My Dongshan Loquat Picking Tour Trap: A Suzhou WTF Cautionary Tale!
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Title: The Loquats are Ripe! Let's All Go Pick Them!
My first experience on a group trip to pick loquats was simply disastrous...
- From the orchard owner to our tour guide, no one appeared reliable!
- I am starting by letting out all my frustration here; I will then detail everything for you guys once I'm done with work tomorrow.
Updated May 13, 2025
Finally, my update is ready! I've been super busy lately and managed to finish this just before my shift got over.
- A fellow reader pointed out one of the mistakes I made: only the loquat trees grown in Dongshan (a place famous for its high-quality loquat varieties, especially a strain called "White Jade") can be referred to as "Dongshan Loquats". Those that are even several kilometers away are considered inferior.
- However, the tour guide swore they would take us to a real Dongshan orchard, more specifically to a section of white loquats - an unusually sweet variety.
- However, when we reached the designated site, it was indeed near Dongshan. The look and color seemed similar too but still!
- Hence, the title must now be revised to warn everyone about these types of cherry-picking tours! Especially those costing a couple hundred renminbi!!!
- For instance, I paid 99 yuan for my one-day trip plus another 20 yuan for lunch, which was for just one person!
Let me proceed with the story in temporal order:
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My elders initiated this trip before, they had already signed up but I only joined later.
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Before departure, I knew that we were going to Mudu ancient town (an old town famous for its riverside scenery) and loquat picking. However, no official schedule was provided.
- Lesson 1: If you sign up for group trips, do ask for the itinerary in advance so you can have a clearer idea about which spots you will visit and how much time will be spent at each.
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It was 7:30 on Saturday morning when I got to our assembly spot. The coach wouldn't leave until 7:50, which was twenty minutes late. We left from Changzhou first, and met two groups in between.
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Shortly after our arrival on the expressway, our guide began providing us with crucial updates regarding our tour.
- Watch out: An issue is coming up here.
- The 99 yuan ticket did not include lunch, nor would the accompanying staff eat with us unless we each paid 20 yuan for the shared meal.
- 43 out of 44 paying passengers agreed and paid the additional money.
- Hint: Some travel-agencies offer super cheap packages that are bound to demand extra payments during the journey. Before registration, make sure to clarify what exactly is included or not.
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We reached Mudu at 10 am, where a casual walking hour and a half before an afternoon lunch meeting was set by the guide at 11:30 am.
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Food quality was a disappointment... (Note: The author has been considering uploading some visuals pertaining to the lunch fare). An estimated cost of 50-60 yuan per table.
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Regardless of its bad reputation because of being situated inside the tourist spot, the venue wasn't completely unbearable.
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Everyone around the table could secretly complain. I just secretly reached into my daypack and pulled out some preserved dried tofu slices I brought along to munch on...
- Lesson 3: Don't overly fantasize about meals offered by group trips. Just to be safe, always take along some snacks of your preference.
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We grow our own White Jade loquats, and my dad's a bit hesitant to let tourists pick them freely. You can sample a few when you buy some, but he doesn't allow an all-you-can-pick experience. He's worried people might pick the unripe ones, which are sour and a waste.
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What's the price?
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Why not just head to Dongshan and buy them yourself?
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I'm not joining a tour group next time. A road trip wouldn't be such a rip-off.
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I looked up the place you mentioned; it's not even in Dongshan. You went to the wrong spot. As a Dongshan local, I can tell you Dongshan isn't to blame for this.
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Alright, I'll update the title later. But the orchard I was complaining about is only about 15km from the main scenic area... that's not a huge difference.
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Where I am, it's 150 RMB per person, which includes 3 jin (about 1.5kg) of loquats and lunch. Honestly, we don't make much profit, but the fruit is definitely good quality.
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I'm never buying again. I've been ripped off twice, and getting a refund is such a pain. Dongshan loquats are ruining their own reputation.
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Genuine Dongshan loquats can sell for 30 RMB per jin. Who would bother with 'pick-your-own' tours? We'd be reluctant to. My family certainly doesn't host them; we can barely keep up with fulfilling our existing orders.
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We each picked only about 2 jin (around 1kg), and it was 99 RMB per person, transportation included. You think they're losing money on that?
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You should come to our orchard next time to pick loquats! No scams, I promise. Feel free to give us a try, haha.
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Are weekends okay?
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The mountains are full of wild ones. Why bother with a tour group?
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What's the address for GPS/navigation?
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Just curious, how much do they charge for this?
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I've posted some screenshots of my chat with friends where I was complaining. Take a look. I'm from Changzhou and went with a tour group. The whole experience is a long story, and there are so many things I want to write about. I'll try to write it all down tomorrow when I'm slacking off at work.
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How much are they?