Sun, Surf and Scams: The Seedy Side of Vacationing in China

Editor's note: The following article was translated and edited from an article that recently appeared in Modern Express. It summarises a series of Chinese netizens' accounts of scams that they encountered while vacationing during the recent Spring Festival holiday.

Photo: xplus

Think foreign tourists are the only ones who are cheated, scammed and ripped off while visiting China's vacation hotspots? Think again. While there's no doubt that foreigners may be more susceptible to these kinds of unpleasant occurrences – no doubt the language barrier, cultural misunderstands and laowai profiling play a role – Chinese tourists are often taken advantage of as well. Following a recent scandal casting China's premier vacation destination, Sanya, in a less-than-pleasant light, many Chinese netizens have posted their own "Spring Festival vacation scam" anecdotes, and the phrase "Refuse to be ripped off" (拒绝宰客) has become a trending topic on Sina Weibo. Reviewing these accounts, a reporter for Modern Express discovered that in addition to the oft-lambasted Sanya, many other popular spots, such as Lijiang and Shang-ri La, have also shown up on many netizens' "vacation scam" lists.

Scandals in Sanya

Following a Weibo post on January 28th exposing a restaurant in Sanya for scamming/intimidating customers into paying thousands of RMB per dish, more netizens have shared their tales of being ripped off while vacationing in Sanya.

While not illegal per se, it's no small secret that hotels in Sanya are exorbitantly over-priced, even by "vacation destination" standards. The high cost of staying in a Sanya hotel first made national headlines during the 2010 Spring Festival holiday, and the following year, the local government implemented temporary intervention measures, limiting the rate of price increase for rooms to prevent further abuses. Even so, hotel prices during the 2012 Spring Festival were still shockingly expensive – the most inexpensive rooms at an average international hotel cost 800-3,000 RMB per day, while rooms with an ocean view and deluxe rooms cost 3,000-5,000 RMB per day!

Unfortunately, the situation only gets worse once you leave the hotel. "april颦", another Weibo user who spent her Spring Festival in Sanya, wrote that during a group tour, they were forced to purchase all of their attraction tickets through the tour guide (who charged 20 RMB extra per ticket). Questioned about this practice, an official at the Sanya Tour Guide Management Centre responded that he wasn't in charge of "tourists' tour guide complaints".

Thinking about skipping the tour group and just riding around in taxis? Good luck getting home. Many netizens also complained that hiring a taxi in Sanya was more-or-less impossible. One user wrote that after visiting Dadonghai (大东海景区), they tried flagging down 5-6 separate taxis to no avail. But it wasn't because these taxis didn't see them – it was because many taxis refuse to be hired for single trips, preferring to be chartered for the whole day (at a cost of 400+ RMB).

Yet, perhaps this is the most extreme case of the seedier side of vacationing in Sanya: on February 2nd at 09:00, a tourist got into an argument with a security guard outside the Kaifeng Hotel (凯丰酒店) over an issue with the tourist's parked car. As the argument heated up, punches were thrown and the tourist was beat up pretty badly by the guard and had to get hospital treatment. The next night, the local public security bureau conducted its investigation, and detained the security guard for intentionally hurting another person. The case is still under investigation.

Lies in Lijiang

Over the last decade, the Old Town of Lijiang – a UNESCO World Heritage site often referred to as the Little Venice of the Orient – has quickly become one of China's most popular vacation spots. But alas, as the area's tourism industry has taken off, scamming has become increasingly common.

One of the most popular day-trips from Lijiang is to visit the pristine waters of Lugu Lake (泸沽湖), located about 8-9 hours north of the city. One netizen wrote an account of her terrible experience while on a two-day Lugu Lake group tour. She originally booked the tour through a travel service in Old Town (450 RMB), and along with five other tourists, a guide and a driver, departed for Lugu Lake in a minibus the next day. While the minibus was passing through Ninglang county (宁蒗县), it was stopped for a routine inspection, where it was quickly discovered that the driver did not hold a permit to operate a minibus and that the vehicle was not registered. After the minibus was seized, the passengers had to wait for a legitimate minibus to pass through town, which would take them the rest of the way to Lugu Lake. In addition to this unexpected delay, the tourists discovered that they hadn't paid the same amount for the trip – some paid 450 RMB, while others paid 500 RMB.

To anyone who has visited Lijiang's Old Town, the bars on its two main streets –Dayanguzhen (大研古镇) and Shuheguzhen (束河古镇) – are notorious for ripping off tourists. According to another netizen's account, upon visiting a bar on Dayanguzhen, he was shocked to see that a common cocktail cost four times as much as it would in Beijing (20 RMB in Beijing versus 80 RMB in Lijiang). Regardless, he was on vacation and chose to stay for a drink. After being seated, a waiter handed him "song list" that the house band would play upon request. The tourist was later surprised that he'd been charged 120 RMB for the four songs that he'd ordered, even though there had never been any mention of price. At another bar, the man also fell for the jiutuo (酒托) trick – a cute girl masquerading as a fun loving "single", who is actually employed by the bar to coerce men into buying them expensive drinks. The final damage: 500 RMB on drinks, and the girl "disappeared" once he'd paid the bill.

Another big draw of Old Town is the plethora of quaint shops that sell various local products, such as embroidered skirts, linin pants, and other goods commonly associated with the region's ethnic minorities. In actuality, these goods are often not much different than what one would find in the clothing markets near the Beijing Zoo. As many shop owners in Old Town will tell you, they are not actually native to Lijiang – they've moved there to do business. Nearly all of the Old Town's original tenants have since rented their spaces to out-of-town businessmen and moved to larger apartments in the suburbs of Lijiang. Worse yet, similar to the prices of cocktails in Old Town bars, expect to pay at least twice as much for anything purchased in Old Town.

Scam in Shang-ri La

On February 3rd, another netizen shared a scam they'd fallen for while visiting Pudacuo National Park (普达措国家公园) near Shang-ri La with their family. Like many attractions, to exit the park, tourists must walk through a shopping area – this one sold a variety of Tibetan medicinal herbs.

While leaving the park, the netizen's mother and uncle stopped to inquire about the price of some Cordyceps  (虫草), at which point a friendly man claiming to know a lot about medicinal herbs stepped in and told the family that these Cordyceps were not very good. After the man was done explaining, the shop owner ‘fessed up, reached under the shop counter and brought out a different batch of good Cordyceps, which were 580 RMB per gram until the friendly stranger – haggling on the tourists behalf – got the price lowered to 280 RMB per gram. Enticed by this huge discount, the mother and uncle purchased 200 grams at a total cost of 112,000 RMB, while the friendly stranger purchased 179 grams for himself. The stranger then informed the family that "you'll get a better effect from ingesting ground Cordycep powder", and convinced the shop owner to mix in 200 grams of ground Gastrodia elata (天麻) with the ground cordyceps for free. Finally, the stranger recommended also purchasing some Saffron Crocus (藏红花) for an additional 27,600 RMB, bringing the final total to 139,600 RMB. Afterward, no doubt proud of their purchase, the family bragged about the deal they'd gotten to another vendor in the area, who immediately informed them that they had just been ripped off big time.
 

Source: gcpnews
 

Related links
Tour Scam: Foreigners Ripped Off at One-Day Tour to the Great Wall
Customer Complaint Reveals Common Karaoke Bar Scam in China
13 Common Scams and How to Avoid Them