Undoubtedly this was one of those $99 China tours offered to Chinese-Americans/Chinese-Canadians, usually through Chinatown agencies. The entire offering is a set-up and group-think amongst this demographic is very strong, she's right about that....which is why they are targeted.

I don't know how many warnings one can give or how much incontrovertible evidence one can present.....there are still going to be a lot of people that you just can't save from themselves. In the eyes of the Chinese authorities--who could presumably do something about this--when one is an active participant, handing over cash willingly for a product or service without any overt threat to life or limb, how much of a "scam" is it? All they had to do was say "No" and keep the wallets under wraps.