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I went on a Japanese tour to Shanghai. It was one of the most unbelievable moments of my entire life. Shanghai is a great city but the most exceptional point was the tour itself.

The first day we went to what I took to be a tea tasting session at a touristy cafe. We sampled many different types of green and black teas and it was very enjoyable. After we had drank 7 different kinds, they proceeded to try to sell us the teas we’d tasted. This was a pattern that repeated itself throughout the day.

The next stop on the “tour” was a silk factory. A rapid 5 minute explanation about silkworms and a fascinating (yet short) demonstration of silk weaving preceded a 10 minute sales talk about the futons you could buy there and how they were cool in summer and warm in winter. Then they tried to sell us the futons.

After that there we saw a fashion show conveniently modelling the silk clothes on sale in the next room. We spent a WHOPPING 45 MINUTES in there.

Next was a trip to what I took to be an ancient Chinese sculpture museum. They showed us pots that took 7 years to sculpt from one piece of stone. In another room was a set of these. Our “guide” asked us how much we thought they cost. Then he told us how much they cost (10,000 USD) and told us if we were interested, they could send them to us in Japan.

Only then did it click. I’ll admit I’m a little slow-witted but it took the shock of a person I took to be a serious museum guide turning out to be a salesman to see we were being led like lambs to the slaughter around Shanghai.

It all made sense. They all spoke fluent Japanese even though they were Chinese. They all had their sales pitch and movements honed to perfection thanks to contact with slow witted tourists with a desperate social need to buy souvenirs for their friends, colleagues and family.

After that episode, the guide gave up all pretense of actually showing us around Shanghai and took us to a “Jade factory.” This turned out to be a large shop selling overpriced souvenirs with a small, abandoned workshop where statues were allegedly carved out of Jade. Possibly the last time anything was carved there was 10 years ago.

It wasn’t all bad. We went to the City God Temple and the guide was very knowledgeable about it. The people who buy large at the places they are sent to, help keep the price of the tour down for the others thanks to the commission the company gets. And the second day was all to ourselves. When we went to Hong Kong, we had to pay an extra 100 USD to opt out of the tour. Yet the tour of Shanghai was an experience. And one I won’t be repeating soon.