Getting Free Ice Cream and my Wallet Stolen

People in China are very generous. I have been to so many dinners where my co-workers or my Chinese friends will absolutely not let me pay for dinner. It is not that they have money to spend either but they would say, you are a guest in our country so we pay. Also, the other day I made the mistake of telling this woman her bracelet was pretty, so she gave it to me! I did not want to take it but there was no going back.

The tea place we got scammed by sister Lily

With that said, it is also very easy to get scammed. Scott and I went to this famous site in China the Forbidden City when this woman, "call me sister Lily" comes and offers to show us around claiming she is a tourist as well. Soon she says she is tired and needs a drink. We walk into this tea place and she starts ordering stuff. Scott catches on and asks for the bill and that we are leaving, it is 135 yuan a person, which is very expensive for the 2 beers that we ordered, but there is a room renal charge and so on. We refused to pay and left, but it could have been worse. As we are walking back to the subway, same thing happens, girls approach us and want to show us around.

Not even rush hour subway

Now, my wallet was stolen out of my zipped bag that I was wearing on me. That is skill. I was traveling by subway during rush hour squezzed in between people. When I got to my destination, I wanted to buy some ice cream, when i looked in my bag, it was unzipped and wallet gone. I walked away and was waiting for my freind that I came to see. In the meantime, a man must have seen that I did not have money for the very cheap ice cream, so he gave me money and walked away.



The culture here is very different, it is collectivist and it shows through the simplest of things. for example when you order food, you order a couple of dishes where everyone shares, not like in US where each person orders their own food.