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Tell Others Your Travel Traps here!
Apr 16, 2013 14:55
#161  
GUEST19144 In September 2011 The Marriott Sandalwood Executive aprtments in Beijing arranged a private tour for me of the Great Wall. After the tour was finished the tour guide took me to a copper pottery plant which I did not ask for. I was pressured into buying something. I chose a small vase which I assumed would be no more than $50 USD. It turned out to cost $680 USD. I knew I was cheated but let it go as I was an American and didn't want to start a squabble in China.
Apr 16, 2013 21:13
#162  
  • BBQQ
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GUEST19144,

Did you tell Marriott Sandalwood Executive aprtments what happened to you? They should take partial responsibility. At least, they should have helped you report you experience to the local tourism administration bureau.
Apr 21, 2013 02:22
#163  
  • GHOST
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Just returned from a trip from Huangshan, staying in Tunxi. Tunxi Old Street is a great place to shop but beware, in one shop after I spent over a certain amount I got several 'lucky draw' tickets, one of which was the 1st prize! Great, you might think... I could choose three jade or precious stone rings, bracelets or necklaces (3K to 15K worth).

After choosing three items, I'm shown a certificate of authenticity and told I need to pay the 10% tax on each item... After a quick calculation, I decide I don't want to pay that sort of money for items I wasn't even interested in buying... Why would a tourist shop even have these expensive jewellery items for sale in a corner of the shop? Just remember the old maxim, you don't get anything for free, or if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't!
Apr 22, 2013 05:17
#164  
  • KIRK1
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Beware of money changers on the street. They are notorious for issuing counterfeit currency. A better alternative is a reputable hotel.
May 21, 2013 21:59
#165  
  • WOMBATX
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Packaged food in tourist destinations (e.g. Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, etc). They would claim those to be "local speciality food" and therefore charge a relatively high prices (can be 3 or 4 times the price of that same good in supermarket).
Jun 9, 2013 05:25
#166  
  • AMYHUNTER
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thanks http://www.travel.com/
Jun 22, 2013 23:10
#167  
GUEST22553 Hi, may be you can try some new ways to travel, how about find some volunteers when you arrive in a foreign city. I can recommend you an non-profit organisation for you, hope you like this popular way of travel! You may hear 'shanghai greeter',the website is: www.shanghai.greeters.info
Hope this will help you!
Aug 15, 2013 16:10
#168  
I just use an atm.
Aug 15, 2013 16:21
#169  
Beware of the "hot springs" cave in Yangshou. The one on the big billboard that says beware of the fake hot springs caves, is the fake hot springs cave. You get down there,see a run down cave, the you go to what they call the mud baths, which is a freezing cold pool of muddy water. Then when you ask to go to the hot springs, no hot springs. What a waste of time and money. We sat at the booth for an hour, while my wife cursed them up and down in Chinese, but never got a penny back.
Oct 31, 2013 23:50
#170  
  • GRIZ326
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A story from a 2008 trip to China:

Flew into Hong Kong and caught the bus to Guangzhou.

FIRST MISTAKE: I did not have the hotel name & address in Chinese characters and got dropped off a long way from my hotel. BIG mistake!

SECOND MISTAKE: Didn't have any Chinese money; USD did pay cabbies; credit cards weren't working.

THIRD MISTAKE: More than one hotel with nearly the same name. First taxi took me to the wrong place...but took me to the second, correct hotel.

Things that went well:

* I was smart enough NOT to walk through a suspicious alleyway.

* I was lucky enough to find a police officer to walk me through the alley.
(In truth, China is a REALLY SAFE PLACE compared to many parts of the world.)

* A cab driver took me from a wrong location - knowing I didn't have any money. He drove me to the wrong hotel (one with a similar name); and then got me to the correct hotel; and waited for me to get the hotel to give me some money on my credit card.
Trust me; that would never happen in New York or Los Angeles.

When I was a merchant seaman, I had a few rules for myself:

* Never drink to drunkenness.
* Never mistake your "new friends" for friends.
* Be constantly aware of the environment and the people around you.
* Never flash your money. (You should never carry more than one day's money - although sometimes that is easily said, but difficult to do)
* Travel well-lighted and well-travelled roads.
* If you think a taxi driver is taking you to a bad place, be prepared to jump out of the taxi when you can. (That rule may have saved my life in the Philippines.)

...and life will be easier if you notify your credit card companies that you will be traveling in China to prevent them from shutting down your credit cards. (That happened to me once and it is difficult to fix when you're in China and the bank people are in your home country.)

I haven't been back to China for five years now and look forward to going again. Even though I'm certain that it has changed, it's a pretty safe place to travel...you just have to keep all of your teeth in your head
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