Lhasa ལྷ་ས་, literally the “Place of the Gods,” is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, is located in the southeast of Tibet, and in the northern part of the Himalayas. The city lies in the middle of Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and due to its 3.650 meters altitude makes it one of the highest cities in the world.

If we go back to history, we will see that Lhasa was the capital of the Traditional Tibet Region Ü དབུས་, and today it is the capital of the entire Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Lhasa is a perfect city that includes the city of Lhasa and seven surrounding counties as well. It is a fantastic city and full of Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

Lhasa is a city blessed with all the mystery, spirituality and majesty of an ancient tale. Whether you traverse its resplendent landscape, reflect on ancient philosophies or spend your time seeking out a new favorite dish, Lhasa will provide you with a remarkable experience.

Best time to visit Lhasa

Lhasa can travel throughout the year. Each period of the year has different climatic characteristics. The best time to go to Lhasa is from April to October. Peak season is from May to September, in that period of the year the oxygen content in the air reaches its maximum, accounting for 66.3% on average.

During this period from May to October, the climate is warm and humid, and it is not as windy and dry as it is in the winter or early spring.

Lhasa has a long period of sunlight throughout the year, so it has a reputation for “Sunlight City.”

If your trip to Lhasa is during summer or fall, you should visit Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and Drepung Monastery at daytime and you can feel the mysterious and robust religious atmosphere.

If your trip to Lhasa during the Shoton Festival you may receive discounts from the regular price.

On a budget, you can enjoy both in winter and spring when it’s a low season so that prices may be in half as opposed to High season in Lhasa.

Besides low prices, in the low season, you can enjoy and experience the plateau thermal spring and climb to the snowy mountain.

The festivals of Saga Dawa (varies, May/Jun) and Losar/New Year (varies, Feb) draw large numbers of pilgrims to the city. Shoton Festival (Aug) features Tibetan operas, yak racing, and Buddhist paintings.

Before you plan to take a trip to Tibet, I would suggest reading this guide about Traveling to Tibet.

Top Things to Do in Lhasa

Below are the top things you can do when visiting Lhasa

Indoor activities

Engage in lively debates in the open courtyard of Sera Monastery

Learn about the philosophy and folklore behind ancient Tibetan medicine at Mentsekhang, a Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute.

Enjoy one cup of yak butter tea at one of Barkhor’s many teahouses

Watch Princess Wencheng Drama

Draw Thangka Painting in

Enjoy the Tibet Festivals

Tibet has many festivals, and most of the celebrations occur in Lhasa, so if the time allows while you are visiting Lhasa to be part of the festivals, you will experience the incredible energy of the local people. The first festival comes the Shoton Festival – taking place from 30th June in Tibetan Calendar and lasting for five days. During the festival, a giant Buddha Thangka will be set up in the Drepung Monastery, performing admirable Tibetan operas at Norbulingka Park. Local people during the festival gather in the park and celebrate the festival by eating yogurt.

The Tibetan New Year or known as Losar is also an essential festival in Tibet.

The New Year celebration begins on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar. On the first day of the festival, the local people are dressed in new, beautiful clothes and wear precious jewelry and thus welcome the New Year.

The Potala Palace Square has stunning performances, and in the Jokhang Temple there is a Sutra-chanting.

Please keep in mind that during the celebration of Losar, Tibetan borders are closed for tourists for some years now.

You could contact our travel consultant for up-to-date information.

Outdoor activities

• • Find your spiritual path in Lhasa by joining pilgrims on the Barkhor Street Pilgrimage route

• • Experience a sensory feast at one of Lhasa’s night markets – Tianhai Night Market
  • Hike at Pabongka Monastery
• Activities near Lhasa
  • Explore Ganden Monastery and take a short hike around the Monastery for a nice view of beautiful valley of Lhasa Kyichu River
  • Short trekking and horse riding at Thoilong village
  • Following the shores of holy Yamdrok Lake
  • Drak Yerpa meditation caves
  • Excursion to Namtso Lake

Where to Stay in Lhasa?

• Comfortable and well rating hotels
• Shambhala Palace Hotel 4*
• House of Shambhala 4*
• Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa 4*
• The St. Regis Lhasa Resort 5*
• InterContinental Lhasa Paradise 5*
• Xuelong Zhuangyuan Hotel 5*
• TASHI CHOETA BOUTIQUE HOTEL 4*

Recommend If there are eco-friendly accommodation

• Lhasa Gang-Gyan Hotel Tibet 3*
• Yak Hotel 3*
• Lhasa Manasarovar Hotel 3*
• Tibet Xueyu Tiantang International Hotel 3*

Accomodation Tip: You can also check some Airbnb rentals in Lhasa and save up to $40 with an Airbnb First Time Booking Coupon.

Where to Eat & Drink in Lhasa?

Lhasa is a small town, but it will never disappoint you in finding the right place to eat.

The restaurants offer different types of cuisine: from traditional Tibetan, Sichuan cuisine, you can find Nepal or Indian food, and you can eat western food, snacks or drinks.

Restaurants can be found around Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street.

restaurants serving Western foods are mainly located on Beijing Road, and if you want to enjoy food as local people, then you need to visit Deji road.

Traditional traditional cuisine

Tibetans like to eat rice, wheat, and barley as staple foods, and usually, they eat food made of grain, such as Tsamba. The so-called Tsamba is stir-fried barley.

Tibetans to fight the cold weather eat a lot of meat. The most favored meat of Tibetans is meat from Yaks and sheep. They don’t like goat meat and eating dogs, horses or donkeys in Tibet is taboo.

Yak butter tea is a daily drink in Tibet, and the local people use a yak tea to welcome the guests as well.

Every house and family in Tibet keeps a lot of yak butter in their storage.

How do they prepare the yak butter tea?

Well, they put yak butter in a bowl of tea, and after the butter is thawed, it is heated in the cooking pot.

​Yak butter tea is very convenient and rich in calories.

More details, read over traditional food and drink on the Tibet page and get a reference from Where to Eat in Lhasa – Lhasa Restaurants & Lhasa Cafes.

• Vegetarian Restaurants in Lhasa:

1. Tibet Kun Phan Vegetarian Restaurant at Yuthok Road, Lhasa

2. Holy Land Vegetarian Restaurant Address: North Lingkor Road, Lhasa

3. Father Vegetarian Restaurant Address: No. 9, Cemenlin 3rd Alley, Beijing Middle Road, Lhasa

How much time do you need in Lhasa?

At least 2-3 days for better acclimatization. If you are planning to visit only Lhasa it will be enough for about three days. If you decided to visit the surroundings near Lhasa then your tour should be a little longer.

Tours offered by travel agencies usually last from 5-6 days up to two weeks, but with including more tours around Tibet.

However, if you want to truly experience Tibet with all its beauties, we recommend you choose a tour that will last about ten days.

What to avoid in Lhasa?

There is an unwritten rule for the travelers: always, wherever you go, respect the local people and their tradition, respect their culture, and don’t do anything contrary to their beliefs or laws.

Every country has different traditions and rules, and we need to respect them if we want to be appreciated by the locals as tourists.

Tibet has some etiquettes and taboos, and this is the main thing that is very important.

When visiting Monasteries don’t:

• Visit monasteries without your guide’s accompany. Anywhere in Tibet is not allowed to walk alone without a tour guide, especially visiting the monasteries.
• Wear short pants or revealing clothes when visiting monasteries.
• Taking photos of Buddha statues in majority monasteries.

With local Tibetan people don’t:

• Take pictures of Tibetan local people without asking for permission.
• Touch the head of local people, not even children.
• Don’t spit or clap your palms behind the Tibetans.

Also, don’t:

• Watch the sky burial or take photos
• Talk about government or politics
• Never use a drone

The post City Guide: Things to Do and avoid in Lhasa, Tibet appeared first on chinaSMACK.

Top China VPNs Compared

	Astrill	ExpressVPN	NordVPN
Rank	#2	#1 Editor's Top Pick	#3
Rating	4.0 / 5	5.0 / 5	4.0 / 5
# of devices	1	3	6
VPN Modes	OpenWeb Proxy, StealthVPN, OpenVPN, IPsec	OpenVPN TCP / UDP, IPsec, Chrome Plugin	OpenVPN, IPsec, Obfuscated VPN
Mobile Apps?
Servers	150+ servers, 50 countries	1,500 servers, 95 countries	3621, 61 countries
Fastest Server	China Optimized USA, Los Angeles, Hong Kong	Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan	Hong Kong, United States
Torrent?
Trial	7-day trial	30-day money back trial	30-day money back trial
Website	Get Astrill	Get ExpressVPN *3 Months FREE!	Get NordVPN

Why you DEFINITELY need a VPN in China

Foreigners who arrive in China for work or travel quickly realize that many of their beloved websites and social media apps are blocked and inaccessible within the country.

Some notable blocked websites and apps include: Google, Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, most Western news sites, Wikipedia, and many others. This country-wide internet censorship is often colloquially referred to as the “Great Firewall of China”.

The vast majority of foreigners in China use a VPN (or virtual private network) app to bypass the Firewall and connect to blocked websites and apps. A VPN basically works as an (encrypted) internet traffic intermediary between a user and the blocked website they wish to access.

VPNs blocked within China

The demand of VPNs for Netflix, online privacy, and public Wifi hotspot security has led to a vast number of different VPN providers popping up in the market.

Unfortunately most of these VPNs do not work inside China. This is because the most basic VPNs tend to use a plain protocol called OpenVPN that is detected and actively blocked by the Great Firewall of China.

**Disclosure: Some of the apps that we test and highly recommend to our readers have affiliate programs. Basically, this means if you decide to sign up for one of the services after reading our reviews and clicking on a link we will get a small commission — at no extra cost to you. In fact, usually using our links will get you a discount on the normal price! The commission we receive helps us continue to run our site and continue to produce content free of charge to our readers.

#1. ExpressVPN – Our Top Pick

ExpressVPN is our number one recommended VPN app for bypassing the internet censorship here in China. The dedicated apps are reliable on all major platforms (iOS, Android, PC, Mac) and the speeds are reliably fast.

ExpressVPN also ranks consistently high in various best VPN for China speed tests conducted by expat reviewers in the country on both mobile and desktop.

ExpressVPN app features

The Windows and Mac apps are well designed and with great features. There’s a server speed tester that automatically tests the latency and download speeds of all the VPN servers so you can choose the best one for your specific location. No need to manually test every different server to guess which one is the best for your location. In our tests, we found that the Los Angeles servers and Hong Kong servers tended to have the best performance.

The PC / Mac app uses OpenVPN TCP / UDP (along with some sort of Great Firewall stealth technology). Encryption is a standard 256-bit AES, which is the same encryption used by the US government to protect classified information. You can be confident that your internet traffic is secure.

The ExpressVPN PC / Mac app also features an internet kill switch which will turn off your internet connection temporarily if it detects a dropout in the VPN connection. This nifty feature will ensure your privacy is never exposed at any time.

ExpressVPN allows 3 simultaneous connections on their subscription — good enough to use your smartphone, computer, and tablet all at the same time. ExpressVPN also provides support for routers and Linux.

The iOS and Android dedicated apps are simple but effective. The iOS app uses the IPsec protocol and automatically reconnects if the connection gets dropped, which is very handy in China as congested 4G networks can be very flakey.

Privacy and Security

ExpressVPN claims to keep no logs of the websites you visit and you can even pay for your subscription with Bitcoin, for those who are concerned about privacy.

Overall ExpressVPN is a solid choice for those looking for a reliably fast VPN app when in China. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee which is quite generous. It is recommended you sign up for ExpressVPN before you arrive in China.

Get ExpressVPN

#2. Astrill – popular in China / fast proxy 

Astrill is one of the more well known VPN apps that are used in the expat community in China, and for a time it was the most widely used in China. It remains one of the best VPNs for China recommended on forums. Speeds are particularly good on the desktop app if you use the OpenWeb (technically it is a proxy — not a vpn — and only works on web browser).

Astrill VPN app Features

The PC / Mac app have some pretty nice features that are specific to China. “Smart Mode” allows the app to tunnel traffic to blocked sites, while doing nothing for unblocked sites — thus speeding up performance.

To make the most of Astrill in China, you will probably want to get the “Stealth” upgrade, which allows your PC / Mac to evade the Great Firewall on all internet traffic, not just your browser. The upgrade costs 5$ / month extra (but is free if you sign up for a 1-year plan).

The standard Astrill plan only allows one connection at a time — which is very stingy seeing as most VPN providers allow a minimum of 2 connections. You can upgrade by purchasing the “Family Plan” addon, which allows up to 5 connections at the same time However this will also cost an additional 5$ / month.

Astrill offers a pretty basic but very useable iOS and Android app. Simply choose a server and press the “ON” button to connect. The Iphone app uses the IPsec VPN protocol which will automatically reconnect to the server if the connection is dropped.

Astrill boasts a large number of server all over the world (including China!). The best servers are the China Optimized servers based in the USA. Other servers such as Los Angeles and Fremont are also quite fast.

Astrill offers a free 7-day trial if you sign up outside of China. If signing up with an IP address within China there is no offer for a free trial.

Get Astrill

#3. NordVPN – Advanced Anti-Censorship Technology

NordVPN is a VPN company that is well regarded for its stance on protecting their users online privacy. Recently, the company introduced upgrades to their VPN app to help users bypass internet censorship in countries such as China and Iran. Through the use of obfuscated servers, which essentially scrambles VPN traffic traffic to make it look like normal internet traffic, NordVPN is very effective at jumping over the Great Firewall — unlike your basic plain VPN app.

In our tests we were able to get quick download speeds and initializing a connection was smooth and fast using the NordVPN custom app (available on Windows / Mac / Android / iOS). There are also plugins for Firefox and Chrome web browsers. The native apps were intuitive to use — just remember to select “obfuscated servers” in the advanced settings of the desktop app in order to bypass the GFW.

NordVPN also boasts a total of 6 allowable VPN connections per account — just keep in mind you cannot use more than 1 device to connect to the same server. But this usually won’t be a problem since NordVPN offers a whopping 3500+ servers in 61 countries.

Overall we believe NordVPN is a solid choice for those needing a reliable VPN app for unblocking the web in China and it gets our recommendation. NordVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee so you can try it out first without any risk.

Get NordVPN

#4. 12VPN – designed for China stealth options

It’s very clear that 12VPN is a VPN service designed specifically for users in China — as there are multiple Stealth protocols and China optimizations. 12VPN is not a very well known VPN app, but that can sometimes be an advantage. While other VPNs are actively being targeted and blocked by the Great Firewall, 12VPN can remain inconspicuous.

12VPN App Features

The Mac / Windows app are very plain but manage to get the job done. 12VPN offers an OpenWeb proxy (for web browser), Shadowsocks, and also StealthVPN protocols (Mac only) — all included in the standard app.

12VPN allows for unlimited simultaneous connections as long as they are all your own personal devices (no account sharing). Torrenting is not allowed with 12VPN.

Speeds are fast when using OpenWeb on the China Optimized servers. We recommended using the Hong Kong or US servers for best performance. 12VPN does not have a huge selection of servers / country locations (only 16 countries) compared to bigger VPN providers. However, the vast majority of people will find their server selection more than adequate. Few people will need servers outside the US / UK.

The one major flaw of 12VPN: Dedicated apps for smartphones are lacking. In order to use 12VPN on your smartphone or tablet, you must download a generic 3rd party app such as OpenConnect (Android) or VPN ON (iOS) and manually installing each VPN server configuration profile by signing into your 12VPN account through your browser. Obviously, this is a huge hassle compared to the app experiences of other more polished VPN services.

12VPN currently offers a 14-day money back guarantee.

#5. AirVPN – Sophisticated protocols

AirVPN is a VPN company based in the EU that offers a number of interesting benefits for users in China looking to unblock the web. In addition to the usual VPN protocols such as OpenVPN and IPsec, AirVPN offers OpenVPN with SSH or SSL tunneling, which means you can get around the Great Firewall with ease.

The AirVPN app works on Windows and MacOS but unfortunately there is no custom app for iOS or Android. For mobile, you will need to download third party apps and load the server configuration files manually. The third party apps (OpenVPN Connect) are free but are a hassle to setup. The UI on the desktop apps looks very dated and might be intimidating to non-technical users.

Speeds on AirVPN are good when you use OpenVPN over SSL connected to servers in the USA or Canada. The app has a built in list of servers and their server load so you can pick the least busy server for best performance.

AirVPN allows 3 simultaneous connections on one account which should be enough for most people. Unfortunately, AirVPN does not offer a free trial but they have a 3-day plan that you can purchase for only 1 euro if you just want to try it out briefly. Overall, AirVPN is a good VPN to keep in mind for use in China, but there are definitely better options out there.

More VPN apps to try out

These are some other VPNs that are also recommended by others on the web.

• VyprVPN – Very Easy to use apps and great customer service
• StrongVPN – Stealth / scrambling technology to mask VPN connections.
• AirVPN – has SSL stealth VPN protocols which are great for evading censorship in China
• PureVPN – also has VPN servers located in China if you want to use Youku / Sohu etc

Here is another list of China VPN apps from around the web.

Free China VPNs

There are a number of shady “free” VPN solutions that exist out there, however we do not recommend relying on them for the following reasons:

1. Free VPN services either have poor performance or poor features. Poor performance usually means the free VPN will be blocked in China. Poor features usually mean a restrictive data cap (500 MB or similar), which makes it very hard to use comfortably.
2. Lack of data privacy: Tech companies providing free services usually make money by selling your usage data and marketing data to advertisers. Since a VPN is supposed to protect your privacy, we would not recommend using a free VPN provider who sells your data. Some free services use a peer-to-peer method of tunneling data. This is not very secure as you never know who is handling your traffic. There have been reports of free peer-to-peer VPN networks being used by botnets to do illegal or spammy activities.

As usual, you get what you pay for. Free VPNs will be prone to performance and privacy issues. It is definitely better to pay for a quality VPN service that you can depend on and trust. If money is really an issue then you can consider cycling through the many VPN services that offer free trials / money-back guarantees. Just remember to cancel your subscription before they start charging you!

If the above reasons are still not enough to deter you from using a free VPN you can check out the services:

1. ProtonVPN – A free and unlimited bandwidth VPN that still works in China.
2. Freegate – run by volunteers and academic institutions in Japan
3. Lantern – works in China on Android and Desktop (browsers only), but no iOS.
4. Psiphon – No macOS
5. Windscribe – 2GB / month limit on free accounts.

Note: We DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THESE SERVICES. USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Chinese VPNs

There used to be a number of VPN services sold on Taobao.com (the Chinese Ebay/Amazon) but they have suffered crack downs. Nowadays those services are not openly advertised as VPNs, but as “internet services” or “wall jumping” apps — basically secret code for VPNs. Unless you can read Chinese, we recommend you stay away from these services.

One homegrown method of internet censorship circumvention is the use of something called “Shadowsocks”, which is a type of VPN / proxy that is popular among gamers in China. Unfortunately, the use of Shadowsocks is pretty hit or miss these days. You’ll have better luck using a VPN for most applications.

If you are more technically in inclined, Google release a project called Outline, which allows users to create their own Shadowsocks server on a Digital Ocean server.

You can also ask local Chinese people for their VPN app recommendations. There are several Chinese Shadowsocks VPN apps that work well on mobile. Desktop is more hit or miss.

China VPN Tips and Tricks

1. Always setup your VPN (on ALL your devices) before you arrive in China. The Google Play store is blocked in China, so Android users will be unable to download apps after arrival. Some VPN company official websites are blocked as well in China, though there are usually unblocked mirror sites that can be used.
2. Test your VPN app before arrival. Contacting customer service might be difficult if your VPN’s company website is blocked in China.
3. Choose servers based in Asia or the US West Coast. These servers tend to be faster and have lower latency. Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Taiwan, and Japan, are usually the best server location for VPN users in China.
4. Different cities, ISPs = different performance: China is a BIG country and is served by different ISPs (China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom). A certain VPN server might work well in Beijing but it might be really slow in Shenzhen. Switch things up to see what works best for your specific location and Internet Service Provider.
5. Try different VPN protocols – If one VPN protocol / mode stops working, try switching modes. The Great Firewall filter is constantly evolving, so what worked in the past may not work in the future.
6. If you arrive in China without a VPN and cannot access the Google Play Store or iOS App Store, try setting up your VPN manually first. (IPsec or OpenVPN, your VPN provider should have instructions).
7. If you spend a lot of time between China mainland and Hong Kong, you might want to consider getting a cross-border SIM Card in Hong Kong. These SIM cards allow data roaming in China with uncensored internet. You can also use using Google Fi data roaming to unblock the web as well.
8. Use multiple free-trials to cover a short trip or vacation in China. Or, if you are generally concerned about data privacy and security (which everyone should be!), you might want to consider buying a VPN subscription full-time anyway — it is a security tool that has many uses even outside of China.

As always, depending on your specific device, router, ISP setup, your experience will vary. If in doubt, contact your VPN service provider through customer or technical support to get the best tips for your specific setup.

Using a VPN to get into China

Many expats returning home and Chinese people going overseas will realize that certain Chinese websites (usually video or music streaming sites such as Youku and iQiyi) are not functionally usable from outside China. This is usually because of copyright issues since some Chinese streaming sites stream full movies, albums, TV shows without paying royalties.

A VPN with servers located within China will enable you to use these streaming sites even if you are not in China. By masking your IP address with a China IP address, Youku/Sohu/etc will be fooled into thinking you are in China and you can use those websites normally.

Both Astrill and PureVPN offer a VPN service with servers located inside China. Speeds are usually decent but not the greatest. If you really need a China IP address to watch Youku etc, you might want to consider deploying your own VPN / shadowsocks proxy solution.

Useful Resources

What’s the Best VPN for China (that REALLY works)? – Frequently upgraded China VPN guide with speed tests conducted inside China on mobile and desktop.

List of blocked websites in China -Apps and Websites Blocked in China.

Best VPN for China Tripadvisor thread -Traveller forum discussing VPN for China on Tripadvisor.

The post The Best VPN for China: Our Top 5 Choices (Jan 2020) appeared first on chinaSMACK.

Having a nice photoshoot to capture youth is a popular trend amongst young Chinese girls. However, many would share with you their unpleasant encounters with photo studios. Xiao Wei purchased a photo package for CNY 2299 and had her photoshoot on October 17th at a local photo studio. She went in again on October 19th to select her photos and was shocked by the price she saw on the bill:

She had a total of 103 photos which 22 of them were edited, and including a makeup gift box, 12” magazine book with a 36” painting frame, etc. The total price became CNY 18,299, which was almost 8 times more than the agreed price. According to the local studio’s staff, Xiao Wei’s original package only included 22 pictures. The photographer took over 100 photos during the shoot and told her it would be such a pity to delete them. Xiao Wei was persuaded but only to find out later the total price had gone up to almost CNY 20k.

Xiao Wei went back again on October 24th to negotiate a better price with the help of one of her relatives, sadly things didn’t go as she expected. On that evening, one of the studio staff Ni had a voice call with Xiao Wei, and that according to Xiao Wei’s mom Ms. Jin trigger the whole heartbreaking event.

After the call, Xiao Wei exchanged some messages with Ni through chatting software, which has already shown a bit of suicidal tendency:

Xiao Wei: Why do I have to witness such unspeakable things? Ah? You really want to push me this far? I suffer from serious depression and just had a heart attack; Do you really want to scam me? I have already bought sleeping pills; Do you want to keep pushing me?

Ni: Sister, many young people now has depression, I do too, only the stages and reactions might be different. When I can’t sleep I use BY-HEALTH’s Melatonin, it helps with my sleep, much safer than sleeping pills. Plus sleeping pills have side effects and may damage your health. So don’t eat sleeping pills.

October 25th, Xiao Wei visited the studio again to negotiate and was told by the salesperson that even if she doesn’t want the pictures anymore, she must pay 30% liquidated damages. The next day Xiao Wei posted on her social media: “ I want to end my life again, every day is torture to me. I had to put on a smiley face with tons of patience, so I don’t affect other people’s moods.” Around 30 minutes later, Xiao Wei posted a message on her social media which is suspected her last cry for help to save her life: “Help me.” Later that day Xiao Wei’s parents found their young girl laying on her bed already passed away.

Xiao Wei’s family believes that the voice chat between Xiao Wei and the studio’s staff Ni was the direct cause of their daughter’s death. However, the local police office is having technical difficulty to confirm their conversation. This case is still under investigation.

Comments

沫姿态

Many photo studios are like this, they first offer you a low-priced package with limited photos and charge you later for the extras.

政

Yes yes, it is obviously a sales trap, however, this can’t prove the studio is responsible for her death. She could have agreed to the 22 pictures and pay her original price. If she likes more pictures, isn’t it normal to pay more money?

MILES

Depression or not we have to view the whole thing with logic. But on the other hand, the studio is really pulling the numbers out of their ass, isn’t it?

a.a糖炒豆子哼

I want to know how this case is being dealt with. I am currently being blackmailed by a studio myself and I would like to know more information about where I can seek justice.

梦幻

I ordered a package CNY 2200 ended up paying CNY 8800. They shouldn’t have forced her to pay when she can’t afford it. Definitely the studio’s fault!

亮。

My experience was from CNY 99 to CNY 6000. Emptied my bank account in one go.

The post Young Woman Commits Suicide After Photoshoot Scam appeared first on chinaSMACK.

Recently a training camp scam caught many Chinese netizens’ attention. A “Quantum Speed Reading” campaign claims that with this method, a young child can read 100,000 words in 1 minute. The cost of this training camp is between $1500 to $7000, just for a few days. Sounds ridiculous? Well, many parents fell for it.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMXixBhCoQY

From a shared video on October 15th people can see, children in the camp are flipping through their books at an unreadable speed. However, it is advertised as a new technique for reading books without looking at the pages. Through training, children will be able to “read” a 100,000 words book within 1-5 minutes and repeat its content.

In a short clip of the training camp, we can see a huge banner on the wall saying:

“Master the right learning method is better than after school tutoring sessions”.

Although parents can see nothing beyond a bunch of children flipping through piles of books like madmen, however, the bold statement and the certainty of it already won their heart. According to the camp organizer, their students can interact with the book even with their eyes blindfolded, they can understand and remember the content even the emotion author trying to express through the book.

So what exactly is Quantum Speed Reading and what is the magic behind it?

QSR’s founder is Tobitani Yumiko from Japan, her book can be found on Amazon. The whole training camp method is based on Tobitani Yumiko’s book. However, there wasn’t any reference or case study in the book and out of the few feedbacks it has, most of them thought it was a total waste of time. The idea of using the quantum power to create images and help the reader to learn the book might sound fascinating at first, however, there is no real evidence to back it up.

Educator Xiong Bingqi expressed his concern and said, parents should be more rational when it comes to their child’s education, there is no short cut, so good result requires hard work.

Chinese netizen’s reaction:

Blackcccat

As long as I am flipping fast enough, knowledge can’t catch up to me

人生，幸福多

I don’t understand, don’t they use their brain before handing over their hard-earned money to these camps? What does quantum have to do with reading books anyway? Such a waste of money and your kid’s time.

Xiaoxiao

I want to know what these poor children have learned from flipping through books like that. If they haven’t learned anything, don’t their parents know then it is a scam?

乌鸦

Parents’ IQ is also very important

李春光

People should stop blaming the parents. It’s like you don’t blame the theft but blame the victim for being stupid, and you don’t blame the rapist but blame the victim for being too weak instead. What we should ask ourselves is, why do these people dare to set up such a large-scaled scam like this. Why is there no organization supervising the market?

Namo

Child, any feeling you would like to share post-camp? Student: “super breezy.”

啊win

Hahahaha, your IQ is low on credit, get our top-up card for only 99!

蔡跃敏

I have an exam the day after tomorrow, I need this training like right now!

齐

C…R…A…Z…Y

The post “Quantum Speed Reading” Training Camp Scam Tiger Parents for Thousands of Dollars appeared first on chinaSMACK.

According to one of the students Linlin (11 years old), around 20:10 September 7th, Mr. Jiang did his routine dorm inspection and found out their dorm was not cleaned. He got angry and told the students to “eat all the trash” and left. Little did he know, out of fear and obedience, these poor kids really ate up all the trash, including paper, plastic and fruit shell.

Linlin and other students didn’t tell anybody until the next day. The indigestible trash has caused serious stomach ulcers and starting to really impact their health and life. Linlin had been hospitalized for almost a month by the time of the interview with local media and still periodically feel pain in his stomach. His father told the journalist Linlin may also suffer from some psychological issues.

The local education safety bureau did a thorough investigation after the incident was exposed. Apparently, it wasn’t Mr. Jiang’s intention to have his students to eat the trash and he never thought the students would really do it. He continued to check other dorms after left those students and he didn’t notice anything strange with them during his second check-up. The local education safety bureau published their final decision regarding the school and the related staff on October 15th. Two principles are released from their positions, the school will be closed for rectification and will be re-evaluated after 60 days. Mr. Jiang is under investigation and will be facing several charges.

Chinese netizens are furious, not only towards the teacher, but they are also towards the lack of self-protection awareness among the new generation. Let’s see some of their comments:

Comments

[有人@我]

What kind of wrath would make these poor kids eat trash after he was no longer there watching?

AStephy®

Revoke his teaching license and ban him from the industry forever.

真偶本色

We have so many teachers in China and a lot of them are not qualified by a long shot.

Summer Cai

Some teachers are angles and some are pure evil.

静水深流

These kids are damaged, physically and psychologically. How can we help them to heal?

Vam

My previous school’s headmaster used to make students eat nutshells, ask the student to put his bare hand into dirty toilet, squat while holding heave bricks and even kick students.

嗨只属于你

As a teacher, he can’t say things like that. Also, why would these students listen anyway?

The post Children Hospitalized after Teacher told them to Eat Trash appeared first on chinaSMACK.