Ha. Yes, probably a scam if Tiananmen was involved.

To this day, the most elaborate scam I have ever witnessed (and thankfully got out of without an RMB spent) took place in Tiananmen. I was in Beijing and wanted to take a quick trip out to the Great Wall at Badaling (not the best place to see The Wall, I know, but certainly convenient). I had read that you could find buses around Tiananmen Square, so I was walking through trying to find the spot on my map, and was approached by a lady. We talked, and she offered to help me find the bus. I followed her for several blocks as she made calls on her cell phone (should have been the first indication of something fishy), and we eventually arrived at a minibus with a picture of the Great Wall in the front window. I am a bit unsure about this, but have seen buses depart from all sorts of places from random corners in South America/Africa/etc., but I still want to check. There's a policeman on the corner. I approach him, point to the bus, and ask "Badaling?" He nods yes enthusiastically, but is laughing. Okay. I get on the bus with the lady. I ask the first passenger "Badaling?" She nods yes, and is also laughing.

The lady now has a ticket that she is trying to sell me for what seems to be a much inflated price, so now I'm really confused, and starting to look for a way off the bus. But I still want to see the Great Wall! So, I resist paying for a minute, and an old lady gets on the bus. I ask her: "Badaling?" She starts shaking her head furiously no, and starts screaming at the lady in Chinese, as well as some of her fellow passengers. I now have the definite impression that this is not the bus to Badaling (and is instead some jitney to a distant suburb or town), and I get off. I take a closer look at the picture of the Great Wall in the window, and now see that it is definitely a wall calendar that has been put in the window of the bus as part of this elaborate scam. The lady jumps off the bus, and is still trying to get me back on the bus, and to purchase her ticket, but I hop in a cab and go to the other location marked in my guidebook where buses leave for Badaling, and do, in fact, make it to Badaling.

Still, this was the most elaborate scam I have seen after traveling in 40+ countries, and the only one that almost got me (although I'm thankful it didn't!). It amazed me not only that they had put so much effort into it, but had involved so many participants. Additionally, the willingness of others to go along with it (i.e. the policeman, bus passengers, etc.) was all quite amazing to me!