Chinarchy

CP15: Mongolia and TCM

by Anderson | 06/23/11

Jaime and Anderson discuss border crossings and traditional Chinese medicine

CP13: Welcome To Beijing, Miles and Ji Tan

by Anderson | 05/02/11

Jamie and I welcome two friends to Beijing. We also discuss the death of both the West and Osama bin Laden.

CP12: Funemployment

by Anderson | 04/24/11

We discuss being self-employed and identifying as an American abroad.

CP11: Jayden and Artists

by Anderson | 04/18/11

The eleventh episode of the Chinarchy podcast. Jaimie tells a couple stories from her school and we talk about some interesting (and positive) cultural experiences.

Me Scam You Long Time

by Anderson | 10/26/10

A (brilliant and devilishly handsome) guy named Will recently posted a story about getting scammed by a Chinese con artist. I’m reposting it here for your enjoyment. Read below:

I just got scammed out of a hundred US dollars. And it’s my own idiot, iPhone-loving fault.

It’s a long story…

I was getting off the subway at Yonganli and some weird crackhead Chinese guy kept trying to get me to buy an iPhone. Whatever, though, Yonganli is full of people trying to sell you shit. I ignored him for a little but then I realized it was a real iPhone, so I got a little intrigued. He said 2000 kuai and shoved it into my hand. It was definitely real (retina display!). This shit must be stolen, there’s no way he’d sell it for 2000RMB. I walk away again and he keeps saying “need money need money” and sniffing and looking all crackhead. So I stop and say, “500 kuai.” He says no and walks away, but then turns around to follow me again. He offers me it for 600 kuai and puts it in my hand again.

Now at this point, a couple things are going through my head. 1. How the fuck is this guy selling me a real iPhone 4 for 600 kuai. I have to take that deal. 2. This is definitely stolen, whats the proper moral stance on buying a stolen iPhone from a cracked out Chinese dude? 3. Will, Will, this is too good to be true. Go home.

Now, 3 obviously wasn’t helping. So let’s just ignore that voice. 2 raises some good points. I decided if I bought it, I would call one of the contacts (I already checked, there were 36 in the phone) and try to return it. Surely, the real owner would reimburse me the hundred bucks for returning his phone. And if it didn’t have a real owner, than number 1 was right and I just got a sweet deal on an iPhone.

So we go to an ATM to get the money (we were still in Yongangli with like a bajillion people around, I wasn’t in some dark alley) and this guy is really cracking out bad. He keeps taking the phone out and putting it away and taking it out and playing with it. And creepily looking around him and talking fast in Chinese. He’s freaking me out basically. And right as I’m going to put in my pin he shoves the phone into my hand and points at my pocket. I put the phone in my pocket, get the money from the ATM, hand it to him and start walking away.

Then he calls his friend over to see if I want to buy an iPhone 3Gs. This guy is even more aggressive than the first and keeps trying to get me to buy it until finally I tell him to get lost and duck into a Starbucks. (I wasn’t being cliche by taking my new iPhone to Starbucks, I was headed there already.)

I sit down and try to come down off my adrenaline high and reach into my pocket. This is going to be so sweet. I’m going to call Brett and be like ‘Dude guess who is calling you from his new iPhone.’ It’s going to be hilarious.

I grab the phone but its suspiciously light. “Oh no no no no no.” Calm down, calm down. It’s just you being all excited.

But as soon as I look at the phone I know something is wrong. It’s all cheap and fake and OH MY FUCKING GOD HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!

Then I remember him repeatedly putting it in his pocket and taking it out, and him shoving it into my hands right as I was distracted at the ATM.

FUCK ME. No. This can’t be.

I run out into the street to look for him. Of course they are gone.

I went back into Starbucks, and resentfully glared at all the people on their iPhones, and typed the above status update.

So basically, today I failed China. Big time.

There you have it. Let his 600 kuai be a lesson to you all.