China trips just a scam for our cash

I have to say without a doubt I am thoroughly confused by what has been published in the paper regarding the Chamber/China Trips.

It seems these people were on a different trip than we experienced.

Don't get me wrong, the Great Wall was "Great" (what you could see through the smog), and the Forbidden City was very enlightening, and Tie an men Square was very interesting (what you could see through the smog). The tour included too many Pagoda (Bagoders as the Chinese pronounce it) or Buddhist Temples, as you see one you've seen them all'.

Oh!, buy the way don't miss the gift shop at each location, they take U.S. Currency!

The people who wrote about their experience were correct about the "Museums and Factories" as they were listed.

These were nothing more than a scam to get the tourist to spend "American Hard Currency" which I find amazing how many people seemed oblivious to what was happening.

We'd be corralled into a 5-800 square foot room and given a short talk about Pearls, Jade, Tea, Silks, or Carpets, lasting about 15 minutes.

Then we were escorted into the 10-12,000 square feet Sales Floor (Loaded with high pressure commissioned sales people) and convinced this was the right place to shop and get the best buys for the next hour and a half.

At the Tea Plantation I counted 15 Rooms which all accommodate the tour groups. Our group was some 20 people which spent just over $1,100 U.S. If that was the case (which I feel is conservative) they would net $15,000 per hour.

If our business could to that amount of business without producing anything of great value I'd move it to China yesterday.

This is a finely choreographed orchestration of the coordination of the Chinese Communist Government and the United States Chambers of Commerce to funnel more Hard Currency into the Communist Coffers. I find it offensive that we seem to be so naive (but considering the average age of the travelers) as to feel this was anything other than it was.

The program was so tight on schedule that you could not skip, or opt out of any of their events. They made sure we changed Cities and Motels to circumvent anyone from sipping out.

Shanghai was especially high pressure, and the time we had in Suzhou (pronounced Sue-Joe) was at a racetrack pace as was Hangzhou (Pronounced Hon-Joe) was no different.

If there was a show stopper it was the"Bund" In Shanghai. The lighting of the buildings and boats on the river was something you will never find anywhere I have ever traveled.

The two hours we were allotted to see the expo stunk. This trip was a disappointment in many ways. I have traveled most all of Europe, East Germany, North and some of South America and feel this was the poorest experience of all.

My Son has traveled China for business for 5 years and warned me about the tour programs the set up, but now we can say "Been There and Done That!"

If anyone attended the tour the same time we went and has problem recollecting these events. I kept a diary and would be happy to refresh their memory.

Especially the three people in our group wondering if they could get an early departure back home.

By the way what do you think the U.S. Immigration Agent meant when he asked us, "Are you one of the 90 percent who say they'd never go back or the 10 percent who would?"

Let's not sugarcoat it! It was what it is, and I for one would not recommend the trip. It is too long to travel to be bilked out of your hard earned money.

Just to make my point I was gassing my car at Costco yesterday (wearing my Obama T-shirt with him in a Mao hat and jacket) when a gal ahead of me said, "You must be a Republican!" She asked where I got the shirt and when I told her It came from the Shanghais tourist market, she said "Did you go with the chamber group?," and I responded yes. She said how did you like the trip? I said I thought it was fun, but money could have been better spent. She told me she'd heard the same thing.

Come to find out she was the wife of one of our state legislators. Maybe the chamber should look at where their priorities are, and realize that sending Americans to spend their hard currency to support a Communist Country is like taking shingles off their roof. Where is the logic in that?

Brian Kruh is a resident of Hayden.