Day 2 - Beijing
First stop was the Great Wall of China! WOOHOO! or so that was what the tour guide said. After an hour of driving we approached a Chinese medical shop? We went in and were seated in a room with a speaker who presented us with products such as a long wooden spoon, a bracelet made of some kind of expensive rock, a small circular wooden scraper, etc. And these products are meant to prolong life and help keep the qi (energy) in our body and expel the negative ones. The prices for these products are expensive! There were quite a few wealthy tourists in our group. One couple owns a cleaning business in the states and the husband is always on the phone with someone from the USA discussing the business; his wife bought the bracelet for a couple of hundreds dollars CND. The logic behind the wife's purchase was that "you are paying for the "reassurance" of your health." I believe they are the only one that bought something from this place. The circular wooden scraper which cost around $100 CND here; we saw it in Beijing for around $10CND or less, the materials may be different though. Who knows.
After the lecture and hard-selling was done, our tour guide was gone. He disappeared. The tour bus was there and we saw many tours coming in and out of this shop. I would say there are at least 16 lecture rooms on the first floor. Yes, there is a second floor. Our group was standing and waiting for our guide for approximately 30-40 minutes, which in my opinion is a ridiculously long time. Is it because we didn't make the quota? I was appalled. Where did the tour guide and bus driver ran off too? No apology from either of them when they approached the bus. 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸 This shop was out of the way cause we had to turn back the other way and drive for a while to the Great Wall.
At last the Great Wall of China...
The guide gave us 40 minutes to explore the Great Wall. I hate these tours, always give so less time to look around, but they have all the time in the world if you are going to those mandatory medical/jade/herbs/pearl shops. Anyways, this was a bad vantage point to start. The hill is murderous. The steps are high and short, so you have to be careful of your footing. I was sweating like crazy and can't help but rest every now and then. 
This is what you see at the top of the tower. There is many different point that you can start at; it's just that the tour-guide brought us to this particular starting point.
This is what you see at the top of the tower. There is many different point that you can start at; it's just that the tour-guide brought us to this particular starting point. 
Afterwards, we went for lunch. There was peking duck, but it was one peking duck to be shared in a table of 10+ ish, thus everybody can only eat 1-2 small pieces. So cheap! They make it sound like peking duck is SO EXPENSIVE. The best was the deep fried sweet and sour fish! SO GOOD! I've never tasted one of these in Vancouver, so it was something new.
After lunch we headed over to the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 venue.
The Olympic mascot in Beijing. Ours definitely looks cuter.
There's a line of shops that seem to go on forever, and they look like they all sell the same products.
Bird's nest. I remember watching the Beijing 2008 Olympic opening on TV, it was by far the best opening ever.
Water Cube - apparently it looks very pretty at night. so disappointed.
If you really have to go to the washroom...
Once we got on the bus the tour guide began talking about health again in both Cantonese and Mandarin. I just want to sew that mouth of his. So, he can speak both language when taking about health but not when explaining the significance of the tourist attractions?
Low and behold - we went to Tongrentang, a famous Chinese medicine shop. Whether the medicine is real or fake, you will not know. Of course, they will try to pursue you that it is indeed authentic. I've been researching about scams before going on this tour. Many blogs and sites have been giving me a mixture of answers. It's either 1. it's fake products or 2. it's real but it is selling for 3x the regular price. At that place, another lecture by a "supposedly" doctor explaining about health. After the lecture, she invited at least 10 doctors and their assistants into the room to do a pulse examination and talk about your "illnesses" or what you WILL DEVELOP in the future. These "FAKE" doctors are like fortune-tellers, they use an idea that's very common in the general population and go from there. I mean, if you are female and over the age of 50, it is very likely that you are going through menopause with hot flashes, irregular bleeding, etc. There are certain conditions that are very likely in certain age groups, so don't be FOOLED. By answering their questions, you are giving them hints into your health. If you are with children, they will probably develop a life-threatening illness if you don't start this medication right now, and then they will try to sell you the medicial herbs on the spot. My mother asked how much for the Chinese medicine because the doctor told her that she needs to take it every so and so day to help her through her menopause. It's several hundred dollars for a 3 month supply. They are using scare-tactics!
My mother did buy something from Tongrentang, some constipation pills for my grandma. It's like the cheapest thing there, ~ approximately $10CND. The customer service was unbelievably BAD. The sale girls just stand there and give you dirty looks if don't buy the medicine that you ask to see. If you say no, they ask "why not, it's very good." And if you look at something cheap, they give you attitude like they want to leave. A suspicious thing here is that you cannot bring the product that you want to buy after examining it to the cashier; you have to pay first and afterwards bring the receipt to the counter and then they'll give you the product. Once you give them the receipt, they take the product out and then show it to you, then wrap it up, then they give you the product with the bag. I mean, suspicious much?? Is this where the switch happens- real with fake?
Lastly, we went to dinner and it was the last day with that tour guide and he gave us a questionnaire that we must fill out. Everybody said that they will give him a perfect score. I'm like WTF. Seriously. My mother was being a nag and told me to put a perfect score too. I was reluctant so I gave him a 4/5. I wanted to give him a 1/5, cause he sucks. HE SUCKS!
After dinner, he bought us for foot massages that I thought was for FREE, but apparently not. The first 5 minutes is free, but you have to pay them 20 yuan or the remainder 15 minutes. And this is where my mother got scammed $700 USD; money we will never get back. The tour guide said that this place is where the Olympic trainees come for relaxation and training.
Onto the foot massage tea-bag scam, the foot massage is disguised as a way for them to examine your health. While massaging your foot, they will tell you that you have this problem and that problem. The kid (maybe 20ish in age) wanted to ask me what happened to my toe nail cause it's black - I know he wanted to use it as a way to say I have a certain illness. Well, my toe nail is black cause my shoe is squishy, and I walk a lot. geez. I don't speak Mandarin and my sister understand a little. The guy massaging my sister's foot wanted to tell her that she has some kidney problems. lol. The women massaging my mother's foot fooled her damn well. She told her that she has osteoporosis - which is obvious if you look at her bones and it is dented - and if she don't treat it fast she will not be able to walk. Then my mother and that woman disappeared and later came back. Apparently, she took her to have a consultation with a doctor and did a bone density scan on her lower leg. That alone cost $80USD. If she did it in Vancouver, it would be covered by MSP.While she was gone, they somehow persuaded her to buy useless teabags which will magically heal her leg and osteoporosis. Considering that she was a nurse for 10+ years, you think she would be able to think logically. I been telling her about this scam every single day before the departure and not to be fooled. I guess, I am the fool. I was totally against it and I voiced out my opinions but my mother told me to shut up. For $700 USD, you get 3 months supply of tea. Another tourist in our group got scammed, she has been told the same thing, but they sold her the exact amount for $800 USD. For women in the menopause age, bone begins breaking down faster.
I can see the fake doctor and the employees drooling at the cash. After we were done, we waited outside for a while for the tour guide, to which I can assume he was inside splitting the cash. He was whistling and in such a good mood when he came out. Words cannot even describe how I was feeling that day. I want to knock him out.
No comments:
Post a Comment