So, the Chinese tout Hainan as an Island paradise, a Hawaii-esque places of sunshine and golden beaches. Indeed it does have sunshine and beaches, but also an undercurrent of cheating!
Overall, I have to say I had a nice time in Hainan. The weather was fantastic, had some lovely food and the beach was really nice. However, I did learn a few lessons, which I would like to pass on to anyone reading this.
So, lesson number one: people can cheat you and you may never know. I had been told about this type of scam before. The way it happened anyway was that I was talking to a student on the boat on the way from the mainland to Haikou. She mentioned in passing that she had a friend who could get cheap airline tickets. Anyways, a few days later I texted her about it. She gave me what seemed like a good price. I later went online and the price seemed about right. So, the next day, this student, my friend and I had lunch. Now, I wasn’t 100% there as I was still a bit wrecked from the long journey. There seemed to be some elaborate payment scheme about lodging some of the money into a bank account and then giving the rest to the guy who delivered the ticket. Now, I wasn’t following everything that they were saying but my friend seemed to think maybe it was ok. We were on the way to the bank when my friend said there was a travel agency nearby that we could check out in case we can get a cheaper ticket. Turned out that the travel shop had a really cheap ticket (which incidentally wasn't on the internet the previous night) , so we I ended up going for that. In the meantime, the delivery guy turned up. Ended up giving him 10 kuai for his troubles and we went on our way.
So, someone may offer you a ticket at a reasonable price but in fact the ticket is way cheaper and they pocket the rest of the money. The thing is, you will never know! I think the whole lodging money into a bank account gave it away!
Lesson number two is about taxis. In Hainan you bargain for everything, including taxis. A lot of the meters are rigged so you have to bargain for he fare. This is fine if you are a local (and know exactly how far you are going) but no good if you are from out of town, Chinese of foreign. So you really need to know the correct fare in advance. I haven't seen this sort of carry-on in other cities in China. In Dalian, the drivers are usually very good and honest. Another thing that happened in a taxi in Hainan was the driver pretending to have misunderstood the destination. My Chinese friend clearly told the driver the name of the hotel. Driver said he understood and started driving. We sort of reckoned the journey was taking too long and said fact was mentioned to the driver who said he misunderstood the destination! We later found the hotel and my Chinese friend paid the exaggerated price, I think. This could have all been solved if we had taken better note of where our hotel was located.
My advice is not to just follow blindly what "local" friends do and feel. Keep your wits about you. The locals aren't always right or clued in!
