Sumo,
From what you wrote here, i think it was more likely to be an EMF scam. Nothing else makes sense. If your lady knew you were coming and that she would be paying , say 5000RMB, a lot more effort would have been put into your arrival/meeting...Right?? I think your hotel and other arrangements were made by others!! I think she was probably roped into the deal at a much later date, for the meeting, that was always going to be a first and only meeting. So she isn't going to be paying anything to the agency, they even, may be paying her!! ...haha!! Maybe, the agency were hoping to introduce you to another lady while you were there, so that they could then charge that lady a meeting fee!!
As i say, from what you state in your post, there's a good chance the lady didn't even know you existed while you were supposedly exchanging EMF's. I think the agency may have got her to read the correspondence so she had a background for the meeting. Only you, could judge if she knew all that you had written about in your letters.
Did she seem not to know much about you, or what you had both written, during your meeting with her??
Oh, and the little friend that came along that day, could also possibly have been the translator, making out she don't speak English, ..... Lot's of whispering between them was there??
You didn't state how long you had been writing to this lady, or approximately how many EMF's had been sent or received. If it was a relatively short time, and only a small number of EMF's, then the Scam backfired on the agency. ... If a long period was involved the agency has done very nicely out of you....
As i say, just my thoughts on this little but expensive scenario. ....I don't think I'm too far away from the truth!!
David .....
