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Author Topic: what's a hundred between friends  (Read 4952 times)

luiz_iniciante

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what's a hundred between friends
« on: September 27, 2013, 06:16:31 am »

Since the National Day holiday is approaching, there may be a few among us preparing to travel. I recommend that China hands old and new take a lot at this list of potential scams, if only to sharpen their wits.

http://www.chinatravelsavvy.com/advice/scams/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g308272-c108782/Shanghai:China:Scams.html

I believe that I have only ever fallen for one of the scams on the list: the old switcheroo. A taxi driver refused my 100 RMB note on the grounds that it was fake. The note he handed to me to inspect was indeed counterfeit, but I'm pretty sure that it was not the original one I handed to him. Now-a-days I only break a hundred in a place I've been too many times and I'm pretty sure of. 

This scam took place in Hefei, and I have never been scammed while travelling, so I'm surprised by some of the horror stories people have reported. It's not just westerner's who have been taken at bars and tea houses for several 1000 元, but any 外地人, including ethnic Chinese from Singapore and Malaysia. At a minimum, they bear the blame of having let their guards down and they get little sympathy from the police. While Chinese people are generally friendly, they are almost always initially reserved among foreigners. If one is away from home and approached in English by someone who is excessively friendly and wants to take you somewhere, he can be pretty sure something is up. Pretty girls are usually the bait, particularly in places where lots of tourists can be found milling around, such as 南京路 in 上海 and 天安门 square in 北京. On no account follow, no matter whether it is night or day, whether you are in a group or alone, whether the bar/teahouse/ktv club/massage parlour is just around the corner or in a quiet suburban neighborhood.

Better safe than sorry. You have been warned.
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Hills

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Re: what's a hundred between friends
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2013, 08:30:37 am »

Yeah this reminds me of one night when I got grapped at the Mei Gao Mei entrance by  a gang of thieves AKA hot chicks.Well me being me,I enjoyed the fun all the way.
Quickly a large table was set up with about 10 so called pretty chicks clicking on me like they heard my news or something..lol.I ordered a bottle of beer and the manager jumped out and asked
"How about them girls"
To which I replied "I just borrowed the suit pal,it aint mine" lol

yeah guys be aware of taxi drivers and all the rest
« Last Edit: September 27, 2013, 08:58:09 am by Hills »
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luiz_iniciante

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Re: what's a hundred between friends
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2013, 05:33:25 am »

DO NOT PAY... and get out quickly!

What you probably didn't notice when your 'hostess' showed you to a table or 包厢 with a nice view of the park is that it's the one furthest from the exit and that it took you several twists and turns to get to it. The idea is to make leaving difficult should you decline to pay. There are also likely to be several bouncers/thugs in another room or waiting for you outside to make paying seem like the least painful option.

You may get off lightly if you make it look like you are willing to put up a fight; the prestige of foreigners in China is in serious decline, but no bar manager wants a dead 老外 on his hands. But getting off lightly may mean a black eye or a fat lip that you will have to explain to your boss, colleagues, wife or girlfriend, and if you're knocked out cold, then you will end paying that 1000 元 bill anyways without your consent.

Complaints to the police have a mixed track record. If you have visited a massage parlour or brothel, you may end up incriminating yourself. Even if you were a complete naif when you were taken, you need to be able to speak Chinese to make a complaint. And even then, it may have no effect if, for instance, the bar owner's guanxi is greater than yours.

Better not to enter in the first place. Alarm bells should ring in your head if: the bar/tea house/shop/ktv bar/massage parlour is far from the main street; there is no sign outside the establishment;  if there are no other foreigners and/or few other customers inside. And if a really hot young lady is standing on the sidewalk giving you the time of day in your native tongue, just ask yourself this question:why would she be talking to me? 

   
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Aussie Mike

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Re: what's a hundred between friends
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2013, 12:39:51 am »

I remember that incident. We paid the woman manager but she left earlier without informing the other manager that we'd paid.
I thought it was going to be on with the staff that followed us that night.
The police caught up with us at McD's.
The police were quite good though.
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