These are the tourist scams Trzly has documented across Trung Quốc, grouped by destination. Each one is real, with a clear way to stay safe. Read before you land.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.
Cách thức hoạt động: 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.
Cách tránh: 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.