Okay, I'm ready. Please provide the Chinese title.
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Basically, all Beijing tours are scams, which really hurts the tourism industry's image – and this is the capital city! Before you pay, they reply to inquiries instantly with all sorts of false advertising. But once they have your money, they just leave your messages on 'read' and don't reply, even when issues come up. They quote over a thousand, but when you get here, you're forced to pay for insurance (though you never see a policy), then there's a shuttle bus, 'Bluetooth headphones' – another 390 per person. You have to gather at 5 AM every morning, and the packed breakfast is just a small bun, like the 10 RMB kind. Group meals are the 20 RMB standard. The so-called 'viewing the exterior of Peking and Tsinghua Universities' is just them letting you snap a photo of the main gate from the bus. They also drag you out early to jade shops. It's just one rip-off after another. I'm never joining a tour group again.
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Yeah, I fell for that too.
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I'd like to know how much the tours that scammed you cost. I'm traveling with elderly relatives and will need to join a tour, so any advice on how to avoid these traps would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Why even bother with a tour group? I traveled with an elderly person and a child, all independently, for seven days.
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I wasn't angry until I read these, now I'm even more furious! There were eight of us, we paid 1600 per person for the tour, and then they collected another 460 from each of us on the bus. Unbelievable! For the Water Cube and Bird's Nest, we just looked from the outside and wandered around the square. At the Temple of Heaven, they didn't even take us to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests; the guide just said 'too many people, let's skip it.' What's even more infuriating is that they dragged us around shopping outlets for a whole morning. Then, on the way to the Forbidden City, they told us they hadn't managed to book tickets and took us to Jingshan Park instead! I'm about to lose my mind. Before we went, I asked them twice if all the attractions on the itinerary were booked, and they said yes. They're all liars!!!
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Which platform did you book the tour through?
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If you decide to join a tour group, get in touch with all the operators that contacted you and compare them. Skip the ones that are too cheap. Then, check their itineraries: see where they go, if there are any days that are suspiciously empty, and what the tour package includes (like entrance tickets, breakfast, lunch). Also, look into the travel agency's credentials. You can even try to negotiate the price. Some high-priced tours are actually no different from the cheaper ones. That's how I narrowed down my options step by step.
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So which one did you end up choosing?
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Beijing Quality Tour – it's all just advertising. We ended up paying an extra 480 for transportation and a show.
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This is the one – hope this helps others avoid the scam. We had to meet at 5:40 AM to go to the Great Wall, and I was freezing to death today. We just had a quick look around the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, then they dragged us off to some random place to watch a show. You really can't just go for the cheapest option. Next time, I'm definitely planning my own trip and going independent!