These are the tourist scams Trzly has documented across China, grouped by destination. Each one is real, with a clear way to stay safe. Read before you land.
How it works: Friendly English-speaking 'students' or 'tourists' invite you to a traditional tea ceremony nearby, then you are presented with an enormous bill for the tea and cannot easily leave.
How to avoid it: Politely decline invitations from strangers to a specific tea house, bar or gallery. Choose your own venues and never follow a new acquaintance to a place they insist on.
How it works: People posing as art students befriend you near the sights and steer you to a 'student exhibition', pressuring you to buy overpriced paintings as a favour.
How to avoid it: Be wary of strangers who quickly guide you to a shop or gallery. There is no obligation to buy, so decline firmly and walk away if you feel pressured.
How it works: Touts at the airport or major stations offer an unofficial 'taxi' at a flat rate, then charge far above the metered fare or demand more on arrival.
How to avoid it: Use only the official taxi rank with the meter, the Airport Express, or a ride-hailing app. Never accept a ride from someone approaching you inside the terminal.
How it works: Cheap street or hostel-touted 'Great Wall tours' can include long detours to jade or medicine shops for commission, or drop you at a lesser section than promised.
How to avoid it: Book a reputable tour or go independently by public transport. Confirm exactly which wall section, what is included, and that there are no shopping stops before paying.
How it works: Around Nanjing Road, the Bund and People's Square, friendly young people posing as fellow tourists strike up a conversation, then invite you to a 'traditional tea ceremony' at a nearby teahouse. Once you have drunk, an enormous bill of thousands of yuan appears and you are pressured, sometimes behind a locked door, to pay.
How to avoid it: Never follow a stranger who invites you to a teahouse, bar or 'exhibition', however charming. If someone approaches out of the blue wanting to practise English and then suggests going somewhere, politely decline and walk on. For real tea, go to a teahouse with posted prices, like the historic Huxinting at Yu Garden.
How it works: At Pudong and Hongqiao airports, unlicensed 'black taxi' drivers approach arrivals inside the terminal, quote a flat fare many times the real price, refuse the meter, or take a long route to pad the fare.
How to avoid it: Ignore anyone offering a taxi inside the terminal. Join the official taxi rank outside and insist the meter is used, or book a DiDi from the designated pickup zone for a fixed app price. The maglev and Metro Line 2 are far cheaper still.
How it works: Young people claiming to be art students invite you to see their 'exhibition' or 'gallery' nearby, then apply heavy pressure to buy mass-produced paintings at wildly inflated prices dressed up as original student work.
How to avoid it: Treat any unsolicited invitation to a gallery or exhibition as a sales trap and decline. Buy art only from established shops with clear prices, and never let yourself be walked to an unknown upstairs room by a stranger.
How it works: In tourist markets, especially the fake-goods market near Nanjing Road, opening prices for foreigners are often five to twenty times what the seller will actually accept, and quality is variable. Some stalls also swap the item you inspected for an inferior one when wrapping it.
How to avoid it: Bargain hard, starting around a quarter of the asking price and being ready to walk away, or simply skip the counterfeit stalls. Watch the item being bagged, and remember that customs at home may seize fakes.
How it works: In the rare cases where cash is used, a dishonest taxi driver takes your genuine 100-yuan note, discreetly swaps it for a fake, and hands it back claiming it is counterfeit so you pay again with a real one.
How to avoid it: Pay by DiDi or Alipay/WeChat wherever possible so no cash changes hands. If you must use cash, pay with smaller notes, note what you handed over, and be wary of a driver who suddenly questions your money.