Shady Tour SCAM! Give My Parents Their Hard-Earned Money Back!!
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Let me help you recount these ridiculous adventures, and foreign friends really need to pay attention!
️ "The Depth of the "Pit" from the Guide - The Service is So Terrible I Want to Call the Police!"- An experienced guide with ten years of history was actually unable to correctly state the basic dynastic order in Chinese history (really? This is textbook knowledge!).
- He also pushed us to buy items all through the trip by saying that "not purchasing local specialties is a disrespect for our culture," which is simply absurd!
- Cultural Tip: In China, guides might use this line to make you feel bad about not shopping, but it's a sales strategy. Don't fall for it!
- And the best part was when we got lost at a site, he pulled out his phone and used a navigation app to find our way...What am I spending my money on?! You can just be a tourist yourself.
️ "Assassins in Contracts" – Mastering Language Games to an Extreme Level!- The advertised "Enjoyment Tours with Absolutely No Shopping" mysteriously turned into "Cultural Experience Tour" in the contract—ending up at a bead shop for three hours near the Thirteen Tombs (historical burial site of emperors).
- Cultural Tip: The Thirteen Tombs are famous historical sites in Beijing, but some tours will take you close to shopping spots.
- Promised luxury hotel in central Beijing ("the closer the ring number i.e., Ring 2/Ring 3, the closer to downtown Beijing"), we ended up getting an isolated inn in the outskirts with footprints on the bedsheets! Eww...
- Geography Tip: Beijing city planning is marked by rings, with Ring 2 and Ring 3 being considered as the central districts, the larger the number, the farther away from the city center they are.
- "Included Guided Tour at Forbidden City" just handed us an A4 paper at the gate (Meridian Gate) and asked us to read it ourselves! Super neglectful!
️ "Time Assassins"—Squashing Sightseeing to Bare Minimum!- Although it's called "Deeper Visit to Badaling Great Wall in One Day," we were only allotted an hour there (Guide remarks: "Just snap a picture and move on!").
- Travel Tip: The Great Wall is really grandiose, you can't possibly enjoy it fully within one hour.
- At the Forbidden City, where a good deal of sight seeing was supposed to take place, we were only rushed through the central axis in 15 minutes (rest of the time spent pitching their art souvenirs).
- Promised "VIP Spot to Watch Flag-Raising Ceremony at Tian'anmen Square," we were actually arranged to sit in the outskirts area of the square (Guide shows selfie stick confidently, "Don't worry, this will capture it all!")
- Cultural Tip: The flag-raising process at Tian'anmen Square is highly popular. It is very challenging to find a good viewing spot.
I want to say that these things were intended to be enjoyable travels, but turned out to be constant battles with scammers. Especially after a long period of saving up for these trips, feeling disappointed because it seems like we went through all this trouble and yet not had much fun...
So, my sincere advice for everyone (foreign friends especially):
️ Important Travel Alert & Pit Avoiding Guide ️- "Be Wary of Online Hype, Verify Real Locations:"
- Be extremely careful with those online promoted "hidden, must-visit tourist spots," make sure you check the real surrounding environment first on satellite maps such as Google Maps' satellite view to prevent falling into filters.
- "Reject Verbal Commitments, Contracts Are Everything":
- Don't rely on any verbal commitments! Any agreements such as hotel standards, site visits must be written in contracts, record secretly if possible. This is a crucial method of protecting yourself.
- "Negative Reviews are More Reliable than Positive Ones":
- Check online review sections more during booking or reservation; bad reviews are usually more credible(because positive reviews are sometimes fake ones). In China, review apps like Dazhongdianping are pretty useful.
Hope people's trips can have a good time without encountering such bothersome experiences!
#TourQuality #TravelAgency #TravelChoice #EnjoyTravelWithoutBeingScammed #BeijingTourism #BeijingSightTourism #VisitToBeijingGroup -
Sigh, what a disaster. If you're coming to Beijing, definitely avoid travel agencies – they're all scams.
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Joining group tours often means getting ripped off without recourse; you just can't win against their word games. And that's just in Beijing! Imagine being in a completely unfamiliar foreign country. In Thailand, they threatened to call the (Thai) police on me. They also claimed I couldn't possibly travel to places like Singapore or Malaysia on my own due to 'difficulties' and had to join their tour (which meant forced shopping). The joke was on them, though – they didn't know I'm not easily intimidated and am pretty defiant. I decisively ditched their tour.
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A 'VIP spot for the flag-raising ceremony'? I've honestly never heard of such a thing.
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Aren't people who choose these tours just looking for a cheap deal? If you don't want to spend money, you can't expect good service.
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Looking for tips on what to avoid, thanks!
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Sent it to you.
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Looking for recommendations on what to avoid.
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Looking for tips on what to avoid; I'm heading to Beijing. I'm actually interested in a one-day tour to Badaling Great Wall and the Ming Tombs, and I'm looking for a group. Independent travel would be too expensive, and I feel I wouldn't really get it without a guide.
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Tours under 2000 RMB likely all include shopping stops.
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Which agency/company?
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Sent it to you.
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A 'VIP spot for the flag-raising ceremony'? If you see that advertised, just run. Even the most important person in the world would have to queue and fight for a spot like everyone else.