Bits and Pieces

The cold wind is blowing the iciness of the Daheishi winter into the floors and walls of my apartment. The place is a post-vacation disaster, as I have clothes strewn about, along with the dishes from the previous few meals which have been haphazardly eaten while attempting to upload photos, organize my laundry and stay warm. My newly acquired painting is giving itself a nice stretch on my living room floor after being cooped up in a piece of PVC pipe for a week. I can almost see frost on my floor near the windows (again), and I'm dreaming about warmer places. Fireworks blast outside my apartment windows again, even though the Chinese Spring Festival was supposed to finish yesterday. I guess some people didn't get the memo.

I haven't told all the stories of my trip, but I dealt with being hustled quite regularly. Asia is a place of "Buyer Beware" and, in my case, "Buyer Use Some Common Sense". Now, I think I'm a pretty sharp guy, but I got ripped of in a few places. Most of the time it was a pittance of cash. I was charged double for an airport shuttle coming into Hanoi, but I had an idea and it was the equivalent of about $2. No problem. I got charged double in Saigon for street noodles. Total ripoff price above normal: $3. Suckered into a "drink" with two beautiful Chinese girls in Beijing? 410RMB! This translates into over $60Can.

Now, in my defense, I was exhausted. After the previous two weeks travelling from KL to Saigon to Nha Trang to Hoi An to Hanoi and then to Beijing (including a missed flight and two overnight buses), I was spent. 

I arrived in Beijing in the later part of the afternoon and was leaving the following evening. All I had time to do that day was book a train ticket, get some dinner, and make an action plan for the following day (wanting to see the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square). I entered the Wangfujing Square near my hostel and started seeking out the train ticket office using the crude map drawn up by my friendly hostel employees. As I strolled, in no hurry as I just wanted to soak in the sights and meander, two girls approached me and started chatting me up about where I was from, etc. They were really friendly, and the one girl was an absolute knockout. Maybe the most beautiful girl in China. After talking for a few minutes, they asked me where I was heading. I mentioned the ticket office. The gorgeous girl said she needed to find a washroom, so the other girl showed me where the ticket office was for the train. After acquiring my ticket to Dalian, Girl #2 asked me if I wanted to join her and her friend for a drink (since I was going to go eat anyway). I obliged, we found Gorgeous Girl (GG), and went to a pub.

The pub wasn't too far away, and although the prices seemed ridiculously high, I just wanted to have some food and go to bed. The chitchat was enjoyable and I had a good time. Then, the bill arrived.

For 410 RMB. 

Neither girl made a move. I asked, "Do you expect me to pay the whole thing?"

They responded: "Of course. The man always pays in China!"

Well, I knew this was BS. But I started analyzing the situation and the bill. GG ordered a pot of normal Chinese tea. Charge? Over $35Can. Everything else was exorbitantly priced. We were in a basement pub. There were no other customers. And I suddenly remembered that there was a big bouncer-ish dude at the bottom of the stairs between me and freedom. And the look on the faces of the girls was obvious: I got hustled.

So, knowing that I wasn't going to get out of this (even though I'm a strong, intimidating guy), I paid the bill and headed out, screaming at myself in my head for being daft. I didn't even have the nerve to lose it on the girls. You couldn't have written a more epically hilarious script for an easy mark and easier take. So I swallowed my pride and walked back to my hostel.

DISCLAIMER: I realize that this girl being so beautiful should've been a red flag, my friends, but between my fatigue and traveler's mentality that any time is a great opportunity to meet people (and maybe some unknown egocentricity that made me think, "Of COURSE these gorgeous girls wanted to talk to me out of the blue!"), I was an easy mark.

I actually returned to the square the next day in hopes of bumping into the girls again, snapping their pics, and then going to the nearby police station. I didn't end up finding them, but it's amazing how many other cute, friendly girls invited me out for a drink that next night. And I did a good deed... I saw a 30-ish, single guy walking in the square when he was approached by some girls. Knowing the outcome, I ran over and told him my story... in obvious earshot of the two girls he was with. Even if I didn't get any sweet revenge on GG, I helped a fellow traveler who could've been hustled like me. It helped me sleep a bit better. 

Alas, it didn't change the light nature of my wallet.

T