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Scams in China


Scams in China

See also: Common scams, Pickpockets
Touristy parts of Beijing and Shanghai have become notorious for the so-called teahouse scam. Variants can be seen at bars and cafes as well. Many scamming teahouses have been raided by the police in recent years but there are still a considerable number of scam reports from travelers and even local Chinese. Around Tiananmen Square or Wangfujing in Beijing or the Bund and Nanjing Road in Shanghai, a scam artist may start a conversation in fluent English. They sometimes help you bargain and show you around. Everything is fine until they invite you to go to a teahouse, cafe or pub and leave you to foot an extortionate bill. Another scam is to take you into small shabby art shops and pressure you to buy overpriced art. For example, in 2007, a French tourist, while strolling the Bund, was invited to a teahouse by a group of women and ended up being charged �7,455 for the tea and snacks. When he refused to pay, a teahouse manager threatened him. According to the local news report, the Frenchman called the police and the teahouse was raided. Travelers often have the false presumption that the police in China are all corrupt and will not challenge the teahouse owner, but in a case like this one should always call 110 and report the scam. In China, you are also obliged to have a right to ask for "fa piao" (an official sales invoice issued by a taxation department). It is against the law that an owner refuses to give it to you. If you have already been a victim, go back to the shop with more tourists, ask for a refund and threaten to call the police. If you pay by a credit card, negotiate with your bank to get the money back. Please note that while it is important to avoid being scammed, bear in mind that it is very common for English-speaking Chinese to genuinely want to start a conversation with you - even in touristy areas, show you around, and invite you for a drink and a meal. If you are paranoid about all invitations and interactions with the Chinese, it will ruin your travel experience. When a stranger on the street invites you for tea or a drink, you should choose your own place, stating that you feel like eating or giving some other reason for your choice. If they are weirdly persistent at going to their "place" and make endless excuses to turn down your suggestions, use your common sense to tell if it's a scam. Finally, high prices do not necessarily indicate a scam. In a pub or teahouse, �50-200 per refillable cup or pot of tea and �15-60 per bottle of beer is common. Tea samplings may also charge high prices for each sample. To avoid being surprised, ask for and keep the menu. Although it is perfectly possible to pay RMB1000 or more per pot of tea in a very high-end teahouse, run-of-the-mill teas should not be nearly this expensive. Such delicate tea would only be offered to tea gourmets, not a causal tea taster. Furthermore, it is considered socially offensive to take a new friend to spend so much money and expect them to pay the bill. If someone takes you to an expensive place and expects you to pay, it is most likely a scam.

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China Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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