Police at Ciqikou Station display English begging letter
Yesterday, reporters learned from Ciqikou Police Station that two men posing as backpackers were caught scamming and were dealt with after being reported by the public. Yesterday at the station, Chongqing Evening News reporters saw three pieces of paper—one used by the two brothers for begging that day, and two others found by police.
Original title: “Wallet stolen, need 10 yuan for food”
Begging Letter 1
Shouldering my pack, walking down that old road. Wandering for my future, seeking my new dreams... Though the foreign scenery is nice, I love my hometown more...
Begging Letter 2
In this life, am I here to pay off debts? I come from a poor mountain village and attended a teachers’ college. My sister, Yang Yan, is ill... Urgently need 180,000 yuan for surgery...
Begging Letter 3
(English)
I come from a poor mountain village. My father has leukemia and urgently needs 180,000 yuan for treatment...
“Shouldering my pack, walking down that old road...” On the third day of the Lunar New Year, February 12, near the entrance of Ciqikou in Shapingba District, two well-equipped backpackers laid out a poetic-looking begging letter on the ground and told people: “Our wallets were pickpocketed, please give us 10 yuan for food.”
Claimed wallets were stolen
Haven’t eaten for two days
Ciqikou on the third day of the Lunar New Year was packed with people—not only locals bringing their families for fun, but also huge numbers of out-of-towners.
Near the entrance, two men around 20 years old held a piece of paper that read “Need 10 yuan for food.” They claimed they had traveled to Chongqing and had their wallets stolen, leaving them with no money and no food for two days.
A concerned local, Old Zhang, stepped closer and carefully examined the two men’s gear: they were wearing windbreakers and hiking pants, had on hiking boots, and carried backpacks with tents hanging outside—looking very much like professional backpackers.
“Where are you from?” Old Zhang asked. One of the men said they were brothers and backpackers who had walked from Guizhou to Chongqing, and that their wallets had been stolen the day before.
Old Zhang looked closely at the note in the man’s hand—it was quite sentimental: “...Though the foreign scenery is nice, I love my hometown more...”
But Old Zhang felt something was off, so he went to Ciqikou Police Station to report it to officers.
Prior to this, several citizens had reported two backpackers whose wallets had been stolen, prompting police to check it out.
Hiked to Chongqing in four days
Gear looked brand new
Officers in plain clothes stood at a distance observing quietly. Aside from the “Need 10 yuan for food” note, the two backpackers had also written a prose-like poem. The two men told onlookers they had been hiking for too long and wanted to go home.
Officers approached and asked the two men what had happened.
Seeing that someone was showing concern, the men immediately took out their photo albums from their bags to show the officers, telling them they had hiked to many places.
Officers noticed that the thick photo album was full of landscapes from various places—but not a single person was in any of the photos.
“Where did you hike from, and how many days did it take?” the plainclothes officer asked.
“This... I can’t remember exactly... maybe four days?” the taller man answered. “Two days...” the other man replied quietly at the same time.
“One of you says two days, the other four — aren’t you on the same route?” the plainclothes police officer asked again.
“We’re on the same route. Like this — we got to Chongqing within two days, and arrived in the main urban area in four,” the taller man blurted out.
“Which route did you come through? Which mountains did you cross? The mountain roads from Guizhou are the hardest,” the officer responded.
“They were really tough — we wore out a pair of shoes. We didn’t plan the route, just went wherever we ended up,” the tall man said.
“But your gear looks pretty new and clean — doesn’t seem like you hiked all the way from Guizhou,” said a bystander who had caught on. The two men grew nervous and tried to leave. The officers identified themselves and asked for their cooperation in the investigation.
Three versions of begging letters
Exposed their true motives
At the police station, officers confirmed that the two men were from Kaili City, Guizhou Province, and were biological brothers surnamed Yang. The Yang brothers insisted they were backpackers.
When the officers checked the brothers’ backpacks, they found real camping equipment inside, including a Nikon compact camera and a printed photo album of landscapes. However, in a small side pocket, the officers discovered two sheets of paper that had been crumpled and somewhat worn. These two pieces of paper revealed the full truth.
Yesterday at the station, a reporter from Chongqing Evening News saw three sheets of paper: one used by the brothers that day for begging, and the other two found by the officers.
The first sheet was a prose poem that appeared at the Ciqikou Gate, which read: “My wallet was stolen, please give me 10 yuan for food.”
The second sheet read: “I study at Zunyi Minzu Normal College. My sister, Yang Yan, is sick… She needs 180,000 yuan for surgery…” Much of the text was incoherent and didn’t read like something a university student would write.
The third sheet was entirely in English, roughly saying that their father had leukemia and needed 180,000 yuan for treatment. “It was full of mistakes — the police officer who graduated in English at the station laughed when he read it.”
The three different begging letters immediately exposed them: they kept changing their identities to scam people.
3,000 yuan worth of gear
600 yuan earned in a single day of begging
Upon investigation, the older brother, Yang, made a living shining shoes in Shapingba, earning about 60 yuan per day. Last year, he heard from a friend that some people pretended to be backpackers and begged on the streets, making good money quickly. Yang took note and had been looking for an opportunity.
Before this year’s Spring Festival, instead of returning to Guizhou, Yang called his younger brother to Chongqing and shared his idea. His brother agreed, so they bought backpacking gear: windbreakers and pants, tents, sleeping bags, moisture-proof mats, water bottles, etc., spending over 1,000 yuan per person. Together, they spent nearly 3,000 yuan on equipment — quite an investment.
On the day of the incident, they started begging at Ciqikou around 9 a.m. and were taken to the police station by 5 p.m., having earned over 600 yuan. The Yang brothers claimed it was their first time pretending to be backpackers to scam people.
Police stated that the Yang brothers had violated the Public Security Administration Punishment Law due to fraud and had received appropriate penalties.
Two ways to tell
Real backpackers from fakes
Officers at Ciqikou Police Station reminded residents, “True backpackers go hiking or traveling to challenge themselves, aiming to overcome difficulties through personal or team strength. They don’t easily resort to begging — such behavior is frowned upon in the backpacking community.”
How to distinguish real from fake backpackers?
First, most backpackers have stable jobs and incomes. Some seasoned ones even come from well-off families and generally won’t beg on the street when facing hardships. They usually turn to friends, family, or local backpackers for help first. If that fails, they’ll take a part-time or temporary job to get by.
Second, backpackers carry minimal and efficient gear, striving to reduce backpack weight and avoid burdening themselves with bulky photo albums.