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Drive to wall ruined by pit stop

By Linda Gibson (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-09 07:57

For anyone visiting Beijing, a trip to the Great Wall is almost mandatory, and I had not been there.

So when a couple of friends reserved a car and driver to take them to the Mutianyu section, I went along.

We didn't know it, but from the moment the car arrived, we were about to be subjected to an unpleasant feature of Chinese tourism - relentless pressure to spend money.

We had been warned. Don't let the driver take you anywhere except the Great Wall, friends told us. But we didn't expect trouble. People accustomed to honesty in most commercial transactions simply don't foresee brazen manipulation from those they trust enough to hire, and are stunned when they encounter it.

Armed with good advice that we ignored, we approached the van waiting for us.

Our first surprise was being informed by a young English-speaking Chinese woman that she would be going with us. The driver we had requested had been called away to ferry some "leaders", she explained, so she was sent because the available driver didn't speak English. No extra charge, she said.

The last-minute switch seemed suspicious, but I suppressed misgivings with a stern lecture to myself not to be cynical. I didn't want to be the kind of "ugly American" that imagines every Chinese merchant is out to cheat her.

Fifteen minutes later, the scheme unfolded.

Would you like to stop at a jade factory, the young woman asked us. It's on the way. As we mulled this over, she described jade's magical properties and its role in Chinese legend, history and culture.

This factory, she said, had provided jade items to emperors of the Qing Dynasty. By now, my inner voice was hollering an alarm, but my friends said they wouldn't mind a quick stop, maybe 15 minutes.

We swung off the highway and pulled into a parking lot crammed with tour buses. About every 60 seconds, a bus or van stopped in front of the factory doors to disgorge unsuspecting tourists into the waiting hands of employees who hustled them inside. One attached herself to each group and immediately began directing it to follow her. Like dazed cattle, all did.

We were taken past displays of elaborately carved jade objects, shown workers carving jade before our very eyes and finally - this was an ingenious touch - given a brief demonstration on how to tell real jade from fake.

Then we were directed into vast showrooms of jade jewelry, knick-knacks, vases and art works. If price is any sign, the jade there must have been real and of extraordinary quality.

Very nice, we said. We're ready to go now.

Oh but you can't, our English-speaking guide said. You have to stay here for at least another half hour or I'll get into trouble.

While my friends argued futilely with her, I went back out to the front and quizzed some tourists milling around outside. They had all been told much the same. They were required to stay 40 minutes.

Our guide finally emerged with my friends and agreed to let us sit in the empty van.

Where's the driver, we asked. He's inside, he had to "register," we were told. We would have to wait.

We called a Chinese friend, explained our dilemma and handed the phone to our guide. A spirited conversation ensued during which, we later learned, our friend threatened to call the police and report her and the driver if they didn't get us out of there and take us where we wanted to go.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, but being treated like fat wallets to be emptied cast a pall on what should have been an incredible experience. Not even the Great Wall or the beautiful scenery we traveled through could dispel the unpleasant knowledge that we were regarded as dupes and had been targeted for fleecing.

How unfortunate that this is the story we'll have to tell our friends and family back home when they ask, How was your trip to the Great Wall?

(China Daily 08/09/2010 page26)