Rest of day 4
So, unfortunately, for the first time I have to tell you all a bad experience about China. And it grabbed me that much that I wanted to shared it immediately, so here it is.
First I will finish the rest of day 4; After the visit to the Olympic area I went to a very nice temple (the Lama Temple) and had dinner somewhere close to that. Than I went back to the hostel and found an aged guy sleeping in my 3 person dorm room, not the talking kind of person, so kind of boring. After a short break I went to the most famous market-street of Beijing to see what was happening there. The market is famous for its strange delicacies, and indeed I saw fried frogs and scorpions, which I didn’t eat luckily.
While walking on the market and photographing a church I met a girl named Koriander (don’t laugh! Those western style names are just international nicknames people have here). She suggested to walk on the market together and I agreed surprised, because I didn’t expect such interest in me. Of course I am a western guy, so maybe they like me for that reason, but I decided that a good conversation couldn’t hurt at all. After some walking we met a girlfriend of Koriander which she should meet called Rosie. They showed me around a bit and we ended up in a place where you could drink some real good quality tea. When I saw the map I almost fainted when I saw that 1 cup of tea costed 180 yuan (like 18 euro), but the ladies convinced me of the cheap sharing option and so we started drinking. In the end we also had some wine and beer, but in my opinion I didn’t drink for more than 500 yuan, and we ended up with a bill of almost 2000 yuan (like 200 euro!). And guess who didn’t have more than 300 yuan, yes; the girls! Of course I don’t mind paying something for girls, but this is outrageous, especially for girls I don’t really know that well and after them promising me that it wouldn’t be this much! So eventually, after many discussion and anger I just payed with my credit card, but the whole ambiance of the evening was gone for me. Apparently they expected me to be rich or something, although I told them several times that I really was traveling on a tight budget. I felt so bad about it that I didn’t want to spend any more money that evening and I went back to the hostel. Of course now I feel ripped off and I made up several complot theories they could have used to toggle money from me, but in the end I don’t really think they tried to rip me off. Next time I just have to be clear that I will only pay my own drinks and I will never go in such an expensive place again.
Rosie and Koriander, the most expensive tourist attraction in Beijing!
Well, in the end, money is not the most important thing in life. I spend, I learned and I even enjoyed (before seeing the bill at least) so I hope this evening will help me in the future and makes me a wiser person. Tomorrow I will visit the forbidden city, so lets look forward and smile again, although that is kind of hard after losing almost 200 Euro in 3 hours, something even Holland Casino didn’t make me do!
Don’t really think those pretty girls were so nice after all, San! Maybe this is their way to earn a living, in service of the landlord. Next time don’t pay that absurd amount of money for a few drinks, you just don’t have the cash with you and insist to call a police officer! You’ve nothing to loose (and always can offer to wash the dishes). Although you discovered that not everyone in the street is immediate trustworthy (indeed a good, awakening lesson), hope the event doesn’t affect your pleasure and good faith in your further stay in Beijing. Forget the place and pay your attention to the nice and interesting things in and around the city. Tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities and yesterday is gone!
Hoi Sander
Nou ja, wat een nare meiden. Hoe kunnen ze!! Ze zullen vast last krijgen van schuldgevoel wanneer ze terugdenken aan jou! Heb hier al een geldinzameling voorgesteld; laat je weten wanneer het nodig is?
En ja………, idd levenslessen. Toch zou het zonde zijn als je een stuk vertrouwen wat je in je hebt en wat je zo’n mooi mens maakt, moet laten varen.
Je bezoek aan Shanghai klonk geweldig. Wat doe je dat toch makkelijk, al die contacten maken. Bijzonder!!
Goede tijden, veel liefs,
Hanneke
Tja inderdaad, het waren geen aardige meiden uiteindelijk, anders hadden ze wel wat meer moeite gedaan om mee te betalen. Bedankt voor je lieve aanbod Hanneke, maar geld inzamelen is niet nodig hoor! Wie zijn billen brand moet immers op de blaren zitten en ik heb voorlopig nog wel genoeg om 24 januari te halen denk ik. Het is inderdaad wel een grote deuk in mijn voorheen feilloze vertrouwen in de goedheid van de mens, dat is wat ik nog het ergste vind. Maar hopelijk denk ik er over een paar dagen weer anders over…
Comment on photograph:
Forget my earlier remarks about calling the police, Sander, I now realize you were not in the proper circumstance for such an action. The green girl in the picture (Koriander?) seems relentlessly enjoying, the red one appears to host some conciousness of guilt though (but what’s in a picture?). I can vividly imagine that the three of you had a nice time during a couple of hours. Also your consuming behaviour doesn’t seem to have kept limited to a few drinks only. Still wondering in what language you did communicate, if it was in English you dealt with some educated women. Did cost you some yuans, but you had a hell of a private tourist attraction. As a bonus you learned a good lesson plus acquired a lifetime remembrance! After all, the fair amount of money you spent here can be seen as a rather good investment in short- and longterm quality of life!
Nevertheless, have a nice cheaper trip from now on!
Hi Sander, terrible experience!!
I understand perfectly, welcome to China! I have other similar experience two days a go in Guilin, but finally I pay 200 yuans (20 euros) nothing compare to you and was with a travel agency. Sorry my friend. I´m sure this girls are part of the bussiness. Maybe you can talk with holland Embasy or police (in China the phone es 110)Something like this happen to my friends in Istambul, they pay almost 60 euros for drinks of “nice girls”. Pretty girls are part of bussiness. Fucking bitches!
Good luck and don´t thing more in this, is part of your amazing adventure.
Hugs from Yangshuo.
Hoi San,
He, he, dat is niet leuk aan de start van je reis. Maar ik realiseer me dat we allemaal op onze eigen manier moeten leren in en van het leven. Lieverd ik hoop dat je dit vrij snel achter je kunt laten en lekker verder gaan genieten van je prachtige reis. Heb het goed en maak er iets moois van.
Liefs,
Lia
hahahah die sander
heb je pech met meisjes in nederland en
nu ook weer in het buitenland
zo zie je maar dat je niet iedereen zomaar moet vertrouwen
xxx je nederlandse vriendinnetje hahaha
ik mis je wel hier hoor
Die goedgelovige Sander toch ook… Zoals jezelf al zegt deze ervaring neem je weer mee en leer je weer van. En later zul je er ook om kunnen lachen, uiteindelijk heb je ‘slechts’ geld verloren.
Groeten Jeroen