Beijing tourists, beware: China’s capital is teeming with con men and women.
I got a stark reminder during my first 24 hours in Beijing after arriving yesterday for a three-day stay. As soon as I stepped out of the city’s cavernous West train station following a three-hour trip from Zhengzhou, I was accosted by a swarm of gypsy taxi drivers offering rides to my hotel at exorbitant prices.
They prey on tourists who want to avoid the long lines for regular metered cabs. The gypsy cabs don’t have meters, so the drivers charge you a flat fee that’s far more than you should be paying.
One of them originally asked for 300 yuan (about $50) to take me to my hotel near Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. When I shook my head no, he immediately dropped the price to 200 yuan. After I said no again, the price magically fell to 100 yuan. A few more minutes and I think I could have gotten him to pay for the ride.
Still, I walked away and stood for a half-hour at the regular taxi stand, where I got a cabbie who tried to rip me off by driving in circles once we got close to the hotel. When we finally arrived, the meter read 60 yuan ($10). I made a motion indicating that he had taken me on a circuitous route, handed him a 50 yuan bill and left. He yelled something in Chinese, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, “Have a nice day.’’
***
After checking into my hotel at 6 p.m., I went to get a quick bite to eat. I was starving, so I stopped at a McDonald’s down the street, bought a combo meal and sat down in the upstairs dining area. A Chinese woman, who appeared to be in her early 30s, was sitting nearby and asked me (in very good English) where I was from. She told me she grew up in Inner Mongolia and was working as a translator in Beijing. We talked for a while and then she offered to show me around the neighborhood, which was filled with upscale stories, restaurants and bars.
We ended up at a KTV, one of the ubiquitous karaoke bars in China. Soon we were joined by another woman, who said she was a friend of Miss Inner Mongolia. We all sat in a private room where we watched music videos on a large TV screen, sang along, played cards and drank from a bottle of red wine that the women had ordered.
I guess I should have been suspicious at this point, especially since I’ve read that KTVs are sometimes fronts for prostitution. But I was having a good time and, as I drank more and more wine, my judgment probably wasn’t the best.
So the wine kept flowing, the songs kept playing and soon I was smashed. Then came the real shocker: The bill arrived and the total was 8,600 yuan. That’s $1,411!!!! It took a minute for it to sink in, but when it did, I told the women I had no intention of paying any of it. I reminded them that I had never ordered any wine and that, regardless, they hadn’t told me how expensive it was.
***
It finally dawned on me that this was a giant scam. Lure a naïve Westerner to a bar, get him drunk and then hit him with an outrageous bill. I’m sure the women were working for the KTV and splitting the profits.
Anyway, after arguing with the swindlers for several minutes, I stalked out without paying and went back to my hotel. Unfortunately, I had told one of them where I was staying, so when I arrived, they were waiting for me in the lobby.
Miss Inner Mongolia’s friend was shitfaced and started screaming at me in English: “Fuck you! Fuck you! You are a bad American!’’ She said she had taken my picture and threatened to call the police. Miss Inner Mongolia was more rational and suggested I settle the matter by giving her 1,000 yuan ($164). I decided to cut my losses and went to a nearby ATM, where I withdrew 1,000 yuan, gave it to Miss Inner Mongolia and told her I never wanted to see or hear from her again. She seemed satisfied, though she did ask me to pay for her cab fare home, which I politely declined.
I then walked back to my hotel, feeling fortunate that I still had my wallet.
***
But there was yet another con to come.
Today, I took a tour that included visits to Changling Tomb and the Great Wall. (More on that in a future blog.) At the Great Wall, I had several hours to walk around on my own before returning to the tour bus. When I climbed down to the bottom and started walking toward the parking lot, a female taxi driver approached me and asked if I needed a ride. When I explained that I was heading to my bus, she told me I was in the wrong area and that I needed to take a taxi to the other side of the mountain. Luckily, my bullshit detector was working this time and I ignored her. But she kept following me and insisting I was mistaken. When I finally spotted my bus, I turned to her and said, “You are a very bad liar.’’ She smiled sheepishly and walked away, presumably to search for another potential victim.
