The deeper playbook on China's tourist scams — so you can spot the script before it starts.
Scam anatomy: the tea house
- Friendly young people approach near the Bund, Wangfujing, or People's Square: "Can we practice English?"
- Charming 20-minute chat, then: "We're going to a tea ceremony / my friend's art show — join us?"
- Small room, a few cups of tea, a "ceremony" — then the bill: ¥1,500–3,000, with large men nearby
- Your move: never go to a second location with a stranger. If trapped, pay the minimum and report to police (110) with the address — these get shut down regularly
Other scripts to recognize
- "Art students" — identical opening, ends with pressure to buy overpriced prints
- Black taxis at stations/airports: no meter, 3–5x prices, or the fake-note swap (they return your real ¥100 claiming it's counterfeit, pocketing it). Didi kills this risk entirely
- Jade/tea shop tours — "government factory outlet" tours where guides earn 50% commission
- QR swap — criminal stickers their code over the merchant's. Always check the merchant name on the confirmation screen before paying
- Fake tickets outside attractions — Forbidden City and Warriors tickets are only sold online/officially
Prevention rules
- Strangers approaching with perfect English in tourist zones = politely disengage
- Pay with Alipay/WeChat (creates a record) or card — pressure for cash is a red flag
- Book everything through official channels
- Trust prices that seem too good to be true... to be too good to be true
If it happens
Get the receipt/address/plate, call 110, and file with the tourist hotline 12345. Reports genuinely lead to crackdowns.