Shanghai - Nanjing Road girls

[Scrumhalf]

I had an afternoon to kill in Shanghai, so I decided to take the subway to Nanjing Road and the Old Town and walk around. In about a half hour of walking down Nanjing Road, I was approached by at least 7 or 8 girls trying to chat me up. Not quite sure what the racket was - does anyone who has experienced this know? Basically, it involved a lot of small talk about where I am from, what I am doing in Shanghai, etc. etc. and invariably culminating in a request to go sit down someplace, have a coffee and talk. Not sure where it would have headed if I had accepted......

 

[impolyt_one]

Oh come on, don't be so dense man. Unless you're incredibly handsome and had raging unstoppable pheremones, I think we all know about the birds and the benjis.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Naw, I figured hookers, but I was wondering if it was also a prelude to a mugging, especially the variant where this girl in the old town insisted that she was an art student and that she had an exhibition on the 2nd floor of this shopping building and if I could only accompany her to check it out...

 

[MetroStyles]

Seems like a valid question to me, and an interesting experience.

If this was Bangkok, we'd all know they are lady/(boy) hookers but in Shanghai, it may be a less transparent situ.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Yeah, I am neither incredibly handsome nor (at 44 years old), have raging unstoppable pheromones as far as I can tell,

, but hookers are so mundane, I am almost disappointed. I was hoping it was some more sophisticated racket. Now I regret not taking at least one of them up on the offer as long as it was in a roadside cafe just to see what it was all about..

 

[clee1982]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

Yeah, I am neither incredibly handsome nor (at 44 years old), have raging unstoppable pheromones as far as I can tell,

, but hookers are so mundane, I am almost disappointed. I was hoping it was some more sophisticated racket. Now I regret not taking at least one of them up on the offer as long as it was in a roadside cafe just to see what it was all about..

are you white?

 

[impolyt_one]

OP, don't pick at scabs, or it will leave a scar

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by clee1982

are you white?

Nope... deep brown (southern Indan subcontinent), so I dismissed the white sugar daddy theory.

 

[texas_jack]

they're what we call whores. WTF dude?

 

[Douglas]

not hookers. you will go and chat at some out of the way place, you will order a round of tea or beer or whatever, and then you will be presented with a huge bill and a goon squad and not be permitted to leave until your account is squared up. at least that's what google says. i've had the same experience and checked it out.

the hookers you will know because they'll come right out and offer "massah-jee massah-jee."

the other common one is the couple who wants you to take their picture, then they chat you up and make friends and then ask if you want to go with them to a tea ceremony. i think that one is less "scammy" in that it's a legit (if overpriced) show and then a high-pressure sales pitch to get you to buy tea, but at least it's not outright criminal.

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Douglas

not hookers. you will go and chat at some out of the way place, you will order a round of tea or beer or whatever, and then you will be presented with a huge bill and a goon squad and not be permitted to leave until your account is squared up. at least that's what google says. i've had the same experience and checked it out.
that happened to my friends in Chong Ping (and also to a different group of friends surprisingly in Hanoi - surprising cos people who live here don't normally fall for it)...

 

[Scrumhalf]

^ Yep, thanks Douglas and Matt. I did more googling after seeing your posts and noticed several such reports. I was thinking of a more straightforward mugging scenario when I declined their invitations, but the thousand dollar cup of tea is a lot more imaginative..

 

[ter1413]

Maybe they wanted to know where you got your shoes???

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Matt

that happened to my friends in Chong Ping (and also to a different group of friends surprisingly in Hanoi - surprising cos people who live here don't normally fall for it)...

It happens all over the third world including the former eatern bloc...

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

It happens all over the third world including the former eatern bloc...
oh sorry - the surprising wasn't me surprised that it happens in Vietnam, I'm not, I was more surprised that expats who live in Vietnam would fall for it.