| Please be careful with "friendly people" | |
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| Jan 8, 2008 21:04 | #21   |
 | Hi Everybody, thanks for all your answers and comments. It was really a bad experience because we felt really stupid to be so innocent, and most because we are latinamericans and in our country we have seen some things alike but not as smart as this one. But we were in four diferents cities in china were we meet such nice people!! so we never tought that can happen!!! And the worst part happens the next day we went close by tiananmen square looking for an office were we had an appointment and we saw one of the ladies looking for another tourist to cheat!! and she was with other two diferent girls... so it seems it a daily job!! In conclusion we had a great time in china, the only bad thing was that experience, I know some people doesn´t understand why we paid for that expensive fake tea ritual but if you are not there living it you will never understand the confusion, fear and not to know what can happen. if you refused to pay. Happy new year to everybody and please be safe! |
| Jan 23, 2008 00:30 | #22 |
| These people who target foreigners do sicken me. I used to feel guilty if I ignored them when they approached me - but I was always suspicious about the gallery or wherever they wanted me to visit. Now if I am spken to I always answer politiely, then say "but I need to go now, maybe see you tomorrow". Many travels have made me wary about anyone talking to me first - and because of it I have probably given a bad impression to some really nice people. I think once you feel cheated then you are immune to be caught again. Just like in the markets....... |
| Feb 3, 2008 02:48 | #23 |
| GUESTPEKINGESE | That happens not only for foreigners, but also for local chinese people to be cheated in such kind of coffee or tea house. Better way is going to safe places and ask the price before and, if really threatened, call the 110. Normally, these "bad" chinese are afraid of police in such situation related with foreigners. |
| Mar 25, 2008 06:17 | #24 |
| GUEST17203 | you should talk to manager of the establishment, report to police / security, they are everywhere. be careful and good luck. |
| Mar 27, 2008 07:16 | #25 |
| I have also suffered this while visiting the Forbidden city in Beijing :(. Some chinese are really working hard to make the rest of the world hate them. I paid 2370Yuan for total 20 teaspoons of chinese tea and a bite of cookie. Hell.... I was stupid. Be careful everyone. |
| Apr 11, 2008 02:48 | #26 |
| GUEST44824 | Had exactly the same bad experience. We were 2, pretty tired, and went for a w.e. in Beijing. 2 student approached us at Tianmen Square and walked along with us. We really had no plans so we accepted their suggestion for a tea ceremony. It wasn't that bad until the bill arrived... We were not prepared and didn't react to that, quite hard to believe when I think about it afterwards. I never had such a bad experience before but I never visited touristic places neither. Lessons learned the hard way. They still suggested to go to a nice restaurant after that, I don't know what would have happened there. |
| Apr 13, 2008 14:05 | #27 |
| Being naive and idealistic at heart, I have compassion for the victims. Yeah, sure, don't trust strangers. Absolutely, don't be a self-conscious Yank tourist. But hey, get with the Zhongguoren spirit; don't be afraid to do some savvy dealing. Haggle over price. Be aware of the current exchange rate. Use your head, or whip out your calculator or abacus; divide stated Yuan price by seven ( $ 1 US = Y 7 RMB ). Learn survival Pinyin. Say : "Bu xie" = no thanks. Say : "Tai gui le !" = too expensive ! Say : "Pianyi dian, hao ma ?" = can you come down in price ? Get a map of your hotel neighborhood. Know where you are. And most certainly, do not travel alone at night. |
| Mar 28, 2009 21:14 | #28 |
| GUEST05185 | G'day to all, it's so true that you have to be carefull in what ever you do in life ... so many strange people in this world but there are so many nice people also, just not so much out there ... they seem t hold back on making friends because they are aware what danger is waiting, they also have gone throught the same thing. May I tell you my story but it not a travel story ... I'm a mother of 8 and a grandmother of 16, My computer is now my child since my children are all independent now and we have retired. I decided to join a few forum and meet people ... a lot of forums have their clicks and it's hard to get to know them over a nice friendly chat, maybe for the best because of the 5 forums I joined ... 2 ended up haveing more spam post then real members ... 2 ended up in silly terrible post to each other, really nasty, yet these people didn't know each other ??? those that did not get involved just faded away ... I was one of the runner and couldn't get away quick enough. The last one was so quite, for some reason, the members were to timid to say much incase they got into trouble off the moderators ... they were not friendly and only talked on news events, never answered another's post and seemed to be talking to themselves ??? This worried me so I left ... I was then unable or didn't want to meet anyone on the net .... even old grandma's were agro I then started my own site (this is not an ad) some people started joining ... the membership reached near 60 ... 30 were spammers, as admin, I booted them really quick, approx 20 were just waiting to attack every post and could only find fault in each other ... because of the first 5 sites and what I had witnessed, I came down hard and deleted and banned them ... set up an on-site police station (only for fun with graphics to match) lol, I tried to keep the site a friendly family site but sometimes that is impossible on the net .... I solved my problem and made the site Private, now no-one can join unless they are invited and guess can see nothing really, real members number 5 but we all get on and it's peaceful and friendly ... just trying to say it's not just in real life you meet these kinds of people, it's also on the net, in life you have to be so careful and never know what is waiting for you around the next section in the road of life. In saying that ... I have 5 wonderful friends and I'm happy that I've meet them on the internet Highway bends ... As in life, not everyone is a friend or friendly, don't look at their face, look at the deeds, faces can lie, sometimes even deeds can but out of a heap you can find a true friend ... 5 is better than none ... Huge Hugs Lynnie |
| Jul 1, 2010 09:32 | #29 |
| awww yes as a kiwi in china I get ripped off all the time, my chinese friends always ask me how much i paid, and every time, they looked shocked at the price i paid! 10 x sometimes what they would pay... its horrible, them taking advantage sometimes. Other than that, its fun. I'm in Jiangsu for a year |
| Jul 19, 2010 15:28 | #30 |
| Gosh, I am so freaked out, because I was going to backpack China alone. http://community.travelchinaguide.com/forum2.asp?i=59034 I'm trying to find a female travel partner, and even a local lady to travel the journey's with me, but that may not be a safe option now. I live in the Middle East, and the tea situation is common especially in Turkey but for carpets, but still its very sad when one experience ruins your trust in everyone. Does anyone know female travellers who've travelled through China? Lucinda |
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