I just recently discovered that I got scammed by a young couple in People’s square. I had heard of these tea ceremony scams before but I was disarmed by the fact that these two young college age kids who spoke decent English. There was something off about these kids though, because they seemed supremely interested in me. It was a bit different from some of the other local university students I had met, but at the time I thought nothing of it.
They told me they were from Beijing and the guy told me that he was showing around his high school friend around who was visiting. I totally bought into the story, and I soon found myself following them to a ceremony that they invited me to. The tea ceremony was incredibly expensive at 50 rmb a tea and the teas were not even good! Throughout the time, the pair played their part of tourist very well and I was thoroughly convinced. At the end of the day I even gave them my card with my email, thinking I had made new friends!
Just recently I had recalled about hearing about the scam, I knew I had been scammed but at least I thought I was scammed along with the pair I was with. However, after reading a few blog posts about the scam, I realized that the pair of kids were part of the scam from the beginning.
Yes, I feel fucking stupid but I cannot help but laugh at myself a little and am glad the worst thing that happened to me was losing some money. Going to wisen up this next time.
-muffinman
