Although H' had tried to arrange for her friend who didnt work to show me around the city centre, due to her friends laziness even at 10:30am she was still asleep and thus not where we had agreed to meet up near Tian An'men square, so I decided not to wait around any longer and instead went exploring for myself, and it was here that I fell prey to the infamous Tea Scam which goes something like this.
Two young girls see you walking alone in the city centre, near one of the famous landmarks where tourists go, and they say hello in English and ask you about yourself. The ability to speak English well is a dead giveaway of most scams as few people really speak it. The two that came up to me said that they were young teachers from another city and were here on holiday, though strangely they had no cameras to take photos and no maps yet despite being tourists they knew exactly where they wanted to go and how best to get there.
( As I side point, I asked them how they knew where to go and they said that this road was very famous and had been seen many times on the television yet later when I asked both of my friends V' and H' neither had any idea of where it was despite both of them living and working in Beijing !!! )
After a few minutes they say that they plan on going for a drink in the old city district and did you want to join them so that you could talk more and they can practice their English more. I agreed as I had a few minutes spare and then we walked along the road for a few minutes til I suggested that I could try some famous local dumplings, and altough they agreed to come along they did not eat anything or order any drink, which was strange.
Next they said that we should go to try some tea nearby, but instead of taking me to a normal restaurant or coffee shop they took me to a dedicated tea house where without any dialogue between themselves and the shop owner they went right to the back where a thin screen was pulled across to give us some privacy ( why would it be needed for drinking tea ! ) where we then sat down at an ornate wooden table and waited for some drinks.
Instead of having a menu to chose from, the shop girl came down sat with us, taking small cups for each of us and then preparing a glass of hot tea from a container, but it is worth noting that the store girl did not speak any English and so my two new 'friends' were doing all the talking and translating. First one brand and then another were brought out and we tried a few, then some biscuits were handed round and I get the feeling that instead of having some tea we are instead sampling different brands for a potential future purchase.
By the time the forth sample was given to me, I said that we could stop now as I didnt want to try any more, yet they said that 4 is a very bad number and so we should have a fifth at least to end on a good number.
Thinking that tea would be cheap, and only after the two girls had already chosen to also buy a couple of tins full of leaves themselves I selected two small jars of my favourite brands and then waited for the bill.
When the bill came, everything was itemised and it was a shocker, or should have been. Each minute sampling of the tea was 20 yuan, the tray of biscuits was another 60 ( which I had only one of ! ), and my two selected choices were 160 and 180 respectively for a kind of fruit tea and for a lychee tea.
This is when the scam can be seen for its true self, as despite being lowly paid teachers from a poorer city neither of the girls seemed alarmed at the price, which is very odd as a full cup of tea in most places will cost you around 4 and a romantic dinner for two people in a good restaurant will only set you back between 1 - 200, so they should have been very shocked at the price but they never battered an eyelid.
They even offered to pay by credit card as they didnt quite have enough on them for the purchase and so I did the same, fully intending on getting my money back via the credi card company when I get back as this is very definitely a scam and I was being hamstrung as I sat there.
After we bought the tea my two 'new friends' said that they had to go but that we could meet up tomorrow for another chat and we exchanged numbers, ( only when the next day came instead of meeting up with me they sent an apology text to say that they had caught a cold and could not make it, but to go on ahead and enjoy my stay in Beijing. ).
The tips to look out for are a) they spoke english, b) they wanted to go to the old town, c) they were from out of town yet had no camera and needed no map to get around, d) they didnt want to eat or drink anywhere else except where they suggest, e) they didnt seem unfamiliar or unsure of anything that was happening like any normal tourist would be be they chinese or not, f) they encouraged me to have the biscuits and even try one last brand after I said I had had enough and finally g) they did not seem shocked or even surprised at the price despite not having enough money to pay for the tea with notes and thus wiling to pay by credit card - and on a lowly teachers salary too
Any of the above on their own isn't neccessarily a sure sign of a con but when you add them all up there is no doubt in my mind that you are being scammed and you would be wise to politely decline and walk away or if it gets nasty to return the full jars of new tea, accept the bill for the tea you did drink, pay by credit card and then report them to the police as soon as you leave.
It is a shame that there are such scam artists in the world, but then that is all just a part of life I guess.
- - -
I headed on back to the Forbidden Palace and barely five minutes later I was approached by another couple of girls who also just happened to be passing by, saw me and wondered if I wanted to go to share a cup of tea with them in the old city district. Now 100% sure that I was being set up again by the same type of scam I said I would pass and wanted to visit the Palace while the light was perfect for taking photos and yet they seemed very distressed and she said that she really wanted to talk to me. Why would any complete stranger feel the need to really urgently speak to me, when they know nothing about me, clearly for no good reason if you ask me.
The entrance was 40 yuan and if I wanted to get an audio guide I could pay another 40 plus the deposit of 100, yet I felt that I could make my way around the place on my own and that I needed no guide to help me take some good photos.
After the square and the palace I wandered down to see the White Dagoba in Beihai park which was very cool and I took some lovely photos there. I guess that if it was sunnier I might have enjoyed it more, but it was still a little bit chilly and so I could not laze about by the banks of the lake and enjoy a coffee.
Finally I grabbed a taxi back to meet up with H' where we then went to a very famous local hotpot restarant that is famed for its service as much as its food. It was a little bit pricey ( still not as much as they tea though ! ) for Beijing but the service was top class, even sending one of their staff outside to buy me an icecream for desert even though it wasn't on the menu.
We talked and she agreed totally that the tea scam was bad news and that I should report it, so I knew that my instincts were correct and then as it was still early-ish we headed back for another movie.
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