If you see a beggar come up and latch on to you with a sad look and an outstretched hand, you know you must be on the streets of any city in any nation of the world. China has taken great steps to insure that visitors are not troubled by beggars, but no amount of preparation against this can ever make it go away. Only you can make them go away, and if you don’t, they’ll call in reinforcements until all your money is gone.

The occurrence of beggars in the bigger, tourist cities in China is not common, but the ones you’ll meet will make up for it with their veracity. The word of the day is “mayo”. Don’t worry about how it’s spelled, worry about how it’s pronounced and it’s pronounced just like the tasty white sauce for which Americans are so readily known.

There are different words for “no” in Mandarin, most of them are soft and conversational. The word “mayo” is a very strong word for “no”, consider it something on the order of “a thousand times no” or “no way in hell”.

If a beggar, or team of beggars should decide that you are their next meal ticket, furrow your brow and sternly say “mayo”. I’ve never seen it take more than one or two utterances to convince them that they’re not getting a single coin from you.

Don’t say it apologetically, it won’t work. A crafty beggar can smell sympathy and exploit it. The appearance of apathy doesn’t make you a bad person, it just gets you back on your way and helps these (often very well paid) groups understand that there are more honest ways of making a living.

If you’re going to appear apologetic, soft or sympathetic, just give them the money and move on. No need for games, really.

Being stern is not the same thing as being rude. Always be kind to the people you meet. Remember, you may be the only ambassador for your country that this person will ever meet.