have better bartering power than me. He was from Brazil and was speaking Portuguese and French with a friend to ensure the street traders could not know what price he was willing to pay.
He saw the red tassels hanging from my bag and said one line which confirmed my worst fears “Shanghai Tea Festival Scam”. Yes, he said he had been conned just two days ago with his wife. Same trick. So had several other people in his group. Always the same scenario. Several young out-of-town students, two boys, two girls befriending individuals and couples on the pretext of speaking English, then the “We were just on our way to the Shanghai Tea Festival, you can come with us if you want…”
As soon as I got back to the hotel, I Googled the scam, and found that thousands of people have been scammed in exactly the same way. The scam, and its variants are going on with the same formula in all the big cities. Always schoolkids learning English suckering in tourists who have come to make friends.
This is a famous scam. It has being going on for years. Why don’t they put it in the guide books? The guide from the airport didn’t warn me either. She said “Don’t drink the tap water, Don’t take an un-licensed taxi, better always ask the hotel to get you the taxi, Don’t buy fake Rolex watches, always divide by two the price they ask you for anything in the street, watch out for pick-pockets in the crowded areas…” But she never said watch out for kids supplementing their income by getting you to go to a make-believe “tea festival”. She did tell me “Shanghai is a safe city. You won’t get robbed”. What about conned?
Well I feel such an idiot, me who can usually spot a scam miles away, me who successfully dodged the hundreds of come-ons in the Nanjing Road, me who is so super cautious, me a Brit who wouldn’t be surprised if it happened to some gullible American.
At the end of the day I guess I am still OK with it. For £200 I had a bit of entertainment, a show, had a cup of tea, got some well wrapped tat, ate in a Chinese dumplings restaurant and drank Chinese beer and for a moment at least, until reality set in, I was with nice friends.
I can think of plenty of things that cost me that much and were far less fun. Things like getting a speeding ticket, or having root canal treatment for example. These kids probably saw no harm in earning a bit of pocket money by getting rich foreigners to buy expensive tea. Very enterprising. It’s another form of grass roots capitalism. Anyway, I will save a lot more than this on the things I buy for nothing from the street traders here. At least in some way I have contributed to the Chinese economy and maybe these kids will get to improve their English.
What I think is a shame is the image this sort of scam sends to the world. With millions of people converging on China for the Olympics next year, they do not need this sort of image. China does not need Americans going home feeling conned. A phrase I keep hearing is “nothing is the waya it seems”. They have to work on changing this.
Isn’t it a shame that some people who come here wanting to make Chinese friends will leave with a bitter taste in their mouth and will be twice as cautious when the next Chinese student says “You speak English with me?”.
October 27th, 2007 at 04:09
Haha! I’m currently in Beijing - I had a walk round Tiananmen Square today, and was presently surprised how friendly some people were, asking to practice their english with me.
I was approached no less than 3 times. First time it was no other than Coco and Shadow (though I didn’t get their names) - I was just outside the forbidden city entrance (same place…) and they tried to convince me that it was too busy due to it being a Saturday. I wasn’t thinking scam at this stage, but they were quite persistent that I go with them, but I actually wanted to wonder on my own for a while - so I said no and moved on. In the back of my head I was regretting not going with some local knowledge because I didn’t really know what to do with myself.
So just as I was setting out to read a map I’d just bought to figure out what to do, I was approached by a pair of girls. Again, they claimed to be “English Students” - the “scam detector” starting triggering at this point, but I thought that could just be me (i’m naturally quite suspicious of anyone being nice to me for no reason, also there’s a very similar scam in Athens, where you get bought drinks and then get taken to a rip of bar charging $100 beers…fortunately at the point of walking into the bar I’d read about it in Lonely Planet, and realised what it was then bailed).
Anyway, the girls were quite flattering, and not unattractive
so I thought I’d give them benefit of the doubt. They were quite useful to talk to and ask about different buildings etc. They took me north, to the road running to the east of the Forbidden City, and as we passed a Tea Shop they suggested we go in for tea. At this point I pretty much knew it was a scam, it was the whole private room thing, and I was thinking “this looks expensive” then looked at the pricelist and saw high charges for what should be dead cheap in China, and a 100CNY random charge. I said I wasn’t interested - and the blossoming, if not fake, friendship was brought to an end as they stayed at the store, and I move on.
Before leaving the square, I was asked no less than 2 more times by pairs of Chinese english students. Needless to say I politely declined there offers of walks to the houtons…
I should point out that I’m naturally quite distrustful of people being nice to me.
October 28th, 2007 at 06:23
I had this scam pulled on me yesterday. I think adding my entry will be part of the ‘healing process’. I got duped in Peoples square by 3 lovely girls around the age of 25. The way they conducted themselves, I ‘knew’ they were genuine about learning of my trip in China. How wrong I was. We had a chat for 40 minutes or so about eveything. They told me they were off to a tea house and that I could join if I had free time. No coersion there, so it didn’t set off my alarm bells, which are usually well honed.
Got in to the tea house, saw the menu presented,and knew this could be quite pricy as it was roughly 48RMB/taste. I just put thatin the back of my mind and prepared for a bill that may be a little larger than expected. The ceremony itself was fun and quite a cultural experience. to conclude, got the bill of 2000. F*! . I styed calm and got the lady to itemise the bill and payed my share. Didn’t buy any of the exrta tea that the other girls had bought (one said it was a gift for her professor). At no stage was I lured or pressured into buying extra tea, so I was still unsure if this was a scam or not. Wasnt till I spoke with chinese friends that I felt duped.
Spent the next day trying to rationalise the cost 300RMB. Which is only about $45AUD, so its not that much.
In the end I expereienced something new, learnt a lesson and had a reasonble afternoon. I have pictures and email addresses of the 3 students, so I have something to taunt them with if I post it to the net
October 29th, 2007 at 08:05
Add me to the list of suckers. I was approached this past Friday on Wangfujing St. just outside the Oriental Plaza, by two “English students” who went by the names of Mary and Xiang Xiang. To make a long story short, we did the walk thing down Wangfujing then they said they were going to watch some tea ceremony and get some tea and suggested I join them. Again, same story, we went to some place on Wangfujing, hidden to the side of the small strip that sells the skewers on a stick. It appeared to be on the 3rd floor. We orderd 3 teas, and some biscuits and seeds came without me ordering them. At the end, when it was time to go, the bill came. No less then 950RMB! The teas were charged at 100RMB each, biscuits and seeds were 550RMB and the room another 100RMB. I looked at the girls and started laughing. Surely this had to be a joke or a mistake. They said it wasn’t. I looked at the hostess, who spoke no English, and told her we might have a problem, since I only had 250RMB on me and no credit cards. The girls both said they have no money, and were acting all panicky and shocked. I basically said, either you take the 250RMB or you get nothing, to which they then offered to escort me to get more money. At this point, the hostess stepped out of the room and the chattering between the 3 stopped which gave me some time to think. At a stalemate, I put my 250RMB on the table and simply told them I’m leaving and if they werent satisfied and wanted more money, we could go to a policeman dowsnstairs who was outside when we walked in. They followed me downstairs as I looked for the nearest cop. They kept telling me they would be on the hook and I should get more money. Finally I spot a policemen, and only then when I threatened to approach him, they left me alone.
After feeling like a complete sucker for a few days, I googled Beijing scams and found this thread and was in utter shock at what some have paid for a few cups of tea. I checked both my travel guides, and only the Lonely Planet had 3 senetences on scams in Beijing, buried somewhere at the back. Insane! How could this be going on for so many years without any action being taken? Why isnt this in the FRONT of all travel guides on China? I feel like a fool. In retrospect, I shouldnt have left anything. I should have just gone downstairs to bring the cop to settle it. I was lucky, cause if I had more money or a credit card, I would no doubt have picked up the whole tab.
I’ll be here for another week or so and I’ll have my eyes opened for any foreigner with either a Chinese couple in tow, or 2-3 Chinese girls. This must be stopped. One can only imagine how many people are scammed, who dont post on any internet threads, such as seniors or tour groups. Lonely Planet will also be getting an email. Scams should be on page 6 of every guide, not buried on page 250 or somewhere thereabouts.
Live and learn I guess.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:10
I just got scammed last evening. Same old style: so called students walking along with you, taking you to a tea tasting shop and at the end pulling up 1000s of RMB bill. Didn’t realize I was being fleeced and paid only my part 575 RMB on Amex. Got back to hotel, googled, and figured the whole thing is a scam. So, went back to the same shop this evening along with my two chinese coleagues, we argued with them about their scam, threatened them we’ll report to the license authority and call the police. They got scared and returned my 575 in exchange for the credit card receipt (obviously, they don’t want any proof that the transaction occured). We didn’t have to yell at them, just a threat at normal tone level. I’ll also dispute the credit card charge and if I am lucky, Amex will ding them even more. Bastards! they deserve it.
So, don’t feel stupid for falling for the scam and keep quite. Go back, preferably with a chinese friend, threaten them and get your money back. If you feel it’s not safe inside, just yell at them from the street. Trust me, they will come down and return your money as they don’t want any small incident that expels their whole shitty business. Also, it’s good idea to cancel the credit card if you used it.
December 3rd, 2007 at 06:36
guess everybody is sick of hearing the same old tea ceremony stories but I just feel the need to share mine. call it putting an unfortunate incident to rest, closure or something like that I am airline crew and just got back from a whistle stop trip to shanghai yesterday. after an overdose of artifacts and culture at the shanghai museum I wandered without aim or purpose towards the bund when I ran into two friendly chinese girls (same old - students on holiday from another city bla bla bla). The ceremony seems to be exacly the same as everyone described, down to the number of teas tried, the order in which they were tried and even the free tea pot which was presented to me for being the distinguished foreign friend who was kind enough to pay for the whole thing minus 800 which I did not have and daisy
s friend (cant remember here name) had to put on her card. like everybody else who had to rely on their chinese friends to pay a proportion, she also had to leave the room to put her number in. or was she picking up her share of the payment? shameful in a country where people are desperate enough to sell baby girls on the black market for as little as 7000rmb. someone is getting rich. I ran into a work friend a short time later and and saidjust had a really embarassing and expensive experienceto which she respondedknow exactly what ur going to say, tea ceremony, friendly chinese students. It has happened to a co-pilot two two weeks ago. I guess it could have been worse. Went to an Indian restaurant that night and was telling the owner about it all. He told me about some Indian toursits who got an atronomical karaoke bar bill where if you they desputed the bill and then men in black appeared and one guy had to go the an ATM and leave his friend behind as adeposit. anyway, to the tea ceremony girls - hats off to you for a scam well done and I hope that what goes around comes around.December 8th, 2007 at 01:06
Me too.
Not only did they scam me but they were also kind enough to overcharge me, too, which does give me a possible route to disputing the transaction with the credit card company. I also got quite a nice box of tea (a gift, not part of the transaction, which means the credit card company doesn’t need to know about it)… and the two ’students’ email addresses. Both on Hotmail, which means that they probably don’t mean anything, but still suitable for sending abuse to.
December 11th, 2007 at 05:10
It’s still going, good and healthy, in December 2007. The tea-house scam just happened to me in front of the Forbidden City. I was lumbered with about USD80. The guidebooks need to start printing warnings. Argh. At least now I know.
The thing now is that I want/have to spend much less for the rest of my time in Beijing, and I’m more suspicious (I’ve been approached several times in English by friendly people, and now I’m not so sure if they were friendly).
December 21st, 2007 at 13:34
Yup, still going strong on Wanfujing and in the mall beneath the Beijing Hyatt. Every fifteen minutes a different pair of girls wanted to talk abut English and Karaoke and art and tea… I suspect that at least some of them work ALL the scams, adjusting to the customer. My tea girls knew a lot about local karaoke and art galleries, anyway.
Not too happy about the loss BUT at the same time I can afford it and did have an experience that will resonate humorously for many years. Just don’t tell my girlfriend!
I was on a schedule to meet friends and had to insist on leaving quickly — the bill was still ridiculous and I can only imagine how much a few people might get hit for if they stayed for the “entire” tea ceremony (I bailed after four pots — the very cute tea lady said I was ruining the ceremony, the full course was 15!)
January 10th, 2008 at 03:03
Aiie! Felt terrible all day after this happened to me in Shanghai, until I googled and found all this lot with the same story. As one of the other posters said, they were actually very likable and as scams go it was extremely pleasant. I actually bought some stuff afterwards which saved me from the “hidden” charges so I’ve got a tea set and tea as belated Christmas presents for my family. Don’t know if the accompanying story will make them more appreciated or less! I paid 970 yuan for the whole lot.
Still I feel a lot better now. Cheers chaps. I’m surprised this isn’t in the Shanghai Lonely Planet they’re normally big on scams.
January 10th, 2008 at 03:48
Actually having read a few other comments now I might just add a few extra points.
their back-story was PERFECT! They were from out-of-town (which would explain why they were so keen to practice English - obviously there are many English speakers in Shanghai) but their friend had shown them where the tea house was the day before which explained how they knew where it was. They still found the place too quickly though.
I was on my own, first day in the city and was so up for hanging out with these nice Chinese kids that I actually asked them where they were going and asked if I could come with.
I nearly asked to give the most expensive tea I was buying back as I didn’t have enough cash. But I didn’t want to cause a scene so went to use the ATM instead.
The first thing that gave it away to me afterwards was that I never saw any of the scammers take their own tea.
I even asked if they fancied going for lunch afterwards but they had to go and meet their other friends. Guess I just wasn’t entertaining enough for the lunch segment
Got some good pix - especially one of the hostess taken through the glass of lychee tea.
Don’t know if it was a real address but I emailed “Betty” to congratulate her and suggest she use her charm and guile on something that doesn’t involve taking advantage of people…
January 15th, 2008 at 06:02
Ok, Ok…me too. I read previously about the art students, so I was on guard. I have successfuly shaken “students” off in Shanghai, Xi’an and several in Beijing, but I didn’t see the tea scam coming. I had a very nice walk and a fun conversation with four young students. They simply started chatting me up. After walking across Tian’anmen square and taking pictures and talking with them, we crossed the street (underground). One suggested we go to the east where there was a nice park. I said no, and continued toward the forbidden city (closed at 4:30 because it is winter). They followed. We wandered around and one said in a surprised tone, “Oh look! there is an art exhibit!” I went into the art room, looked around, and asked for one price. I declined flatly. I left with the students in tow. They were not phased by this. We continued walking around the east side of the forbidden city to the hutongs. We stopped at a street corner and they were VERY good at suggesting which way to go in the most casual way. We wandered the streets and laughed and talked. When we came along yet another tea shop one said “I saw you looking at the tea pots a little while ago, do you want to go in and have some tea?” We were ushered into a private tea room. The young lady served 6 cups of tea, wonderful flavors, and did so quite beautifully. She would explain how to hold the cup, what the tea was good for (blood pressure, kidneys, etc). She brought in really great pumpkin seeds and a plate of fruit (which no one ordered). At one point I asked how many teas they serve… my “friends” asked the tea-lady…you could choose 6, 9 or 10. Fortunately, I stopped them at 6. Then, you guessed it, the bill came for 1150rnb (about 160usd). I flatly said I didn’t have the money and it was outrageous. They got very nervous. I sat and waited. The server left and returned a couple of times. She said something and they translated that they could take a card! I said I haven’t one. I said this is more than a flight from Xi’an to Bejing, more than food in the US for 2 weeks! Amazingly a couple of the “students” started taking out money - several hundred RNB (call this priming the pump!!) These guys were so good, one also pulled out what looked like a credit card. NOW, I doubt that it was a credit card! Finally, I fished out 100RNB. I asked what would happen. One said, he will put the rest (about 500 rnb) on his card and the other guys would pay him later. I kept my ground and said I don’t have any more money. The tea-lady was laughing at the whole scene. I still believe them - becuase they were so good…pulling out money and a ‘credit card’!! I thought this one guy was getting stuck with 500rnb on his credit card and actually felt bad! Yet, I refused to whip out a card or any more cash. And the guys were visibly embarrased. Now I know, they were not embarrased because it was so shockingly expensive and they didn’t know about the expense and didn’t have money. They were embarrased in front of this tea-lady because they could not get me to pay for tab - the scam wasn’t working. We finally left. They pointed me in the direction I needed to go, they were going the other direction. Now I get that they went straight back to the tea place to get thier money back and split whatever small profit they made from me. What amazes me the most is how they simply go with whatever works…no art, ok tea. Fortunately for me, I only lost out on about 13usd. I think that wasn’t too bad because they were quite entertaining to hang out with and I tried some good tea. And they wasted over 2 hours all for $13! Tomorrow when other students approach me, I will very directly tell them I know that they are scamming.
March 16th, 2008 at 07:03
Same thing happened to me and my friend last december right at the exit to the forbidden city. We are from India and were in Beijing since september 07 through January 08 on a job assignment. Two nerdy looking girls (tourists) studying “economics and english” in shanghai befriended us and started walking with us (to the tiananmen square). The four of us then strolled along for about 30-40 mins.
Whilst on our way, one of them insisted shes thirsty and wanted to have something to drink. I was thirsty(and a little hungry) too and i insisted we go to any MacDonalds or some familiar chains nearby where they would be serving some familiar food. But she pointed to some Chinese shop along the street(selling tea!) and insisted we go there. I am not particularly fond of Chinese green tea so I refused to this part and started walking on when the other girl pushed my friend to another tea shop. They said they are taking us to the “tea ceremony” and then the episode followed. The number of teas tasted were six and the bill at the end of it all was 2400 RMBs! highway robbery!
I grew suspicious and said I only had 100 with me…my friend said hes also got 100 and that we dont have any credit cards. They insisted we use our debit card but we refused (citing some reason i dont remember). When they still coerced, I told them I have to call up my friend working in the embassy and ask for the extra bucks. This made them jittery. I then pretended to make a call and called up my chinese colleague from the workplace instead. I then handed the phone over to the owner of the shop. He refused to speak to anyone and cut the phone.
The owner, who was till now acting as if he is irritated, smiled and said that our “friends” have paid for us and that we can leave. I found it pretty odd but was happy to make a sprint out of the the place :D. But a day was wasted amidst all this, never the less.
All the people we met otherwise in China were really friendly but this experience left us with a bitter taste in mouth. I feel they tried to take advantage of our trust in them. Hope the Chinese government cracks down on such antisocial elements before the olympics begin later this year.
March 17th, 2008 at 05:16
And the Oscar goes to xxx
I’m well traveled and have been all over the world. My red flags pop up easily and often. I have successfully geared off scams before, but this time the red flags weren’t there.
The two young ladies outside the museum in Shanghai, NEVER pushed me into doing anything, they NEVER asked me to pay for them. We spent maybe an hour wandering around talking about life before they mentioned they were going for a Chinese tea ceremony. They were from somewhere right in between Beijing and Shanghai, and were on vacation in the city.
I felt that I was in charge to choose wether I wanted to join or not, no pressure what so ever!
When the bill came they seemed confused about the high bill themselves. They paid theirs (I noticed that they did not ask me to pay theirs). I figured the tea I had just bought was sold per hektogram and not kilogram as I had thought and was rather upset with myself for being so dumb comitting myself to buying tea I could have bought in a store for 20 RMB. I paid up 1200RMB thinking that at least I had a nice afternoon (acting or not), the tea tasted good and the stories about it were nice. Even if, in my heart I still want to believe that they REALLY were tourists too and were pulled into the scam themselves. Reading the above, next time I’ll pull the “Je ne parle pas Anglais, je suis francais, parlez vous francais?” as mentioned above.
I know I’m not dumb, but Jeez do I fell dumb and embarrassed right now!
The question is, shall I frame my 1200 tea or drink it?
March 24th, 2008 at 06:15
I had the same two days ago in Beijing also in Qianmen. In the shopping centre, two 25 years old students asked me to speak with them as they learn english and wanted to practise. Their English was better that mine, however they invited me for a tea to the nice place very close. The price was 2000 RMB. I had just half of that so they paid 500 RMB and told me that I can pay rest by credit card as they don’t have more money…. Tomorrow I’m going to go back to that place, take some photos and go to police. Also it may be good idea to make some website deticated to that issue…to make peope aware of that…
March 31st, 2008 at 18:28
I was also conned very similarly to you all as well a few days ago. I’m back home in the States now and tried everything I could, but I couldn’t get the money back. I’m just going to have to deal with this.
My and my friends went to visit Mao’s mausoleum in Tiananmen when we found out it had closed. We hung around for about 10 minutes before deciding to head back to the hotel. While walking back, we passed by a group of 4 Chinese students, 3 females 1 male, who greeted us enthusiastically as their American student counterparts. They asked us where we were from and pleased us with casual conversation. The leader (the male) seemed very talkative and friendly and explained that they were from the WuHan province. They explained that they were visiting Beijing on vacation and asked us to accompany them quickly to the Hutong district. They assurred us it would only take a little while. Because we didn’t want to seem rude, we decided to go with them. They looked 100% innocent and friendly.
That was warning sign number one. Don’t go anyone, even if the man is a monk.
On our way to the Hutong, we talked about ourselves and learned a lot of the cultural differences between us and themselves. They talked about watching American shows like ‘Prison Break’, and talked about Chinese celebrities well known in America like Jet Li and Jackie Chan. I should say that this whole time I was slightly on my guard and protected my pockets well, but little did I know that I would not be a victim of a physical affliction. Anyway, we eventually reached Hutong, where one of the students explained how she wanted to travel to Vancouver, BC, to further study in English. However, she said that the Olympics opening day happened to be on her birthday, and that she would much rather celebrate it with her friends in Beijing than in Vancouver alone. I sympathized and was further enveloped in their friendliess.
After strolling a little bit through HuTong, their group leader inadvertently stopped and peeked inside a teahouse. He said, “Eh, this is interesting!” and beckoned we come inside and have tea. That was warning number two. Again, being that we didn’t want to be rude, we continued to proceed into the tea house and have (hopefully) a quick cup of tea. We assurred them that afterward we should get going back to the hotel.
It turns out that it was a traditional tea ceremony. A host came out and had us sample 10 different types of tea. The whole time, the group leader seemed exceedingly interested at the ornaments in the room. Looking back, I realize that he was trying to make it look like everything was new to him while I can now see that they had all faked their interest. At the end of the ceremony, the host asked us which types of tea we liked best, and once we made our pick, the group leader offered to purchase us tea to bring home. We were terribly flattered and would have felt terrible should he have to pay for all of it (how ironic). When asked for the bill, he seemed very shocked at the price. Being that I can understand and speak a little Chinese, it sounded like the prince was 3000 RMB. He took out his card, but explained that with depleted funds, he did not have the means to pay for everyone. He said that he would pay for five, and asked if we could perhaps pay for the rest.
That was warning sign number three.
We hesitated a little, but caved. We offered to pay in cash, but they told us two reasons why it would not work. First, they said it was unfortunately not enough. Second was the crafty, elaborate, reason. They explained how they could only accept credit cards because if the teahouse was able to procure its sales in credit, then the bank would give them back rewards for next month.
Warning number four. I have heard of places that don’t accept cards, but NEVER any place that doesn’t accept cash. Heed this warning. My friend offered them his card, but luckily for him, his didn’t process. Before my second friend tried his card, we explicitly asked for the price we had to pay for. In fact, we had been doing this ever since the check came out. However, we never received a direct response. They replied vaguely and attempted to change the subject everytime we asked. We asked to see the bill, but the number was written so poorly, my friends assumed it said 33 RMB. Since I mentioned earlier that I thought the price was 3000, I was a little worried, but assurred when my friends told me 33 RMB. This is the ironic part: I even said aloud, “Oh good! I thought it 3000 or something.” The group that conned us chuckled at my remarks (now I know why). My second friend gave then them his card, and a little less luckily could only pay 1000RMB due to a limit on his spending amount. However, the receipt was so poorly printed, we were not aware that the 1000 on the receipt was his part of the bill.
They then asked if I had a card to complete payment. Warning five. I really did hesitate and did not wish to give them my card, and I don’t know what did it, but I gave in. The host returned later very happily and said my card was able to pay for the rest of it. But when they gave me a receipt, it said 2300 RMB on it. I, again, was not aware that was the price. Both me and my friend stupidly signed the receipts. However, we did not even get a customer copy back. Even at the end of the ceremony, when I asked to see the receipt, they managed to wave it away. Warning number six.
As I said earlier, the group leader offered to pay for part of the bill. This may have been the biggest giveaway that we missed. Although he gave them his card, they never had him sign any sort of receipt. That was warning seven.
After it all, I was feeling extremely nervous and wanted to rush back to the hotel immediately to check my balance. However, on our way out of Hutong, they continued to befriend us, offering to buy us street food and souvenirs to gain back any trust that may have been lost. We declined for everything (mostly because I was so concerned). They even exchanged contact info with us. On our way back, I was still immersed in their trust so the word ‘con’ never even crossed my mind. But when we got back to the hotel, our worst fears were confirmed. I first thought it was just extremely expensive tea. But after googling ‘tea scam’, I found that I had been conned.
The little payback we got did not redeem anything. It turns out the number they gave us was legit, and my friends seized the opportunity to bluff and cuss him out before we left for the States. Either way, I lost $350 USD because I missed seven warning signs. There were so many ways I could have forseen it, but it never occurred to me because of their friendliness. Now I have a packaged box of dried fruit tea sitting in my bag, and I’m wondering whether to dump it or use it.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:24
Travelled to Shanghai first, then Beijing; couldn’t help but get the impression that the only people who speak English are those out to screw you (from the guy at the airport insisting there is no such thing as a bus to downtown and that waiting for a cab will take 2 hours and that his “taxi” service is the best; to the hawkers on the street insisting you NEED a watch or a “sexy” massage from a girl) then there were the “english” students who all wanted to “hang out”; as a skeptical travller and an astute business man, I don’t get taken that easily; I asked a friend who was living close to Beijing what he thought of the whole ordeals and we both figured at least some of them were scams; but i figured they would probably just take you into a corner and pickpocket your money etc. My friend left Beijing a day before I did, and so my story goes:
Coming out of the Forbidden City started talking to two girls who pretended to be english students, for most of my trip i had used my knowledge of the German language to pretend i didn’t speak english and confuse the hell out of the people selling stuff, they figure every white person has at least a basic understanding of English (a shanghai seller saw me the next day and made fun of me because i couldn’t speak english-basically saying “hey there is the guy who can only speak “Deutsche”) as my friend had left early, it was 5pm and I had seen all the sights i wanted to and was leaving early the next morning I thought i would go along with the whole thing and see what was up with it (see if it was a scam). I had about 300rmb on me, a Visa card, old digi-camera and an nice watch (real one from back home that was about $500) but all my important documents extra cash passport laptop etc were in my hotel room and my key didn’t say which hotel. I’m also 6 foot and 250 pounds so i figured what’s the worst that can happen, i kept my hands on my wallet and camera and kept a close eye for pickpockets.
So the girls start talking to me, find out I own my own business in property management, find out I have my pilots license, they were very impressed (probably because they thought I was loaded) after i agreed to go for tea they made a convenient phone call etc. They were insistent to know where I was staying as well; I told them i didn’t know the hotel name just where it “kinda” was; they asked how i got there, i told them on bus number 104 and several stops down - giving your hotel location is suspect. They also asked me what I was doing after we went for tea, once again i was very vague saying i was going to walk around a bit.
So we go into this whole in the wall tea shop, I at first ask how much it will cost, they show me a sign that says 30rmb for tea per person(little pricey as other restaurants had a cup for 10rmb) but as I was going to go to starbucks for a coffee it was about the same price. I also see a suspect sign on the wall that says 100rmb for fruit plate; needless to say they bring out 4 fruit plates. I tell them I wasn’t interested in fruit and I hadn’t ordered it. $15 for fruit plate in Beijing is way too much. They offer a “tea ceremony” i figured this was also part of a scam and would cost a lot more than 30rmb so i decline, indicating i had already seen one the previous day (on the great wall bus tour) so they make the tea, the girls keep on suggesting i try some fruit, and they keep on filling my tea glass. I made up a story about being full from lunch (they then asked what i had so i had to make up a quick story!) and that i was allergic to citrus fruit.
I made several excuses about being in a hurry to get back to the hotel and indicated that I should head off, so one of the girls goes to get the shop “owner” and get the bill, I stand up and wait by the door (the other girl insisted I sit down) the owner comes with the bill and they start to ’sort’ it out, luckily I had exact change of 30rmb in my pocket so they never saw how much money I had. I told them i had to go so I showed one of the girls the 30rmb; she told me to wait until the figured the bill out, I point at the sign on the wall and stuffed it in her hand, when she tells me there is a “room fee” of $15 and the fruit plate fee; at which point in time i was half way out the door telling them I agreed to the 30rmb and I ran out.
As i ran out i heard one of the girls wimper asking me to pay my share of the room fee of $15 (100rmb or something) and i’m guessing they would have charges 30rmb per cup of tea etc.
So in retrospect given that i had about a pots worth of tea (about 5 cups) 30rmb wasn’t that much to pay. But i do regret running out so soon as it would have been fun to see the whole bill and argue with them, but the hallway was tight and there was a locking door in there so i was kind of hesitant to overstay my welcome. At least the tea shop had a loss on my deal, because i probably took up about an hour of the girls time, they had a couple cups of tea each, and they each had about a plate of the fruit.