I got hit by the same tea ceremony scam. It's pretty common, but very well run. In fact, I didn't even know I'd been scammed until a few days later when I was alerted to the fact that it was a scam (later backed up by reading about it in the China Lonely Planet guide).

Here's my story:

Leaving the Forbidden City I met two Chinese students who were studying English, Shadow and Coco. They asked if they could talk with me to practice their English. I agreed. Shadow and Coco studied just outside of Beijing, and had a day off as their teachers were having a conference. Coco had never seen the Forbidden City, so they had come into the city to see it.

We went to Tinanmen square, all the while chatting in English about my life and their lives. Shadow suggested checking out old Beijing. We walked through a pharmacy with some really expensive ginseng and checked out the really old buildings.

Coco suggested going to see a tea ceremony, as the tea festival was now on. We went to a tea house that had been in operation for over 200 years. The tea ceremony was performed by a young lady. She poured us different kinds of teas, and explained where they came from and their uses. When she spoke, she almost was singing. As harsh and unwelcoming as the Chinese can sometimes sound, it sounded melodic coming from this cute, button nosed girl as she poured us more tea.

However, no amount of melody could hide the disharmony of getting the 2461 RMB bill (around $330). Coco, Shadow and I were all shocked at the price. I ended up picking up the tab, as I remember what $110 a person would have done to my budget when I was student, and that was back in North America. Imagine the dent in a Chinese student's budget.

Shadow and Coco, by way of thanks, took me out to a restaurant for Beijing duck (also known in North America as Peking Duck), and then we walked more around old Beijing and the Hutong. After spending the whole afternoon together, I parted ways with Coco and Shadow and headed back to my hotel.

Was I scammed? I had a few doubts when the bill originally came, but after spending another 2 hours with Coco and Shadow, I figured they were on the level. It was only 2 days later when hearing about the EXACT same thing happening to a fellow traveller, and then reading about the EXACT details of the scam in another backpackers Lonely Planet that I realized I was taken advantage of.

The amazing things about it, though, is that I am not at all mad about it. It was such a pleasent afternoon and it was nice to have some local guides to the city. The scam was so expertly run that I didn't know it was even happening. Really, I was pretty stupid for not asking about the price of the tea ceremony before taking part. And what's $300 to me?

Greg