Shanghai Warnings Or Dangers Tips by aukahkay

Tea ceremony scams, charlatans and cheats

When you walk around Nanking East Road Pedestrian Mall, you may be approached by a young Chinese purporting to be a university student eager to bring you to attend a tea ceremony at his or her campus. He/she will speak fluent English and you will be convinced to follow him/her. Never ever do this. There is an ongoing scam in Shanghai to rip off Western tourists. At the end of the tea ceremony, you will be presented with a whopping bill of RMB 2000 - 3000. Bouncers will appear from nowhere if you refuse to pay or threaten to call the police.

Shanghai is a great city but a city riddled with scams, charlatans and cheats. Be very careful and do not accept any offer from any stranger. Only engage the services of licensed tourist guides who must wear their identification badge on them.

Shanghai. Hustlers, pimps and beggars

The Nanking East Road Pedestrian Mall is popular with tourists. I was walking along the Mall and I was approached twice within a period of 20 minutes by girls. Mind you I am ethnic Chinese from Singapore and yet these girls in their twenties can recognise that I am not a Shanghainese. Firstly, they asked me (in Chinese) for the time, and then asked if I was travelling alone. I ignored them and they left me alone. Then there are the migrant women with young children in tow - they will come up to you and follow you for a while begging for money. Just walk on and they will leave you after a while. Yet another girl asked me if I could spare some change to buy bread. I was wondering why the Chinese would want to eat bread since it is not their staple food.
On another evening, I was approached by a man asking if I wanted `to play with some pretty girls'.
Do not respond to women strangers who try to befriend you on the pretext of showing you around the city. You may have a great time with them but they will extort money from you. If you don't pay, some burly men will appear out of nowhere. Neither should you accept any invitation to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony by young Chinese purporting to be university students. It could be the most expensive tea that you have taken.

Hungry girls on the Bund

The Bund is a romantic esplanade along the Huangpu River to have a leisurely stroll in the evening. However, there are young girls who come up to you to ask you for a couple of RMB to buy bread. I don't know why in particular they want to buy bread since bread is not in the staple Chinese diet. They approach you while you use the pedestrian underpass from Nanjing East Road to access the Bund. Ignore them. They are more of an irritation rather than a danger.

Karaoke bar drink scams

Nanjing East Road is a colourful pedestrian-only mall along which are some karaoke lounges. They can be recognised by their dazzling and gaudy neon lights and are sometimes known as `entertainment centers'. There will be young men and women trying to chat you up and asking you to have a cup of coffee. Don't ever believe them. The cafe that they are supposed to bring you to ends up being one of these karaoke lounges. They are usually located on the upper levels of buildings facing Nanking East Road. The elevator opens up directly into the karaoke lounge and once you are inside, you will be gestured by a charming hostess to a seat. Next comes the hot towels and a fruit platter. You will then place your order for a soft drink or a beer which may not cost that much - about 50 - 60 RMB. Then a hostess will come up to you to have a chat with you and she will order a drink which of course you are obliged to pay for. As the night goes on, you will lose count of the number of drinks that you have had and finally, the shocker will come when you are presented a bill for 2000 RMB.
Never go into a karaoke lounge in Shanghai. The ladies may be very attractive and friendly, but there is a high price to pay for it. It is a total rip-off and a big scam.

Watch out for the black Mercedes S class

In a city where most of the cars are locally-made VW Santander, VW Passat or Audi A4, a black Mercedes S class with darkly tinted windows stands out like a sore thumb. These black Mercedes are driven by rich tycoons and businessmen, some of whom have connections with underground secret societies. Size and wealth does matter in Shanghai. The nouveau riche are ever too eager to flaunt their new found wealth to the extent of being the king of the road.

At a busy traffic intersection in downtown Shanghai, I witnessed a black Mercedes S class horning its way through the traffic junction. Cars, bicycles, motorcycles and pedestrians had to dodge and give way to the car. At Xin Tian Di, I saw another similar black Mercedes S class (not sure if it was the same one I saw) horning its way through the narrow streets.