China cracks down on scalpers at hospitals, train stations, theaters

In late January, a video clip shot at a Beijing hospital went viral in China.

In the video, a woman raged about the fact that appointments for specialists had been booked by scalpers, who were selling them for 4,500 yuan (688 U.S. dollars), 15 times higher than the original fee. In Chinese hospitals, patients often pay a fee to schedule medical appointments and are issued a number ticket upon booking.

"Our appointments can be booked six months in advance," said Zou Xiaobing, a specialist at a hospital in south China's Guangzhou. "Appointments for six months in the future are usually all booked within minutes," said Zou.

"Some patients may even pay a scalper more than 5,000 yuan for an appointment with me, which is way too much," Zou added.

Although ticket scalping is illegal in China, scalpers are a common sight at the country's theaters, railway stations and hospitals.

"I have to be quick to react as soon as (concert) tickets are available, or else the scalpers will gain the upper hand," said Jiang Chen, a classical music fan from Shanghai.

"I just feel bad for all the empty seats because of the tickets that go unsold by the scalpers," said Jiang.

Local governments and institutions have tried to put pressure on the scalpers. The National Railway Administration has been improving its verification system for online purchases to prevent scalpers from buying them. This year, the administration introduced mobile phone verification for purchases.

As of Feb. 18, a total of 18,193 fake tickets had been seized and 249 scalpers had been caught by railway police nationwide in a campaign launched late last year to crack down on scalpers during the Spring Festival travel rush, which kicked off on Jan. 24 and will end on Thursday.

"You see fewer scalpers and more patrols at the station than two years ago," said Andrew Ngai, a passenger from south China's Shenzhen who traveled during the holiday rush.

Triggered by the video, hospitals in Beijing have also taken measures, including a real-name system for bookings to prevent scalpers from landing appointments.

Beijing Tongren Hospital and others have limited the number of appointments available per day to ensure patients are treated as soon as possible.

At theaters such as the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA), more guards have been seen standing at the gates to expel scalpers with tickets in hand.

"I don't remember seeing so few scalpers before," said Yang Ping outside the Beijing Concert Hall. "Even the remaining few are keeping a much lower profile."

Despite the crackdown, a number of scalpers still linger at their usual haunts. At the entrance to the NCPA on Monday evening, scalpers surrounded Jiang Chen, trying to persuade her to buy their last tickets.

Although Jiang refused, the regular theatergoer said she felt for the scalpers.

"Cracking down on them makes little sense now," she said. "In many cases, (concert) sponsors give out free tickets to customers, who are not interested and give the tickets to scalpers afterwards."

Wang Yi, director at Evergrande Music, a major music group in China, said it will take time to eliminate the problem.

"The task seems impossible to complete at the moment," he said. "We cannot keep the scalpers from getting tickets, no matter how we sell them."

Huang Fei, director of the office of medical reform of Guangdong Province, said scalpers at hospitals are also difficult to eliminate.

"Our medical services at the primary level fail to keep scalpers at bay," he said, referring to the fact that some patients avoid their local hospitals, so more reputable hospitals are always packed with patients and scalpers.

"If our medical system were good enough to keep all patients at nearby hospitals, [the scalpers] would disappear," he added.