10/26/13 - 10/31/13

Shanghai is not all shopping, skyscrapers, fashion and beautiful people, as it has it's seedier side as well. Scams happen all over the world, and I have ran into many of them and may have been scammed once or twice, but for some reason they seemed to be more denser in Shanghai. I ran into more scams and got offered so many massages (ie: sex), that I stopped counting after a day and a half. At this point, it was up to over two dozens times! There were several different types of scams that I observed, but they all had the same goal, to isolate you and get your money. Fortunately, I knew all about the scams, usually from reading about them in guidebooks or on internet travel sites, so I was well prepared for them. Sometimes, I even played along, just to screw with them!

The first scammers I ran into where just random guys and even some woman approaching, asking if I wanted a "massage" or a girl. Some of them may have been legit and just wanted to give massages, but I am pretty sure most of them were of the "happy ending" variety. However, they almost always had a business card, with pictures of scantily-clad women on it, and always wanted to take you to a specific club to view the girls. They would say that you can just look at the girls for free and then decide then, if you wanted a "massage" or anything else. This, of course, was a lie. I knew that once they got me to this specific place, that even if I decided that I didn't want a "massage" or anything else, that they would, most likely, block the door and shake me down for money. They were the easiest to turn down, as I had no interest in paying for any sexual favors. I would usually smile and amusingly say no, but, they weren't always the easiest to fend off, as they were very persistent and would sometimes follow me down the street, no matter how often I said, "No!"

The second type of scam that I ran into, was the infamous tea scam. In this scam, a group of college-aged "students" may approach asking you to take a picture of them. You, being the polite person that you are, take the photo. Then they start talking to you, asking where you are from and simple questions like that. They always seem very nice and friendly, and their English is usually pretty good. After talking with them for awhile, they will then mention that they are going to a traditional tea ceremony and then will invite you to come along. As I have mentioned before in previous posts, meeting and talking to local people is one of best things about traveling. And then being invited to do something traditional or part of their customs is another great experience, because it makes you feel like you are actually experiencing the culture, instead of just viewing it from afar. This want for cultural experience is exactly what the scammers are hoping for. However, in this case, instead of gaining an amazing experience, what will really happen, is that they will take you to an isolated place, where you may actually get to see a tea ceremony from some old lady in a back room, but then she will charge you exorbitant prices for each cup. You won't know what the charges are until she presents you with the bill. And the bill can be quite high. I have read about some people having to pay $500 or more, for tea!

The Tea Ceremony scam was tried on me a few times, but I always turned them down. However, after a few days in Shanghai, it really got annoying, and so I just ignored anyone that wanted me to take picture for them. I just walked right by them, without saying a word.

The final scam that I ran into, was probably the most difficult one to turn down. This scam involves a pretty Chinese girl approaching you and wanting to practice her English. Being a male, it always gives you an ego boost, when a pretty girl approaches you to talk. However, this is the first thing that shows that this is a scam. Chinese people are very shy when it come to foreigners. They have no problem staring at you or trying to get your attention to buy something, but they, especially Chinese girls, are very shy when socially engaging foreigners. So, to have a Chinese girl approach you to talk is the first tip off that something is amiss.

The girl will talk to you for awhile and will be friendly and charming. After talking for awhile, she will then ask if you want to go get a beer or some coffee. This sounds innocent enough, so you go along. However, she will want to go to a specific place. And in this specific place, she will bring you to private room, so that you can be alone with each other. Other girls may show up or you will just be alone with her. Eventually, the bill will come and like the other scams, it is extremely large. Usually, the drink are just priced extremely high, but I have also heard about scams where people are presented the bill for all of the girls, some of whom may have left, as if you had agreed to pay for all of their drinks, as well. Usually, there are large bouncers around that make sure that you pay the bill as well. I read one story, where they actually 'accompanied' some poor guy to an ATM to get the money!

I knew about this scam, as well, but it is hard to turn it down, because there is something in the back of your head telling you that it is possible that this is entirely legit, and that she actually just wants to talk to you and practice her English! Which actually did happen to me a week later, but that is another story that I will be writing about later! Again, this scam was tried on me several times. Eventually, I could see it coming from a mile away. All of these scams are quite abundant around People's Square and the Nanjing Road Pedestrian area and so whenever I walked into this area, I knew I was a target, because I am a foreigner and was usually alone. It was quite amusing to me to notice, that as soon as I would walk into an open area, I could see out of the corner of my eye, a girl making a beeline straight towards me! They would be walking completely the opposite direction, see me and then immediately change directions! It was so obvious, not to mention annoying, that eventually I would just ignore them and walked by without saying a thing.

However, the first few times, I actually played along a little, mostly just to figure out whether the girl was legit or trying to scam me. I would talk to them for awhile and be friendly. Eventually, the girl would mention going for a beer, which is when I knew for sure that it was a scam. I would still play along at this point, but I would always mention that I was going to choose the bar. Usually, she would hesitantly agree, probably believing that she could eventually persuade me to go to a place of her choosing. One time, the girl actually told me that in China the girl will always choose where a man and a woman would go. To which I replied, "Well, I am not Chinese." So, we walked down the street and she would mention places to go, but I would always turn down her ideas. Eventually, the girl would realized that I was not going to go anywhere with her and some girls, seemingly at a loss for what to do would actually go back to the normal standby of offering me a "massage" or a girl, while other girls would fade away from me and disappear back into the crowd, which did not bother me one bit. I did feel bad about this once, because even though I turned the tables and scammed the scammer into wasting her time, after she had drifted away from me, she just stood there, looking very lost and forlorn. However, then I remembered that she wasn't really interested in talking with me and that she was just trying to get money out of me. Of course, then I turned around and she was no where to be seen, so the feeling of regret completely disappeared.

A day after a girl had tried coaxing me into a bar with her, I ran into her again on the same street. She was walking the opposite direction and had some poor schmuck on her arm. He was a much older white man. It was obvious to me that she was working her scam on this poor fellow. I didn't say anything as we walked by each other, but she made eye contact for a second and I saw recognition in her eyes. I smiled, but she looked away very quickly and ignored me. I continued walking, amusingly laughing to myself.