Beijing could be a capital of all sorts of scams: scenic cab rides from the airport, fake ATMs and fake money, fake companies and online businesses and even fake eggs and baozi. But today I’d like to write about the so-called teahouse/ art gallery / tour guide scams.

The reason I’ve decided to write about it now is that more and more of the scammers have been popping up recently. And while I believe that if you get scammed, it’s all your fault for being so naive and trusting in a foreign country, but I can’t take it anymore either. I never get into any conversations with them, call me skeptical, but still whenever I go to a mall alone I get stalked by at least one. So who are they and what do they do?

There are three main variations of the scam as well as many spin-offs employed all over China, not only in Beijing.

1. The Teahouse Scam

The Scammers: Usually college age girls, wearing casual clothes, with pretty good English language skills.

The Approach: “Hi, where are you from?” , “That’s a nice country …blah blah blah”, “Can you help me practice English?” “Let’s go have some tea while we chat, I know a place”

The Take: At the “Tea House” you get to drink some tea (you don’t get to see the menu, since the girls recommend which tea to drink) and watch the “traditional Chinese tea drinking ritual”. In the end you get presented with a bill which is usually around 1000RMB (~150USD) or more. With a lot of arguing and yelling you can get away with paying less than the actual bill (a major sign of a scam), but your whole China experience could be ruined.

2. The Art Gallery Scam

The Scammers: Once again college age girls or guys, posing as art students, exceptional English skills.

The Approach: “Hi, where are you from?”, “Have you traveled around China much?”, “I’m an art student and my professor is having an Art exhibition today.”, “The Gallery is just around the corner and if you come with me I can get you in for free!”

The Take: You end up at some crappy studio, with mediocre paintings at best. While you’re looking at the paintings the high pressure sales pitch begins (think timeshare sales or any pyramid scheme agents). They try to sell you the paintings for more than 200USD, but even if you bargain it down to 20USD, you’re still getting ripped off. In fact they don’t want to let you go until you buy at least a couple of those hideously overpriced “art pieces”.

3. The Tour Guide Scam

The Scammers: Practically any Chinese person at a major tourist location, from young hot girls to old but wise men.

The Approach: “Cheap (or sometimes free) tour guide, I’ll show you the places most tourist don’t know of.”

The Take: After a brief “tour” of whatever tourist destination you get lured into:

a) A Teahouse or a restaurant that the guide sincerely recommends since it’s a “unique Chinese experience”,

b) An Art Gallery or a souvenir shop of sorts with astronomical prices and skilled salespeople.

c) The two of the above.

Like I said there are many variations of the mentioned scams, some done more “professionally” while some have “scam” written all over it. Don’t fall for their fake kindness and compliments. Just say “No“, no matter how sad they pretend to be when you reject them. Remember, you live in the real world, if you’re a 40-year-old something and and a 20-year-old girl seems interested in you, it’s not because you’re a handsome foreigner, it’s because she wants something from you!

And while there are millions of nice and friendly people in China, chances are that the person, who stops you at WangFuJing or TianAnMen Square, is not one of them. So enjoy your China experience and use your head (no not the smaller one) , but if you get scammed, let us know.

The first time I saw those guys was back in 2006 during one of my visits to Japan. Actually I didn’t even know who they were at the time, but their crazy performance left an everlasting impression. Endzweck brings a new definition to the phrase “Those crazy Japanese”. Their music is powerful and aggressive with intelligent and sometimes provocative lyrics. Their style is a mixture of hardcore, screamo and emo.

So check their MySpace page and videos out, and if you’re ever in Japan or even somewhere in Asia, make sure to see them live. You won’t regret it, I mean you might regret it if you listen to 50 cent, Fergie, Dj Tiesto or some shit like that, otherwise go see their show!

It’s been almost a year since I wrote the original article, but it seems that a lot of people are still looking for this info. So with the rebirth of iaminchina.com I’m updating all the links and info on how to bypass the Chinese Net-Nanny.

The easiest solution is TOR, it works together with your Firefox browser and is just one click away via the TOR button. Since some people have been having troubles getting it to work, here’s a quick how-to guide:

Firefox in my opinion is the most advanced and easy to use browser ever, and even though you can get TOR to work with IE, but it requires more effort. Personally I don’t know anyone who uses IE, so this guide will be Firefox oriented.

TOR Website (Windows)

TOR Website (Mac OS Universal)

This is the crucial step! You have to install this Bundle for the TOR button to function, otherwise you’ll just get a “The proxy server is refusing connections” message. The installation of this package is pretty straightforward. Make sure you install all three parts TOR, Vidalia and Privoxy.

Once the package is installed, restart your computer and TOR should start automatically as a background service. And now that TOR come’s bundled with the TOR button plug-in for Firefox, there’s no need for Step 3. Just restart your Firefox browser, and the button should appear in the bottom right corner of your browser window.

Click on the red “Tor Disabled” sign, and you’ll be connected to the TOR network. And that’s about it, it’s as simple as that. Now you’re ready to browse all the blocked sites with no restrictions. Enjoy!

Update: TOR has released a Firefox bundle! So if you still don’t have Firefox nor TOR, you can use this bundle package to install everything you need to surf the web hassle free. When using this package you can skip all of the steps described above, since everything is done automatically Enjoy:

TOR and Firefox Bundle

Do you like reading the Beijinger? Think it’s fascinating?  Wanna get paid for writing positive restaurant reviews and interviewing local expat celebrities?
Then grab another bottle of Yanjing beer and choke yourself while your cat watches because IAIC is not for you!

Got crabs from a local hooker and then got bitch-slapped by her pimp? Ever lived in the underground city or been to a Chinese jail? Lived in China for over a year but have never been to Tian An Men square or the Forbiden City? Got stuff  to say but no one ever listens? Get in touch with us ASAP and we’ll make you heard, even more, you won’t have to pay us a dime!

The first time you come to China it may seem like a shoppers paradise: Everything seems 20-35% cheaper than back home. For most of the short term tourists or visitors that’s more than enough. But the matter of fact is that everything that’s made and sold in China is about 80% cheaper. Personally I’ve met so many tourists who buy the crappy souvenirs and knock offs, that have a value of 15-20rmb max, and try to tell me what a good deal they got for 60usd, since in the States the “same” things cost 120usd. The last straw was probably a report on CCTV9 where a German expat stated that 48rmb for a bowl of noodles is not a lot since a bottle of beer costs 50rmb in Germany.

As most of you know “Everything is negotiable in China”, but not too many people know or seem to care to what extent. That’s why I’ve decided to come up with a 10 Bargaining Tricks list. This list is based on my personal experience and advice from a bunch of people known to get stuff dirt cheap, so here goes:

1. Leave your emotions and guilt at home. I’ve read many blogs where the authors claim that bargaining is a friendly experience. Well it’s not. It will only be friendly if you pay far out of your ass for it. Remember, you’re going shopping and not to make friends. You don’t have to consider the feelings of the salespeople. They might pretend to be angry or sad, but it’s just part of the act. They might curse once they take your money but that’s only because you paid a Chinese (or close to Chinese) price for your stuff.

2. Don’t dress up or dress down. Once again try to be yourself, don’t pretend to be overly wealthy or too poor either. If you go shopping in your best clothes and jewelry, the sellers starting price will ridiculously high and it might take longer to bring it down to normal. If you look broke and dirty, the salespeople might assume that you are not going to buy anything and just give you a “whatever” price and not even bargain. Chinese people still look down on people that look poor, even if they make only 1000-2000rmb themselves.

3. Find out a rough price before going shopping. Here’s one thing that drives me crazy in China, it’s that some salespeople just come up with just any price. They don’t follow any formulas that are usually used in the western countries (like double the real price). Some of my friends try to ask for their lowest price and then divide it by two to get a real price. Unfortunately even that formula doesn’t always work (especially when shopping for souvenirs). When my friend came for a visit from the States, he wanted to buy some touristy crap, so we got some “antique painting on scrolls” which we were quoted 800rmb for, then got a lowest price of 280rmb, in the end we bought them for 30rmb.

So the easiest solution is either to check online (taobao.com), ask your friends or if your Chinese is good enough listen to the locals bargaining.

4. Try not to look like you just got off the plane. In Beijing I’ve noticed three main groups of foreigners: the expats, students/teachers and the tourists. Tourists are usually the easiest to identify and most of the salespeople see tourists from a mile away. I’m not saying it’s bad being a tourist, but tourists get the most ridiculous prices when shopping. So if you are one, try to leave your mountain backpack, camera, map of the city or fanny-pack at your hotel room and for gods sake don’t wear a “I climbed the Great Wall of China” T-shirt while shopping.

5. Keep a straight face. Like I mentioned before you’re bargaining not socializing! Don’t smile, keep a straight face, don’t try to befriend the seller. Flirting or telling stories about your travel experiences, home country or favorite movie will not get you a better price.

6. Don’t get sucked into the first store you stumble upon. Chances are there are at least a couple of other stores selling exactly the same product in the same building/market. Walk around, take your time, don’t seem too eager to buy anything. If you don’t know the rough price of the thing you want to buy, ask around for prices at different stalls/shops.

7. Find more remote shops that don’t get as much traffic. The general rule is that salespeople close to the entrances, escalators/elevators and on the first floor pay higher rent. So their prices are much higher than their competition. Go to the upper floors of the markets, find a stall somewhere in the corner or a shop at the very end of the shopping district. You can really low-ball the price over there.

8. Find a “flaw” in the product you’re about to buy. If you’ve found something you like, don’t look too excited. Pretend that the style, shape, color or some small detail turns you off. Also make sure they don’t have anything you pretend to want. Keep on saying how much you don’t like a certain aspect of the product where as otherwise it’d be perfect. Take up as much of the salesperson’s time as you can, so they don’t have the patience to bargain anymore… Then play the walking away game

9. The walking away game. If everything else fails and you still think the price is too high, try walking away. You’ll hear the salespeople screaming prices which get lower and lower as you get farther and farther. If you hear a acceptable price keep on walking, it might get even lower. You got nothing to lose, you can always come back later and get the stuff for the price of their last offer, before you walked away completely.

10. Shop early in the morning or before closing time. Some Chinese are superstitious and believe that it’s a good sign if the first customer buys something, plus they haven’t had any business so they will give you a much lower price than during peak hours. Same thing goes for shopping close to closing time, the sellers will be too exhausted and will generally take whatever they can get without heavy bargaining as long as they make some profit.

So yeah that’s about it. If you have any other tips and trick please leave some comments. I’d love to see some new ways of Surviving Bargaining in China