What Should You Watch Out For During a Trip to Zhangjiajie?
As Zhangjiajie's tourism market has been managed more strictly year by year, overall it is fairly well regulated. As long as you stay a bit alert, book in advance with a legitimate travel agency, ignore provocations, hold your ground, and don't chase small gains, travel annoyances can be completely avoided. Here are the common points to note: 1. On trains and...
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
As Zhangjiajie's tourism market has been increasingly regulated year by year, generally speaking, Zhangjiajie's tourism market is still well-regulated. As long as you pay a little attention, book in advance with a legitimate travel agency, ignore troublemakers, stand firm, and don't seek small gains, travel annoyances can be completely avoided. Here are the common situations that require attention:
1. On the train and at the train station
Taking the train to Zhangjiajie is one of the common and economical transportation choices for many tourists. The crowds on trains are complex and the flow is large, so problems are most numerous there. Let's set aside petty theft for now. If you are a tourist, some illegal touts will have their eyes on you—a "fat piece of meat"—early on. As soon as the train enters the surrounding cities near Zhangjiajie, such as Changde, Shimen, Cili, Jishou, and other cities, they will spring into action, claiming to be reception staff from such-and-such travel agency or such-and-such hotel. Some even dress up in railway uniforms with peaked caps [Note: mostly to confuse tourists. Think carefully—would real train staff do touting work? True or false, it's obvious.] They strike up conversations with you and hand out price lists for various tour routes, painstakingly doing "reassurance" work for you, urging you to join a tour organized by so-and-so, saying how good the quality is, how good the reputation is, how famous they are... If this group doesn't succeed with you, a second group will come. It's truly a high-difficulty battle, and their "spirit" is truly "admirable."
When negotiating prices with you, they all initially use the "high-price" tactic. If you notice something or already know better, they then switch to the "low-price" tactic, lowering the price again and again until even you can hardly believe such a "good deal" exists. Once they've hooked you, an unlicensed guide leads the way. If problems arise, you have nowhere to complain and can only weep bitterly.
Their common tricks:
1. Wage a war of attrition, play the low-price card, lure you in, then strike at the right moment. Premise: your position is temporarily firm and you haven't "compromised" with them yet. If they haven't achieved "results" on the train, after you get off and reach the train station square, if those touts think there's still hope of profit from you, they generally won't let go just like that—there's still trick number two! What is it? Sending someone to follow you. Wherever you go, they shamelessly tag along [Note: We often hear scattered tourists confide in us like this: "At the train station I nearly got torn apart by 'them'"; "Tell me, do we look like we're doing underground work?"; "Sigh! It wasn't easy to finally escape!"]. If you stay at a hotel, they follow you to the hotel. After you settle in, they demand kickbacks from the hotel, insisting these guests were introduced by them.
2. Exploit loopholes in tour routes, adopt low-cost expenses and poor-quality service to obtain high profits.
Premise: your position has been compromised and you've already been "conquered" by them.
Many tourists, because they don't understand the local tourism situation well enough, consider things less carefully. On the train, when discussing tour packages with those scattered touts, as long as it looks like a Zhangjiajie several-nights-several-days tour itinerary, densely listing attractions, and the price is especially affordable, they accept it without much thought. Actually, this is very wrong. You must first understand the following two facts:
1. Zhangjiajie's essential attractions include Huanglong Cave, Baofeng Lake, Tianzi Mountain, Zhangjiajie Forest Park, and Yuanjiajie.
2. The main hotel distribution areas are: Wulingyuan District (Suoxiyu), the Forest Park entrance, and Zhangjiajie City—these three major areas.
But in order to reduce costs and expenses and thereby achieve the purpose of obtaining high profits, they generally change the conventional route and accommodation areas:
① Reduce attractions on the essential tour routes (especially attractions requiring tickets), and add less important attractions (anyway, no tickets or low ticket prices; the more listed, the more you psychologically feel you have gained).
② Changing the usual hotel area and placing tourists in remote locations such as Yangjiajie, Yuanjiajie, and the summit of Tianzi Mountain, in family inns where conditions and service can't keep up, making the promised star-rated hotel or guesthouse an empty phrase—or they simply wouldn't dare promise it at all. When tourists question why the standard doesn't meet their expectations, they change their tune and say this is all that's available here. In those desolate mountain areas, who can you explain things to clearly? Only then do you realize you've been cheated.
2. In the hotel area
Being fleeced or cheated in the hotel area where you stay is completely different in nature from what happens on the train or after getting off. The targets of fleecing and cheating are no longer any tourist, but mostly male tourists.
Many hotels in Zhangjiajie have massage, foot soaking, hairdressing, and similar service establishments. As soon as tourists check in or take a walk around the hotel at night, they will approach you in various ways with "caring" inquiries—saying the journey must have been tiring, come try a Chinese herbal foot soak, a proper massage, the effects are great. Some men then ask about the price. "Very cheap, just a few dozen yuan, pay whatever you like," and some even say it can be provided free. How could there be such a good deal? Actually, this is mostly bait (though it's not denied that some are genuinely legitimate). They use these services that appear very affordable and that tourists often need to lure some men into a trap, then use some young pretty girls as a second bait to launch another psychological attack, asking whether you want "special" services and such. At this point, some male tourists with weak resolve may waver at the sight of a beauty and start haggling with her, finally reaching a price you think is acceptable, generally between 100-300 yuan. Actually, this amount makes it quite impossible to enjoy the "special" services they offer. After it's done, they will extort you with various reasons and methods—at least 600-800 yuan, or up to over a thousand or even several thousand, as they open their mouths like lions. Otherwise, you can't get away. Only then do you feel regret, but it's too late. You want to report it, but you don't dare make public what you did. If you don't complain, the cut is just too deep. It's truly like a mute eating bitter herbs, unable to express the bitterness! Here, we earnestly advise all male tourist friends: whatever you do, never touch those girls!
[Note: In Zhangjiajie, simply getting a foot soak or a legitimate massage is not necessarily a problem. As long as both parties agree on the price, after the service is completed, very few service providers will extort with other reasons. The above extortion types mostly occur when guests engage in illegal special transactions with girls. If this happens, the author suggests you'd best call 110 to report to the police. However, while the person extorting you will be punished, you will also be punished. But handing money to the public security department is psychologically more balanced than handing it to those rabble. Of course, this is only our suggestion. The best approach is still to keep your position upright, haha!]
3. When shopping for tourism goods
On the whole, Zhangjiajie's shopping market is still fairly well regulated. Especially in recent years, efforts to crack down on and shut down illegal shopping venues have achieved good results, and forced selling and buying are almost nonexistent. However, tourists should still pay attention to the following aspects when shopping during travel:
1. Do not spend money in "black shops" without business licenses — if you are not at ease, I am worried;
2. Don't casually buy "antiques and curios," "fossils and strange stones," "jewelry and jade," or "precious medicinal materials" unless you are very knowledgeable;
3. Do not believe in "human-shaped fleeceflower root" — no matter how much it looks like one, it is still a "once-in-a-thousand-years" find;
4. Look clearly when bargaining for goods; only take them after the price is settled, and ask for a receipt for future reference;
IV. Other Aspects
1. Do not take the special free or low-cost airport or train station pickup vehicles; the best transportation is to take a taxi, a public bus, or ask a legitimate travel agency to send a car. Otherwise, they will take you to places you do not want to go.
2. Do not easily trust tour guides or touts who offer overly low prices or are excessively enthusiastic; they are very likely to be a "wild horse" (illegal tour operator).
3. Friends who drive to Zhangjiajie themselves must absolutely not let strangers hitch a ride in your car along the way, such as at fork or crossroads, or at toll stations; they are very likely to be a "high-level wild horse."
4. Many wild horses operate illegal tourism reception in public places under the guise of being received by a certain legitimate travel agency; tourists must not easily trust them.