"There's a sucker born every minute"
-- PT Barnum

"It's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny. You gotta have a con in this land of milk and honey"
-- Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Yeah but its a small prize to pay for living in paradise Theyre poor, youre not, 怎么办..It is no different than in many many other places in the world in that respect..

The GFFF quote was funny tho

Do rich Chinese people also have to pay extra or is that just for westerners?

A friend of mine (who is Chinese) started an argument with someone who tried to charge me extra. The response was: Why are on his side when youre Chinese?

If this is not racism, then what is it?

I have seen that Chinese also try (and succeed) to cheat other Chinese; however, Westerners are by far softer targets.

When you consider the levels of poverty and lack of education this country has things like this should not come as a big surprise. The "he/she is Western, so he/she is rich" concept that people here use to justify that behavior is actually not that far from the truth. Most people here usually have led more difficult lives than most foreigners had.

However, I'm not saying that is ok. Understanding why things happen is not the same as approving things should be like that. Whatever some Chinese want to put it, there is nothing right about cheating other people, foreigner or not. And that whole "Westerners and Japanese exploited China before" justification is just plain BS. For God's sake, I'm Latin American, so what does my country have to do with all that? And if you do come from one of the "Imperialists Superpowers" being treated like that just because of your nationality shows just how ignorant and bigoted some people really are. No country has a clean sheet, period.

Finally, before someone else comes and says "Well yeah but you should look at how X country has this and that problem too", this IS a discussion about China. I'm not denying other countries have their own problems.

The Chinese feel the way they do about Japan because of the lies that were fed to them by the party after they took control in 1949. Mao actually thanked the Japanese for the war that they fought against China. The Japanese apologized long ago and Chinese people are still given the idea that they never did or only half hearted. It's all propaganda to keep the party in power. Few Chinese people know the truth about their own country and the ones that do aren't talking for fear of their lives. Nanking was a terrible thing but it was the fault of the communist party that a war was even being fought in Southern China. Research it and find the truth. The whole thing was started by Zhang Zhi Zhong, who was a mole inserted into the Nationalist Army by Mao, when against Chiang Kai Shek's orders he broke the truce in Shanghai and attacked the Japanese and tried to make it look as if the Nips attacked first. The Japs tried to stop it but he persisted and drew Chiang into it and all hell broke loose and the result was a Chinese defeat in Shanghai and then Nanking. Jesus God!

Zhenlai...I am pretty sure you will make a great Chinese History professor. You tell it very well. If it is true, then all I have to do is shake my head for not letting Chinese people know the truth

It's not uncommon for them to try charge 1000% of the original price, because your are a foreigner.

Well; in a country that development is measured by the NUMBER OF NEW BUILDINGS; the success of a vendor can be measured by the level of rip-off.

About two weeks ago I visited a small town in Hebei; I saw a set of clothe priced at 35,000 RMB / in front of the entrance there were more than 20 small kids grabbing my hand for 5 jiao.

Many people here are happy because "they have food to eat"; it seems that nobody wanna think that why they got into Great Famine at the first place / maybe foreigners brought "Great Leap Forward" into China; God knows

I'm afraid Cheaters are all around the world...

Yes, and it is not depending of the Nationality.

One example, I often play some game with my Chinese friend: We both are buying the same stuff, who will get the lower price. And very often I'm the winner.........then he becomes angry, and we have to go for drinking hahahahaha

This is true and I've witnessed it firsthand, both here and also recently in Yangshuo. These sellers are more likely to tell off a local if they give a lowball offer. Foreigners that know what they're doing can often get better deals.