China is statistically one of the safer countries in the world for tourists in terms of violent crime. What visitors do sometimes encounter are financial scams targeting tourists, most of which follow predictable patterns. The good news is that once you know the playbook, nearly all of them are easy to avoid. This guide covers every major scam you’re likely to encounter, how each one works, and the simple rules that neutralize them.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
The Tea House Scam
Where: Primarily Beijing (near Tiananmen, Wangfujing, Lama Temple), Shanghai (People’s Square, The Bund), and Xi’an (City Wall area)
How it works: One or two friendly young people (usually in their 20s, often female) approach you, introduce themselves as students who want to practice English, and after a brief conversation suggest you join them for tea at a traditional tea house nearby. The tea house turns out to be an overpriced tourist trap. After sampling several teas, the bill arrives: ¥800–3,000 for what was framed as a casual social interaction. If you protest, pressure is applied. The “students” are paid commission.
Variants: Sometimes framed as an art exhibition (“we’re showing some of our student work today”), a cultural performance, or a restaurant recommendation.
How to avoid it: Friendly strangers who approach you in tourist areas and quickly suggest going somewhere together — 95% of the time, this is a setup. Politely decline. Locals in China don’t typically approach foreign tourists for English practice near major attractions; those who do are usually working a script. If you genuinely want to meet locals and have conversations, apps like Tandem or Meetup events in major cities are a much better route.
If you’re in a tea house and the bill is shocking: Ask to see an itemized price list. Call your hotel or someone who speaks Chinese. Do not feel pressured to pay fraudulent bills — you can and should involve police if necessary.
The Art Student Scam
Where: Major tourist areas, particularly near university neighborhoods in Beijing and Shanghai
How it works: A student (art, photography, design) approaches you and explains they’re having an exhibition of their work nearby. They want to know if you’d be interested in coming to see it. The “exhibition” is a sales room where you’re shown mass-produced prints at extremely elevated prices, with significant social pressure to buy.
Variant: You’re taken to a “studio” where works are sold for hundreds or thousands of yuan, described as valuable original pieces.
How to avoid it: Same rule as the tea house — uninvited invitations from strangers near tourist areas almost always have a financial purpose. The existence of real student art exhibitions does not make the street approach legitimate.
Fake Monks
Where: Buddhist temples, tourist areas, sometimes train stations
How it works: A person dressed as a Buddhist monk or nun approaches and presents you with a small gift — a string of prayer beads, a small figurine, a piece of blessed cloth. After you accept it, they explain it’s an auspicious gift and ask for a donation. Sometimes they produce a donation book with amounts suggested in the hundreds of yuan.
Reality check: Legitimate Buddhist monks in China do not solicit donations from tourists on the street or in tourist areas. Real monks at temples receive donations at official donation boxes.
How to avoid it: Politely decline any gift from a monk-dressed person on the street. If you’ve already accepted the item, you can return it. You have no obligation to pay.
Taxi Scams
Where: Airports, train stations, and tourist areas — most commonly at Beijing Capital Airport, Shanghai Pudong Airport, and popular tourist destinations
Common Taxi Scams:
Unlicensed taxis (黑车 “black cars”): Drivers who aren’t official taxis approach you at arrivals halls, offering rides. They’re sometimes cheaper initially, but often negotiate-and-inflate: ¥200 becomes ¥400 after the ride. Always use official taxi queues or ride-hailing apps.
Meter refusal: The driver refuses to use the meter and quotes a fixed price that sounds reasonable but is actually 3x normal rates. Legitimate taxis in China’s major cities are metered — if a driver refuses the meter, get out and find another taxi or use Didi.
Long routing: The driver takes an obvious roundabout route to inflate the fare. This is less common now that passengers can use maps apps to monitor the route in real time.
How to avoid all taxi scams: Use Didi (China’s ride-hailing app equivalent to Uber). The fare is fixed and transparent before you accept the ride, the route is tracked, and driver reviews exist. This eliminates virtually all taxi-related scam risk. Set up Didi before your trip.
Currency Scams
The fake note trick: You receive a counterfeit note as change. Large denomination ¥50 and ¥100 notes are occasionally counterfeited.
What genuine notes look like: Real yuan notes have a metallic security strip visible when held to light, color-shifting ink on the number denomination, raised printing you can feel on the portrait area, and a watermark visible in the paper.
At airports and official exchange offices this is not a concern. It’s more of a risk at informal transactions — street markets, small roadside stalls.
The money exchange scam: Someone approaches offering to exchange currency at a better rate than the bank. The notes they give you are either fake or the wrong denomination (especially ¥1 notes look superficially similar to ¥100 notes). Never exchange currency outside of banks, hotels, or official exchange offices.
The Counterfeit Goods Trap
This isn’t a scam exactly — it’s a cultural expectation management issue. Counterfeit branded goods (fake Rolex, fake North Face, fake Nike) are openly sold in certain markets like Shanghai’s Yatai Xinyang Market. You know the goods are fake when you buy them.
The issue comes when vendors:
- Sell a genuine product for initial negotiation, then swap it for a fake when bagging up the purchase
- Show you a sample of one quality, then bag up an inferior quality item
Basic rule: Inspect the item you’re given carefully before finalizing payment. Legitimate vendors won’t mind.
On “genuine” certificates: Any certificate of authenticity for luxury goods purchased in a tourist market is also fake. Don’t pay extra for them.
Price Inflation in Tourist Areas
This isn’t a scam — it’s just markets operating — but it catches visitors who don’t know prices.
Water bottles near the Forbidden City or Great Wall: ¥10–20 at tourist kiosks vs ¥2–4 at a convenience store. Walk 100m from the main tourist zone.
Photography at scenic spots: People in costume (minority clothing, ancient soldier dress) invite you to take a photo, then demand payment afterward. Always agree on price before photographing anyone offering a “photo opportunity.”
Rickshaw rides (三轮车): Agree on a firm price before getting in. Verbal agreements of “¥20” can become disputed as “¥200 per person” when you arrive. The most common version of this happens near the Forbidden City and hutong areas in Beijing.
The “Broken” Trinket Scam
How it works: A vendor sets up a stall with cheap items (jade, figurines, etc.) in a crowded area. As you walk past, they (or an accomplice) “accidentally” bump into you and a piece breaks. They demand payment for the damaged item, often at an inflated price. This relies on social pressure and your unfamiliarity with local dispute norms.
What to do: Walk away. You have no legal obligation to pay for items broken in a setup collision. If they escalate, call the police (110).
Digital Scams
QR code fraud: Fake QR codes placed over legitimate ones at restaurants or parking meters, redirecting payments to the scammer’s account. In restaurants, the legitimate QR code is usually on official printed material from the restaurant — if the code looks like a sticker placed on top of a menu, verify before scanning.
Fake booking sites: When searching in English for Chinese hotels or tour products, some sites appearing in search results are fake booking platforms that take payment but provide no booking. Use established platforms (Booking.com, Ctrip/Trip.com, Agoda) for all bookings.
The Five Rules That Prevent 99% of Scams
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Use Didi, not street taxis. This alone eliminates the most common scam category.
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Don’t follow strangers who approach you in tourist areas. However friendly, however interesting the proposition.
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Agree on all prices before any transaction — food, transport, photographs, services.
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Check every bill in restaurants. Genuine overcharging (adding items you didn’t order) happens occasionally in tourist-heavy areas.
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Never exchange currency on the street. Banks and ATMs only.
China is genuinely safe for tourists. The scams that do exist are concentrated around a handful of tourist areas and follow consistent patterns. Know the patterns and you’ll be fine.