# My trip to Beijing



## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

My videos:
http://media.putfile.com/Beijing-CBD
http://media.putfile.com/Beijing-94
http://media.putfile.com/walking-near-the-drum-tower

I was from april 11th to april 16th in Beijing.

The first impression of Beijing was very negative. After i recieved my baggage i met many people screaming "taxi". I thought they want to be faster than there concurrent so i walked with one of them. He showed me his price list and i said now way. 480 Yuan around 50€. He told me that he has to pay the expressway fee. I believed him so i agreed by 250 Yuan (around 28€). We walked to a private car ... 
In the car i feared that they want to rob me. I even thought they could do even something worse. This was the worst thing that ever happened to me during a trip.
In the hotel they told me that a taxi from the airport costs only 100 Yuan (around 11€) i paid 250% to much. 


















































































An uncompleted skyscraper




































On day 3 even something worse happened.

I wrote this in the hotel to make me feel better:

_ I fell extrem shitty right now. The day began perfect with a blue sky and warm temperature. I took dozens of nice pictures. Everything looked just perfect. But the day ended with my 2nd ip off in 3 days. 2 woman of my age started to talk with me after i left the forbidden city. They were not beautiful or something. They told me they were tourists from Qiangdao. I thought they were just curious like the woman i met in Japan´. I had the best day during my Osaka trip because of her. The 2 Chinese womens sked me a lot and i saked them a lot. I took many picture and the 2 womens admired them (the perfect thing to brake the ice). After one hour i was thirsty. They told me we should go to a tea house. I thought this is a good way to learn more about the Chinese culture. Drinking tea in a 3rd world country can`t be too expensive so i didn`t ask afterthe price. At the end i had to pay 1040Yuan (110€) to drink tea. The 2 women played there role very well. They made me believe that they were victims too. I payed with my credit card. In the hotel i phoned to Germany. Ì wanted that they don`t pay. But this is not possible. 

I visited so many countries before but nowhere else are the people as greedy as in China. I really hate this behaviour. 
Maybe i am just to spoiled with Dubai and Japan. Maybe i am naiv, maybe i have just no luck in China. Or maybe this is just normal in China. 
I hate this. Travelling means so much to me, therefore this hurts really really bad. This destroyed my entire trip. 
I was in China before. I spend 3 hours in Shenzhen. In this 3 hours someone tried to steal my watch and i met a disgusting male prostitue in the public toilet. After this happened i met a Chinese student. He wanted to talk to me but i ignored him. Later i felt bad because i ignored him. But now i think: Was h really just curious or did he tried to trick me too. 

Maybe i watched to many China threads on SSC. I saw many many nice pictures so i expected to much. _ 

One day later i met someone in the KFC at my age, a student. He started to talk to me. I really feared me. I wanted him to go away. I lied to him about everything, my hotel, my name, my job. I told him a lie so i can go away. 

I did the same stuff later again, when i met someone in the CBD.

On the CCTV Tower i met a student from Belgium. We talked a little bit. I told him my bad expiriences and he told me his bad expiriences. 
He said that money is the most important thing for the Chinese people. You never know if you can trust someone. It`s a pity.
I couldn`t agree more. 

I wanted to go to Shanghai in 2008 but i will not to it. I don`t know when i will go to China again. 


Concerning my posted pictures. I am not very good with words so i use my pics to release some pent up frustation. I didn`t told anyone in Germany about the things that happened in Beijing. 


I know what happened to itom after he posted his Chongquing pictures. (i still don`t believe that he wanted to bash China but i took some bashing pictures).

For the Chinese forumers who think it is a good idea to insult me i must say what will happen then:

First i will not post the Beijing u/c pictures.
Second i will not post any good Beijing pictures. 
Third: The pictures above are the weakest i have. I have 2 x 10 pictures left. The next 10 pictures are 2 times more insulting. And the last 10 are the worst. Every one of them is as much worth as the the entire itom thread. 

You decide what will happen.

I am curious about the reactions. 
If everyboddy behave civilised i will start with the Beijing u/c pics tomorrow.


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## Greg (Nov 9, 2003)

Cool pics  
Please, can't wait to see the U/C updates :master:
Sorry for your bad experiences Tom. hno:


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## *UofT* (Jul 25, 2004)

Damnnnn

Depressing Thread...


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

That's true,those things also happened on Chinese travellers,we all know there're so much trickster, they cheat everyone,no matter you're foreigner or Chinese.There're so many cheat,and people all know it.
I can give you a lot of cheat examples,they're not only towards foreigners but all travellers.


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## Mr.Bonifacy (Apr 2, 2006)

Your experience with chinese people from China is very said. 

I always thouht that chinese people are nice.It's so suprising for me what you wrote :shocked: 

Btw:quite nice shots :cheers:


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## dongfangren (Apr 8, 2006)

oh,i commiserate you for your a unhappy trip to china
china is a poor country in contract to German,so this country develops and develops,for a good standard of life.this is a revolution full of passion 
and restless.in this developing process,most chinese can obey law to earn money
to make a live.undeniablely,there are some people who are crazy with money,they cheat strangers,even blood brother.
maybe you are right.but i think most of chinese are not kind of what you said about.
they are friendly ,acquainted


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## SUNNI (Sep 20, 2002)

i knew that will happen to you.
my friend was robbed in Shanghai, he was bashed because he refused to give the strangers money. he also got pick pocketted. My friend says people in the streets dont care if youre getting bashed or not, noone cared to even look. 
to make things even worse, He got ripped off by a taxi, the taxi driver didnt go to the destination he wanted to go to, but instead went somewhere very far away.


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## Handsome (May 2, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> First i will not post the Beijing u/c pictures.
> Second i will not post any good Beijing pictures.
> Third: The pictures above are the weakest i have. I have 2 x 10 pictures left. The next 10 pictures are 2 times more insulting. And the last 10 are the worst. Every one of them is as much worth as the the entire itom thread.


this is your purpose,You hate China at the very beginning,You hate China before you come to China.

I dont know whether you said is true.and if you are cheated once,you can go to the police.
I'm sue many foreigners have very nice trip in China.


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## SUNNI (Sep 20, 2002)

Mr.Bonifacy said:


> Your experience with chinese people from China is very said.
> 
> I always thouht that chinese people are nice.It's so suprising for me what you wrote :shocked:
> 
> Btw:quite nice shots :cheers:


Chinese people who goto other countries for education/ travel are mosly upper class citizens, they tend to be nice, because they have everything they want, but the lower class struggles to keep their family fed, they do it because they have to, nt because they want to.


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## sages (Apr 20, 2005)

sorry for your unhappy experience in china,as a chinese I feel shame for the two cheater.

buy the way
" They were not beautiful or something. They told me they were tourists from Qiangdao. I thought they were just curious like the woman i met in Japan´. I had the best day during my Osaka trip because of her. The 2 Chinese womens sked me a lot and i saked them a lot. I took many picture and the 2 womens admired them (the perfect thing to brake the ice). After one hour i was thirsty. They told me we should go to a tea house. I thought this is a good way to learn more about the Chinese culture. Drinking tea in a 3rd world country can`t be too expensive so i didn`t ask afterthe price. At the end i had to pay 1040Yuan (110€) to drink tea. The 2 women played there role very well. They made me believe that they were victims too. I payed with my credit card. "

I have familiar experience,too.when I got my first job and go to drink to celebrate.


Sorry again.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

You'd better not travel by yourself becasue you know nothing,you can easily be cheated,you'd better travel with some other people who is familiar with cheats,now I'll give some examples so you can aviod.
1.Don't trust some low-price ciceroni,he always brings you to some expensive shop,becasue the ciceroni and shop had made agreement,ciceroni can get money from shop.
2.Don't trust local guide,they also always guide you to some expensive hotel or shop,I was cheated when I travelled,we wasted two hours but went nowhere.You'd better ask other travellers.
3.If there're some people who sell somethings ,remember ask some other travellers, always it doesn't worth its price.
4.Don't trust somebody who help you initiative,they are always cheater.


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## dongfangren (Apr 8, 2006)

to Tom_Green:

i commiserate you for your a unhappy trip to china
china is a poor country in contract to German,so this country develops and develops,for a good standard of life.this is a revolution full of passion 
and restless.in this developing process,most chinese can obey law to earn money
to make a live.undeniablely,there are some people who are crazy with money,they cheat strangers,even blood brother.
maybe you are right.but i think most of chinese are not kind of what you said about.
they are friendly ,acquainted


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## cladiv (Feb 29, 2004)

Mr.Bonifacy said:


> Your experience with chinese people from China is very said.
> 
> I always thouht that chinese people are nice.It's so suprising for me what you wrote :shocked:
> 
> Btw:quite nice shots :cheers:


Chinese people are very nice and friendly but of course every country has its fair share of rotten apples.

@Tom: It is very sad to hear about your experience, indeed those thing happen especially on foreigners (even though not just on foreigners) but on the other hand I think that what happened should not prevent you to go and visit China in future again, it is a beautiful country.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

There're so many I can't translate them all
旅 途 常 见 骗 术 
第一招：最常见的大概要算是吉普赛的「专业扒手」，严格说来也不算是骗，应说是手法高明快速的「偷」：妇女抱着小孩或几个小孩子一组，绕着「待宰肥羊」团团转几圈，或是拿着报纸靠近你，几秒钟就能顺利得手了！ 
破解术：少用外露的霹雳包，改用内藏式贴身腰包，护照及金钱都放在贴身腰包里，口袋只放当天要用的少量现钞，最重要的是不要让陌生人有靠近自己的机会。
第二招：在人群中故意散落满地铜板，当有人目光被吸引，甚至好心蹲下去帮忙捡拾，这时候旁边早已虎视眈眈的「第三只手」就会趁虚而入了！ 
破解术：遇事不要太好奇，也不要因身边发生的事而疏忽该有的警觉性。就算有心想帮助别人，也要先照顾好自己的行李。 
第三招：公园里，慈祥的老先生发现你背后衣服脏了，好心告诉你还帮忙清理。等到闲话家常完、衣服也清理干净后，口袋里的钱和皮包当然也不翼而飞了！ 
破解术：友善的当地居民确实让人觉得温暖，但是防人之心不可无，有些事最好还是自己来吧！谢谢「好心人」然后迅速离开现场，最好马上到人多的地方，以防扒窃不成反被抢。 
第四招：快餐店的邻桌客人(常是中东人)故意丢了人民币在地上，然后告诉你：「是你的钱掉了吗？」等你低头捡起来时，邻桌客人已经和你桌上(或椅上)的背包一起消失无踪！ 
破解术：在餐厅或快餐店，同桌伙伴去洗手间、只剩自己一人看管行李时，不要理会邻桌客人的动作和谈话，所有行李都不可离开视线。 
第五招：「假观光客」拿着地图来问路、或是一起研究行程，经过仔细讨论后他们称谢离去，只留下背包已被洗劫过的「真观光客」。 
破解术：旅行途中自己也是个需要看地图的观光客，被人问路当然不寻常。最好直接说自己也不清楚，马上离开现场，不要让自己被包围在中间，增加骗徒下手机会。 
第六招：歹徒假扮警察在路上检查游客的护照，还要求检查携带的外币是否为假钞。被带回假警局(或带进暗巷)的无辜游客，不是真钞被掉包，就是所有的钱全被当成「假美金」没收了。 
破解术：一般在没有犯罪或意外情况发生时，不会有警察来「临检」观光客。如果不能当场判断警察的真伪，最好说护照和钱都在旅馆保险柜中，或是佯装听不懂请当地路人及店家帮忙翻译，无论如何都不要掏出重要证件和金钱。 
第七招：遇到愿意权充当地导游的热心人，介绍许多景点、交通、食宿资料取得观光客信任后，再介绍令人心动的黑市汇率，换完钱就发现换来的钱不是少了许多、就是全是假钞！ 
破解术：任何国家的黑市兑换都是不合法的，如果在黑市换钱而发生问题时，不但没有申诉机会可能还要吃上官司。最保险的方法是在银行换钱，虽然要付些手续费但却安全得多。 
第八招：在「兑换处」(Exchange)换钱也不见得百分之百安全，有时遇上牌告汇率和实际兑换时不同，换完询问才知道牌告汇率是一次兑换五佰美元以上的优惠，这时想不换也来不及了！ 
破解术：每家银行或兑换处的汇率、手续费计算都不尽相同，换钱之前一定要先问清楚，例如可问换一佰元美金(现金或旅行支票)可拿到多少外币？这样很快就可以算出实际的汇率，再决定要不要换。换好钱之后，别忘了将护照和钱收藏妥当再离开银行，以防歹徒早等在外面下手。 
第九招：在币值比较小的国家旅行，面额很大的钞票(动辄上万元甚至百万元一张)常让人算不清楚，尤其拿大面额钞票买便宜小东西时，一不小心花了眼睛，本来该找回九十九万元却只拿到九万九千元！ 
破解术：买小东西时避免用大钞，若正好没有零钱就先算好该找多少钱，把找回来的钱当着商家面前算清楚，一旦离开可就没有机会讨回公道了。 
第十招：无论是真艳遇或是假艳遇，在旅途中都同样是的高风险的事。提防有心的骗徒摇身一变为浪漫的异国情人，一夜风流或俪影成双几天之后人财两失！ 
破解术：出国旅行时，就像脱离平常的现实生活走进另一个时空，很容易让人就失去原本应有的理智与判断力。所以别对旅途中的异国恋情有过多的期待和幻想，就算有缘认识新朋友也不要急于发展，好好保护自己才是最重要的。


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

海南的旅游公司大部分都是空壳。大公司充其量也就是借着自己的名声在外面招揽游客，然后再转给下面的小旅游公司，自己抽取佣金。游客转包给小旅游公司以后，这些旅游公司根本不会为游客安排些什么，只要收了钱，就把游客扔给了导游。

导游一般是没有工资的，他们的主要收入来源就是在旅游景点和购物地点从游客的消费中拿回扣。由此一来，只要导游能够让游客在某一个景点多花钱，他们的收入也就会更多。

这也就是为什么三亚景点的门票对散客那么贵，而对团队要便宜的原因。他们利用这一点吸引游客向旅行社报名，而实际上把游客当作了待宰的‘羔羊’。这些看起来很‘便宜’的门票，实际上还有下降的空间。这些空间就成了导游的收入。而表面上看起来很吸引人的团队报价都是虚的，旅游过程中让游客自掏腰包的情况多得举不胜举。

在三亚旅游最为恶劣的是以下几种行为：

1、‘自费景点’。报团的时候明明告诉你有三个景点，博鳌、黎村苗寨、野人谷是自愿的，可上了车导游就一定要求你必须至少要去两个景点，而且是自费。我们的那个导游叫闫广成，当我表示只要去博鳌的时候，他居然说如果不去，晚上就不给床位。真是岂有此理！建议大家以后要尽量避开这个导游。这个家伙最会既做婊子又给自己立牌坊。

2、 恶俗的人造景观。在黎村苗寨时，那些恶俗的人造景观和像妓女一样拉游客照相的女人真是让人倒足了胃口。还有假和尚硬要给你算命。真是烦人。

3、骗人。在天涯海角的时候，这个导游告诉我们最好坐电瓶车到那两块大石头那里，还说往返要6.8公里，走路耗时1个小时。而他给我们留的时间只有一个小时多一点。幸亏我妈去过那里，知道走过去也没多长时间。差点又被他摆了一道。在海边沙滩上走一走，吹吹海风，亲亲海水，比坐电瓶车的感觉好多了。

4、赶时间。这个该死的导游上车的时候说“我们是团队，要遵守时间。旅游局规定游客在景点迟到10分钟，我们的车就不等了。该游客可以打车去下一个景点。”可是在卖珍珠的那个地方，叫什么‘京润’，我记不大清，就是因为有两个同车游客买珍珠，我们的车整整迟开了45分钟。这个叫闫广成的导游直到把回扣数清楚了才上车。硬生生把在大东海的游玩时间挤掉了。很多时候都是如此。在亚龙湾，只给我们20分钟的时间，而在那个卖土特产的地方大家‘走迷宫’就走了半个小时。在大小洞天时，地陪带大家多玩了半个小时，这个导游就没完没了的埋怨。

5、编号。在每个景点，每个团队都被编了号，每个游客的消费也都有编号。导游只要到后台去查编号就可以拿到回扣。让人感觉好像自己是‘待宰的羔羊’似的。

6、东山岭潮音寺的假‘高僧’。解的签胡说八道，除了让你烧高香买法物外，没什么别的本事。大家抽个签找个乐子就行了，千万别让他们解签。命运应该掌握在自己手里。

7、恶俗的同车游客。有些人不知道自己被蒙了，还一个劲的帮导游说话，和导游站在一个阵线上。真是悲哀啊。


这就是三亚游的基本概况。真是没有想到这么美的地方，恶俗的事情却这么多。据说海南省政府曾经要降低旅游景点票价，并且给导游开4000元的月薪以规范旅游市场。这些导游却聚众在政府机关大门前游行。由此可知，这些导游一个月在游客身上赚取的回扣有多少！

海南的旅游市场再不整顿，路将越走越窄！！


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## wachenroder (Sep 30, 2003)

those pictures bring back memories, as if I was there too.

I went to Beijing 2 years ago, explored both the new developed areas and some poor run down areas.

I'm guessing you went alone? As far as Taxi's go, they were all very inconsistent. Half the time I met some really suspicious drivers who often feigned idiocy, pretending they were lost, as the meter kept running. Then there were other times where some drivers gave us our moneys worth and drove ridiculously fast, and others were pretty friendly and chatty. There quite a number of times where I felt they were trying to rip me off, but fortunately I was with my gf at the time who was good at being angry and haggling.. so they didn't bother us too much. Also, we both could pass as "natives" provided we didn't try to speak.. so I guess thats another reason why we didn't experience as much unfortunate instances as you did.

but like others said, China is still a developing country. If you have to go next time, try wearring those addidas breakaways, with zipper pockets.. I usually wear those as its much difficult for people to pick pocket if its zipped up.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

上海骗子

有人问：上海还有骗子？当然有，而且多了。上海的骗子一般是以有钱人的面目出现、西装革履，不是什么国际公司中国代表处的首席代表，就是什么外资企业的高级职员，上海普通话里还夹几句洋文，开口就是采购千万美元以上的订单。和你做生意那是因为朋友的关系，没有其他条件，先付好处费，否则免谈，吃饭谁买单？肯定是你，给你那么大的订单买个单有什么了不起。所以上海骗子的素质、文化水平最高，最少还懂点洋文。


广西骗子

在广州有一群广西帮，专门在火车站或汽车站行骗，你刚下火车或汽车的时候，你的朋友没有来接你，于是你可能会去公用电话亭打个电话或传呼，打手机的话你的朋友或许不一定会马上接，挂断后会立即有电话回过来，说：‘刚刚是谁打我的电话或CALL机？’

如果你说找谁谁时，他就说，他是谁谁的朋友，那个谁临时出差了，已经交代我来接你，于是不久就有一个男人或女人过来接，你肯定很信任对方，这样的话，你上当的时候就来了，轻则钱被骗走，重则人也被卖掉，所以大家以后一定要小心，尤其是在广州火车站。

福建骗子

福建骗子都是农民，如果你和他见面的话，肯定是看不上眼的，所以他们就避其短处，不和你见面，所以福建骗子的手段就是借用高科技手段以短信、电子邮件等，内容当然什么都有，什么中奖、走私商品、六合彩信息等，等你上钩后你的钱就源源不断地流向他们的口袋。福建骗子的学习力最强，善于抓住人性的弱点，而且善于利用高科技手段，骗术层出不穷，新招频出。如果突然有一天，一个福建人说要和你合作，而且条件非常优惠，那么你一定要小心，肯定是陷阱。

浙江骗子

浙江是中国经济最活跃的地区之一，所以那里的骗子也特别多，有大、中、小骗，其中一类是以投资者的身份出现在内地的小城市，说可以在当地投资多少多少，骗得当地政府官员把他当成亲爷爷招待，规格绝对是超标腐化，吃完后还要找“小姐”，说考察一下投资环境是不是好，过后还带回一大堆礼品。

投资呢？没有！还有的浙江骗子造假的功夫绝对是世界一流，什么世界名牌、中国驰名商标，都可以造得惟妙惟肖。还有就是全国各地正打击的黑心棉基本都是浙江人所为。还有一种街头骗术听说也是浙江人发明的，街头卖手机的，进口的最新款的手机只买市场价格的30%不到，非常让你动心，你想会不会是真的？

肯定是真的，对方把卡放进去，OK！完全可以用，于是你肯定会买，但等你掏钱拿着手机要离开时，对方会对你说，等等，我的卡好像还在里面，于是他又把手机收回，打开取卡，然后再交回给你，并说声对不起，非常有礼貌，不要以为你占了便宜，因为他中途已经掉包了，给回你的是假手机。

这样中途掉包的骗术还有如大钱换小钱、外币等等，大家一定要注意。另外一种用假手机诈骗的方式是干脆就用假的手机，但做得确实非常真，简直是一模一样，但开机后几秒钟就关机了，显示没电，这样也使很多人上当受骗了。

云南骗子

我的亲身经历，在深圳出差时，很早就被电话吵醒，对方非常热情地说：“来深圳了，也不告诉我一声，真不够朋友”，当我问他是谁时，他就说：“连我是谁都不记得，你猜猜看。”

我一下就知道对方是骗子了，因为曾经在媒体看过这样的骗术，于是我决定玩玩对方，就开始猜了：“老王吧？”“不是！”“那是小王？”“还不是。”“林冰（淋病）吗？”“也不是。”“哦，我知道了，你是杨伟（阳痿）！”“对了，还好没有忘记老朋友。”

呸，我在深圳没有一个叫杨伟的朋友。对方马上就会说：“这样吧，我请你到某某大酒店喝早茶，我们见面再说。”我说：“行”，完了挂起电话继续睡大觉，让他等去吧。

如果真的被骗去的话结果是这样的：你到了后会有一个或两个年轻人在等你，说他们是杨总的下属，说杨总刚好有什么事情，要耽搁一会再来，我们先陪你吃。在吃的过程中，有两种可能：如果是一个人来的话他会不停地打电话，然后说电话没电了，借你的电话用用，并说信号不好，走到外面去，这样的话电话就不见了；如果他们是两个人来的话，其中一个会打电话和所谓的杨总通电话，然后说杨总来了，我们一起去外面接他，而另一个人会留在里面，等你出去的时候，他会把你的包拿走，和你在一起的那个人也会找机会溜走。

安徽骗子

安徽有个佛教胜地‘九华山’，所以安徽的很多骗子一般是以九华山出家人的身份出现，男人一般是装成和尚、女人当然就扮尼姑，一般他们是两人结伴而行，以化缘为目的出现，然后进到别人家里，如果有人的话就四周环顾，而后耸人听闻地说，你家最近有‘血光之灾’或其他灾难，反正是越吓人越好，把你吓到以后他（她）就来安慰你说‘没关系，我们可以化解’，只要出点钱，多少钱？那就看你家能出多少了，至少几千、多的几万。如果你家没有人的话，那么就顺手牵羊把值钱的东西拿走，所以安徽的骗子有时候又是小偷。

四川骗子

那里的骗子是最没有人性的骗子，那就是拐卖妇女和儿童，而且骗完别人以后还骗熟人，他们才不会遵循兔子不吃窝边草的原则，听说某大城市的一个小区一个月之内就有10来个小孩被骗，而且发展成为小孩骗小孩了，骗子大部分是四川口音。他们骗了小孩后就卖掉，妇女就强迫她们卖淫，这样就是四川一带的骗子。到成都也要小心。

千万不要在火车北站买东西。10个有7个是假的，还少找钱。千万不要进店门，店主有个套路，自己把东西打烂，栽赃给顾客。钱就是他说好多少就是多少，不给就会挨打。
湖北骗子

"九头鸟"的骗子，中国最牛的骗子，是骗子之王。俗话说：‘天上九头鸟，地上湖北佬’，是说湖北人的聪明，但湖北的骗子却不一定高明很多，湖北骗子的骗术其实很老套，他们会以公司的名义，生产什么最新的高科技工业产品，然后要在全国各地找经销商，经销的条件非常优惠，并且还先把样品寄来，说他们会在全国性的广告里面把各地经销商的联系方式打上，没多久果然有一到两家的客户来电话要该产品，而且要的量还挺大，价格也很有诱惑力，所以你就会向厂家订货，这样的话，你上当受骗的时候就到了。该类骗子一般是以厂家业务员的身份出现，能说会道。

湖南骗子

湖南骗子是最低档的骗子，他们都是农民，而且还喜欢以农民的形象出现在你面前，有一天如果突然有一对农民模样的男女出现在你面前，问银行或邮电局怎么走的时候，他们一般都是湖南人（江西也可能是），然后就会很神秘地拿出一些金元宝或金佛像以及一些旧钱，说：他们在工地上挖出来的，不知道能不能到银行去换或能不能到邮局去寄，如果你热心地告诉他（她）的时候，你上当受骗的时候就差不多来了。这样的骗子形象越土越好，而且最好是不会说普通话，这样的话你就越容易相信。

山西骗子

山西的骗子主要是造假，而且假得没有道德，比如，关系到人类生命的假酒、假饮料、假食品，以及关系到工程质量的假钢材、假水泥，他们都敢做，这样的例子媒体已经曝光很多次了。

江苏骗子

谁说江苏无骗子？本人一生中唯一一次上当受骗就在江苏。到江苏出差的XDJM一定要注意，如果在火车站买票的话，千万不要相信票贩子，因为他们都是骗子，他们骗人的手法有两类：一是用可以以假乱真的假票来卖，这样的票基本是用旧票‘剪辑’而成；还有一类就是穿着铁路服装、冒充铁路工作人员说可以买到内部票，但收了你的钱后就逃之夭夭。

东北骗子

大家一直骂河南骗子多，其实我认为现在骗子最多的是东北。在改革开放之初，东北人是最淳朴的，但被南方的浙江人、福建人、广东人欺骗多了，开始变聪明了，而且还青出于蓝胜于蓝，骗术不但高明而且还人才辈出。

要总结东北的骗子还真的很不容易，因为各种骗子的类型在那都可以找到原型，现在就重点突出两种吧：一种是利用东北人身体强悍的优势，手里拿着一些破手表、手机，甚至是手提电脑去和行人碰撞，然后敲诈对方的钱财，有半骗半抢的性质；还有一类就是利用色相行骗，用漂亮女人去勾引有钱人，然后出现几个男人来敲诈，更多的是男人利用色相去欺骗女人的例子。

东北男人一般都长得比较帅，网络上的怨妇又很多，所以就有那么一群东北男人专门做这样的事情，他们也会扮成有钱人，衣着光鲜，出手大方，说做什么什么大生意，然后就一下迷惑了对方，先把色骗到手，等条件成熟后，说要做什么项目，回报很诱人，成功以后就可以送对方一套房子什么的，使该女性心动，再过几天会说该项目已经启动了非常顺利，房子马上就要送给你了，引对方进一步上钩，再过几天开始愁眉苦脸，说项目进行还差点钱，于是女人的钱就再一次进到了他的手中。

有个很厉害的东北男人同时骗了30多个女人数百万的钱，都是30岁以上的女人，所以经常上网的女人、寂寞的女人，你们可是要注意。

还有一种新的骗术也是东北人发明的，在此我要揭露，如果你有一天刚从银行取了几万元钱出来，突然一双小手蒙住你的眼睛，然后用非常迷人的声音对你说：猜猜我是谁？那时你以为是什么艳遇来了的话，那可就是大错特错了，等你从玛丽猜到艾乌里的，就是不知道对方是谁的时候，她会突然跳到你面前，然后说：对不起，认错人了，于是就迅速消失，当你从兴奋中反应过来时候，你的几万元已经不见了。

可怕的东北人！

河南骗子

一说起骗子，大家就想到河南人，其实这有点冤枉，只是河南的骗子种类多点罢了，大骗小骗都有。在旅途中大家如果碰到了河南人，千万要多留个心眼，别把自己家庭或公司的电话、地址留给对方，否则你家一定会马上接到一个电话，说你在某个地方出事了，出事的原因有嫖*被抓、出车祸、被人打劫、突发疾病等，他是你的朋友，现在为你处理事情急需钱，所以要你家或单位立即汇款过去，否则就来不及了。这样的人一般都是河南人。还有一种大骗子，是以大公司的名义出现的，向外地企业采购很大的订单至少以百万计算，可以先付30%订金，其他70%货到后立即支付，然后便请外地企业的领导到公司来参观，高层次的腐败待遇，并且还承诺高额的回扣，所以就可以让对方签合同发货，但等货到后他们就立即以低于市场价格抛售，然后就消失，我有好几个朋友天天在河南寻找骗他的人，河南人还有一个特点就是谈判时他们什么条件都答应，很好说话，但等货或钱到他们手里时，什么话都不好说了。河南的骗子厉害，我们单位的领导也是河南的，就告诫销售的说，要是俺老家的人要货，他们要先给钱，再给货……简直就是笑死人了！河南骗子最多、最勤快，只要能骗到钱，无论多少，都行。最好的办法，不要与他们打交道；其次的办法，买货先来货、卖货先见钱。否则什么也别信。河南穷，还会继续穷下去，即使社会进一步发展了，河南还照样落后一大截，为什么？就是为了骗小钱，*卖诚信。

深圳骗子

深圳是中国对外的前沿阵地，所以深圳骗子的骗术一般要和外贸出口挂钩。欺骗的对象基本上是全国各地的小企业，急着想把自己的产品推销给国外的小老板。该类骗子一般都是以公司的名义出现，而且公司的名头很大，某某国际公司中国总部、什么国际集团等等。办公室很高档，当然是租的；车子也很漂亮，也是租的；你一到深圳公司后一定就能让你相信他们是大公司，请你到非常豪华的餐厅吃饭，吃饭后还有其他节目。买单？不要你管，只要你先签合同，至少订单100万美元，当然要履行合同的话得先交保证金等七七八八的费用，等把你欺骗得差不多的时候，公司一关门，走人了，你找吧！到目前为止这种骗子在深圳还有很多，有些甚至把分公司开到外地了。


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## didu (Jun 13, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> I know what happened to itom after he posted his Chongquing pictures. (i still don`t believe that he wanted to bash China but i took some bashing pictures).
> For the Chinese forumers who think it is a good idea to insult me i must say what will happen then:


Oh, please feel free to bash China, you are not the first one to do so, and sure 
won't be the last. The Chinese here and everywhere else are already used to all
the bashing. I look forward to seeing whether you can come up with anything 
new.



Tom_Green said:


> First i will not post the Beijing u/c pictures.
> Second i will not post any good Beijing pictures.


Look man, you cannot blackmail us, you took those pictures, and if you wanna
share it here and get recognition, then great, otherwise, save your time. You
won't be the only person with a camera in Beijing, there are plenty of other 
people who will post newer and better pictures than you have.



Tom_Green said:


> Third: The pictures above are the weakest i have. I have 2 x 10 pictures left. The next 10 pictures are 2 times more insulting. And the last 10 are the worst. Every one of them is as much worth as the the entire itom thread.


Post them away, I doubt you have anything that's worse than what most Chinese
forumers here have seen before.



Tom_Green said:


> You decide what will happen.


Oh my god, my fate is in your hands, please be merciful! :runaway: 

Seriously, grow up.



Tom_Green said:


> I am curious about the reactions.
> If everyboddy behave civilised i will start with the Beijing u/c pics tomorrow.


People should behave civilized, period. But if you think you hold some kind of
special power that can force us to be civilized, then guess what I will break the
rules and bust your bubble just for the hell of it. Please kindly shove your pics 
up your arse.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

骗术一：通常是一男一女带个小孩，遇到模样老实的(比如我 ) ，上前说，钱丢了，没钱回家，给几块钱坐车吧。还有说是来深圳找亲戚，没找着，钱用光了，给几块钱给他们买点吃的。第一次遇到这种骗术往往容易上当，我在大学时就上当过。骗子骗了几块钱，马上又去骗别人。在深圳路边遇到过多次，广州一般出现在好又多，万佳等超市附近。 

骗术二：路边某个青年男子，带着个包，坐在地下，用粉笔在地下写一些什么“找不到工作，太饿了，请好心人给点钱买东西吃”。一样是骗子，如果到深圳、广州所有地方走一圈，保证可以找到上百个这样的骗子。 

骗术三：大学时室友遇到过一次，来深圳后本人遇到过三次。大概流程是这样的：当你从银行取钱出来，或者到邮政局存钱的话，旁边会有两个串通好的男子，一个假装把一捆钱丢在地上，往前走，后面的骗子故意在你面前将钱捡起来，然后把你拉到一边，把捡到的那叠钱放到你身上。而前面丢钱的骗子则返回，问后面的骗子是否捡到了钱，并且要后面的骗子搜身。后面的骗子说没有，然后把你拉到一边，说捡到的钱平分，现在钱在你身上，我现在跟他去搜身，我怕你在我去搜身后逃之夭夭，所以你要把你身上的部分钱押在我这里。如果你真的将你自己的部分钱押给他们，就再也找不到人了。你打开那捡到的一叠钱，会发现，表面是一张人民币，里面全是白纸。 

骗术四：就是手机短消息了，说什么你中了。。。。奖(比如笔记本电脑)云云，而你如果一个电话打过去，她们会叫你将钱寄到某个帐号，说是奖品的邮寄费。而你真的相信了，寄出去的钱就如同石沉大海。 

骗术五：路边的押注。几个碗倒盖地下，骗子凭借很快的手法，将一粒棋子放在某个碗下，让你去猜。如果你押50元，猜中了他倒赔你50，猜错了这50元就输了。这样的骗子，往往会有一群骗子来故意充当观众，起哄或者押钱。最近广州太平洋电脑城附近很多。 

骗术六：想起一个行骗的例子，尤其逢年过节，大家要警惕。我遇到一次，还真的上当了。－－有一个人抗一袋米，然后敲你家门，一张口就说：有一个60多岁的老太太在我们店买了米，让我先送过来，她还要去其他地方买东西。米50块还没给。我当时心里觉得挺奇怪，我妈没这么老吧？？后来想想可能显老，而且又有这么一袋米，就给了钱。老妈回来一问，才知道上当受骗了。而且米很次，最多也就30搞定。这个骗术比较隐蔽。大家小心。 

骗术七：坐车去广州,半路上来一家伙,说自己做铅笔生意的,在车上跟别人攀谈,然后开始赌,手上拿红蓝铅笔各一枝,猜橡皮圈套在那枝铅笔上. 亲眼看见我旁边那家伙把手表也输了.快到广州,开始参与赌的人全下了车,才知道是骗局。

骗术八：还有一种，就是路上卖水果或者别的什么的，当你买他东西的时候，他会找你换钱。他零钱换成整钱。说零钱太多不好放。然后在数钱给了你的时候就少给你一张。如果你自己不细心，看着他明明数了十张给你，你自己一数就只有9张了。 

骗术九：今天坐公车,到站开门后,一个男人突然堵住车门说自己手机不见了,不让人下车. 人群哗然.这时旁边有人说打那个男人的手机,看在谁身上响谁就是贼.这个男人就向边上的一个人借了手机要拨自己的号码,突然靠近门口的一个人拔腿挤下车就跑,这个男人也没还人家的手机就叫嚣着追了过去,转眼都不见了.于是,这次真的有人丢了手机……

骗术十：还是几年前,我们住在NC的时候.就我家婆一人在家,也是一个男的敲门,说是**(我LG的名字)的同事,刚从上海出差回来,LG托他带了双皮鞋,380元,他现在要去办事身上带的钱不够,叫家婆能不能先把钱给他,并拿出一双包装的很漂亮的鞋子,家婆说没那么多钱,刚好我媳妇快下班了,你就等一下吧 .那人一听,赶紧说去LG单位找他就走了.幸亏没上当,不过也挺险的,家婆随便让陌生人进门,要是强盗就完了。

骗术十一：这是本人亲历。前两天晚上打的，从罗湖到福田一共花了二十多块吧，我给了一张一百块的给司机，他掏摸了半天，说没有零钱，要我凑零钱给他。我大惑问“你干了一天怎么一百块都找不开”。但我还是凑够零钱给他了，他就把一百块还给我。我一拿过手，大怒：“你小子找死呀！”，那小子赶快换了一张给我。嘿，那小子竟然偷龙转凤，给了我一张假钞。他不知道，我刚刚给他的那一张是我半个小时前才从提款机摁出来的，全新的。要不，还真给他蒙了。后悔没留意他的车牌，只知道是湖南攸县。


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## didu (Jun 13, 2005)

^^ who exactly are you trying to educate?


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

I think we'd better open a forum talking about such unpleasure exprience.Such cheat,rob or more.


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## cladiv (Feb 29, 2004)

I dont think that would be necessary at all,I mean visiting China is not different from visiting any other country, what you need is just some common sense (i.e. dont stop talking with strangers on the street, check your belongings at all times) and everything will be fine.
This is what i would do anywhere I go since as I stated earlier, people willing to screw you are everywhere.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

The first u/c pics.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=8074627#post8074627


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## Childish King (Apr 23, 2004)

China has its warmheartedness and beauty.


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## Pommes-T (Dec 7, 2005)

Ohhhhhh! I feel sorry for you! I am also german and visited Beijing from March 4th until March 12th 2006.
I didn't really like the city, because it is all in all pretty ugly IMO. It was very intersting anyways, so I enjoyed every second. The best was the forbidden city, the great wall, the summer palace and the Lama temple (I hope you have seen such beautiful sights, too).

We only had good experiences with our Taxi drivers. We called some on the streets, the one on the airport on the ordinary taxi place and they were all fair and made great prices. One day we rent a limo (aka Hyundai Sonata) with a very friendly driver for one day and 500 RMB. He took us to the wall, the Ming tombs and the summer palace.
What was pissing me off were all the people who tried to sell Rolex watches and such stuff and were coming with their faked interest: "Excuse me, where are you from?"
Nearly everybody we met was a student who was about to study in germany and in the end tried to sell something. There were also often women coming who wanted to guide us around. We always denied (luckily).

It really makes me sad to hear from your sad experiences. We've had a wonderful trip and are looking forward to visist Shanghai someday. I was wondering what all these people wanted from us, now I know. The worst thing is, that there are sooo many criminals who use this "be my friend" thing, that you don't know who is simply nice anymore and can't trust anybody. And so I have to feel sorry for those people who are really intersted in where I am from for example and don't get an answer from me.

Maybe I'll post some pictures soon, but I'm a very lazy person....


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

sorry to hear your experience, I am as angry as you are. China is improving but need at least 30 years to get to the civilization level Japan has now. 

As a Chinese, I had similiar experience in China and other developing countries, but China's shining skyscrapers often cover its dark side. After some time, I don't hate the ugly people who cheated me, but hate the poverty which causes that kind of behavior.


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## tiger (Aug 21, 2004)

Taipei Walker said:


> I think anyone who was in China had negative experience with China's greed. Generally in China you cannot trust people, I had really negative experience in Sichuan near Emei Mountain where I lost my way. I asked some people for the road, they wanted to "help" but for 40RMB. Finally I negotiated 8RMB and they took me for 2 min. ride to the bus stop where I could easily walk but didn't know the road. I was really pissed off. It contrasts so much with Taiwan where people would NEVER take any money for help, even poor people. There is just different mentality. Talking about same Chinese?
> 
> This is how foreigners get their negative impression of China.
> 
> Anyway later I met some Tibetan monks who were so nice and took me to Chengdu for free. 3 hours drive :tongue:


I was extorted 200€ by Taiwanese,and This is my real experience.

This is how foreigners get their negative impression of Taiwan.

BTW,I consider Taiwanese as foreigners rather than Chinese.


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## AlCapone.Italia (Apr 10, 2006)

^^Well what else can you expect from CHina.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

> The worst thing is, that there are sooo many criminals who use this "be my friend" thing, that you don't know who is simply nice anymore and can't trust anybody.


The only one you can trust is your family member.In China,the method of making friend is different from West,mainly through family and family's relationship.Or familiar colleague or friend,anyhow,through the people you meet everyday and know the histroy of him.So if you are cheated,it is not only you,but your family,your colleague and friends suffered,and problem can be solved easier than your own.
Don't trust anyone only you know.I think that's the law of making friends in China.


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## jlshyang (May 22, 2005)

The wide gap of poverty between the urban and rural areas are is the root of the problem. I heard a lot about such cheats a few years back and most travellers from my country to China are warned about it.. I guess you shouldn't have travelled alone.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

jlshyang said:


> The wide gap of poverty between the urban and rural areas are is the root of the problem. I heard a lot about such cheats a few years back and most travellers from my country to China are warned about it.. I guess you shouldn't have travelled alone.


China has a large population,and now poor people flew to cities.so it is not surprise that person earn 600 RMB per month and person earn 20000 RMB per month lived in the same city.
If you really want to have a good travel,I think the best way is finding some friends in China,ask for him to arrange,he can turn to his Chinese friends,they have exprience,so you can avoid such cheat.


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## macpolo (Apr 17, 2006)

gimme a break plz,exactly,how many posts u did to complain about everything of china?
surely this is not the first one here

gimme another break plz,how come someone would be cheated by suck a lame trick?i dont get it,try to make a good story,ok?


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

the best approach is to find a driver (from travel agent or street) and use him as your guide in your trip. I tried it in every developing countries and it works well.


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

macpolo said:


> gimme a break plz,exactly,how many posts u did to complain about everything of china?
> surely this is not the first one here
> 
> gimme another break plz,how come someone would be cheated by suck a lame trick?i dont get it,try to make a good story,ok?


even some Chinese guys are cheated so there's nothing wrong with the victim.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

macpolo said:


> gimme a break plz,exactly,how many posts u did to complain about everything of china?
> surely this is not the first one here


If you find more than 5 posts where i complain about China since september 2004 i would be really surprised.


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> If you find more than 5 posts where i complain about China since september 2004 i would be really surprised.


tom you have the right to complain by your experience. I want to complain too. as some forumers said, the cause is nothing but wealth gap. China should definitely do more to reduce the gap from any perspective.


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## macpolo (Apr 17, 2006)

Tom_Green said:


> If you find more than 5 posts where i complain about China since september 2004 i would be really surprised.


SkyscraperCity Forums - real Chongqing,The most bad city of China - [ 翻译此页 BETA ]January 12th, 2005, 02:08 AM, #1. yang. Registered User. Join Date: Jan 2005. Posts: 80. real Chongqing,The most bad city of China. ]. ... Sen's Avatar. Join Date: Nov 2004. Posts: 792. Send a message via MSN to Sen. looks ok to me...just too much ... 
skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=168151 - 94k - 补充材料 - 网页快照 - 类似网页 


SkyscraperCity Forums - real Chongqing,The most bad city of China - [ 翻译此页 BETA ]SkyscraperCity Forums (http://skyscrapercity.com/index.php). - Cityscapes and Skyline Photos (http://skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8). - - real Chongqing,The most bad city of China (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=168151) ... 
skyscrapercity.com/printthread.php?t=168151 - 26k - 补充材料 - 网页快照 - 类似网页
[ skyscrapercity.com站内的其它相关信息 ] 





seems the webmaster deleted the thread,ok,u,keep doing your job


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

this is outrageous...i have to admit such things happen a lot in china, but i think you should use some common sense during your travel.



> them. He showed me his price list and i said now way. 480 Yuan around 50€. He told me that he has to pay the expressway fee. I believed him so i agreed by 250 Yuan (around 28€). We walked to a private car ...


why would you take a PRIVATE car? not a PROPER TAXI? i mean taxis line up just outisde the international arrival hall, and the prices are listed, they cannot cheat you. (if they do you can compalin they can get their license revoked).




> . At the end i had to pay 1040Yuan (110€) to drink tea. The 2 women played there role very well. They made me believe that they were victims too. I payed with my credit card. In the hotel i phoned to Germany. Ì wanted that they don`t pay. But this is not possible.


why did you pay for it? do you seriously think tea will cost you 110 euros?



> One day later i met someone in the KFC at my age, a student. He started to talk to me. I really feared me. I wanted him to go away. I lied to him about everything, my hotel, my name, my job. I told him a lie so i can go away.


students are generally ok, they probably just want to practice their English. yeah but it's a good idea to stay away from strangers if you travel alone.



> He said that money is the most important thing for the Chinese people. You never know if you can trust someone. It`s a pity.
> I couldn`t agree more.


money is indeed the most important thing for a lot of people.

anyways i am very sorry you encountered those rather unpleasant experiences during your trip, i think as people become more educated things will get better, but i think you should wise up next time when you travel to china or other unfamiliar places where such things may happen, travelling with a local sounds like a good idea too.


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## AlCapone.Italia (Apr 10, 2006)

And a slump like that is going to host the 2008 Olympics !


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## tiger (Aug 21, 2004)

AlCapone.Italia said:


> And a slump like that is going to host the 2008 Olympics !


This is Tom wants to say.


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)

Dress down alittle bit if you purposedly stay in those undeveloped region, or you will become target of those theif. this is the experience i had when i take a trip to some undeveloped place in the most developed country(US of a).



> Hell even in Italy my brother got his backpack stole in a train station. So theives and cheaters are everywhere in the world.


See, what Ｉ　Ｍｅａｎ　 :baeh3:


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## AlCapone.Italia (Apr 10, 2006)

^Beijing is still a big mix of slumps and trash mixed with new highrise buildings.


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

I think you have to remember that unlike say Japan China is still a devolping country so their are going to be more people looking to make a fast buck. The classic for me is the "helpful guy/girl" who just happens to work for an art gallery they want you to look around, not really as bad as your example since your not forced into buying anything but basically beware anyone who comes up to you speaking English(although as Sen said alot of them are just students looking to pratice).

I really can't understand the point of putting down Chinese cities by taking pics of rundown areas though, does anyone really expect them to be the same as a devolped nation(which are hardly free of bad areas themselves)? I didnt find China any worse than say Vietnam in that reguard. If your going to Beijing then surely its to see the historical sities and to expereince street culture not to see some glistening metropolis.


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## metallinestorm (Oct 27, 2004)

why some one think china should be perfect? we go any where in this world will find something good and something bad.


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)

> http://i3.tinypic.com/vpkgow.jpg


hehe, seems like an abandoned slumb, I visited beijing some years ago, even i (Iam not a big buck) could afford a moderate place to spend my time. i don't know if i should trust his intention. i hope my advice would help in my previous post. :banana:


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

achineseinchina said:


> hehe, seems like an abandoned slumb, I visited beijing some years ago, even i (Iam not a big buck) could afford a moderate place to spend my time. i don't know if i should trust his intention. i hope my advice would help in my previous post. :banana:


Maybe he was also cheated,lived in a poor hotel near it,I can see a night picture of this place.He would better turn to his friends to tell him which hotel is good.These place is not healthy.Don't take any "private" car,"private hotel",they are always unhealthy.


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

I think people need to consider that going to a devolping nation isnt the same as visiting a devolped one, espeically if you don't speak the language. I'd be pretty confident of my ability to travel solo around the latter but when visiting China I'v done it as either a tour or with lots of pre arrangements.


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## Toronto_boise (Apr 6, 2006)

Chinese cities are less dangerous and depressing than U.S. cities, I assume.


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## cmoonflyer (Aug 17, 2005)

Beijing looks much better than the pics shown here , hopefully you will have a very pleasant trip to Beijing next time !


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

AlCapone.Italia said:


> ^Beijing is still a big mix of slumps and trash mixed with new highrise buildings.


Shut up coglione troll, one post is enough!


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## coole (Sep 30, 2005)

:sleepy: :sleepy: :sleepy:


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## GunRock (Apr 17, 2006)

didu said:


> You cannot blame the victims of frauds, blame the culture that breeds the frauds.


I'd rather say it is better to blame the government rather than to blame the "culture" you mentioned.


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)

man, I was so used to these picture.
pekingduck
http://i3.tinypic.com/vq6tld.jpg
http://i3.tinypic.com/vq6u8m.jpg


to tell the truth, I just got back from a trip to new york. I took alot picture from those blue area. I guess you got same intention as me. when some american make stupid comment about chinese human right, i would illustrate to them.....  










In comparison, I still feel beijing wouldbe much more fun to me.


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## newjing (Oct 18, 2005)

As a chinese, I am shamed of the posting. Please don't hate China or all chinese people just because of a few trash,they do that to all tourists, no matter your are native or foreign.

China is experiencing a huge social change, the country is not as developed as western countries. many poor people have to struggle just to feed up the stomach..

I live in New york, i just got robberd by three men in day time a few months ago. they chased me a few blocks untill i got a chance to dial my cell phone, luckily nothing worse happened to me. 

These kind of people exist in every country, not only China. I believe many people had a pleasant experience in China. I barely see a posting so negative.

By the way I appreciate your courage and bravery of travelling alone overseas. I would be afraid.

Please post some nice photos as well, let's share some of your happy times.


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## byoker (Apr 7, 2006)

GunRock said:


> I'd rather say it is better to blame the government rather than to blame the "culture" you mentioned.


I don't think there's some relationship to government,China had done so many years ago,that's because of poor,in the 19th,20th,all the same.In fact,only during 1950s~1970s this disappeared,becasue "private" commerce was forbidden.


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## GunRock (Apr 17, 2006)

byoker said:


> I thought you were known,since I was a child I have heard so much such cheat,but I was still cheated,every year there's new tricks.


Be more conscious, WHAT made the chinese people poor?
BTW, if you are not come from China, I think you do not have enough experience and knowledges to discuss with me.
If you are chinese, well, I'd like to say be more couscious.


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## ChicagoUrbanlife (Jul 29, 2005)

I personally support perspective. Post BOTH your bad and good photos.


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## cladiv (Feb 29, 2004)

AltinD said:


> Shut up coglione troll, one post is enough!


 :hilarious


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## Minotaur (Apr 15, 2006)

In China they revere their elders.

Well... They get MTV in China. Maybe they've seen you abuse your parents one too many times. Or they saw your trip to Japan and decided to do a pre-emptive strike on you.

oke:


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## wigo (Jan 23, 2006)

The bottomline, China does indeed have utterly a lot to improve. And it is Tom's choice to shoot the dark side. I guess some people, including me, might be tired of seeing the glorious buildings of China and seeking for something more exotic. So I love those pics.

I have been in Washington DC three times and saw beggars on street every times, and there was one time a black helped me to find my way and then asked for cash..... But really, I don't think there will be anyone being bothered if I photographed these beggars and posted here, saying " my DC trip".


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## Mosaic (Feb 18, 2005)

^^^^HEHE, yeah!! I guess.


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## China_winson (Oct 1, 2005)

Sorry to hear your bad experience, though it is not the worst...

I think cheating is happening everywhere, not only in mainland China... I have some bad experience in HK and the other Asian country as well... I have learnt from those lessons!!!

but it is really sad that I cant believe everyone in the street, though I would answer anyone question, but I would not go with them and do anything relates to money...


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

China_winson: i believe that there are other places where something like this happens, too. But Beijing was the first city where i was the target of such people.



BTW i forgot to write that i don`t upload only pictures. I`m going multimedia 

My first Beijing video.
I made this video during my first rip off.
http://media.putfile.com/Beijing-94


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Day 2. 

Gate to the Yonghe Lamasery

















































































The area around the shrine


















Now comes the stuff we all love (skyscrapers)
Beijings CBD


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Sad about your experienses. I know 3 people that have been in both Shanghai and Beijing and they all say that the people in China was very nice and that Beijing was the nicest city they had been to, so I am very surprised. I have always considered Chinese people friendly. May be it depends on what district you are in or was extremely unlucky?


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Nightsky said:


> Sad about your experienses. I know 3 people that have been in both Shanghai and Beijing and they all say that the people in China was very nice, so I am very surprised. I have always considered Chinese people friendly. May be it depends on what district you are in or was extremely unlucky?


If you have time to read the entire thread you will find out that i am not the only one 
But i think people travelling alone have a higher chance to become a target.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Yes I think so too, I remember my trip to Washington DC alone in 1998 and it was exactly like this! So it is not only China...


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> Go to the Beijing Airport. There are around 50 people who screaming Taxi. If this doesn`t work at all they wouldn`t be there.
> 
> You act alone different than in a group.
> 
> ...


Supprizing, I'v found to pretty easy to get a taxi at chinese airports. If I couldnt find one though I certainly wouldnt get into a private car a guy on the street is recommending.

As I said though I don't think its fair to compair China to a devolped country in the tourism stakes then spefically criticize them when they come up short. 

Lots of poor people + less tight regulation + lots of tourists = lots of people getting screwed.

While I avoided anything as bad as your expereinces I did pay over the odds for a few things before I started to get any barter skills and got dragged to a couple of art gallerys.


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

AlCapone.Italia said:


> heyhey no insults please take it easy Albania.
> It is true that Beijing is still a mix of old slumps and new modern buildings. Beijing is not London or PAris you know. It is like Tirana, slumps with new buildings :runaway:


I'm not changing a letter on my earlier post. 

I didn't called you a liar, I called you a TROLL (e qualcosa di piu) and considering the content of your posts, their relation with the thread, your user name, the total number of posts and the date of joining the forum, you certanly deserve it.


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## ccoo (Apr 18, 2006)

Feel so sorry to Tom, but i believe the most Chinese people are friendly and goodness.


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## Gerard (Mar 1, 2004)

@ Tom Green : I Stayed at the same hotel 2 years ago. Not to bad for a hotel. They were Starting a very large building next to it at the time. They should have finished it by now ?
And if you walk to the subway there was also a very big site beigin constructed. # high rises next to each other. 

At that time i did nog take too many pictures of high rises so no pictures from me. 

From al chinese cities I have been to I liked the people in Chengdu the most. In Beijing I found many people very distant and not so kind. Southern China people seem more friendly to me but a total of 5 weeks experience is not enough to draw such a conclusion.


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## Wagahai (Nov 26, 2002)

Beautiful pictures, Tom, I hope you show more of them  

Sad to read about your bad experiences in Beijing, but I agree that especially in spots where you usually find lots of tourists there are a lot of people who try to get some extra money, no matter how, of course not only in China. 
I experienced some attempts like these, e.g. by taxi drivers, "Tea or Karaoke ladies", prostitutes (pretending to be students and being suuuper interested in western culture or whatever), also in Beijing but mostly in Shanghai. Well, I said "nice try" to these people and didn't take it too seriously. 

Some of the rules I try to keep while travelling in foreign countries: 

1. Taxi: Ask locals or tourist information first how much a trip from A to B would cost normally, than talk to driver first about the "normal price"; read (or pretend reading) a city map in the taxi.

2. People talking to you (sometimes in brillant English) at tourist spots like stations, in front of museums, shopping areas, restaurants, discos etc.:
In general the probability that "foreigners" want to talk to you because they want money from you (legal & illegal) is much higher than because of other motivations. 
If you want to get in contact with locals, it should be based on your own initiative. Be cautious if suddenly young (sometimes really good looking) ladies are trying to flirt with you on the street or in "tourists discos/bars" (often in groups: 2 ~ 4). 

But I have to admit, sometimes it's not easy to distinguish "business" ambitions from simple and natural curiosity. And in some cases it can be both at the same time. 
But better be cautious than too optimistic about people you don't know. That's what I' ve learned. 

The Chinese *I* asked or *I* talked to (on trains, in stores, restaurants) were mostly friendly and cool. China is one of the most interesting countries for me on this planet - I hope I can get there again a.s.a.p.


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## AlCapone.Italia (Apr 10, 2006)

AltinD said:


> I'm not changing a letter on my earlier post.
> 
> I didn't called you a liar, I called you a TROLL (e qualcosa di piu) and considering the content of your posts, their relation with the thread, your user name, the total number of posts and the date of joining the forum, you certanly deserve it.


You started trolling on me so sorry Albania I can't really do anything if I tell you the true. You are already mentioned that I am no liar so how can you call someone a troll if he says that beijing is full of slumps (poor areas) mixed with new modern architecture (a true fact)
You are a troll Not me !


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

GerardB said:


> From al chinese cities I have been to I liked the people in Chengdu the most. In Beijing I found many people very distant and not so kind. Southern China people seem more friendly to me but a total of 5 weeks experience is not enough to draw such a conclusion.


Kunming in Yunnan province was probably my favourite big city, no smog, a nice mix of new and old plus a generally relaxed attitude. The real attraction of China for me is the countryside or places and backpacker towns like Yangshou and Dali, the people are friendlier and the landscapes are amazing.


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## zergcerebrates (Jan 23, 2004)

MirageBistro said:


> No offense but I think this SSC is full of the hongkong, taiwan, and china threads, all gaining popularity like 60% of the SSC is so proud of it. :eek2:



So is it a good thing or a bad thing? :sly:


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

I think after 40 pics showing the bright side of Beijing it`s time for 5 pics showing the darker side.

I took the pics from or near the CCTV Tower.




































I took this pictures between the Xihai lake and the Houhai lake.


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## obtuse_edge (Apr 17, 2006)

Look at all these slave mentality Chinese babying the White man because he had a bad time in China. AWWW WAH WAH WAH

If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit? 

Stop your colonial mentalities. Who gives a **** if the White man got screwed in China, it's because he's stupid.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

obtuse_edge said:


> Look at all these slave mentality Chinese babying the White man because he had a bad time in China. AWWW WAH WAH WAH
> 
> If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit?
> 
> Stop your colonial mentalities. Who gives a **** if the White man got screwed in China, it's because he's stupid.


Don`t be mad my friend.

I think uploding all pics together is the best way to show the real Beijing. 

The nice / bad ratio is 8 to 1. So don`t complain.


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## zergcerebrates (Jan 23, 2004)

obtuse_edge said:


> Look at all these slave mentality Chinese babying the White man because he had a bad time in China. AWWW WAH WAH WAH
> 
> If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit?
> 
> Stop your colonial mentalities. Who gives a **** if the White man got screwed in China, it's because he's stupid.



OH C'mon give this guy a break! Hes a tourist and you can't expect him to know everything in a foreign country. Traveling thousands of miles and got cheated on the first day would pissed me off too. A tourist can be off guard from time to time while traveling and being taken advantage of is the worst thing it could happen when you expect to have fun. Theres no need to be defensive about it, I'm Cantonese and I know these things do happen to a lot of people foreign or not, even those that travel to China often get ripped off. Its a shame.


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## muchbetter (Dec 28, 2003)

Please feel free to post bad or good pictures. The last few bad pictures all were taken from private tranditional residence built back to Qing dynasty. It costs arms and legs to buy one.


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> I think after 40 pics showing the bright side of Beijing it`s time for 5 pics showing the darker side.


I'm not sure why those areas would be considered the "darker" side of Beijing, less devolped maybe but their hardly some big secret slum you spied over a wall.


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

obtuse_edge said:


> Look at all these slave mentality Chinese babying the White man because he had a bad time in China. AWWW WAH WAH WAH
> 
> If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit?
> 
> Stop your colonial mentalities. Who gives a **** if the White man got screwed in China, it's because he's stupid.


i would be equally ashamed if an asian or a black encountered the same experiences in China.


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)

> Originally Posted by obtuse_edge
> If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit?


quite true


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## Gerard (Mar 1, 2004)

MoreOrLess said:


> Kunming in Yunnan province was probably my favourite big city, no smog, a nice mix of new and old plus a generally relaxed attitude. The real attraction of China for me is the countryside or places and backpacker towns like Yangshou and Dali, the people are friendlier and the landscapes are amazing.


Yangshuo and Dali are very friendly indeed and very nice pleces to stay but they are not real cities. But for the complte China experience they are a must.


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## vvill (Sep 20, 2002)

tom,

to be honest, you can't compare china with japan. japan is clearly well ahead of china. i mean china is catching up in terms of infrastructure and construction but it does take a very very long time for the people to improve to match up with its fast-growing economy.

i mean, the situation you described almost happens in every single developing country. if you're talking about robbery, it can be worse in italy. you just have to know the rules and you cannot judge a place based on your perception of your own country because things work differently in different countries. when i was in barcelona, my frd got cheated for 100 EURO too. 

the major problem china is having now is the widening gap between the rich and the poor. that's why you can find some really nice places (posh hotels/restaurants) in these big cities while like just one block away you may be able to find some poor dangerous ppl hanging around. and you just have to be careful and it's also extremely dangerous if you're travelling on your own and certainly it'll be much better if you've got company.

like, if you visited beijing like 5 years ago, you'd be shocked. and in fact, it's made a significant improvement for the past few years!


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## vvill (Sep 20, 2002)

and it's a pity to say, if you are asians not caucasians, i'm sure it'll help a lot.


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)

> honestly, the author sounds like a typical spoiled, naive White American.


no, tom is not spoiled..



AltinD said:


> Shut up coglione troll, one post is enough!


no, AlCapone.Italia is not a japanese troll. 

afterall, what's so big deal about Cheats or ancient structure. it's not like that you can move them to an museum or what. if this topic is about New York, i would give you an eye opening tours, the ratio might well be over 8:4 instead of 8:1. {quote= So, Please feel free to post bad or good pictures. The last few bad pictures all were taken from private tranditional residence built back to Qing dynasty. It costs arms and legs to buy one. } 
:tyty:


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ Coglione is a word in Italian language and has nothing to do with Japan or Japanese. 

As for Tom_Green's expperience I already expressed my sadness on his miss-fortunes in another thread. 

I just wanted to add that don't let what's happened change your opinion on Chinese people in general. Same things happening all over European tourist spots as well. My parents and uncle were cheated recently in Prague with money exchange and even I was approved twice in Dubai by Italian guys posing as High Fashion merchants from Milan (when they were obviously from South by accent) that had to return home after some "exibition" and they had some leftover suits, coats and such things, that they couldn't return back for tax and duties reasons, so they wanted to "give" for cheap or as gifts. I have sweared not to talk again in Italian to an Italian approaching me in the street, unless I know him/her or I'm the one approaching.


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## Pho-sure (Nov 27, 2005)

Chinese are very shrewd and cunning when it comes to money and their own personal benefits.


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## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

GerardB said:


> Yangshuo and Dali are very friendly indeed and very nice pleces to stay but they are not real cities. But for the complte China experience they are a must.


True but you hear about so many people who visit Beijing, Shanghai and maybe Xian/Hongkong and little else which is kind of like thinking only Newyork, Washinton DC and LA are the only places worth visiting in the US. If you actually want to get into contact with the locals and expereince how most chinese live then your better off visiting smaller towns and the countryside IMHO. If any nation was shaped by its landscape than it has to be China aswell, so much of their religion, art, literature is based on it.


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## muchbetter (Dec 28, 2003)

Pho-sure said:


> Chinese are very shrewd and cunning when it comes to money and their own personal benefits.


You haven't been banned yet? Don't you think you are a horrible Vietnamese bashing Chinese by any chance?


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

I want o thank everyboddy for there nice statements. 
I feared that this thread would end in a flame war. Thanks again.

20 new pics. 


















Beijings current tallest skyscraper.






















































Near the WTC 3 construction site.



























The beginning of a dense skyline.









SOHO


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## Toronto_boise (Apr 6, 2006)

WTF????


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## achineseinchina (Dec 18, 2005)




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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

It would be very nice if someone could make a pano with this pics.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

^ Were those from the TV tower?


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

hkskyline said:


> ^ Were those from the TV tower?


Yes i took them from the TV Tower.

I hope the WTC3 Tower will have an observation deck, too because the TV Tower is too far away from the most interesting stuff.


I decided that i will post no ugly pics anymore. I think i uploaded enough and i feel better now. The comments in this thread helped me a lot. Thanks to everyboddy. 
I think i will go to Shanghai in 2010. I learned a lot in Beijing that i can use in Shanghai. 

Here is my second video. It`s more interesting. I made it in the CBD. You can find all videos together in my first post. 
http://media.putfile.com/Beijing-CBD


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## BJSH (Apr 18, 2006)

very nice pisc,thanks a lot.


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## houston_texan (Mar 13, 2006)

i decided not to visit china...i rather goto japan.
thnx tom green asia is not for u, come to USA


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## InitialD18 (Sep 17, 2002)

i really like the photos u took tom ... specially the details ... 
things like this does happen all over though ... 
may it be in beijing or rome ...
i have heard worst and seen worst ... 
just be smart when going to less well off places
the poor does it to survive ...

its a little extreme when compare to japan ... 
japan is generally regarded as prob the safest highly
populated country in the world ...

i hope this won't distract you to not visit china again ... 
despite all the negativity ... ones should not miss it ... 
china is a country with many hidden gems ... 
that most don't know much about ...


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## Seb (Jan 16, 2005)

Nice pics Tom Green. Did you do anything other than take pictures in BJ? :jk: 

Too bad you didn't have a blast there. You shouldn't feel bad about just "ignoring" complete strangers especially when traveling alone. Be street smart. You've learnt this the hard way already so next time when you travel, you're gonna be a seasoned leather assed hardcore traveler, right?


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

houston_texan said:


> i decided not to visit china...i rather goto japan.
> thnx tom green asia is not for u, come to USA


The rip off in the USA is more obvious. 
130€ per night for a 3 star hotel in Manhattan. 

But i think i will go to New York in 2008.




The first pics from day 3

Window cleaning in the morning.


















Yeah !! You have the longest 



























The Beijing Exhibition Center









In front of my hotel.









Xizhimen.









I took the next pics near the Xihai, Houhai and Qianhai lake.































































The Bell Tower from the Drum Tower









A performence inside the drum Tower.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Seb said:


> Nice pics Tom Green. Did you do anything other than take pictures in BJ? :jk:
> 
> Too bad you didn't have a blast there. You shouldn't feel bad about just "ignoring" complete strangers especially when traveling alone. Be street smart. You've learnt this the hard way already so next time when you travel, you're gonna be a seasoned leather assed hardcore traveler, right?


Not really 

I hope so. 

More pics.

The Bell Tower


















Around the Beihai lake.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

I took the pics from the Coal Hill. The buildings on top are under renovation. But if you risk your health you will always find a viewpoint 




























Inside the Forbidden City.



























This is me.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

The last pics from day 3.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Day4 1/3

Near the site of the olympic stadiums.









Inside the military museum.




































The China Century Altar.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

2/3
Beijing West Railway Station.









In front of the station.


















Infront of the China World Hotel. The best hotel in Beijing.









Some skyscrapers in the CBD.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

3/3
The CBD at night




































In the Military Museum.









In the CBD









and the CBD at night.









Some comments would be nice.


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## Citygazer83 (Oct 21, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> Some comments would nice.


Watch out... theres a camera inside and theyre watching you too! :jk:


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## cladiv (Feb 29, 2004)

Great photos, especially the night ones. Possibly the best Beijing thread!


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

cladiv said:


> Great photos, especially the night ones. Possibly the best Beijing thread!


Thank you very much. 
Such words motivating me to upload my pics.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

A new video.

Walking near the drum tower.
http://media.putfile.com/walking-near-the-drum-tower

You can find all videos in post 1.


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## Ray (Oct 8, 2004)

obtuse_edge said:


> Look at all these slave mentality Chinese babying the White man because he had a bad time in China. AWWW WAH WAH WAH
> 
> If a Chinese person had a shitty time in America, do you think Whites would give a shit?
> 
> Stop your colonial mentalities. Who gives a **** if the White man got screwed in China, it's because he's stupid.


Yeah, because everybody from America is white... :| 

You're an idiot.


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## spicytimothy (Dec 10, 2003)

beautiful pics... esp this one:








I always find it weird (in a good way) when ppl build a really tall bridge in the middle of a city... that bridge in the distance must be at least a couple of stories tall! and from the look of it the vertical road is also a bridge itself in the distance! I wonder how things look on the actual street level... must be bleak :-( 

as a Chinese myself too bad those things happen to u... Even us Chinese excercise extreme caution when we go on vacation in China...

Not to say this kinda bottom-of-society things won't happen anywhere else in the world, but living in China for many is still a struggle :-( What they do is wrong but I think you just got bad luck this time of running into them... or maybe it's just simple % of the total population :-/



but u know i gotta say... u have to be less naive... :-/ Isn't one of the first lessons in life "Don't trust a stranger with candy"? Let alone in ur case they don't have any candy!  When one goes on vacation one has to drop his/her small town mentality and realize one is in a huge metropolis of a developing country thaz completely foreign to him/her! You can strike up a conversation sure, but that should be as far as you can go... Why would you follow those ladies anywhere? 

or when you get outta the airport... if u exit LAX and some random dude come to u yelling taxi would u go with him? Weren't there signs in the airport that point u to the taxi stands? or a tourist info booth with English-speaking ppl who can help you? 

China (esp Beijing) is so desperate to be regconized and respected on the world stage, they bend over backwards to cater to foreigners (esp Europeans and Americans) to show them what a great place China is... be a bit more cautious and logical and you'll feel like an emperor even if u pick up trash in ur own town (bring money of coz) 

nice pics regardless


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## pandascn (Apr 12, 2006)

unique city, beautiful pics!
thanks :cheers1:


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

spicytimothy said:


> but u know i gotta say... u have to be less naive... :-/


I know. I learned a lot.
But you have to know that all people from Asia have a high reputation in Germany. All people from my country who visit Asia say that the people are very friendly and very nice. Even if they visited poor countries.

From my 1,5years in this forum i never saw a tourist complaining about such stuff that happened to me. And my travel guide had no information about this.

The problem is also that i am extreme friendly during my trip. I try to be a perfect tourist. I don`t want to fight with one of the locals. 

This is your bridge taken from a different angle.









I will post the pics from day 6 now because they are not worth to be the ending. Day 5 will follow later.

The Beijing Planetarium.




































All pics taken around the Beijing Zoo.



























In front of the Beijing Aquarium



























This is a train station.


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## BigChina (Apr 5, 2006)

hah .you are a handsome guy.......

and your pics are very true....

thanks a lot.


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## BigChina (Apr 5, 2006)

and the last pic is a station for light-rail.
the train just for beijing city.


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## WalkWithGod (Apr 23, 2006)

*Volunteer*

Dear All:
Cause some foreigners were cheated in Beijing , I feel shame on that as Chinese.So if next time any foreigners will come to Beijing ,Please mail to me, I'll give you some advice to avoid those bad things.I am an engineer .my mailbox is :[email protected],and my hotmail is [email protected]
If i am free ,i'll be your guide for free charge.
Hope everyone has a good trip.


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## spicytimothy (Dec 10, 2003)

I have a personal question... TomGreen.. 
How does it feel for you to travel alone? I tried that in Manhattan and as my memory recalls it was very fun... not having to negociating with whoever I'm traveling with is a luxury.. but I never find anyone to agree with me on the advantages of traveling alone... what do you think?


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## didu (Jun 13, 2005)

Tom_Green said:


> 3/3
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I see you watching me watching you.


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

I would never go visit a such far away country on my own...
But I am really sorry for the shit that happened to you. :-(

Asian people are so friendly an kind here in Europe and they have best reputations.

And by the way, your Photos are great!!!


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## BJSH (Apr 18, 2006)

really gareat thread.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

spicytimothy said:


> I have a personal question... TomGreen..
> How does it feel for you to travel alone? I tried that in Manhattan and as my memory recalls it was very fun... not having to negociating with whoever I'm traveling with is a luxury.. but I never find anyone to agree with me on the advantages of traveling alone... what do you think?


I love the fact that i don`t have to negociate with everyboddy. I can change my plans within one minut. I decide when i wake up, i decide where i eat, i decide how long i want to rest,....
Travelling alone has many many advantages.

I was in Paris with some friends. It was fun but they had no stamina. I couldn`t ignore there problems so i didn`t see everything i wanted. 

You have to know that i walk around 10km in a day during my trip. I crossed the Loop Line in Beijing on day 3. I walked from the Jishuitan station to the Gianmen station. Later on that day i walked some km`s in the CBD. 

WalkWithGod: This is very kind.



Pictures from day 5 1/3
Near the Qianmen Dajie



























Near the Tiantan Park.









Inside the Tiantan Park.


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

The night pics from day 5 2/3

SOHO



























Jian Guo Road


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

My last pics. 

Day 5 3/3

The CCTV Tower

All in all i was 4 times on top.
This is the second tallest structure i have seen. 387m.



























The view from the top.



























I watched the sun going down from the top. 


















Bye bye :wave:


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## China_winson (Oct 1, 2005)

Hello, Tom_Green. Is Your mood better now??? I am expecting you can come to China again and waiting for your next traveling photos... BTW: Nice photos and be pleasure in next trip!!!


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## juan_en_el_valle (May 10, 2005)

Again, super nice shots!!!!!!!!


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

China_winson said:


> Hello, Tom_Green. Is Your mood better now??? I am expecting you can come to China again and waiting for your next traveling photos... BTW: Nice photos and be pleasure in next trip!!!


Yes my mood is better now. 

I will go again to China. To Shanghai in 2010 during the Expo. 

If you like my pictures you can expect a Poland (Krakow, Kattowice, Bytom) thread in june and a Seoul thread in september. 


My opinion about Beijing:
If you want to go to Beijing don`t go during the next 2 years. There is much under construction (subways and skyscrapers) and under renovation (Tiantan, big parts of the Forbidden City,.................). 
5 days are not enough for Beijing. As you can see i haven`t been to the Great Wall or the Summer Palace. 
I think every European who visit Beijing the first time will be disappointed during the first hours. But when he finds nice places like Beihai Park or the Tiantan Park he will be impressed. 
Let`s talk about overall safety. Even when i walked through slums i never feared that someone wants to harm me. The most people i have met there were very busy with doing there work. 
Slums: There are some left but many of them are empty and ready to be demolished. Or they are under renovation like the slums near the drum Tower or the Yonghe Lamasery. 
Weather: i think i had just luck. There was a big sand storm one day after i have left. Go in spetember or october. 
Beijing is worth to be visited, but be careful. Don`t let some taxi drivers or tea house workers fool you 
I think i will visit Beijing again in 12 years (no joke) 


Thanks everyboddy for visiting my thread.


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

Great thread Tom!
kay:
I forgot to tell you about taxi drivers and tea houses, sorry.
:dunno:
But don't allow those bad things to change your good impressions about China!!

Also I want to come back to Shanghai for the EXPO 2010. Maybe we can travel together.
:wink2:
(I went to your country last week, nice Warsaw.  )


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## TEBC (Dec 26, 2004)

just perfect


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## BigChina (Apr 5, 2006)

it's only a pity that the worst pics were posted at the top....


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

BigChina said:


> it's only a pity that the worst pics were posted at the top....


Bad beginning, happy ending. 
I think it`s okay. Nobody will really decide not to go to Beijing after my thread. But they will be more aware of the things that can happen to them. 
Tey will have more fun in Beijing. So the bad beginning is not that bad 

And if you don`t agree with me:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=340160&page=1
Same amount of pics but in a different order 

bitxofo: You also forget to tell me that around 70% of all nice,old places are under renovation..... >_<

Shanghai with bitxofo, sounds good


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## BigChina (Apr 5, 2006)

haha .

you are a sly guy....
in order to add the hitting, you posted the worst at the top,
and in order to spread the infuence, you posted some every day.....

hehe .just a fun....
in a word , your pics are good.
but if you posted the worst in the middle of the thread ,
i think ,the chinese would more appreciate it


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## ts65mq7 (Apr 29, 2006)

I registered to post this. I am an overseas Chinese (Malaysian), speak Mandarin and read Chinese; and we didn't know anyone in China. I was in Beijing in early April 2006 too. Some of the above photos look so familiar, I had to make sure I wasn't in one of them. 

My wife and I found Beijing an incredible experience overall. We were there for 5 nights, which was just the right length of time. Long enough to see a LOT. And short enough because we were getting tired of all that walking, all the bargaining, the pollution, the uncertainty about who to trust and so on. It seemed we always needed our street-smart defenses up, which after a while gets weary. 

If we were more of bargainers, or were in Beijing for a couple of weeks, we would definitely have bought more stuff -- e.g. clothes +/- souvenirs. For a 5 night stay though, we bought more "fixed price" stuff: i.e. we spent our money on food, hotel, taxis, subway, sightseeing entry fees. 

I had similar conclusions to yours: in the next 2 years, there'll be lots of renovations. The ones in the Forbidden City and Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) weren't too bad -- those places are HUGE and the experience is not lessened much. The ones that irked me the most were the ones at (new) Summer Palace, "Coal Hill" (Jingshan) and Beihai Park. 

One of the many websites I visited prior to travelling, was wikitravel.org, which had information on the Beijing Tea Scam, the Art Student Scam, and so on. One of my highly negative experiences was walking away from 2 friendly females who approached me while I was walking alone down Wangfujin street. They were well dressed, and pleasant, and told me about an unfortunate accident where they lost all their cash and would I please give them some money so that they could have something to eat. I walked off, feeling really bad to this day, especially since I was going to turn the corner to Quanjunde Roast Duck Restaurant. 

Another bad experience was when a Chinese-speaking tour guide who showed us the Summer Palace detoured us to a temple; which then pestered us to buy a "jade" dragon for 9999 yuan. That sort of soured our relationship with the tour guide, who till then had been excellent. The temple trip/hardsell also wasted 3 hours, on our last day, which was annoying. 

Now that I'm back in rural Australia, enjoying the relative uncrowdedness, the blue skies, clouds, fresh air, and the relative friendliness; I yearn to revisit China. 

Such *awesome* photos -- thanks for sharing.


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## pandascn (Apr 12, 2006)

How did you find the palce where you made these shots? So Nice.




Tom_Green said:


> My last pics.
> 
> Day 5 3/3
> 
> ...


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## Kalle (Mar 23, 2006)

It's a shame I have same experienses. I was in Beijing in December and actually I didn't like it that much. I just wanted to have a nice holiday, but everyone kept disturbing us. People on the streets wanted us to teach them english and when we said no they just kept on asking. Some crazy wacko even wanted us to come and look at her art work somewhere in the other side of the city. She followed us and when we said '' I don't think we want to see your work, sorry'' ''I KNOW YOU WANT TO SEE MY WORK'' thank god we were next to the hotel so we could get safe.
You have to be warned in China 24/7 it's quite annoying. I couldn't enjoy my holiday. Will not go to China for the next 50 years. I wonder how China thinks they'll be the most popular tourist destination in the world by 2010?! Not with that going, sorry.


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## financial way (Jul 29, 2005)

nobody care about you, sorry...


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## pandascn (Apr 12, 2006)

Obviously he is a troll. 



financial way said:


> nobody care about you, sorry...


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

pandascn said:


> How did you find the palce where you made these shots? So Nice.


I think you can`t overlook a 390m tall TV Tower.
It`s the CCTV Tower. One of the tallest TV towers in the world.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

First I want to thank you Tom - for the wonderful pictures and for sharing your experience.. I'm sorry about the bad stuff!

I have to say this has been one of the most interesting threads for me in a long long time.. and kinda surreal..

I've had a craze for especially Chinese cities lately - dude even the smallest one looks wonderful! - and i couldn't quite figue out how a "not rich" ( no pun intended ) country could have so modern and wonderful looking cityscapes.. and was starting to think the east and west parts of China had to be extremely devided..

Your pictures and story makes it all fit in place and I think I got a better understanding for how the Chinese society and cities work. 
And that there really still is a long way to go even if the citycenters does look like a million bucks.


This have really been an eyeopener for me - I think I suffered from the SSC virus - where even the smallest place in the middle of nowhere seems wonderful if it has a 20 story plus building  - and I'm sure I'm just as naive when it comes to helpful people ( I guess it has something to do with our germanic culture maybe? ) or maybe it's because the only poor areas I've been to was with an assaul rifle in my hands  

Anyway I'm more than sure that China still is a wonderful place - and I'm certainly still going there soon, but I will take my precausions and take it for what it is, and not what it looks like on SSC - thanks!


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

AlCapone.Italia said:


> And a slump like that is going to host the 2008 Olympics !


if we demolish these buildings, you will blame us not knowing protect ancient buildings.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

if you experience is true, i feel very sorry for you, i feel great shame of being a chinese at this time.
chase you for learning english, thieves, trickers, get **** away, you are the shame of china. i never heard of leading a way asking for 40RMB , **** that bitch.
i feel so strong of a shame of being a chinese, i live in such an ugly country.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

i am so sorry, i live the most rich\clean and civilized city in china, a small city.
so i always overrated china than the china really is. i only see the beautiful aspect of china ,not knowing those ugly faces of china. this thread makes me clear : chinese pople is ugly, and still not civillized.
sorry mates , i really overrated out country before, now i know what a shit country we are.


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## duskdawn (May 13, 2006)

^^ I lost myself in your comments.


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## Dallas star (Jul 6, 2006)

Neat great pics


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## obtuse_edge (Apr 17, 2006)

oliver999 said:


> i am so sorry, i live the most rich\clean and civilized city in china, a small city.
> so i always overrated china than the china really is. i only see the beautiful aspect of china ,not knowing those ugly faces of china. this thread makes me clear : chinese pople is ugly, and still not civillized.
> sorry mates , i really overrated out country before, now i know what a shit country we are.


Why apologize so much? You think Westerners care if you had a crappy time in their country? 

Just go to any ghetto or ******* area in the US, you will get plenty of "friendly welcomes". 

Overall, China is still much more safe than the US or most of the West.


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## inside_us (Aug 3, 2006)

wow...

is this really Beijing ? i dont know that china is like that ? when i read or watching news i just always hear the best from china like economi growth so fast and other...


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## duskdawn (May 13, 2006)

^^ I think his pics were basically focusing on slums.
New York will look even worse if shot from another angle.
And where are you from? If you are talking about US media reporting anything good of China, give me a break.


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## inside_us (Aug 3, 2006)

@duskdown

im from indonesia 
we are asian


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## duskdawn (May 13, 2006)

^^ Then I don't know lol


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## inside_us (Aug 3, 2006)

so does beijing still like that right now ?


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## duskdawn (May 13, 2006)

Slums are in every city.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=475987


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

What is the point of complaining ?? Keep in mind that you were visiting a developing country, not a developed country, be prepared for scams. This kind of shit even happens in the first world developed country like America , so what is the fuss ?? Don't even bother comparing Japan to China, China's current level of economic devlopment is where Japan was during the 60s and yes Japan was considered a poor country like China in the 1960s (yes and if you want proof I can give you link to prove this)

Yes on the other hand I do feel sorry for you, but as you mentioned in you starting post, you call China a "third world country" , and you expect not to be scammed, cheated by people of a third world country and you compare a first world well developed country like Japan to a so called "Third world country" ??


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

And don't quickly assume that all westerners/foreigners are angels and all Chinese are just greedy for money . Then I advise you to read through this

http://english.people.com.cn/200608/02/eng20060802_289305

Foreigner scattering money lures Chinese on street 



A foreign man scattered massive coins to deliberately lure Chinese passers-by to pick them up in order to wait for an opportunity to take photos in Jintai Road of Chaoyang District in Beijing at 4 p.m. on Monday. 

What he has done has aroused popular indignation. Finally, he had to pick up the coins by himself and left in a panic. 

The matter lasted less than five minutes, when a crowd of people queued for buses beside the bus station sign at the Northern intersection of Hongmiao Road in Jintai Road. Mr. Mei was one of them. 

Mr. Mei recalled that the foreigner was a young man with golden hair and blue eyes. He wore a Chinese old green military uniform with a "Lei Feng" army man's cap. The foreigner came with a young woman who also had blond hair and blue eyes and an Asian man. 

"The woman wore a red cheongsam, and the Asian man a white T-shirt," said Mr. Mei. 

The two foreigners both with blond hair carried a camera and took photos all around before the matter happened. Suddenly, the foreign man threw numerous coins to the crowd as well as pointing at these coins to an old man who has been picking up mineral water jars at the roadside. Afterwards, the two foreigners begin to photograph standing over 5 meters away. 

There were over 30 coins thrown on the ground, both Renminbi and foreign currency, both Fen and Jiao coins. 

"You insult the Chinese." 

"Pick up the money." 

"Get out of China." 

The crowd waiting for the bus was filled with righteous indignation, and the scolding sound continued. 

"Even if you throw 100 Yuan, 1,000 Yuan, 10,000 Yuan or much more, nobody would pick it up," said an old woman pointing at the foreign man. 

The foreign man responded with low stiff Chinese, "Are you not Chinese beggars? Why don't you pick up the coins?" 

What the foreign man said was heard clearly by Mr. Mei and other surrounding people. They encircled the man immediately. Some of them raised their fists in a rage. 

On witnessing people's indignation, the three foreigners hurried to bend their waists and picked up the coins scattered by the foreign man. Meanwhile, they tried to flee towards the outside of the crowd. Finally, they left in a panic. 

There was still a cent coin left on the scene after the incident. 

The Chinese old man carrying a plastic bag with mineral water jars inside it, whom the foreign man had once tried to lure to pick up the coins, has the surname Tu. 

He said, he is a retired worker and doesn't live by picking up jars but exchanging it for some pocket money for himself. 

Referring to the insult from the foreign man, he said in a rage, "He just wants to insult the Chinese. However the Chinese would not pick up the coins." 

By People's Daily Online


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

Kalle said:


> It's a shame I have same experienses. I was in Beijing in December and actually I didn't like it that much. I just wanted to have a nice holiday, but everyone kept disturbing us. People on the streets wanted us to teach them english and when we said no they just kept on asking. Some crazy wacko even wanted us to come and look at her art work somewhere in the other side of the city. She followed us and when we said '' I don't think we want to see your work, sorry'' ''I KNOW YOU WANT TO SEE MY WORK'' thank god we were next to the hotel so we could get safe.
> You have to be warned in China 24/7 it's quite annoying. I couldn't enjoy my holiday. Will not go to China for the next 50 years. I wonder how China thinks they'll be the most popular tourist destination in the world by 2010?! Not with that going, sorry.



Without you, China's tourism industy will not go to an end . And when did Chinese authority say their country will become the most popular destination by 2010 ?? When ?? Or is it just you who made that up ?? 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/30/content_796042.htm

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/features/tourism/tt425052007.html

http://english.dreams-travel.com/index/news.asp?id=4721


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

I guess you are just one of the unfortunate one, not all tourists in China have the same experience like you 

http://english.people.com.cn/200212/03/eng20021203_107865.shtml
http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Kunming/blog-146635.html
http://www.suddenlysenior.com/china1.html

American Tourist Impressed by Chinese Kindness 
An American tourist who suffered foot fractures and underwent corrective surgery in a Chinese hospital while vacationing Xi'an returned to her home in the United States on Sunday. 




PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND 





An American tourist who suffered foot fractures and underwent corrective surgery in a Chinese hospital while vacationing Xi'an returned to her home in the United States on Sunday. 

Lavada Nelson, 76, a native of Los Angeles, suffered a fall while climbing the Dayan Pagoda in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on November 20. 

Onlookers rushed Lavada to a local hospital where she received emergency treatment followed by surgery to correct two fractures to the feet. 

Lavada wrote a letter to the Xi'an mayor expressing her heartfelt thanks to all those people who helped and took care of her. She added that the Chinese people were very kind and friendly. 

Before her departure at the airport, Lavada said that she had been treated as a distinguished guest in China. She said that she intended to tell her relatives and friends in the United States about the kindness of the Chinese people so that they could have a better understanding of China.




First Impressions of China
Asia » China » Kunming By mattylee
April 9th 2007 

Matthew Lee and Jeff Green
Skyscrapers in KunMing
Ahhh, finally some real architecture to look at!Arriving in China is like getting hit with a tonne of bricks, thousands upon thousands of cultural bricks which individually could be handled with ease, but in such numbers are just totally overwhelming. Even the smallest task, such as finding lunch, can become a headache here as English is virtually non-existant. Of course, the local people are friendly and willing to help you out, if only you could explain to them what it is that you are after. You end up making a hell of a lot of mistakes and eating a lot of rubbish food, but hey, this is what travelling is all about - learning to cope. Actually, I hope travelling is not about rubbish food, that would really cramp my style. 

After missing my first bus from Hekou to Kunming things did end up turning out for the best. I hopped onto a sleeper bus at 7pm and set off on the 12 hour journey in comfort, or so I thought. The bed was roughly 5’6” long and only 2 foot wide (four or five hours of the trip were occupied by a concerted effort to estimate the dimensions of my bed, it was better than anything 
Central Kunming
Government Park.else I could do) which turns out to be almost, but not quite, perfectly uncomfortable for every part of my body. No matter how comfortable I got before drifting off to sleep I would wake up half an hour later with a terrible cramp in some obscure part of my back. I can handle that though, I’m not here to be comfortable after all. [edited: whinge removed] 

Enough moaning though, the trip wasn’t so bad. The scenery was unbelievable while it was still light and even when it wasn’t. The road is being re-made so we were constantly underneath a construction site which meant we had to skirt around the very edge of the valley, which gave us great views. The Red River flows down a massive valley, perhaps 500m high on either side, with the road running near the peak. When one of our tyres exploded (and I mean exploded, you should have heard the noise!) I got out and walked towards the edge. Even in the pitch black darkness I could make out the shape of the valley and I could hear the river, even then it was breathtaking. Unfortunately I had to get back on the 
My First Chinglish
What? I always treasvre trees!bus as the weather seemed to be closing in, later on the rain started pouring down and the loudest thunder I have ever heard cracked above us. Not great for sleeping, but highly exciting. 

Thus I arrived in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, at a reasonable hour of the morning and with excited expectation. What can I say about Kunming… it is different that’s for sure. As you walk down the street you are constantly being watched by gigantic advertisments for lingerie. That’s right, at least half of the big ads in the center of town of for underwear, and they are all featuring European women. The other half of the ads also feature westerners which I find quite disconcerting; I can’t imagine what feelings it invokes in the locals. On the main intersection you can see Nicholas Cage advertising watches, that English git from Gattaca advertising mens leatherware, Catherine Zeta-Jones advertising some clothes, and some young American girl advertising Victoria’s Secret, just to name a few. Is there really a market here for people who want to look like Nicholas Cage? There certainly isn’t back home. 

Once I got over the posters (I had to spend 
Temple Near KunMing
This is the main temple building where the clay statues were.a while just staring at a few of them) I set off to explore the city center. Given that four million people live here I was expecting a grand boulevard of shopping-ness, and that is exactly what I found. How boring. Kunming is very much like any western city I have been to, big shiny office buildings (some very cool architecture though), wide paved pedestrian malls, KFC and McDonalds (useful for it's clean western toilets). The differences between here and, say, Syndey are very subtle, apart from the Chinese characters used on the signs and the people walking around there are very few differences indeed, at least within the central mall area. 

I took a minibus up to a temple on a mountain outside of the city in an effort to find “Chinese culture”. The main attraction at the temple was a series of 500 clay sculptures commissioned in 1890. Some of the sculptures are ridiculously lifelike, you need to take a second look at them to make sure that they aren’t moving, but the ones that I found most appealing were the slightly more surrealistic ones. Indian men with bulging eyes and bright red faces contorted into agonising 
Gazebo
Behind the temple I found this cute little Gazebo thingy.expressions, larger than life heros of Chinese history shown in mid stride about to strike down a foe, and spooky looking wise-men with faces that make you cringe. These sculptures truly evoked feelings in me, usually scary ones that made me want to run away, and I found them totally compelling and absorbing. Unfortunately they didn’t allow photography so I can’t share them with you, you’ll have to go and see them for yourself. 

Upon my return I steeled myself for the big event: lunch. I walked around for ages looking for a place that fitted my requirements, that is to say it was cheap and easy. Eventually I found a place that looked good, it was packed with locals eating all sorts of random things and a small list of prices was shown on the wall (all in Chinese though). I walked in, sat down, stood up, pointed at one of the things on the wall, sat down again, waited, and was then served. Ok, a word to the wise, don’t just order random dishes in China, especially when your only criteria for choosing the dish was price. What I got was fried marshmellows (or small cubes of 
Monkey!
boiled fat, I couldn’t quite tell) cooked with a lot of oil, some eschallots and some pork fat. If that souds appetising to you then you are a very mistaken individual and I urge you to get some help, it was disgusting. The first few bites were ok but very soon I was sick of the bland taste. Do you see what I mean about things being difficult in China? 

My luncheon experince put me in some low spirits, I didn’t want to spend the next few months of my life eating that dish over and over again. Thus, when I set out for dinner I was determined to get something decent. To this end I walked a long way through the bitingly cold night air (Kunming is 1850m above sea level and is therefore freaking cold) to a restaurant listed in Lonely Planet. Yeah, I know, I’m a sucker for the guidebook now. However, I didn’t actually bring the guidebook because it was too big to cary, therby making it impossible to actually find said restaurant. Whoops, silly me. Instead I walked down to an area that someone had told me was full of western friendly cafes and 
Temple Front
restaurants. I couldn’t find that either, but I did find a street full of real Chinese restaurants and I confidently walked into one of them armed with my basic Chinese vocabularly. My first task was to find a table and sit down, then I tried to ask them if they had a toilet by saying the word for toilet over and over, but the owner, who spoke the tiniest amount of English assured me that they didn’t have one. That wasn’t the end of the world, just, so I then tried to order. The owner asked me if I liked chicken which I thought was an excellent start. He then started pointing at all sorts of chicken dishes in the menu which was a waste of time for me. I took him by the hand and attempted to walk around the restaurant pointing at tasty looking dishes and asking him how much they were (in Chinese of course) but he always told me that they didn’t have them. “What? This is a restaurant isn’t it? What kind of restaurant has no toilet and serves food to people that it doesn’t actually make?” I was at a loss so I simply 
Entrance
went for the first chicken dish he had recommended plus some rice and soup. 

While I waited for my food I started to think, there must have been a communication problem during that conversation because all restaurants have toilets and serve food. It’s one of the universal laws of eating, laws which I am well familiar with. My confidence increased and I decided to try again, so I called over an old guy who appeared to be the father of the owner and was just hanging around being useful. I beckoned him to come close to me, and then I slowly pronounced each of my words, being especially careful to get every tone perfect: “Ni men you ce suo ma”. He looked at me with a funny expression, paused for a few seconds to figure things out, and then held up three fingers. Huh? He recognised my unsuredness and started pointing up the stairs to help me out. I got up and followed him, or more precisely I made sure that he followed me up, until I found the toilet on the third floor. As I closed the door behind myself I could barely keep back my excitement, I 
More Temple
Sorry guys, it was my first Chinese temple after all. I had to take lots of photos, it would have been rude not to.wanted to shout out. I had successfully communicated in another language! I had broken through the cultural barrier! I can handle China now! Ok, a little over the top for just finding a toilet, but it felt damn good to me. The dinner was excellent to boot. 

On my second day I joined a Chinese tour group, yes I joined the devil himself, and went to see the Shilin stone forrest. On the way we stopped at a souvenir shop and a random temple where I was herded around with the group just like the tour groups you see all over the world. I had a sticker to identify me as a part of the group and we all followed a girl who held up a flag with our number on it. Of course, I couldn’t understand any of the explanations or the rituals that we were put through, but it was interesting to be a part of the group for a change. Also, there was a six year old boy on the tour with his grandparents who took an interest in me and kept trying to talk to me. I found that awfully difficult as I could barely 
Random China
I was just walking down a street in KunMing when I realised that this giant building was sitting next to me. I have no idea what it is for, just that it has a large gate running right through its midd... [more]understand what he was asking me, but after a while we managed to exchange a few snippets of information. For lunch we enjoyed a local specialty called Across The Bridge Noodles, which can best be described as Chinese two minute noodles. You get a selection of uncooked meats and vegetables along with a bowl of noodles and a large bowl of very hot soup. You then push everything into the soup, wait two minutes for it to cook, and then you eat it. If uni students back home could get there hands on this stuff Mie Goreng would be out of business, it tasted fantastic, especially considering how simple the dish actually is. 

The stone forrest itself was quite otherworldly, especially once I got away from all the other tourists. Quite like the name would suggest it is a forrest of stone, basically a massive hunk of limestone (several kilometers across) has been exposed from the ground and eroded by the wind to form thousands of free standing pillars. Some of the pillars are 30m high and you can walk through the massive valleys running between them. Unfortunately though, the best sections have been completely revamped for tourism with 
KunMing Pagoda
Central KunMing.lawns and gardens surrouding paved paths through the forrest. Also, the guides and entertainers who work in the park are all dressed up as minority groups such as the Dai and the Hmong while clearly being plain old Han Chinese; this adds a really fake air to the entire place which I utterly disliked. By taking the smaller and more obscure paths I managed to get away from it all in the rear section of the forrest where I was essentially alone among the rocks. I climbed up a few to get a good view of the place, but whenever I did so I could see the other tourists and fake minorities again. What does it take to get some peace and quiet around here? 

So after three days in China I am now starting to get the hang of things. Of course, there are going ot be many times ahead where some unexpected cultural thingy gets thrown in my face, but I feel confident now that I can handle them when they arrive. It’s going to be hard to get over the local idea of restaurant service though: they see no problem in serving you both of your 
My Chinese Tour Group
main dishes half and hour before your steamed rice and entrees









It's all true, and so much more, in today's China.

Last month, Carolyn and I placed ourselves in the able hands of Autumn Song at China Professional Tours for three of the most fascinating — you could even say enchanting — weeks of our lives.

CPT calls it their customized "Emperor's Choice Tour." But it's hard to imagine any emperor in China's 4,000-year history ever indulged as we were with five-star hotels every night, 20-course meals, and our own personable, experienced and knowledgeable guides every step of the way.

They should call it the "Spoiled Rotten in China" tour.

Starting in Beijing after a 12-hour flight over the North Pole, Carolyn and I were met at the new airport by our personal guide, Beijing born and bred, 10-year veteran of the tourist trade and sometime traveler to the US. For the next three days, she and our skilled driver introduced us to the cream of China's modern capital city.

It knocked our socks off.

I don't know what I expected of China. Perhaps everyone riding bicycles, wearing Mao outfits with surgical masks.

Instead we found a thoroughly modern city, akin to New York or Berlin — sophisticated, fashionable, dynamic. In fact, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong all compare well with any city in the world today. 

Architecture is vibrant and bold. Of the 21 tallest buildings in the world, 15 scrape the skies of China. English is widely spoken. By the 2008 Olympics, Beijingers are expected to know 600 helpful English phrases. Most street signs are already in both Chinese and English.

Two sharp differences between our Western cities and those in China that we visited: 

You seldom see trash or squalor. Not even cigarette butts. The parks and highway mediums are all as beautifully manicured as an emperor's concubine.


The people, they all smile. Seriously! China is the friendliest place we've ever been, the Chinese more congenial and open even than the Italians. Everyone all across this vast land genuinely wished to befriend us. From groups practicing Tai Chi to street market vendors, all went out of their way to make us feel welcome and wanted. 
As curious about us as we were them, the Chinese we encountered were full of charm, delight, and accommodation. Unlike traveling in Europe or Latin America, we modern Marco Polos were never taken for granted in China.

Our itinerary featured Beijing with its Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Great Wall, then the ancient walled city of Xian, the beginning of the famous Silk Road, with its historic Buddhist pagoda and underground army of 7,000 terracotta warriors discovered in 1974.

At that point, Carolyn and I and our cameras needed a rest.

And rest we got aboard the 5,500-ton five-star deluxe cruiser East King as we ate our way up the picturesque Yangtze River starting at the Three Gorges Dam Project — four days wallowing in the luxury of 95 crew catering to just 21 passengers, interspersed with shore trips to pagodas, grottos, cave coffins and easygoing white-water rafting by sampan. As our Australian dinner tablemate exclaimed, "Everyone treats you like a bloomin' queen!"

Next stop: Chengdu, capital city of Szechwan cuisine and home of the famous Giant Panda Breeding Center. Perhaps the highlight of Carolyn's trip was holding, even cuddling a giant panda. She fell head over heels in love. Luckily for me, we couldn't take him home with us.

Guilin — we're now some 1,100 miles south of Beijing — is known throughout China as "the most beautiful attraction on earth." This land of spectacular caves and unique, often bizarre and dreamlike limestone peaks is where photographers meet from around the world to capture the ultimate Chinese landscape image.

Carolyn and I spent three days taking pictures, exploring caves, shopping, walking, and simply enjoying not only this area's natural beauty but the people of what must be China's most friendly city — and that's saying something!

From Guilin to Hong Kong is only an hour's flight but a world away in attitude. Here is New York with bargains. This where you want to shop for that new digital camera, silk tablecloth, or cloisonné-inlaid globe ($65!).

Today's China is modern, safe, friendly, and hassle free, yet the most exotic and exciting of places. Its cuisine is as various and tasty as its rich landscape, but even 20-course meals end with watermelon, not sweets. While eating better than we ever had, we each actually lost weight, a first for any vacation.

You'll find, as we did, China's greatest asset is its people. Warm, open, curious, and affectionate, they will greet you as they did us with a world of smiles.

Carolyn will be writing about her impressions of this extraordinary destination. There's so much more that we want to share with you.

SEE A SLIDESHOW OF SOME OF OUR CHINA PHOTOS. CLICK HERE!

Copyright © 2004 – Frank Kaiser

THE FACTS:

Tour Costs: We shopped around. There are short, cheap tours of China starting at about $1,000. But we wanted the best: a tour just for the two of us, always staying at five-star hotels, guided by experienced professionals, and worry free. China Professional Tours out of Atlanta fit our order to a "T". Our customized tour gave us exactly what we wanted, from opera in Chengdu to extra days in Guilin and Hong Kong. The cost for our three-week adventure was $3,845 each, everything included. Ten days of luxurious travel with CPT starts at $2,500. Call 1-800.25.CHINA for information and brochures. Or go to www.chinaprofessional.com.

Getting There: Most common points of entry are Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. CPT has preferential agreements with United and others, often for around $800 rt. (Carolyn and I used frequent-flyer miles.)

What to Wear: China is casual. Unless you're intention is business, forget the suit and tie, leave the Gucci and Armani home. Chinese wear what we wear in Florida; it's all made in China anyway. I took jeans, chinos, sports shirts, and swimming trunks. Remember: all four- and five-star hotels in China have swimming pools. Most important, wear comfortable, non-slip shoes. 

What to Eat: Breakfast at the hotels is Western. Eggs exactly the way you want them. Although food differs greatly from region to region, you'll be served 13 to 20-course meals for lunch and supper. Try a little of everything. When it comes to veggies, I'm a George Bush The First kind of guy. But in China vegetables are so fresh, so tasty, even broccoli tastes good. 

And though you'll probably get a fork with your meal, eat with chopsticks. You may spill a bit at first, but this is a skill you will put to good use at each meal. Waiters are more than happy to show you how to hold them, and you'll find eating with chopsticks just makes the experience all the richer. If you get homesick, every city now has its McDonald's and KFCs. Biggest surprise: Coffee everywhere is delicious. As a rule, don't drink tap water. Buy bottled water at a local store. Carry one with you.

Toilets: Hotels and most all tourist destinations have the kind of toilets you're used to. However, get off the beaten track — this includes even The Great Wall — and you find "honeypots," a slit trench in the floor. You squat over it. Many bathrooms have both. Handicapped signs often indicate where you want to go. Always carry toilet paper and/or Handiwipes.

Language: Although many Chinese speak English, a few Chinese phrases will get you far in this country. "Hi" is nee-hao; use it often as it makes for instant friends. "Yes" is dwee or yao. I think. Boo yao is what you say to overzealous street vendors, meaning "No thank you." No" is boo dwee. "Please" is ching. Probably most important is shie-shie for "thank you."

Shopping: Be prepared to bargain, whenever you are buying from a vendor. When a price is quoted, offer 50 – 90 percent less. No English? They write a figure. Then you negotiate from there. Check out other vendors offering the same goods. It is all done in great fun, and a way of life, even for the locals. Shops are open from around 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Credit cards are accepted at hotels and most larger stores. You'll find ATM machines, too. But take American Express checks for incidentals at out-of-the-way places.

E-mail: All the hotels in which we stayed had high-speed Internet connections in our rooms. You'll find cyber cafes everywhere, even little shops to download your digital photo cards to CD.

Planes: Unlike Russia and other developing nations, flying in China is like flying in the US. We flew on 737s most everywhere. All the airports are modern and new. Customs officials actually smile.

Tipping: Ten years ago, tipping was illegal in China. No more. But just a dollar a bag will bring big smiles from porters; a $20 bill (or 100 Yuen/day) will go a long way in thanking your personal city guide or driver.

What about Communism? The only meaningful "-ism" in China these days is consumerism. We never saw armed troops or other signs of the heavy hand of dictatorship anywhere.



Lastly, I just want to say that if China is that bad as you said, so please explain these articles to me please.

Thank you


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

There are many other developing countries in Asia, did you even visit all of them ?? Or China is the only developing country in Asia you visited so far ?? Then You are strongly advised to visit those countries to see the level of greed and corruption there, then you can have some thoughts about China's level.

Kind regards

Thank you for reading


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## snow is red (May 7, 2007)

Your comparisons are very biased I have to say, You visited all the well developed places like seoul, dubai, tokyo, then you visited a developing place like Beijing then you compare them and complain about that developing place, do you think that is fair ?? So why not visit all the developing areas in Asia, then compare them to Beijing, then we will see.


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## Northern Lotus (Jul 24, 2006)

Too bad you had bad experiences in China.
Before visiting any country, one should be acquainted with some facts and laws.
I read an article from a gay thread, some gays from N. America had similar experience as yours except the others were young men. The tourists threatened them to take them to the police and the young men backed off. Being gay is legal in China but blackmail is not. You should have threatened them to report them to the police with your pictures as you toke pictures of them and you only had tea with them not as if you had sex.
I visited China several times and never encountered any problem.
However, while I was in Milan few years ago, someone sprayed shaving cream on my back and in the middle of all of the chaos, someone else was trying to steal my bag; luckily I fended them off. Pick pockets are famous in Spain and Paris too. Travelers simply have to be careful.
As of poor areas of rich countries, I suppose we all know by now there are a lot of poor areas and people in the US after the Katrina in Louisiana. I traveled once by bus from NY to Boston and the bus went through S. Bronx of NY, and it looked like it had just been bombed, with empty houses, houses without windows, etc. China is still a poor country in per capita basis, cannot be compared with developed countries in Europe or Japan.


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