Tourists duped into buying medicine
By Li Xinran |
June 9, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ONE of China's leading producers of traditional Chinese medicines, a Beijing-based company with a history of 342 years, has been found diagnosing foreign tourists as unhealthy and then selling them dubious herbal products at high prices.
Tourists on one-day tours were often taken to one of Tongrentang's shops in the capital's Changping District where they were persuaded to spend hundreds or even thousands of yuan on traditional medicine after being diagnosed as unhealthy by the store's white-coated "medical staff," Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Many of the tourists, usually staying in five-star hotels, were taken to the shop as a stop during one-day tours of scenic sites in the capital's suburbs, Xinhua said.
Most didn't speak Chinese, but the shop's staff explained TCM theory in English and took their pulse. Sometimes, interpreters would translate the diagnosis into Korean or other languages.
An American tourist who was staying at the Wangfujing Grand Hotel told Xinhua he paid 350 yuan (US$54) at the hotel on May 14 for a one-day package tour to visit the Great Wall and a Ming Dynasty (1644-1911) emperor's tomb. But during the tour he was taken to the shop along with several other foreigners.
He was diagnosed with kidney problems as were most of his fellow tourists and they were all persuaded to buy pills to improve the performance of their kidneys.
He paid 780 yuan for a box of herbal pills.
A Swedish tourist told Xinhua he was swindled by the shop in March during his first trip to China.
An Englishman paid 1,720 yuan for pills said to be able to strengthen his bones.
Beijing's drug watchdog examined the products the tourists bought and found none was qualified or had clear manufacturing information.
Xinhua cited an industry insider as saying some hotel porters collaborated with travel agencies in scams targeting foreign tourists.
A Tongrentang senior executive initially denied the shop was one of its outlets but later admitted it was one of its franchised stores.
The official also denied the people in white coats were staff and said the diagnosis and the pills were not part of the company's business.
However, the English tourist had an invoice with the shop's official stamp.
Tourists on one-day tours were often taken to one of Tongrentang's shops in the capital's Changping District where they were persuaded to spend hundreds or even thousands of yuan on traditional medicine after being diagnosed as unhealthy by the store's white-coated "medical staff," Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Many of the tourists, usually staying in five-star hotels, were taken to the shop as a stop during one-day tours of scenic sites in the capital's suburbs, Xinhua said.
Most didn't speak Chinese, but the shop's staff explained TCM theory in English and took their pulse. Sometimes, interpreters would translate the diagnosis into Korean or other languages.
An American tourist who was staying at the Wangfujing Grand Hotel told Xinhua he paid 350 yuan (US$54) at the hotel on May 14 for a one-day package tour to visit the Great Wall and a Ming Dynasty (1644-1911) emperor's tomb. But during the tour he was taken to the shop along with several other foreigners.
He was diagnosed with kidney problems as were most of his fellow tourists and they were all persuaded to buy pills to improve the performance of their kidneys.
He paid 780 yuan for a box of herbal pills.
A Swedish tourist told Xinhua he was swindled by the shop in March during his first trip to China.
An Englishman paid 1,720 yuan for pills said to be able to strengthen his bones.
Beijing's drug watchdog examined the products the tourists bought and found none was qualified or had clear manufacturing information.
Xinhua cited an industry insider as saying some hotel porters collaborated with travel agencies in scams targeting foreign tourists.
A Tongrentang senior executive initially denied the shop was one of its outlets but later admitted it was one of its franchised stores.
The official also denied the people in white coats were staff and said the diagnosis and the pills were not part of the company's business.
However, the English tourist had an invoice with the shop's official stamp.
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