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Xi’an art scam: We encountered this calligraphy sales pitch near the Bell Tower during our 2014 visit. Here’s what happened, followed by practical advice for visitors today. We cannot confirm whether the same person or studio is still operating.
Back then, negotiating China without translation apps made encounters like this especially confusing. Our more recent experiences of modern China show just how different travelling there feels today.
How the Xi’an Art Scam Works
We later encountered a similar invitation in Beijing, as described in our 2014 Beijing tourist scam memories. A friendly stranger starts a conversation near a popular attraction and invites you into a studio, gallery or another unfamiliar venue. What begins as a demonstration can turn into a high-pressure sale. In our case, being led upstairs and having the door locked were the biggest warning signs.
Canadian government travel advice explicitly warns tourists about unsolicited invitations to art galleries and unknown locations. The UK government’s China travel advice also warns about tourist scams that begin with a friendly stranger.
How to Avoid Tourist Scams in China
Choose galleries and businesses yourself rather than following a stranger into private premises. Agree prices beforehand, leave when an interaction feels uncomfortable and move towards a public place if you feel threatened. In mainland China, 110 is the police emergency number. If you’ve paid, keep evidence and contact the police and your payment provider.
For more Xi’an travel ideas, see our Top 10 attractions guide and city centre transport guide.
Meeting the Stranger at Xi’an Bell Tower
We nearly fell for a calligraphy art scam shortly after arriving in Xi’an. We were photographing the Bell Tower when a local man approached us for a chat. He said he worked in the Post Office building behind us and was on a break. At first he seemed genuinely curious about the visitors, and there was nothing especially suspicious about the encounter.
We chatted about Xi’an, Beijing, the smog and, inevitably, local food. He explained that his postal job was temporary and that he was originally a university professor from Beijing, teaching art and calligraphy. It all sounded perfectly believable.
After about ten minutes we made our excuses to go and find something to eat. That was when he offered to write Fanfan’s name in Chinese calligraphy. I was sceptical, but curious enough to go along, firmly convinced that we wouldn’t be paying for anything. He still seemed friendly.
He led us into the Post Office building and upstairs to what he called his office. Instead of the desk and stationery I’d imagined, we found a little art studio overlooking the Bell Tower. For another much more enjoyable historical courtyard from the same trip, see the shadow puppet show at Gao Grand Courtyard; for the wider city, see our guide to Xi’an’s top 10 attractions.
We also had a rather memorable Terracotta Warriors tour experience during our stay.
Our Calligraphy Scam Experience Begins
That was when the situation began to feel dodgy. The studio had fantastic views over the Bell Tower, so I lingered to take photographs, but my curiosity gave way to unease when the man locked the door behind us. In hindsight, that was the moment we should have left.
I was willing to take risks with my own curiosity, but I regretted bringing Fanfan into an uncomfortable situation. The man began writing her name on the canvas. Then someone knocked and a supposed student entered, perhaps fresh from finding other visitors, although I couldn’t know that.
The student sat quietly looking towards the Bell Tower. Our host then launched into a sales pitch about the quality of his materials and how much his paintings could fetch at auction. Eventually came the inevitable question: “Which one do you like?”
I told him I didn’t know much about art and tried changing the subject. He steered it straight back to the paintings. I offered my usual defence: “As far as art goes, I’m clueless. I like food.”
By then we were bored and uncomfortable, so we made excuses to leave. He offered Fanfan the calligraphy drawing, but she declined, explaining that she didn’t feel comfortable accepting free gifts. When we moved towards the door, his tone changed and he began insisting that the artwork was worth some ridiculous amount of money.
We thanked him, wished him luck and made it back onto the street without buying anything.
Why We Suspected a Scam
Looking back, it had all the signs of a calculated tourist sales pitch: an apparently friendly introduction at one of Xi’an’s most recognisable landmarks, an invitation upstairs to a private studio, and mounting pressure to buy expensive artwork. We couldn’t prove his intentions, but we were relieved to be outside again.
He had repeatedly interrupted our earlier attempts to leave and find food, which made more sense in hindsight. My parents had once been robbed in Barcelona by people posing as a tourist and a policeman, so I knew how easily a friendly encounter could turn. Later, in Beijing’s Wangfujing area, we received a similar invitation and politely declined.
We’d put ourselves in an uncomfortable position, but at least we came away with some cracking photographs of the Bell Tower. For more of our wanderings around Xi’an, see our Xi’an city centre story.
The same thing happened to me just off Tiananmen Square. I didn’t buy anything, but I was made to feel a bit shit because of it.
Seems to happen everywhere in China. We were also near scammed by a taxi driver, we went with a black taxi offering a decent price, he then tried swapping us fake money, when we said no he told us the price was per person in the taxi. We laughed told him to pull over and got out.