Enchanted China travellers: Tip about Counterfeit Chinese Money

[pxlbarrel]

When we were on our trip in April, one of the guides told us that counterfeiting the Chinese RMB was a problem. In fact, one of the people on the tour received a counterfeit 100 yuan from his bank in the United States and when he tried to use it at one of the markets, it was rejected. The guide had the counterfeit bill and showed us how to tell the difference between a real one and a fake one.

Look at the little 100 on the bill with the bill flat and just above eye level. Tilt it toward you and the 100 should actually turn colour. The fake note will stay one colour.

Here's are some sites that tells other ways of detecting the fake bills.

http://www.xian-travel.com/china-travel-guides/chinesemoney/

http://www.blackandwhitecat.org/2009/01/19/how-to-tell-if-your-100-yuan-note-is-fake/
If you're changing some money in the U.S. or anywhere outside of China, just make sure all the notes you're getting are real. I suspect that the banks here are not as discriminating about Chinese money as the banks in China.

 

[sayhello]

Wow! I never thought about that! I just always assumed my bank would give me good bills! Thanks for the tip. I think this is probably good advice for any foreign currency.

Sayhello

 

[JJsmama]

Actually, a bank will almost always give you 'real' chinese money. They check them very carefully. In over six years here, I have never had a fake RMB 100 bill. 50's are more likely to be fake here.

Another tip is to never use money changers at all. I never use them in any country we go to. INstead bring an ATM card that works internationally and use that to get money from a bank ATM in a large hotel or bank, etc.

Unfortunately, sometimes unscrupulous merchants will tell a tourist that their bill is fake, and that they have to confiscate it to turn it in and then get the customer to pay with yet another bill. They are really just stealing the first bill.
If the merchant actually gave the bill back, then they probably really suspected it to be fake and were honest. If they kept it, OR tried to 'help the tourist' by switching it with another bill, they were stealing it.

Ok, this is going to sound really negative, but here is the truth: a chinese person will not just volunteer to help you in any way - just for the sake of being nice. That is not part of their culture and they will not even help each other. If someone approaches you and offers to show you around, be a tour guide, take you to a tea house, introduce you to a pretty girl, change your money for you, take your photo for you, show you where the real bargains are.... Get yourself away from that situation. It will backfire on you, I promise.

If you find that you do need assistance, ask someone who is minding his/ her own business and paying you no attention. Preferably, look for someone who is an 'office worker' type and in their 20s or 30's. These younger folks will be more likely to speak English and the business type locals have a more open mindset towards foreigners. The older chinese and the poor of all ages view foreigners as Prey. I am not saying that the locals are 'bad' or you should be afraid. I am saying that Helpfulness to Others is NOT a part of this culture and you should be very suspicious of it. Because it IS part of our culture, it appears normal to us and we get scammed.

One more thing about China scams: PLEASE understand that none of the bargain designers items you will be offered are real. NONE. Not the Louis Vuitton hand bags, not the Gucci wallets, not the Callaway golf clubs. If you want to buy it, fine. Just understand that it is NOT real no matter what they say.

Somethings that can be bought here for good prices and can be of good quality are silk in every shape and form: Silk purses, night gowns, shirts. Lovely beaded evening purses, pearls and jade and art work. My favorite is the gorgeous hand sewn 'paintings.' I also love all the antique ( or even the fake antique) wooded boxes and baskets.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Ok, this is going to sound really negative, but here is the truth: a chinese person will not just volunteer to help you in any way - just for the sake of being nice. That is not part of their culture and they will not even help each other. If someone approaches you and offers to show you around, be a tour guide, take you to a tea house, introduce you to a pretty girl, change your money for you, take your photo for you, show you where the real bargains are.... Get yourself away from that situation. It will backfire on you, I promise.

.

Could you perhaps rephrase that as "people in China" rather than "a Chinese person"????

Also, the ABD guides are very knowledgable of what's going on in China including warning everybody about the knockoffs. And trust me, everybody on our trip didn't need to be reminded about the scams and scandals. We were all pretty knowledgable. It was one of the guides that told us about the 100 RMB counterfeit and he had it in his hands demonstrating how it was counterfeit ... He got it from one of the people on the tour who got it from his bank in the States.

 

[JJsmama]

And trust me, everybody on our trip didn't need to be reminded about the scams and scandals. We were all pretty knowledgable.

I was just trying to help.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I was just trying to help.

I was actually kind of offended by your choice of words and/or phrasing.

 

[LSmith]

Could you perhaps rephrase that as "people in China" rather than "a Chinese person"????

Also, the ABD guides are very knowledgable of what's going on in China including warning everybody about the knockoffs. And trust me, everybody on our trip didn't need to be reminded about the scams and scandals. We were all pretty knowledgable. It was one of the guides that told us about the 100 RMB counterfeit and he had it in his hands demonstrating how it was counterfeit ... He got it from one of the people on the tour who got it from his bank in the States.

You are reminding people to watch out for the scam of fake money but JJSMAMA isn't allowed to add to that?

 

[pxlbarrel]

I was pointing out that most of us were already making jokes about the knockoffs before the guides even warned us of them. We had lots of laughs about Rodexes and Couch, etc.

My quarrel or offense was not with the scam information but with the phrase "a Chinese person will not volunteer to help in any way". Perhaps she meant "a person from China" ... Because there's a big difference in those two phrases.

I also don't want people going there thinking they are going to be surrounded by old people preying on them. On the ABD trip, you will get accosted a few times in Beijing but after that, there's almost no time or place you will be bugged (well, maybe at the Great Wall). The other point I was making was don't be alarmed, the guides reminded us at any opportunity where it might happen to watch out for certain things. We were always given good advice and warnings.

I think the toilets in China are scarier than the old people.

 

[LSmith]

I was pointing out that most of us were already making jokes about the knockoffs before the guides even warned us of them. We had lots of laughs about Rodexes and Couch, etc.

My quarrel or offense was not with the scam information but with the phrase "a Chinese person will not volunteer to help in any way". Perhaps she meant "a person from China" ... Because there's a big difference in those two phrases.

I also don't want people going there thinking they are going to be surrounded by old people preying on them. On the ABD trip, you will get accosted a few times in Beijing but after that, there's almost no time or place you will be bugged (well, maybe at the Great Wall). The other point I was making was don't be alarmed, the guides reminded us at any opportunity where it might happen to watch out for certain things. We were always given good advice and warnings.

I think the toilets in China are scarier than the old people.

There are many people that read this particular forum that don't take ABD trips so the information can be useful to some.

I showed my husband and kids what JJSMAMA wrote and they were not offended in anyway and I highly doubt that there was any intent to offend. Why even go there when someone was just trying to help?

 

[pxlbarrel]

There are many people that read this particular forum that don't take ABD trips so the information can be useful to some.

I showed my husband and kids what JJSMAMA wrote and they were not offended in anyway and I highly doubt that there was any intent to offend. Why even go there when someone was just trying to help?

Intending to offend or not, I gave her the chance to say yes to my rephrasing.

As a Chinese person who DOES go out of my way to help, I'm offended by the way her sentence was phrased. I think the people in China are incredibly rude but note how I said it. I didn't say Chinese people are rude.

Ok? I've explained my sensitivity. Lets drop it.

 

[LSmith]

Intending to offend or not, I gave her the chance to say yes to my rephrasing.

As a Chinese person who DOES go out of my way to help, I'm offended by the way her sentence was phrased. I think the people in China are incredibly rude but note how I said it. I didn't say Chinese people are rude.

Ok? I've explained my sensitivity. Lets drop it.

Well, if JJSMAMA is not incredibly rude, she might be offended by this quote, since she lives in China. In fact, I met many people in China that were not rude at all and some that were very helpful.

Consider it dropped.

 

[sayhello]

OK, sorry I wasn't up yet to deal with this! I think there are several ways this could have been phrased, but I'm pretty sure JJsmama did not intend to offend. Things said as absolutes are usually an overstatement (I try to say things like "many" or "some" people). Anyways, I think I'm going to close this thread before someone else decides to argue about it. I do want to leave it because I do believe there's some very good info here. Thanks for self-moderating here & ending without it getting too bad.

Sayhello