An unfortunate tourist fell prey to the tuk-tuk drivers of the Forbidden City area and ended up paying 600 RMB after a very short ride to Tiananmen Square from the Forbidden City.

Allen H.Jense and his 14 year old son were hoping to head to Tiananmen Square after they had visited the Forbidden City. “I knew it wasn’t too far, but I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. We began walking and at that point a couple of tuk-tuks pulled up and the drivers offered to take us for 3 dollars”

Feeling this was reasonable, Jense and his son got into separate tuk-tuks, which proceeded to drive straight into a quiet hutong. Suddenly the drivers stopped and told the two to get out of the tuk-tuk. They then pulled out a small card indicating that they wanted 300 RMB each.

The two men wouldn’t let them leave and Jense saw there was no one around to help them. Worried about his son he finally paid 600 RMB to the men. When the two men had got the money they got back on the tuk-tuk and cycled off. Jense reported the men to the police but nothing has come of the investigation so far.
Unfortunately scams like this and the notorious ‘Tea Scams’ are all too common in tourist areas of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Remember there are always public transport links between the major attractions so there’s no need to rely on a dodgy tuk-tuk driver.

Source: bendibao.com

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Keywords: Tourist Scams in Beijing