S'porean woman, 73, on Yunnan tour gets pressured to pay almost S$2,000 for herbs, files report but vendor nowhere to be found

While on a day tour to Xizhou Old Town in Yunnan, China, with her husband and four friends, a 73-year-old Singapore woman came across a street stall purportedly selling traditional medicinal herbs.

Although the 73-year-old only wanted some, the seller allegedly pressured her into paying for almost S$2,000 worth of the herb by telling her that they had already ground the herb into powder and refused to let her back out of the transaction.

When she returned with police to look for the sellers, they were nowhere to be found.

Hired cheap car charter service for day tour

According to Shin Min Daily News, the 73-year-old woman, surnamed Lee (transliteration), had travelled to Yunnan, China, on Aug. 30 this year for a 26-day holiday.

On the fifth day of the trip, Lee and her party, which included her husband and four friends, wanted to visit an attraction named Xizhou Old Town.

While they were looking for a transportation service to take them there, a woman appeared and offered them her husband's car charter service.

The woman offered a considerably low price, and the party agreed to their services after some negotiation.

TCM vendor at lunch spot

At a lunch spot, Lee passed by a stall selling traditional Chinese medicine while on the way to the washroom.

"I wasn't planning on buying any traditional medicinal products at the time. However, a lavishly dressed mother-daughter duo suddenly appeared," Lee recounted to Shin Min.

"They claimed that they had been coughing year-round, but got better after consuming 'Zangbei powder'. They repeatedly listed the powder's medicinal properties," Lee continued.

After haggling with the seller, the mother-daughter duo managed to reduce the price from 12 yuan per gram to eight.

Pressured

Suddenly, the pair pointed at Lee and said one bag per person, Shin Min reported.

The seller proceeded to weigh a bag of the powder and asked Lee for payment of about 10,000 yuan (around S$1,900).

Lee hurriedly told the seller she did not need so much of the herb, but the seller did not let her back out of the transaction, arguing that the herb had already been ground into powder.

The 73-year-old told Shin Min that she also confused the exchange rate, thought she would be paying around S$200, and went ahead with the payment.

She only realised she paid almost S$2,000 for the herb after returning to the car and speaking to her husband.

Her bank records showed that she paid S$1,901.45.

Sellers nowhere to be found

When she returned to Yunnan's Dali City on Sep. 14, she then proceeded to make a police report the next day.

She later returned to the lunch spot with local police in a bid to find the sellers, but they were nowhere to be found.

Lee reminded travellers to be vigilant and avoid purchasing from street vendors, Shin Min wrote.

The 73-year-old has also made a police report upon her return to Singapore.

She said she did not dare to consume the herbs and will be sending the powder to the Singapore Food Agency for testing.