| Tell Others Your Travel Traps here! | |
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| Jan 1, 2012 19:30 | #141   |
 | Find a nice travel agency is very important. Don't try to find a cheaper quotation all the time. And figure out all the details before your agreement to the travel contract. |
Last edited by VANESSAZHONG: Jan 1, 2012 19:32 | |
| Jan 8, 2012 09:26 | #142 |
| I strongly disadvice you to take any guided tour to the Great Wall from the tour operators that operate in the Forbiden City. When visitng the Forbiden City, we were approached by a guy who called himself "Bill"(that was suposed to be his english name though he was a chinese). He offered us a tour to the Great Wall plus Ming Tombs. Because we anyway wanted to see it, we arranged it. On a day of tour his van came to pick us at the hotel. Beside driver there was a woman who introduced herself as our guide. A first supprise(when we were already on the motorway) was when she told us that we wouldn't be visiting Ming Tombs. Apparently, because of the clousure on the motorway we would be forced to go via side roads and this would cause a delay and blah blah... We protested for a moment but we got along with it. Anyway it was said to us, this is merrely a park. Before we got to the Wall, we unexpectedlly stoped at a "factory" in one village. She said we should go inside although it was not on the program. We didn't wanted to, because we heard many stories of people being forced to buy something in such "factories". She then even got angry and threated that she will leave us there in the middle of nowhere alone if we do not go inside. This was even more suspicios to us and when she realized that she won't succeed, we continued driving to the Wall. When arriving at the Wall we entered the cable car and went atop. She didn't go with us but promissed to pick us at the parking some hundred metters before the entrance, a few hours later. When we arrived at the top she called us via mobile and said she wouldn't be back and she would leave us there. This was obviously a revenge for not visiting that bloody "factory". When we protested she began to blackmail us, saying she would come back to pick us but we would have to visit that "factory" and also go to a kind of tea degustation. There was time to do this but not obviously for the Ming Tombs being originaly on the program. And we of course heard the stories about degustations which costed the participants lurked into it, even up to 50 or 100 euros. So we smoothly denied it. Luckilly, there were taxis near that parking which drove us to the nearest city when we were able to take the bus back to Beijing. So under any condition, do not take anyone offering you a tour to the Great Wall in the Forbidden City or around. |
| Jan 17, 2012 11:54 | #143 |
| GUEST39525 | I had terrible experiences when i was in guangzhou. I went to guangzhou railways station and i didn't had enough cash so i decided to change my money through the side stalls and omg what a nightmare. He gave me the right money then asked me to give it back to him so he can put a mark on them Ok then what happen was he put the money into that machine which tell you the total and if the money is real then he handed me over all the money and when i went outside the room and count again OMG i got scammed by 900rmb. When i went back inside there was 4 or 5 more guys there who was his friends and when i asked the person where is rest of money and actually it was behind the counting machine and then they all got angry and threatening me and my friends so we decided to leave from there just to be on the safe side. Ok after we left his shop/stall there was 1 of his friend following us all the way so some how we managed to get away. PLEASE DON'T GET YOUR MONEY CHANGED FROM MARKETS OR ANY WHERE EXCEPT BANKS AS BANKS WILL GIVE YOU LOWER RATE AND YOU MIGHT GET 200RMB LESS BUT YOU KNOW THE MONEY IS REAL AND YOU WANT GETY SCAMMED 1000RMB |
| Jan 31, 2012 05:11 | #144 |
| GUEST24162 | Hi MANGE_TOUT! Firstly, I was disagreed with your advice. However, your reason was very convincing. As a truly traveler-like experience, what rule of thumb I like to follow is that avoid everything touristy, especially destinations recommended by popular travel guides, |
| Jan 31, 2012 19:40 | #145 |
| GUEST44212 | Quote:Originally Posted by GUEST24162 Hi MANGE_TOUT! Firstly, I was disagreed with your advice. However, your reason was very convincing. As a truly traveler-like experience, what rule of thumb I like to follow is that avoid everything touristy, especially destinations recommended by popular travel guides, It is ok for the experienced backpackers to travel in remote and undeveloped destinations. However, most ordinary travelers can just go to the famous or recommended destinations because it is safe and convenient for them to travel in these places. To avoid travel traps, I advise that people should avoid joining group tours. Make your own itineraries, book your hotels, train or flights and travel on your own. On the other hand, be very careful on your trip. |
| Jun 21, 2012 22:09 | #146 |
| Quote:Originally Posted by GUEST44212 To avoid travel traps, I advise that people should avoid joining group tours. Make your own itineraries, book your hotels, train or flights and travel on your own. On the other hand, be very careful on your trip. On the contrary, it's good to join group tours organised by renowned establishments such as TCG, that won't shortchange others. For those who have local contacts they won't need any professional guide, but for first timers I'm sure they need someone to guide them, especially in purchasing things, visiting interesting places etc. Bargaining in China is an art. Wan |
| Jul 3, 2012 01:48 | #147 |
| I had made 10 trips to different parts of China over 20 yrs. Package tours include few compulsory stops, one of which is pharmaceutical company. My advice: DON'T BUY anything where they bring you to. If $ is no object to you, be generous! Your local guides will love you for your purchase. 1) I overpaid my purchase of herbs by X times. It was too late for my all-knowing travel mate to warn me since I was at the cashier with the prescribed herbs. 2) Miracle cream for burns in Beijing & one more city, which I had forgotten. For demo, a chain is heated up to XdegC using a torch, and a staff has to clasp it with both hands. Can see that he's holding back his tears. This is outright human abuse. My subsequent encounter with this setup, I walked out in spite of the local guide's plea to sit in. 3) Buying fruits from street stalls. Not uncommon to be cheated by weight! If you really must eat, buy by all means. If charged by item count, make sure you hold on to your purchase when you pay. Ever heard of magic swap to rotten fruits right under your nose? Use smaller notes to buy to cut down the risk of being given fake notes for your change. 4) Don't give $ to the disabled child beggars. They get pittance from the syndicate who exploit, and ferry them from one tourist spots to another. 5) With so much negative publicity on unscrupulous food suppliers and China's lack of quality control, I am no longer interested in gourmet food tour. Hey, you live once! Go ahead and enjoy your food banquet! |
| Jul 3, 2012 13:08 | #148 |
| 6) It's your lucky day. My wife just gave birth yesterday and I'm very happy. This jade usually I sell to others 10000 Yuan but today only 5000. Wan |
| Aug 3, 2012 20:48 | #149 |
| It happened last summer, I already got it over. Just hope nobody will get hurt by them again. |
| Aug 12, 2012 22:39 | #150 |
| Money changers! and travel agency maybe cheater,you must be careful with it . |
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