Good advice starsforsam! Do you mean he ordered lots of stuff and then expected you to pay for him?  I would be tempted to just say from the beginning that I only had money one cup of tea!  Or if they bring out lots of food, I'd eat the whole lot - that would get them hehe!

You just reminded me that I almost got scammed in China too!  A friend and I got talked into going on a rickshaw tour, but we agreed and got him to write down the price first.  At the end of the tour he asked for more money and said we went on a longer tour of another part of the village.  Being stubborn and angry at his attempt to scam us, we refused to pay more than we said and ran to the nearest taxi!

One good thing about experiences like this is that they toughen you up and make you more streetwise!

I had no problem with the total strangers wanting to take my picture or take pictures with me, but the "students" pretending to want to practice their english, and suggesting to stop for a coffee or beer is still bugging me!  I knew this is a way they scam foreigners out of money, but I still managed to fall for it.  I had to been walking and talking with this one fellow how spoke VERY GOOD english.  I had been wandering around Beijing alone for the whole day, so it was nice to speak in my native tongue.  I refused to stop for coffee at first, and when he kept walking with me, I convinced myself I had tagged him incorrectly as a scammer.  I said we could stop for a beer, then he ordered himself tea, even though I had said no to tea, and when they poured two pots and brought out plates of treats then I knew that my first instinct had been correct.  The bill came to 460 yuan for two beers, two green teas, tea service, and snacks.  My "friend" asked to split the bill.  I only had 200 yuan so he let me put in only that, but I was still very upset.  Right after we left the tea shop, he promptly had to go meet his friends.  

All in all, I learned a valuable lesson.  There are people in Beijing who legitimately want to practice their English and want to help westerners, but there are also people who want your money.  The two ways to tell are 1) How good their English is and 2) If they suggest you stop for coffee, beer, or tea within 1 minute of talking.  Avoid the men and women in their twenties who speak perfect English.  You can still be nice, but very firmly say you don't want anything to drink or eat.  Most of them will promptly walk away after that.

I'm HOPELESS with chop sticks!! I think that's the one thing I will definitely have to practice before I go to Asia!

After almost two years in Japan I don't mind squat toilets! 

I found chopsticks were the best way to eat noodles (and still do!)....but I remember my first night in Japan trying to eat a salad with chopsticks....que lots of giggling (and also a slight hope that I would perhaps lose weight from my slow progress!).  Once you get the hang of chopsticks it's a great skill to have - my advice is get the locals to show you how to hold them...a great conversation starter :-) 

I remember when I had a japanese couple sit next to me in a restaurant once and told me and my japanese friend that I was the only westerner they had seen who could properly use chopsticks - they were amazed!  (and my friend was very proud as she had taught me!).  So my task to all foreigners living in asia - surprise those natives with your chopstick skills!!!

When I arrived in Beijing, I went into the toilets at the airport. There were about 15 stalls  - the one I chose to go into was NOT a western toilet. I was really surprised as the international airport in Beijing is super modern... with my luggage and jeans... I decided to go for it.

The second I walked out, I realised that ALL the other stalls were good old western toilets. The funny thing is the  same exact thing happened to me a few days later at a restaurant. There were two stalls and I of course went into the squata-loo one!

My advice is to check all the stalls!