Tour Scams, Beijing

I had bought a tour package for Beijing for four days.
During the last day of the tour, we were brought to "shop" in many expensive stores. One of the shop that we were brought into was Derun Jewelry at the Beijing Olympic Stadium. When you enter, you will see many of their Pearl products,including the pearl powder and Pearl and Ginseng Cream.
When we enter, we were hussled into a "VIP room" to listen to one lady explain about pearls, its origin and what it can be made into. After that, she went out to ask for one "Shi-fu (master)" to come in to explain to us about Jade. Then, she came back in and said that the "shi-fu" was not around, and a guy with the name of Yan Hao came in, claiming that he is the son of the shop-owner.
He explained about jade and jadeite, and ways to differentiate a real from a fake jadeite. He even exaggerate and show that his company jadeite will be able to scratch his glass table. Upon seeing that my tour group was not interested and tired, he suddenly gave all of us a pendant as a gift, saying that that day was his parents' anniversary. He said he wanted to accumulate good blessings for his parents, thats why he gave us a gift.
Then we were hussled into a room where jadeite were displayed. As Yan Hao claimed that that day was his parents anniversary, he slashed the prices of all the items. Jadeite pendants initially selling for 360 RMB were slashed to 30 RMB, jadeite bangles selling for 16800 RMB were slashed to 3800 RMB. He claimed that his jadeite were of good quality and can be passed down from generations to generations.
After purchasing the jadeite, they gave us a certificate, citing good quality (or pin zhi bao zheng). Upon our return home, we sent the jadeite for testing, and realised that the jadeite was not of Type A grade, but rather B+C grade, and hence, the the jadeite bangle was not even worth 3800 RMB! We were rather upset with the result, and has decided to make a complain to the consumer association.

Unique Suggestions: If you ever enter this Derun Jewelry Shop in Beijing Olympic Stadium, don't ever trust their words. They will always make things sound very real and positive, but do not ever trust nor buy anything from them.

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.

Wangfujing street . You get just so many guys coming up to you with " Hello , where you going.." Where you from" . Of course it is the start of a scam . After doing research on sites like this , I find the best way is to totally ignore them . Treat their words as part of the traffic noise , not requiring any response for you at all . They soon see you are not a potential victim and give up in 5 seconds .
Even looking at them and saying "no" gives them an 'in' to start a conversation . And it will take another minute to shake them .

Fun Alternatives: However I had an experience that goes against all the warnings . Yes I was in a side street trying to buy a phone card . "Tom" spotted me and asked if he could help . My defences went up immediately . He followed me into shops and helped me ask for a phone card . Now all this is sounding like the start of a tale of woe , right ? Not so .
He was 41 years old it turned out , and Mongolian . Not your usual scam artist . He had a business card with phone numbers and email address , and tour price list . I started to talk to him in a more relaxed way . OK to cut a long story short I booked a Forbidden city tour with him for the next day . 200rmb plus entry fees . Everything went very well . No rip off . Booked him again for next day . long trip with car to Jinshanling Great Wall . 600rmb including car , driver and Tom , plus highway tolls and entry fees . Again , everything was just fine , actually a great day as now he and I were talking like old buddies . And again two more days and day long sight seeing trips with car , driver and Tom . All went well with no rip off . Of course I could have gotten it all cheaper but I was so glad to have someone I came to trust .
So , yes there are rip offs and if you are approached by an English speaking guy in the street , chances are you will get ripped off or annoyed . But there are other Chinese people just making an honest living offering their services to people on the street .
So here is "Tom's" mobile number in Beijing . 12340498125 Fixed line : +86-10-81305152
I haven't been able to get through on his email so I won't give you that . Tell him Steve the Australian sent you .

What happened to me was exactly like what MattXJT described. I was originally planning to go to teinamin square but was flusted with the huge crowds. Then was approached by the two men that MattXJT's described and photographed. What happened was as i was standing there looking at my map, they approached me and basically it was exactly as MAttXJT described. I still have time left in Beijing and im going to send MAttXJT's photo in to the police tomorrow and hopefully thee men will be stopped! Just like Matt i didn't think i would be tricked and thee men seemed genuine and caring. They paid for my taxi to a hutong to site see and then to the tea ceremony (they do this so you can't get the taxi receipt and find out the location of the tea house), they also tried to be in a hurrey (so i could not take location photos to use later). When they brought me to the tea house the conversation seemed really friendly and real, i told them how my dad had cancer and they did taste tests of the tea with me and pointed out which one was good to prevent caner and how i should buy it for my dad. So i said ok (thinking, everything cheap so far) and for 4 tins of tea the bill came to 1690 yuan. I said i couldn't pay at first and showed them my wallet didnt have any money, they then insisted i use my visa, but i usually never use my visa unless its in emergency, so i they said i must pay, and so they saw i had a debit card and took me an atm near by. Knowing i had alot of doubt jack took my debit card and started "showing me" how to use the debit machine in beijing and pressing buttons. I tried to stop him and slow the situation down but it was too late and my money was out, he quickly grabbed it and paid the women who did the tea ceremony for us (he also took my debit reciept and rushed me out of the atm booth). Confused and not knowing what to do, jack and tom said they would take me to the temple of heaven next, which i was further confused because i knew that it was a fixed price to enter so they seemed even more genuine now, and that maybe it was just a tea house for rich men and i got caught with an expensive bill... But as he got the taxi for me and we got to the temple, they got a phone call and had to leave.... Then it hit me... and its day 3 of 9 of my trip to beijing and i cannot enjoy a single hour. I feel betrayed, hurt, and completely stupid. People like this are scum, and make it hard for people trust one another.

Unique Suggestions: - Get all revcipts

-Take many photos of your soroundings, even if they are boring, the may help you later on

-if you meet english speaking chinese people in beijing, ignore them and politley ask them to f-off. You need to be aggressive, if they speak english they are most likley scam artists... mnay people in beijing ignore foriegners and dont speak english.

DO NOT HIRE ANY PRIVATE TOUR GUIDE. they all belong to the same scam group.They will take you to the most EXPANSIVE LUNCH restaurant to rip you.( 100rmb lunch for 800rmb) They talk to you to feel which group of wealth yoiu come from so they could see how much they could rob you. 100% of all the tour guide in CHINA are CON. They think all tourist all STUPID or RETARDED.
BEST is to take the subway. Cheap and fast.All info in ENGLISH and CHINESE.
I always ask my hotel front desk for any fun place when I visit new place where I stay.They are honest working people with kind heart, not like those tour guide SHARK. Looking for the KIll./

I went to Beijing lately. I got a 3-day tour package which already included the hotel, tour, food and transpo. Getting a tour package is convenient because you will be fetched from and taken to the airport without hassle of hailing a taxi or getting on the subway with your baggage.

For those who will get tour packages, watch out for these scams:

1. Jade shops - the tour guide brought us to 3 different jade shops. At first, two in our group bought some pieces. After touring the city on our own at night, we realized that the prices there were really bloated. The tour guide was just so persistent so that she will get her commission everytime one of us will buy something in these shops. One of us wanted just to buy a small piece then the tour guide who calls herself "Cristina" said that she should buy the bigger one. She was so obvious and pushy!

2. Tea house - we were also brought to a tea house near jingshan park and forbidden city. The prices were again bloated. We were made to drink for free several kinds of tea. After, we were asked what we wanted to buy. Take note: This was not originally part of the itinerary when we booked our tour package with the travel agency.

3. Tong ren tang shop/place - we were brought to this place after the Great Wall climb. we were given free massage. Then some people who were introduced as "doctors" (who were obviously frauds) came to check our pulses and said things like the boys had kidney dysfunction and the girls had dysmenorrhea. They had this RX thing where they wrote the medicine we should buy from them and how many months. They were so expensive. They also said that we should buy the pain killer they were selling as well as the tea used to soak our feet. They were all over expensive. Not one in our group of 9 bought so they look disgusted. The people there even made fun at our tour guide. Even if they said it in chinese, we knew that they laughed at her because she didnt get a commission because not one bought. The quack "doctor" who was introduced as one from Tibet checked my pulse and after i said that we will just think about buying his medicine, he look disgusted and left immediately. haha

4. Silk factory - we were also brought to this shop. there was again another demonstration on how it is made. The prices were again so bloated and expensive. Not one of us bought.

We were supposed to go the Pearl factory per our itinerary but the tour guide seemed hopeless because none of us were buying from these shops. hahaha

So, if you want to go to Beijing, just do the DIY (do it yourself) trip so that you wont waste your time in these shops. It was totally a waste of time because the tour guide hurried us up in the important tourist spots but she was all smiles when we were at the shops and said that we take our time. So disgusting!!

Just learn how to use the subway and you can tour the city on your own. Just get a 1-day tour package if you want to see the Great Wall because it is really far.

This tip serves as a warning for future travelers to this city.

Enjoy!

I arrived in Bejing 3 weeks ago. Beware of the stone gallery most tour groups take tourists there before the Great Wall. They claim high quality jade, especially jewelry, because they are a "government" store. It was my first stop my first week in Bejing, and I didn't know any better... I love jade and purchased a beautiful golden jade pendant with a golden Chinese symbol for love on it. It was relatively inexpensive, but still a lot of money. I wore my pendant a lot so it didn't get lost during my long time in china... I was in china a total of 3 weeks. Week two I looked down and found out that the golden symbol was gone. I called, the store told me it fell off because it was "glued" on and that is what they do, glue the gold on pendants. I mean, I'm going back tomorrow to get a replacement... however I'm upset. I have other Jade necklaces at home from the states that are inlaid with gold and nothing has ever fallen off. Glue just isn't tough enough for jewelry you are going to wear a lot! They said they will replace it (which is nice), but if I get another one with a golden decal that's "glued" on, really how long will the necklace stay that way? I wear my jewelry a lot & it probably will fall off again. I might see if I can exchange the value of this necklace for a different one without a golden character. I'll keep you updated. Please beware!

Unique Suggestions: Don't look at necklaces here! Things look beautiful, but the gold chinese characters are glued on. You are better off not looking around & going to a privately owned store that has good reviews in China. I know Hong Kong had a lot of nice jewelry stores...

Fun Alternatives: All tour groups I talked to were taken to this place by the tour company - they book tours of a lot of government places. There is no alternative other than buying a different product or nothing at all. Don't even look.... you will get tempted. It is a beautiful store & they claim high quality.

This can happen anywhere in the world. You may be overcharged for a tour, you may get a service less than what has been promised. The overall quality of the tour may be less than what you expect. However, these scams are likely to happen more in Beijing and China. If you avoid accepting tour offers from guides located in touristic attraction entrances, you already make a big step. The best way to enjoy tours is to contact trusted agencies and read suggestions from VT members. As well as showing the tourist traps, we also suggest tours that we believe are reasonable in price and good in quality.

Unique Suggestions: Once you pay the price for the tour, you have to stick to it.

Fun Alternatives: Avoid fishy tours, know the average cost, choose trusted tours suggested by VT members