Originally Posted by
hard2please
Ooops, I guess I shouldn't post when I'm still jet-lagged! People's Square is in Shanghai! Does that mean the couple wasn't trying to scam us?
The only thing we got in Beijing was a lot of "art students" and others who wanted to be our guide.
They were definitely trying to scam you. Shanghai People's Square is prime stalking grounds for the tea ceremony scam. You can do a quick test to see if they are for real or not--tell them you'd love to talk, but at Starbucks. If they are scammers, they'll make up some excuse to leave and move on to the next mark.
Or you can also, with smile on your face, just straight out ask them if they are the famous scammers leading tourists to tea ceremonies. "Nimen shi pianzi ma?" They won't be expecting that. English will fail them. Then start chuckling and tell them to go away.