Chinese tea ceremony scam

I kinda felt that a scam was coming, but I still walked right into it. Now of course, my retelling of the situation is jaded, so I'm going to have more emphasis on the things that probably should have thrown warning bells, but understand that in actuality, many of these things things were quite subtle.

So I was milling about a shopping mall today and a young lady approached me. She said she had been studying English and now was in Beijing living with her uncle and looking for a job. Her english was quite good actually, and we talked quite a bit about Chinese customs and in particular, the Lunar New Year. I wasn't entirely truthful with her-- I said I was from Canada, but to cover for my obvious American traits, was truthful about going to school and currently living in America. After a long period of chatter and walking around, she suggested that we sit down for coffee or tea. As most of you know, I'm not a fan of coffee. So, she suggested a tea place that was nearby and that her uncle had taken her to. I figure that since she's local, she probably knows a few relatively decent places around.

We end up on the second floor of this place in the commercial shopping district near the Forbidden City. As we enter, I thought it was odd that they served tea in these individual little rooms, but it turned out that we had our own server who guided us through about 12 different types of tea, ranging from those familiar to me like oolong, green and black (lychee) teas, to those less familiar, like fruit, jasmine, dragon, etc. Having an individual room allowed me to ask a lot of questions about the tea preparation and kept distractions from other groups out. I wasn't told much about the origins of the tea ceremony, other than that it's a special occasion--the Chinese New Year. I found it interesting that they rinse the cup (slightly smaller than a shot glass) with a small amount of the tea you are about to be served, that while most teas are added to a pot before water, one tea is added after the water, and that some teas are prepared with specifically different water temperatures. I was also told about the various health beliefs attributed to the various types of tea.

At the end of the tea service, I was offered the chance to buy some tea in a nice looking box, which I expected. Although I might purchase a small amount of tea before I depart, I didn't take them up on the offer. Then I was presented with the final bill, and knew I'd been had. I absolutely refused to pay for some tea she had requested for herself and tried to split the bill, but was given some bullshit about the Chinese custom of giving the bill to the man. 1,184 RMB later, we parted ways and I can guarantee you that I just had my company provided (liquid) dinner and will still be footing most of the bill myself. Here's hoping the free hotel happy hour buffet has some decent food.

In the end, yeah, I feel bad/pissed about getting ripped off. All the same, I enjoyed the conversation, and the tea ceremony was indeed very informative. It's only money. Lesson learned of course: ask for the price before sitting down.

I chatted with the attendant in the executive lounge about it this evening, and he related a ripoff experience in New York City, so we Americans can't get off the hook, as we take advantage of foreigners too.

Mom and dad-- I don't need to hear your comment on this one. Since I don't exactly know what you are thinking right now, I'll cover my bases: I won't appreciate any pearls of wisdom or think your mocking comment is funny.