East China - Shanghai

[QUOTE=GregoryB;1760744]Hi guys, this place is to help bro's to find opportunities and stay free from problems:

I can second Marty's elder statesman general very good advice.

Take all with a grain of salt!

About HB's outbreak: HB, can you give a short sober summary what happened please, so all guys here can benefit. AND do not give the lady's name in public, please!

Thanks and look forward to get any specific contacts via PM.

Gregory.[/QUOTE]Gregory, I got to throw a shout out to you! I just went through this pointless, but somehow entertaining, exchange and have to give you a world of credit for even bothering with HB1, let alone being so patient.

To HB1, I'd like to clarify one point. Two of the posters you called out by name happen to be American and extremely helpful. One in particular has gone out of his way to help me. I do believe most people on this board genuinely try to support their fellow mongerers, but when you come out of the gate the way you did, well I guess all I can say is what the hell were you expecting?

[QUOTE=ShanghaiMj;1760018]So I should have known better, here on business and staying at my friends apartment. I was staying so close to Nanjing Road I decided to try WeChat with some girls and see where it lead. I usually go to the high end massage / spa places, but this was my mistake. Big mistake.

This girl was very presentable and met me at the Apple Store on Nanjin Road. I thought I could bring her back to my apartment so we walked around and lunch together and she said she would bring me to meet some girls. We did and walked down an ally close to the Hagen Das and walked in and was brought upstairs. A line of girls came out and they said 300 RMB. I didn't like any of them and was about to leave. My girl said she needed to use the restroom and left. I'm with the manager and she said 150 RMB and I decided OK. After the deed was done 4 big local guys come in and start to shake me down.

Took my wallet, used my phone to check balances on my cards and bank account. Took my cards and swiped. They said they wanted 29 k RMB and I have no where near that amount. They held me there for some time and I tried my best to talk them down. Ended up swiping about 2 K USD on my cards and made me sign. They let me go and I immediately called my card companies and had them block the transaction and issue a new card.

Do not go to Nanjing Road.

Are the local small BBS safe? It's been two years since I've been back, so I'm unaware.

Careful out there.[/QUOTE]If you're looking for higher end suggestions, shoot me a pm.

Taz.

But got my doubts. But in case you like to get some very good contacts, honest like a saint (haha.) PM works best.

Gregory.

[QUOTE=Tazman099;1760787]Gregory, I got to throw a shout out to you! I just went through this pointless, but somehow entertaining, exchange and have to give you a world of credit for even bothering with HB1, let alone being so patient.

To HB1, I'd like to clarify one point. Two of the posters you called out by name happen to be American and extremely helpful. One in particular has gone out of his way to help me. I do believe most people on this board genuinely try to support their fellow mongerers, but when you come out of the gate the way you did, well I guess all I can say is what the hell were you expecting?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Hobbiest1;1760763]I will take Gregory be's advice as he and I have exchanged PMs in the past and he has helped me the most. First, I will appologize for offending any board members with my comments and don't really wish to keep the fruitless exchange going. The spirit of this board isto help one another and that was truely my original intent. To notify others of my bad experiences in Shanghai. I will summarize again for everyone now.

1. First night I went to Judys at 1:30 AM and there were many 7's but nothing above. I pulled a very nice girl from Vietnam for 1,000 rmb to stay from 4 am - 7 am.

2. Next I went to Hangzhou and didn't really get the feel that there was many freelancer bars like Judys so I ordered a few girls from Backpage which always has its issues but it was convenient. No issues but way overpriced at 1,300 rmb / HR.

3. Last night () Thursday) in Hangzhou went to Westlake to a bar that was pretty cool with live music. That was Thursday didn't see any freelancers. Had to get in 5 cabs before one understood how to get to my hotel. This really sucked and was very frustrating.

4. Friday arrived in Shanghai and didn't do much because of the weather so my buddy and I had a very expensive (2,000 rmb) dinner.

5. Saturday. SCAM Day! First went to Peoples Park and a few people tried the tea ceremony scam on us but since I did some (evidently very little) home work I was keen to this one. Next went shopping on Nanjing road. Didn't find a lot of stuff so on way back to hotel a lady stopped and asked if she could help us find stuff. She seemed nice / innocent enough so we took her up on the offer. She took us to a bunch of places and we got all the souveniers we set out for. Over the course of a few hours she gained our trust. My mistake I guess. Then she suggests if we want a nice cold beer and some ladies she knows just the place. She took us to some hole in the wall place (coffee and beer bar) and that's where my buddy got robbed of 17,000 rmb by 4 thugs - 1 with a gun. You can read my post on here from a week ago that details our "lesson". No "SCAM DAY" would be complete without a visit from one of Steve's girls (Shanghai Nightlife Guide). She stayed 20 minutes although I paid for 1 hour. I have RTFF and understand the protocol of pay at the end. I get it. You have to put yourself in my shoes and understand that I don't want any trouble so I was not going to bargain with her. Especially after the day I had at the "lady bar".

6. Sunday. I got another girl from some website (can't remember name of site). After all the crap from Sunday neither I nor my friend were going to go out so I "ordered in". Actually we were headed out to dinner and stopped into a hotel next to radison Blu and the guy at the hotel said the area was not safe for us to walk around and to just eat dinner in the hotel.

7. Monday. Ordered in same girl from Sunday.

8. Tues, Weds. Nothing spectactular. Stll not going out. To this point I have had Chinese food every day and pretty tired of it so I went to the big mall on the Bund where there is a Hooters and went there for my final night.

Overall, I had an 'OK' time but even though I RTFF and am a veteran worldwide monger I got scammed and felt I had to watch my back at all times. I do NOT speak Chinese so that was very frutrating to just get a cab and get around. There are many places that I have been including Germany FKKs and I have to say I am looking forward to my return to Germany in a few weeks and DREADING my next trip to Shanghai in September.

Again, I will refrain from any more negative comments and I hope this very lucid (sober) account helps someone who is new to Shanghai.

Gregory. Thank you for your assistance!

H1.[/QUOTE]Hobbiest-.

Thanks for sharing. While not an ideal experience, maybe not a disaster either. Yeah, Chinese taxis often don't speak English, and it's never a good idea to follow touts (even someone who helped you shopping or met on wechat). Otherwise, I'm very surprised one of Steven's girls stayed only 20 minutes if you paid for an hour. He tends to hold them accountable. On the other hand, you did have a good time with several of the girls you connected with. You might have a better time next time if you visit some saunas where you can pick the girl.

Shanghai is not Bangkok, and you'll never get the same price / quality ratio. However, that's why Bangkok is truly unique. Still, Shanghai's got a great range of restaurants, the taxis tend to be honest, and the metro is clean and extensive.

[QUOTE=NorthSouth;1760784]I have read in a number of posts about rip offs that resulted in situations where there were physical danger. The thugs had demanded the marks to sign for credit card charges, and as soon as the victims escaped to safety, they called the credit card companies to stop payments. Did that work? Do credit card companies actually cancel those transactions. ?

I guess the lessons may be:

1. do not fall for baits that result in you being robbed in a place where you cannot get help.

2. if canceling the credit card transaction is always possible, just pay whatever they asked for by credit card so you get out of physical danger, and then call the credit card companies to notify them. Don't even spend that much time to talk down the amount (Maybe haggle just a little bit to appear that they will get that money). You want to get out of there, fast.

But I am not sure how easy it is to try to stop payment, or the thugs will not be asking you to sign for a bill with credit card. They will take all your cash and valuables.

I also read when police was notified of the robbery, they helped to recover the cash taken in several occasions. Is that generally true, or those were not so frequent exceptions?[/QUOTE]Yes, for sure canceling CC transactions works, as long as you are using a USA (Or other western card?) card. Even with the signature, contracts signed under duress are illegal. Simple enough.

As far as police getting involved in financial matters, my experience suggests otherwise. Just think about how busy they would be if they got involved in financial disputes.

Taz.

Here is what I understood from dealing with the bank. Since this was a chip and PIN card, this transaction was one that required a PIN. The dude with the gun demand that he be given the PIN. Whenever a transaction is completed with a correct PIN, the transaction is complete and can not be cancelled so the thugs got their money. This does not mean that I lost money as the bank will credit ones account for the loss. I guess this is a minor point as I did not take a loss but the transaction was complete.

As for police. We are there on a work visa and did not want to risk getting that yanked for whatever reason. I'm sure although I don't know that the police are just as crooked as the thiefs and would have wanted something too.

Hope this info helps.

H1.

[QUOTE=Tazman099;1760861]Yes, for sure canceling CC transactions works, as long as you are using a USA (Or other western card?) card. Even with the signature, contracts signed under duress are illegal. Simple enough.

As far as police getting involved in financial matters, my experience suggests otherwise. Just think about how busy they would be if they got involved in financial disputes.

Taz.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Tazman099;1760861]Yes, for sure canceling CC transactions works, as long as you are using a USA (Or other western card?) card. Even with the signature, contracts signed under duress are illegal. Simple enough.

As far as police getting involved in financial matters, my experience suggests otherwise. Just think about how busy they would be if they got involved in financial disputes.

Taz.[/QUOTE]Important thing here is to use a foreign CC mentioned by Taz. The whole process might take weeks but you do eventually get your money back. However if you use a card issued by a Chinese bank, you will NOT be able to recover your money.

Here's another suggestion, do not carry too many (or any) CC's with you. AMEX, don't leave home without it, is only valid for the US. It is just about as useful as tits on bulls outside of the hotel. Cash is still king here in CN.

Anyone knows what the going rate is for Ci or Vi pills here in Shanghai? Last time I had to make a purchase here it was just under 1,000 rmb for a box of 10. But that was almost 2 years ago.

Anyone bought some recently around Jing'an area?

Like I said, the bank credited my account but were not able to cancel the charge. Same net result to me = I PAY ZERO. The real interesting part to this is there was about 3,000 rmb cash and they didn't want that. I thought that was a little strange.

[QUOTE=Arizona123;1761070]Important thing here is to use a foreign CC mentioned by Taz. The whole process might take weeks but you do eventually get your money back. However if you use a card issued by a Chinese bank, you will NOT be able to recover your money.

Here's another suggestion, do not carry too many (or any) CC's with you. AMEX, don't leave home without it, is only valid for the US. It is just about as useful as tits on bulls outside of the hotel. Cash is still king here in CN.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Kib123;1754219]Hilarious and informative at the same time! I am heading to Shanghai in a few and this kind of experience helps put things into perspective. Sounds familiar if you are a US mongerer.[/QUOTE]I had a near escape myself a couple years ago.

Without getting into details, I basically just kept it a cool, got my shit together and strut myself confidently right out the front door and kept walking until I was a good distance away. It was weird actually, it was like I was the ghost, the LE just didn't seem the least bit interested in me.

Got a free session out of it. Which I felt bad about but I wasn't about to go back there anytime soon and push my luck.

Billy

[QUOTE=Arizona123;1761070]Important thing here is to use a foreign CC mentioned by Taz. The whole process might take weeks but you do eventually get your money back. However if you use a card issued by a Chinese bank, you will NOT be able to recover your money.

Here's another suggestion, do not carry too many (or any) CC's with you. AMEX, don't leave home without it, is only valid for the US. It is just about as useful as tits on bulls outside of the hotel. Cash is still king here in CN.[/QUOTE]I agree that AMEX is not useful in China except for a handful of high-end and legit establishments that actually know what a Centurion means.
(No, I don't have a Centurion or any Black level card)
But VISA is pretty much accepted everywhere in Shanghai where plastic is accepted.

Yes, there are a few saunas that have a cash only rule, like Heting Elite or Sacrosa.

But generally I had no problems using my US bank issued VISA in Shanghai.

(At least I haven't seen an ATM in Shanghai that doesn't take it).

I can't say the same for my Citi Master Card though.

[QUOTE=Arizona123;1761073]Anyone knows what the going rate is for Ci or Vi pills here in Shanghai? Last time I had to make a purchase here it was just under 1,000 rmb for a box of 10. But that was almost 2 years ago.

Anyone bought some recently around Jing'an area?[/QUOTE]I have a good shop at the corner of Chang Shou Lu and Wan Han Du Lu, 8 Cialis RMB 900, pretty sure no fakes, and for foreigners no prescription required Search on Google or drop me a private message here.

Steven

[QUOTE=Arizona123;1761070]Important thing here is to use a foreign CC mentioned by Taz. The whole process might take weeks but you do eventually get your money back. However if you use a card issued by a Chinese bank, you will NOT be able to recover your money.

Here's another suggestion, do not carry too many (or any) CC's with you. AMEX, don't leave home without it, is only valid for the US. It is just about as useful as tits on bulls outside of the hotel. Cash is still king here in CN.[/QUOTE]Really? I've used Amex all over Asia, including China. For sure it's not as widely accepted as visa / mc. But I can remember saving the day in KL (yes, I know it's not China) at a KTV, after multiple visa / mc were declined.

The price you referred to would likely be for Vi. Yes, I still see the same price in ads on Pharmacy window as I walk by to work, I don't think that is a special because I saw the same ad there for at least 3 to 4 months.

I do not know if you need a prescription to buy them in China.

I am surprised that Chinese drug companies had not flooded the market with cheap generic Vi (like Chinese companies frequently do for many other things) , because the drug is off patent. India and Thailand are doing big business with their generic version of the medication.

[QUOTE=NorthSouth;1761340]The price you referred to would likely be for Vi. Yes, I still see the same price in ads on Pharmacy window as I walk by to work, I don't think that is a special because I saw the same ad there for at least 3 to 4 months.

I do not know if you need a prescription to buy them in China.

I am surprised that Chinese drug companies had not flooded the market with cheap generic Vi (like Chinese companies frequently do for many other things) , because the drug is off patent. India and Thailand are doing big business with their generic version of the medication.[/QUOTE]My understanding is that technically you do need one (prescription), but many pharmacies simply don't care.

Kind of like the registration on cold & cough medicine, some pharmacies are pretty annoying about it (like actually demanding your passport).

While others just fill out some fake ID numbers when making a sale to foreigners.