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How safe is China?
https://www.quora.com/How-safe-is-China
100+ Answers
Michael Friedman, I'm an American currently living in China
Updated Mar 10, 2017 · d by Xinchun Li, lives in China
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I’ll give you an example from the city I live in, Shenzhen. There are two giant parks I live near, Shenzhen Central Park and Lianhua Park. I regularly go walking or “ninebotting” through those parks at 2AM or later. I wouldn’t try doing that in San Francisco or New York City.
Last time I got scared in the park, it was 4AM and I heard a strange noise from behind the trees. I went around the corner to investigate and there was an elderly couple practicing Tai Chi. Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed to be afraid after that.
Edit: I want to add something that has kind of been blowing my mind lately. There is this new thing here ced Mobike. Not sure how popular it is throughout China, but it is so big here, there are at least 3 other startups doing the same thing in Shenzhen. What is Mobike? It’s a bicycle sharing service, but here’s the catch, you just abandon the bike on the side of the road, or in the middle of a park. There is no high security bike station you return the bike to, just a little lock screwed on and a GPS you could easily chop off. People just don’t steal the bikes, or at least not often enough to sink the company. I can’t imagine that working anywhere in America or even Europe.
Clarification on the bike thing….
They have this here:
This is what most people have experience with. No one uses it.
Mobike and it’s competitors look like this:
and this:
You just grab a bike you see lying around, scan the QR code and you’re off. There is a lock with a servo on the back tire and the bikes have a GPS. You pay 1RMB per hour (about $0.14USD). The bikes are pretty nice. I passed about 40 people using these bikes on my ride to work (10 minute 9bot), about 2 people riding their own bikes, and zero people riding the rack bikes.
Some have pointed out in the comments that people lock up the bike for their own use. This is unfortunate, because there are so many bikes in town, it’s pointless to lock them up so you have one available later. They are everywhere.
Lom Harshni, Writer/published author. Lived in China 15 years
I have lived in China for 14 years distributed amongst 4 cities in different parts of the country and visited many others cities.
I am a woman, and whether it is Shanghai, the bustling metropolis or Chongqing , a much more ‘Chinese’ city in the South West, or Shenzhen where I live now, I’ve never been teased on the street, ogled or leered at or, forget about being groped. I have had to walk home from metro stations at weird hours of night sometimes but have never felt scared.
A taxi driver once told me the reason why taxi in Shenzhen is safe, even at 1 am at night- ‘there are so many cameras around on the streets. It would have to be a mad person to try to do something.’
The young girls here can litery get away with wearing anything, and NOONE seems to pay them ANY attention on the street.
My daughter is 11 years old and recently I have started owing her to take the metro on her own when needed. I wouldn’t dare do this in many other countries.
Sure I’ve heard about pick pockets and the like, but as far being ‘safe’ on the street is concerned, China has to be one of the safest countries in the world today.
Matthew Miner, Lived for 3 years in northern China.
I went to university in Chicago, Illinois. My school was located in this sort of in-between place, not ghetto, not swanky, rich neighborhood. One of the first things you learn is how to stay safe. At night, always be looking around. If you get a bad feeling about someplace or someone, leave as quickly as possible. You have to always be aware of what's going on around you.
My school put out crime alerts. They were emails that let you know what crime it was (assault, robbery, etc.), where it happened, the details. What amazed me was how many crimes happened so close to a university. You sort of expect this bubble-like zone to be around it. Everything inside the campus should be safe; everything outside would be dangerous. It wasn't like that at . Unless you were in the nicest, richest, and most idyllic neighborhoods, you always had to be careful.
I lived in China for 3 years. 2 years in the city of Shijiazhuang, Hebei, and 1 year in Beijing. I lost of my habits that I had in Chicago. I stopped scanning around me if I was out at night. I didn't ever wonder if someone around me had a gun. China is safe in a way that the U.S. isn't.
Say what you will about the oppressive regime, but there are some definite benefits to the way they handle day to day public safety. My biggest worry was only ever crossing the street. But that's going to be a worry in any big city with lots of cars.
I never had to worry about gang violence. Guns are illegal for citizens to own, so I never had to worry about public shootings. The worst I had to worry about was that somebody wouldn't be driving carefully.
in , China is a rey safe place. Just as long as you aren't inciting the people to overthrow the government. But that sort of thing isn't safe anywhere.
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Tyler Bourne, Traveled extensively in China for work, married to a Chinese national
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
That depends on what you mean by safe and safe for who?
If we are talking about violent crimes, then China is very safe compared to pretty much any other populated area around the world. You can walk the street at night even if you are a woman and likely be toty safe even in the poorest of neighborhoods.
Theft however is pretty common. There is a lot of purse snatching, often from scooters or motorcycles. There is pick pocketing, bag slicing etc. The reason you see so many Chinese wearing their backpacks on the front is so they will hopefully notice if someone tries something.
Scams, shakedowns and extortion are common.
Human trafficking is a big problem. Kidnapping of girls who are sold as wives happens more than any Chinese will likely admit but it tends not to be kidnapping off the street in a big city.
Food and water safety is DEFINITELY suspect. Chemicals added to baby’s milk to extend the milk volume and make more profit is just one example that got very public.
In many places the air is not safe to breathe. Even when China claims its ok or just a bit high, if you compare the pollution levels to any international chart you will see that a good day in China is considered a major health hazard anywhere else in the world.
Industrial pollutants cause a huge number of cancers, children to grow up with Asthma and other health related issues.
China has an incredible number of pedestrian and motorcycle/scooter fatalities. Other traffic incidents are also very high by global comparison.
China also has had a number of epidemics like bird flu and SARS. The conditions that owed those diseases to crop up and rapidly start spreading have not rey changed since and there is always the possibility of another cropping up.
Regulations in building codes exist but are largely unenforced. People die in stuck elevators or when structures collapse due to shoddy cement composition or buildings that after collapsing in a minor tremor turn out to have garbage and empty cans used as filler in the support ws to save money.
Lets give credit where it is due, China is indeed a VERY safe place to travel and spend time. Amazingly low violent crime statistics, but it does have enough other issues with safety to not make it some kind of crazy anomaly of safety. I don’t genery worry about my safety when I’m there, but lets not sugar coat it. There are a lot of different kinds of safety.
Liu Lijun, Teacher of Ideology & Politics at Changsha No.1 Railway Middle School (1997-present)
People here saying that China is safe are either foreigners or young Chinese. Do you know that the safety in China is a very recent thing? Do foreigners know that they feel safe in China largely because of the fact that they are privileged? Or do they ever bothered to go on a tour in some smer cities in China?
I had connections with 30+ of my classmates when I graduated from university in 1988. Now in 2017, to my knowledge, 9 of them have been confirmed dead. As for those who I lost contact with, I am not sure how many of them are still alive.
How did they die? They died in an extremely dangerous era in the history of China. Some of them got killed when they were robbed, throats slit and skulls smushed. Some got killed by their own students who were involved in gangs and mobs. One, when traveling in Guangzhou, got caught by corrupt police and died in custody because he didn't have the certificate of temporary residence 暫住證. Another got massacred along with a whole bus load of passengers by highwaymen 車匪路霸 armed with automatic rifles when their bus was traveling in the countryside. I have not mentioned those I know who got their children trafficked and daughters raped, those who got their house bulldozed with their elderly parents and young children buried alive in ruins by real estate developers, as well as those whose entire family got poisoned to death by people who had merely tiny grudge with them.
China’s population grew from 500 million to one billion in the first 30 years of the PRC, but in the next 30 years it grew only by 370 million. Why? The Planned Birth policy is not the only reason, another reason is that people regularly died of kinds of crime throughout the 1980s, the 1990s, and even some in the 2000s. Ask anyone who were born before 1970 and they will agree that their mere survival of the great chaotic era of 1980s and 1990s is a blessing.
China today has strict gun control. You barely hear of gun violence today. You will probably be surprised to know there were guns basicy everywhere in China. In Mao Zedong’s time the entire country was preparing for the defense against an imperialist invasion, so there were militia groups everywhere, in every village and every factory. After 1978 the firearms of those militias were used for crime activities. The government ordered everyone to hand in guns, but as you could expect nobody did. In the 1990s, some state-owned factory were shut down, factory militiamen were unhappy so they fortified their factories and fired at Armed Police forces sent in to crack down on them. There were a lot of bank robberies also. At that time a bank convoy needed to be escorted by tens of armed guards, but those guards would be wiped out if the convoy was to be robbed.
Schools were full of gangsters. Teenagers are energetic and they tended to make trouble, after . Middle school students at that time were involved in gangs in a way or two. To start with, bullying and ransoming younger students was a norm. In addition, students also regularly took part in street fights with other mobs outside the campus and deaths often occured. Some students even got addicted to drugs and raped girls. We teachers dared not to criticize those bad students. Because if we did, we will get reprisals. Flat bicycle tires were just warning shots. We might got beaten by gangsters on our commute. Gangs had a lot of energy at that time.
Has safety in China changed for the better? Sure, much better. Not as safe as those developed Northern European countries but at least somewhat safe. Most importantly, it's safe enough for new forms of economy to thrive. Today in China, you can have food delivered to your home using your smartphone. But this was impossible 20 years ago. 20 years ago, each street in the city was controlled by a group of gangsters. If someone from the outside, say, a delivery guy enters the street, he would get robbed and killed, his body divided up and never seen again. Today, bike sharing is available in every city. But this was impossible ten years ago. If you put one thousand bikes on the street 10 years ago, they would got stolen in one hour.
In the past 20 years, I have also witnessed how safety at my school changed for the better. When I began to work in this school in 1997, it was a crappy school attended by decayed children of railroad workers. They were involved in kinds of teenage crimes you can think of. Some teachers here were even gangsters themselves. Then the school got reformed. New students and new teachers came in. It became a key school, one of the top ones in the city. And I noticed that bullying and gang activities in the school began to reduce year by year. Of course there remains a lot of teenage misbehavior here but the situation has got much more decent than before.
At last I will tell you a story that may be too good to be true to you. In the summer holiday of 1994 or 1995 (I don't remember which year it was), I was working for another smer school. The school was empty except for some of us teachers staying to work and the city footb team that was training on our playground. One night, a group of gangsters outside the campus came to our school and demanded us to hand out a student of ours so that they could revenge on him. The student they were demanding for was a very bad student and had been transferred to another place. We explained them he was not at our school. They didn't listened. Anyway, why would they come to us during summer holiday when students were supposed to be absent? It didn't make sense, did it? Well, gangsters never made sense, that's what made them gangsters. So those gangsters threatened that we either find the boy they were demanding for by midnight or have our school to razed to ground. An unreasonable demand indeed.
We were frightened. The footb team and young male teachers like us were the only ones capable of fighting. So we armed ourselves with truncheons, clubs and sticks as well as plastic basins as shields. We set up traps and reinforced the ws. Our phone line got cut. But we did not dare to send anybody to the police station to ask for help. Not only because the police would be useless (they may not even care) but also we feared our messenger would get intercepted by those gangsters and killed. None of us went back home afternoon but spent the entire day at school, preparing for defense. One thing we were particularly worried about was that our family members may come to the school to find us when they found we didn't went home, and got abducted by those gangsters on the way. Some family members did come. We kept them with us because we couldn't let them return home.
At night the gangsters finy came. About 40 of them surrounded the campus. They knew we were prepared and did not dared to attack. We also positioned our lights towards the outside of the campus while our buildings remained in dark, so that those gangsters were lit up while we weren't. The gangsters were not dispersed but cuddled in narrow eys nearby in groups of 7 to 8, so we could have a good grasp on their location. Their leader was just not smart enough to tell his man to take cover or move between different spots. We had an observation post on top of a building, which kept notifying us the location of different groups of gangsters with Walkie-talkies and predicted where gangsters would climb over the w to attack. Our combatants were then divided up into several groups, each sitting behind the w at the spot where those gangsters would attack. The situation remained a standoff throughout the night. At dawn those gangsters finy retreated, throwing some empty threats at us before leaving.
After the incident we were relieved to know that none of our family members were missing. Still, we had to act very carefully until the school began.
Edit: It is clear to me that the question is asking about how safe is China, not how safe (or unsafe) was China. I agree that China today is pretty safe. I just want to provide you with a whole picture by pointing out the fact that China used to be not that safe. I think it is always better for one to have farther sight and longer memory.
I think four factors have contributed to China's safety today. One is that China joined WTO in 2001, which provided private enterprises and factories in China the opportunity to thrive. These factories absorbed a lot of unemployed young people and thus reduced a lot of social instability, and in consequences China began a ten-year period of rapid development. The second factor is the video games and internet, which kept trouble-making teenagers busy with playing before computers instead of street fighting, drug-taking, rapes, thefts or robberies. The third is a series of actions against criminal activities aroud the years of Beijing Olympic and Shanghai Expo. The forth, I believe, is the construction of police force featuring the introduction of information technology. In the past policemen were basicy recruited from young men that were materials for criminals. That's why police were incredibly corrupt and brutal. Today young police officers police academy graduates who are professional and competent. We have surveillance cameras covering every street in the city, as well as powerful facial recognition softwares to identify individuals in CCTV footages.
From a historical point of view, most industrialized countries have gone through a period featuring social instability, class conflicts and even poor human rights conditions. In the early 19th century the typical life for a British worker in London was to start working 18 hours a day at the age of 9, and die of cholera at the age of 24. That's why Marx and Engels went there to organize revolution. I am not saying that China's terrible past should be justified or that we can escape from facing real problems by taking a “historical and dialectical” scope. I am just trying to prove that problems do exist in China and that it would be abnormal if they don’t.
In recent months there are a lot of hypes about how safe China is. Chinese youths discuss on the internet how they don't need to worry about being robbed when going out to eat BBQ at night and feel pathetic for those gun shootings in the US. I feel uncomfortable about their discussions because I think they are being too optimistic are too optimistic about this topic. They need to know how dangerous China used to be before boasting about how safe China is now. They need to remain humble. They should not get overheated with show pride otherwise they cannot address the real problems.
Anton Cvet, President (2016-present)
I’ve been living in China (Shanghai) for about 2 1/2 years, working for a local airline as captain, flying throughout china and SE Asia. We regularly overnight or multi night stay in various cities throughout china.
As far as crime is concerned, I’d have to say China is very safe. The chances of someone being involved in a violent crime are remote here. However, you must be careful of pick pockets, especiy on the subway system. I was picked once, my iPhone, not happy about that but then I was told to ride the subway “wearing” my earbuds (therefore your phone is attached to your head). My wife and my coworkers wives feel safe here although when the “girls go out” they may encounter harassment from locals trying to pick upon the foreign girls but this could happen anywhere. in I feel China is a safe place crime wise.
Food is another matter. Suffice it to say the Chinese will produce and distribute food as cheaply as possible therefore ensuring the highest profit regardless of quality or safety. My local first officers will not eat an apple without pealing it because they said they don’t know what's been coated on the outside of the apple to make it “look good”. When flying to places like Japan the crews will travel with almost empty luggage and stock up on “food” in Japan to bring home because they say the quality is so much better. We have had a few occurrences where the crew have gotten minor food poisoning after eating at the hotel restaurant. Be careful of what you eat. Foreign bottled water is the way to go.
Liquor is another matter. It's not uncommon for bars and restaurants to dilute their booze with something. When I first came here we would go out and drink sociy (I might have 3 or 4 draft beer) and wake up the next day with the mother of hangovers. I was told then that the vendors cut their alcohol with “something” to give the booze the kick but in essence, your getting mildy poisoned. I now am very careful what I drink when out and buy my in-home liquor from duty free’s out of country.
Walking, bicycling, scootering and driving around is another matter. Besides the VERY different driving habits which are toty contrary to western ideology, you have to be very careful and aware of what's happening around you. If your thinking its safe to cross the street because you have the green walk sign is very far from the truth. Scooters and cars will come from any direction and in any lane at any time. Also, you must be careful about people either walking in front of your bike, scooter or car to either get hit or just lay down on the road in front of your car and scream bloody murder. This will result in you having to pay them on the spot. Dash board cams are common here. I had a person step into the bike lane in front of me once in the attempt to get hit by me on my bike (Westerner is favorite target) . Unfortunately, he hooked my handlebar with his hip (unintentional I believe) but that sent me over the handlebars and I broke my wrist. Westerner’s beware of the road scams.
Air quality is another matter. We’be seen the news reports of air quality in Beijing. Yes the air quality in the North can be bad. Our company has occasiony canceled flights to the North due extremely poor visibility. Mainly this happens in the F/Winter when the seasonal winds change and keeps the pollution local instead of blowing it away to the East (towards Japan). In shanghai its probably similar to places like LA. The air quality is better in the South (Shenzhen, Guangzhou) and the West. Many locals wear the face mask but unless its the real quality medical kind (which no one wears) it won’t help you much. The two weeks of Chinese New Years is the best time as many people leave the cities to travel to their home towns relieving car traffic and energy needs in the cities.
There are many good things about China but there are many not so good things, like any place. Be careful when your out, watch what you eat and drink, be extremely careful walking around.
Cheers
Anton
David Riordan, Worked in manufacturing in Shenyang; product sourcing and publishing in Beijing
I lived for almost 2 years in Beijing and Shenyang. I also lived in Ireland, Germany and the US. China was by far the safest. I can't talk so much about the female experience, however as a man the only time I saw another man in danger (especiy a foreigner), was when he had too much to drink. In this case he would be a menace to both Chinese and non-Chinese alike.
Farzan Safavi, World Traveler
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I am living in China for a couple of months, and I can guarantee you China is one of the safest countries I have ever lived or traveled to.
The people are incredibly hospitable, generous, polite and unconditiony kind. I am moved by their kindness since day one, they are of course some cultural shocks or gestures but you’re in China, if you’re not menty prepared to come here or travel to China, then just don't and choose to be ignorant.
According to the Internet data, I live in one of the fast growing underdeveloped city in China Guiyang. I have experienced nothing here but just goodness, kindness and locals enthusiasticy willing to help. They are very few expats living in Guiyang, most days you can go without seeing a foreigner, but China is a country, where you won't be left alone here.
Think about it, such a large population living in a country yet the country manages to be so safe, it's truly a work of art. I walk in Guiyang at night and I feel super safe as in most other cities of China like Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha, Shenzhen and Xian. China is overcrowded, but you feel at peace here.
If you’re a foreigner here in China, people will treat you honorably as a guest with respect. You’re bringing something new to their country, a new experience, a new way of thinking and they truly value and admire that.
Been living here for few months, I have experienced nothing but just goodness, safety, and security.
I love China.
Peace,
This is very helpful to me as there is a 50/50 chance I may go and live in Guangzhou
Patrick Samuel, Been living in China for most of my adult life
I have been in Beijing for more than 15 years and not once have I felt threatened in any way. Beijing have always been a safe place from my perspective. One thing that I have come to understand is that if you are a foreigner/expat in China, most locals are nice and helpful both in big cities and sm towns as well. Genery, rural China is considered safe by many Chinese. Big cities, especiy Beijing and Shanghai- have their headaches - pick-pocketing mostly, but genery safe. Guandong province is notoriously known for its not-so-safe problems (Police pledge to fight gangs in Guangzhou's townships and villages). The hotbed of identity theft, bank card hacking and copying is probably in Dongguan city also in Guangzhou.
I once got my passport stolen in Shenzhen (in 2001) when dropping off the airport bus. In those days, the stops for airport buses were not regulated at . The moment you drop-off, you get this crowd of teenagers swarming towards you with business cards and at the same time feeling your pockets for any thing they can steal. They won't harm you. Luckily for me, they only wanted cash to hand back my passport. I gave them 300 yuan! Today, the airport bus stops are pretty much safer than they were before in Shenzhen.
It is refreshing to note that most of these incidences hardly involve foreigners and hence we feel very safe. Guns are very hard to obtain in China so the weapons of choice are knives, swords or cleavers. The government is cracking on these items as well.
One thing I gather from my experience here in China is that Chinese are extremely safety oriented. Almost doors in virtuy apartments are security doors (they c them "burglar-resisting doors") - doors a locked consistently. Most, if not , communities are gated with security personnel around the clock and only one or less than three points of entry and exit. Incidents of some psychos, driving through kindergartens and schools, chopping kids with swords and knives have created wed schools with no more than two points of entry/exit. At public and even private establishments rarely would you find people leaving their stuff around unattended even for a quick washroom trip. Passwords are entered after looking around and with one hand blocking the view of anyone to the number pad. People are reminded of being safe on almost every opportunity: TV stations, radios, banks, communities, markets, hospitals, ATM locales (sometimes with loud annoying speakers), and LED boards are full of warnings advising people to be aware of their belongings, bank cards, locking doors and windows etc. Posters of recent robbery are distributed (locy and very discreet, if my Chinese was not good enough I will probably not notice) to warn people and to prevent recurrences. Cars are locked consistently with double checking. I was surprised when one of my neighbors kept accompanying her son to a school that was hardly 300 meters away. When asked, she replied it was for safety reasons (apparently another kid disappeared, mysteriously, in the same area some weeks ago). There are many in China who her reasons.
Having said that, it is still common to hear few incidents of people being robbed, mugged and even murdered. Still it is safe to say that China is genery safe for expats/foreigners. Just don't work, shop, dine or drive in any Japanese branded company, shop, restaurant/hotel or car when the two countries are having tensions (China protests over Japanese activists' visit to disputed island )!
Richard Li, Knows a thing or two about China
I grew up in China until junior high. I frequently went to school by myself since when I was 6 years old. The trip was about a 2-3 km walking distance. I rec I would hang the house key on a cord around my neck and goes home for lunch every day by myself.
My parents used to travel a lot for work, and my only surviving grandparent was living too far away to help look after me, so I sort of took care of myself then.
Never once was I in danger for my living memories while in China.Then I went overseas at 16. Within 3 months, I was mugged and beaten twice, within walking distance to train stations and police stations.
I admit China might've changed since the time back then, but despite the bad press, China is still considerably safer than a lot of western countries.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
If you ask a Chinese person they will most likely tell you “China is very dangerous”. When you ask why, the answer will undoubtedly be “Because there are so many pickpockets”.
This is great at showing how their perception of safety differs from the majority of the rest of the world. In many countries you may have to worry for your life, in China you’re genery worried that your wet might vanish out of your pocket without incident.
China is the safest country I’ve ever been to. This is my opinion after being here for more than 10 years.
Matthew Lin, former Peer Support Specialist (2016-2017)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Well，i’m living in Australia.
Last night , i attended a party somehow and went back home by myself.
Along the street seemed like endless darkness (I do not understand why the government do not inst more streetlight alongside), meeting with drunkard and worrying about my own safety(probably cuz it is the first time that i go back to my dorm so late).
living in china I will never had this kind of feeling, even walking in some ey(just for smoking or thinking about my life) during 2am. And if you want to go back home at night，just c an online taxi service.
And due to a huge population in china(A double-edged sword)，going to hospital and seeing a doctor is such a convenient thing. If you encounter some problem or disease even in midnight,you can just c a taxi and go. Although the doctor or nurses will be rey patient to you and work out your problem efficiently.
medicine
Plus, nowadays, an increasing number of Chinese hospital are equiped with great infrastructure （including high-tech medical equipments and facilities and refurbishing the hospital in a modern way）and recruits professional doctors who also can speaks english fluently. And almost of anthorized hospital are available in internet, you can just make a reservation and go even have no need to wait the queue … However, if you rey need to visit some rey supreme specialists for serious diseases, I have no idea with it…
So, somehow, convenient hospital service also prove China is a safe country for your health.
thank for the comment from @Roderick Thomas Lee. So, i would like to correct some of my views. I am still not familiar with the medical system of Australia, it is quite unfair to make a judgement（My apology）. But, i still reaffirm that China are rey safe。
Beau Shelton Bramer, Knower of Things, Learner of Others...
I have lived in China, on and off, for roughly 5 years over the course of the past decade. I've been to nearly every province and am, modesty aside, more adventurous than most. That said, I've felt threatened in only 5 instances and, rey, they just have ended up as comical stories to tell.
The first time was in Urumqi, Xinjiang in 2006 when a group tried to scam us on a carnival like game where the object was to pop boons with a little gun. After a round the runners tried to charge us nearly $30 USD as opposed to the 30 cents it should have cost. My friend and I were surrounded, pushed around, a car came flying up while we ran to escape and hit me. But the police came and we ducked into our hotel. No big deal. Urumqi has, deservedly so, a bad reputation. For simplicity's sake, let's just say, it is full of Russians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Uyghurs, and Han that don't get along, run nefarious business, etc. That being said, go, enjoy yourself in the countryside, and maybe stay out of the city at night.
The second time was related to my landlord. To make a great story short, she was/is a criminal, and a crazy one at that. She bit me. She attacked a police officer, was sentenced to a labor camp for 6 months, and she is still operating in Shanghai today to the best of my knowledge. Do not rent from Cathy Zeng.
The third time was at a cheesy night club that took 跳舞 litery in that their dance floor was spring loaded like a trampoline. Some guys were getting too fresh with my friend. Her husband did not take too kindly to it, of course. It quickly devolved into a shouting match in which we were greatly outnumbered and several of the Chinese men were grabbing heavy glass ashtrays off the table. We left.
The fourth time was in a hot metered, black taxi in Shenzhen that actuy picked us up from the designated taxi stand at the airport and then tried to charge us about $40 USD for a less than $10 ride to the hotel. When he tried to grab me and got out a knife, I dropped a 100 RMB on the ground and went inside the hotel.
The last time was when I was dumb (chivalrous) enough to stick up for a girl I was having dinner with in a busy eyway street food area. The tableful of guys next to us were northerners with shaved heads and covered with tattoos--face and head included. They were saying sorts of inappropriate, threatening things. It ended alright when my friends showed up to meet us and we decided to move on, but it easily could not have.
On the flip side, I have met the nicest people in China. I've been in countless strangers' homes across the country. d food. Got directions. Given rides. I've drank with wonderful people on the K and T trains--a bunch of military officers included. China and her people are great in so many ways. As anywhere else, a place that is off the beaten path, male dominated and full of booze at night can be dangerous. Be careful there. Pretty much everywhere else, just enjoy and explore.
Christopher Oliva, Living in China (Shenzhen and Shanghai) since 2008
This Is probably the country where I feel the safest (with Singapore).
i have been living in China for a while now and never had any problem apart pickpocket one time.
The only time It had been hot was with one of our supplier who didn't want to rework some goods he failed quality control. Otherwise I never have experienced any problem.
A good thing in China is safety, get out in the middle of the night the risk to get trouble is extremely low. I have been living in Paris and in the usa and it was much more dangerous there. In Paris you can not get out your smarrphone in the metro …unsafe.
China may be criticized for many things regarding human right etc….but I have to admit that their strictness about crime bring for people who are behaving properly a certain piece of mind. They don't joke with crime. They can jail you for several months if you steal and no need a big amount of money to be sentenced 6 months (And this is not hotel style from what I heard)
So genery speaking people are not playing too much when it is related to physical safety. I don't know if the fact I am foreigner there has an influence or not (I suppose yes a bit as I heard also some stories of Chinese people getting threaten by other Chinese at ATM or by apartment robery)
What is a bit unsafe in China however are cars and bus: they never let you cross street as pedestrian and it can become very dangerous if you try to play against it.
Ray Comeau, Travel extensively to many countries, lived in several.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
A2A
PERSONAL SAFETY
First of don’t believe what you see in western media. Was recently reading a list of the 20 safest cities in the world, that included Chicago, New York, Toronto. LOL.
I am from Canada and have traveled extensively to other countries. China is safer then America, western & eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, most of Asia (on par with Japan).
You can walk the streets at night without any incidence, including women on their own. Young foreign women backpack through China every summer.
In a decade I have seen only one fight in China between two young Caucasian men who drank too much. There something with Caucasians, booze and aggression.
CRIME
The most common crime in China is pickpockets and common theft. Normal precautions you apply in other countries are adequate in China.
The majority of people are honest. You will get the correct change from your purchase. 95% of taxi drivers will not cheat you.
OTHER SAFETY
There is an ever decreasing number other issues to be aware of.
1- Use caution when crossing busy streets. Drivers can be aggressive. Worst of are motorbikes. About 1/2 do not have a drivers license or any insurance.
2- Unless you know the local food, avoid street vendors selling food, especiy meat and food boiled-fried in oil.
There has been from time to time some food impurity issues, that impacts what locals eat. However it has become much less frequent as the government deals very harshly with such companies. (Death penalty)
There is plenty of safe prepackaged snack food to choose from and every North American fast food franchise is here plus an equal number of Chinese counterparts.
3- Wash fruit and vegetables, they have not been washed before selling.
4- As a foreigner wash your hands frequently to avoid stomach illness The bacteria in Asia differs from that in your country.
5- Do not drink the “white wine” unless you are accustomed to drinking straight hard liquor. It will get you drunk in no time. Drink the beer instead. It is as good as any beer anywhere.
6- Use common sense. Avoid the few remaining crappy buses, other old mechanical things or boats that seem very old. Preventive maintenance is mostly unknown in China.
7 -If you have an issue, never become aggressive. It will only escalate situations. Talk as much as you want, be patient, but avoid aggression. Chinese rarely initiate aggression but they can respond to it if pushed.
8- The police are well versed in the laws and treat the people and foreigners fairly. They genery let minor issues side. They use their discretion. They do not have the “power” mentality of North American police forces. Again patience and a calm attitude makes a huge difference.
Joseph Imbruglia, Marketing Content Manager at Noerden (2017-present)
China is one of the safest countries in the world; speaking anecdoty, in the five years I have lived here I have never been the victim of any form of crime.
Speaking from statistics, China has very low crime rates comparable with the safest countries in the world. The murder rate in 2014 was .7 per 100,000 people, which was actuy the same as Switzerland for that year. As well, beginning in 2014 and continuing through the current day, violent crimes including rape, abduction, robbery and arson have declined consistently at over 15% per year.
The most prevalent crimes in China currently are internet based and include identity theft, online pyramid schemes and banking fraud, though the government has recently set up a special force to deal with these 21st century crimes.
China is a very safe country for locals, travelers and ex-patriots such as myself, which I believe also has to do a lot with the culture of Confucian self reliance and Buddhist non-harm.
I love my adopted home and I feel much safer here than I did in America, in honesty.
Dean Zhang, Born in China, Product Designer, TEDx Curator
Well, I only went to Canada once and haven't been to another country yet. Yes, I live in China for 25 years, almost 18 years in Anhui Province and 5 years in Tianjin City, Now I'm living and working in Beijing.
We are not owed have a gun by law. And China pays a lot of attentions on Social Stability. More polices and more masses clues, especiy in Beijing. It's good for people's safety.
Most of Chinese feel the country they are living is very safe when they watch so much news like terrorist attack and shooting around the world. Because we don't have that in most cities except some cities in Xinjiang Province. I hope we have peace no matter where and when. I believe China can do that.
If you want to come to China, yes, it's safe, and you can make a lot of friends here.
Michael Ratajczyk, studied great chinese classics such as san guo, three kingdoms.
Before becoming a professor, I traveled frequently to China for business. Today, I take a class to China every 2 years to study business and culture. So I’ve gone from clueless to well-informed and confident.
Most of my response is related to year 1 of my 7 years of business trips. I spent time in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Most of my time was in Shanghai. I was the kind of business person who didn’t want a chaperone, didn’t want a personal driver, etc…, instead of staying in my hotel at night, I’d adventure outside to local markets, restaurants (with next to no Mandarin language
Additiony, I’ve gone 4 hours west of Shanghai, with a cell phone dying, and two airports in the same town. Unsure how to explain which place I wanted to go, a friendly youth helped me out. He let me use his phone to contact my office who confirmed for me which airport to go to. I’ve also purchased a 1RMB breakfast pastry with a 20 RMB. I was clueless at the price. The seller gave me 19RMB back.
However, be vigilant at times. Know what the currency looks like. Understand the exchange rate immediately. For safe bets, divide by 6 to get USD. Be careful of the currency you get back. Are those Chinese Yuan or Russian Rubles? Don’t take a wad of 100RMB bills and put them in your wet. Put one or two in so when you pay for something, the seller doesn’t see your riches. (I mention this for security and in those negotiations you will find yourself in).
With time, you pick up some language and confidence. You understand negotiations. Words beyond hello and thank you such as this and that, how much, the numbers 1 to 10 and eventuy 11 to 100. You pick up body language and before long, you’re understanding every third word at a hot pot restaurant from every table. And not soon after that, you return to the states and speak mandarin at some Chinese restaurants with some of the staff and owners.
I don’t rey see tourist traps with pickpockets and tricksters. I see plenty of those in other countries, especiy in Europe. But not in the major cities of China. Be confident, know where you’re going and keep moving. Don’t whip out your phone with a glazed look on your face.
Matthew Bell, Expat and Loving It
Undoubtedly, China is the safest country I have ever lived in. Coming from a 27 year old African-American, you don't have to worry about your safety at compared to living in the United States. Use your common sense and everything will be fine.
In America, there is constant gun violence across the country. In China, there are no guns at (except for certain agencies). After living in China for some time now, it is perplexing that Americans have such easy access to shoot someone, even in common cases such as road rage.
In America, part of the gun violence stems from police, and causes high stress in many communities. In China, it is much more peaceful, and the police will rarely approach you, if at (and they don't carry guns).
In America, I would rarely walk around at night in a major city, unless it was a popular area or just walking to my car. In China, I have explored many areas in major cities late at night, and never ran into any trouble. Also, the culture in China is very social at night; many people will eat BBQ on the street and continue the night with friends. If you think New York never sleeps, China REY never sleeps.
As a foreigner in China, you will encounter many friendly situations with strangers. Parents will encourage their children to speak English with you. People walking past you will want to take a selfie with you (you might be in a city with not many foreigners, or you might look like an NBA player to them). It is very easy to meet new people, including expats and locals.
You can probably tell I rey enjoy my life in China as a foreigner, but I think many expats would agree with these comparisons. Lastly, a key comparison are the borders. Entering China from the airport, you will have your carry-on luggage checked by one or two people, you will fill out your arrival card, wait in line, you will notice about 5–8 employees, then they will check your passport and visa, and will let you in as long as everything checks out. Rarely will they ask a question. Entering America from the airport (as an American), you will scan your passport at a kiosk, then you will wait in line, you will notice about 20–30 employees, with some of them armed, you will get to the counter to check your passport, and you will have to answer at least 10 questions at a very fast pace, then they let you go through if everything checks out. For an expat, this is not the best welcome home. I couldn't imagine the differences foreigners have with CBP when entering America.
China is very safe and I highly recommend visiting or living here. There are many factors to why China is so safe, and I encourage you to come experience it for yourself.
Cheers.
1,I have a child，10 years old. He can go home by himself after school. At 22 o'clock he still play with his little friends in outside. Residential area is very safe, there have very bright lights, and old people are chatting or playing chess. Chinese nightlife is very rich. In summer you can see a lot of activities in the outdoor, like the BBQ, chat, play cards. If you are drunk, passers will c the police, they will send you go home, they will not let you sleep on the road, after , winter is so cold (It is said that I know, in the winter of Russia, there had some alcoholic ghosts who were sleeping on the road, and then died in the cold, no one cares about them).
2, At many bus stations or in the subway in Beijing have old volunteers, most of them are Beijing local residents, about 50 years old, they voluntarily maintain the capital of the bus order, as you know , in Beijing have a lot of people, the bus is very crowded. Under the command of these volunteers, everything becomes ok.
3, There are a lot of police on the street, if you have any questions you can ask them, they will be patient to answer.
4,Chinese people respect foreigners, in China there is a proverb " Newcomer is guest". No matter who you are, we will try to help you. Now young Chinese people can speak English and they can help you to solve any problems.
Joanna Zhang, Shanghai girl that has lived in Vancouver, Scotland, and OC.
If you are in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing, it’s pretty safe, unless you’re messing with the government, and trying to start some movements.
It’s like the George Owell’s 1984, big brother is always watching you, from the internet to the streets, somebody is always tracing your every move. This limits your freedom but also offers some level of protection.
So if you are a good (lazy and politicy unmotivated) citizen, like me, you’re pretty protected. It’s hard to lose your children, because cameras cover the whole city, the police could find your kid within a few hours. Your physical safety is pretty protected from the robbers and killers.
There is no guns owed in china, which means nobody will come out of nowhere and shoot a bunch of people. Cyber security is a big focus due to the large amount of fraud artists in China, but you can still pretty easily get hacked.
Car drivers are reckless and crossing every street is like a life and death situation, like in the game Frogger, there is no guarantee for safety even if you’re crossing at a green light.
Privacy though, is a whole different animal. You can easily lose your privacy and get 人肉搜索, meaning people can find out who you are, where you live, and the other details of your life if you piss off the internet users. Chinese Internet is like a giant 4chan.
Over, I would say big cities in China are relatively safe, but just like any place, it could be safer.
Very very very safe!
Thanks to Chinese government strong management ability.
I just tell you a popular short video that occur recently in Beijing. A man in metro Line 10 abused two young girls who want him to scan QR Code (promoting products or services), and push one of the girls out to platform (next station). The whole video last two and a half minute. No violence, no one be wounded.
Some passengers recorded by cellphones and uploaded to the Internet (Weibo and Wechat).
Then…only after a few hours, the “bad man” was condemned by thousands of netizens. Even big man (singers and stars) forwarded.
↓After one day, Beijing police forwarded by Weibo and promiss to begin investigating.
↓After four hours, the police announced that the “criminal suspect” had been caught and case is pending.
↓After 12 hours, the police disclosed the full facts and details of the case and announced that the “17-year-old bad man” will be accepted the punishment of 5-days-detention, according to “Youth Protection Act of China”, non-enforcement, but suggest the school strengthen the moral education.
The police also thank to net friends, news media and the public that pay close attention to this case so much enthusiasm.
Here is a List of countries by intentional homicide rate.
It shows that China has the 27th lowest murder rate in 218 countries and regions. And if you take a look at the 26 ahead of China, you'll find most of them are very sm countries and cities like Hong Kong, Singapore. Japan is rey safer that China. I've been to Tokyo. It rey feels safe to walk on the streets even in the mid night.
Murder rate in US is 4.7, while the rate in China is 1.0.
I've been to LA and NYC. There are so few people except in Manhattan, so I have to look back and keep aware of around when walking on the lonely streets. Once I was in the metro in LA at about lunch time, a black young man suddenly kept shouting angrily at me. I didn't quite understand what the hell he was talking, but some "fuck... Chinese... fuck"things. So I had to get off the train and take the next one. But I do like San Diego, it's miles more beautiful and people there are more friendly.
However, as China is rey big and has a huge and complicated population with 56 minority nationalities, crime rates differs in regions in China.
It is commonly believed that:
the south is genery safer than the north.
among the top10 biggest cities, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are less safer. Shanghai may be the safest.
Yangtze River Delta is the richest, humble and well-tempered region in China. You can only see two guys in Shanghai or Hangzhou quarreling, but they rarely fight. However, people from the northeast are more likely to solve problems with fists.
Sinkiang is the only dangerous province, especiy in southern Sinkiang.
Some places in the poor and less educated rural areas are not safe. They'll not kill you, but they may steal, rob or extort. For example, some guys may suddenly jump out in front of your car, lay down and than several other gangsters will surrender you extort some $2000 for medical treatment. Of course, the price is negotiable. But if you have less than $100, they may get rey angry and give you a good beating. So it'll be wise to always have some $200 cash in your pocket.
If you are an expat, you'll surely be safer. The gangsters know foreigners have little cash, because you guys always use credit cards. And if they hurt a foreigner, they'll be punished more seriously by the law. So foreign guys are rey not cost-effective to commit a crime on.
For girls. I must say that you rey have bigger boob power than most Chinese girls. So be a little low-key, if you are alone out there in byways at night or on a crowded metro train. Rapes are very few in cities, but you may be indecently assaulted or sexuy harassed.
Jone Chou, Hight School Student @ Shanghai
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Litery, I have stayed in China since I was born. I can tell you China is very safe :)
I am a teenage girl living in Shanghai and I am quite satisfied with my living environment.
Public Transports
There are more than 13 subway lines across the city. Each station has been assigned dozens of plainclothes police to ensure the security. They are often shown on the bus and other public places. Taxi drivers are mostly very kind. One of my classmates once got nothing to pay, the driver kindly let her go.
Guard Everywhere
If you live near the city center, you do not need to worry your safety at . Places like the Bund, People’s Square and so on have guards at every crossings at night.
Citizens
Many people may consider Chinese people rude and weird, but I can tell you it is not the truth. Most of us are very friendly and are willingly to help. Once you come across any difficulty, feel free to ask us. We truly want to offer help.
in , please feel free coming to China.
I hope my answers can help you a lot :)
B.T. Yang, Born in china and live in Taiwan
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I have been travelling to China at least once a year. Like Taipei or Tokyo, cities in China are very safe, almost free of vagabonds. There were some troubles in Guangzhou city station about 15 years ago, where gangs were using motorcycles to rob the newly arriving migrant workers and did a quick and elusive getaway. Catching these bad guys were difficult, so the city just banned motorcycles in the city center. The solution was simple, direct and instantly effective!
Bodily-harm crime is rare, but other crimes do exist. Once I was in Shanghai and took a motorcycle taxi to spare myself from the traffic congestion. When I arrived my destination on time, I was grateful to driver and ready to award him with a tip. He politely refused my offer but took great interest in the 100 RMB bill I handed him. After a front-and-back inspection against the sunlight he exclaimed,”Sir, you know what? You got a fake bill.” He handed back the bill to me, and demanded another one. Again, another fake bill, according to him. Again, the next one. Finy, he proclaimed that I did have one genuine bill. “Keep this bill separately from the other fake ones because you may need it,” he signed and said. “But this is my last 100 RMB bill. I do have some coins, but not enough to cover your fees,” I said. “You poor fellow,” he lamented and warned me again never to trust anyone with a 100 RMB bill in Shanghai, “just give me whatever you have.” I couldn’t thank him enough for his kindness.
I went to a nearby coffee shop to lick my wounds, and I paid for my coffee with the remaining genuine 100 RMB bill. The coffee shop owner checked the bill and cast a chill look which froze my spine. ”This a bogus money. I should report you to the police, but I won’t if you just pay with your credit card and leave momentarily.”
Dejected and startled, I began to recount the entire incident. My despondence won over his sympathy, “You are not from Shanghai, and you must have taken a motorcycle taxi over?” I nodded. And he nodded in synchrony. Yes, the motorcycle taxi driver unloaded his fake bills to me…..
Mitch Davis, Lived in China 3+ years
I’d like to echo what others are saying here: China is safe.
I’m a male Caucasian from Australia. I lived in Dalian for 6 months, and Shenzhen for three years. There was never a time when I felt even slightly unsafe. I can’t say the same about my visits to LA and DC.
Crimes against the person (such as mugging) are not common in China. You are more likely to be a victim of fraud, either by strangers in a set-up situation, or by business partners who feel they can earn more by cutting you out of the equation than having you in. Victor Zhou’s answer has a good list of things you should avoid doing.
So, go enjoy China. You’ll be safe, and if your experience is like mine, you’ll make friends you keep in touch with long after you leave.
(Shenzhen 2013: “atommann” and I made a 2kW parabolic solar cooker)
Darryl Snow, Lived in China for over 10 years
Originy Answered: Is China rey safe?
Safe from what?
Violent crime: yes, absolutely
Robbery: yes
Financial crime: ha! hell no
Petty theft: not at
Political turmoil: absolutely
Economic turmoil: pretty much, as long as you can handle RMB devaluations
Natural disasters: mostly, although there are tropical cyclones battering the SouthEast coast every year and occasiony severe earthquakes in several regions
Terrorist attacks: mostly, but not entirely
Food: no - food safety regulations are rarely enforced and there are major (and even occasiony surprising) food safety scandals every year; on the plus side, you’re not likely to get food poisoning from natural spoilage or contamination, more from the illegal and carcinogenic substances used in processing
Medicine: no - see above about regulation; also, even the best hospitals in China are not to be trusted in terms of sanitation and standard of care
Disease: if a major epidemic is going to start anywhere…
Environmental pollution: err….
Wild animals: they’ve been eaten
Road accidents: ………*shakes head*
Hangovers: highly unlikely
Ervis Micukaj, Living in China since September 2013.
Safe.
Maybe too much.
(this is how I will lose my wet tomorrow…)
I can walk around after midnight in any eastern city (the places I have been mostly) and know that nothing will happen to me.
Parks: there is a 24 hours park in front of my apartment. I have gone running there at any time. Day and night: it does not matter. Have I ever been scared? Hell no. Have I interrupted some couples? Some times…that is why now I go running in the morning.
Can I say the same about running in a park in Europe? No.
Guns:In China you are NOT owed to have guns as easily as in Europe. USA freedom of guns: NO.
Police: litery everywhere (at least for big cities). There are so many different police man every where that you can simply ask them for help. They are not always helpful (as it happened to me in Shenzhen my second time I was there…), but they are present.
Cameras: in China you can find a camera observing you every single place you go (at least in the cities). Everything is registered and everything can be found easily. If you are a normal citizen.
I have been in China for 4 years (mostly in Shanghai and travelled to other cities), but I have never lost anything due to thieves or have never felt threatened by locals.
When I see locals arguing, I find it “funny” for 2 reasons: you hardly see anyone pushing or shoving and a crowd grows very quickly. Everyone wants to enjoy the show and everyone knows nothing will happen. Besides videos and pictures to be d on the social media.
Having said this, let me warn of you some of potential threats:
Crossing the road
In China roads can be very dangerous for the number of cars — more people — more chances to find people who cannot drive properly
People walk without caring about red lights
Drivers cross without caring about red lights
Bikers cross without caring about red lights (I see a pattern here…)
The police is working to change some rude behaviours, but the fines are so sm that drivers do not care
Drunk foreigners
Some of them can be very nasty and the police does not care so much about them
This happens mostly in big cities where you can find foreigners and they may feel too much entitled
Tea scams
If a stranger asks you to go and have tea with them in a tea house, just say NO!
Broken vase scams
some people will cross your way and pretend to get hurt, do NOT help them! (unless you want to be sued by them) (there are some rules being changed and hopefully they will implement the rule of the good sammaritan, but I am waiting for effective examples)
if someone crosses your way and “fs by chance”, just go ahead; you will avoid a lot of headache because these people are just trying to scam you or local people
Food
This is an ongoing issue and it is improving slowly. Higher standards hopefully. As usual, buy food from trusted sources.
For bad experiences: feel free to use bing / yandex / google (with VPN if you are in China) and find the articles by yourself. Baidu cannot be relied upon for this.
I have d my opinion about living in Shanghai here: Ervis Micukaj's answer to What is it like to live in Shanghai? and Ervis Micukaj's answer to How dangerous is Shanghai, China for tourists?
About me:
I work with Sm to Medium Businesses in China to implement IT programs that fix and maintain IT in their offices / factories. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedInor check our company website
Xhan, lived in China
Well, as a female Chinese, I lived in China for 18 years and now I am in Canada. I can say that China is safe. I never got into any kind of dangers. (Well, maybe a few times I was drunk but it was hard to say I was hurt). I think for a big reason is that we are not owed to have guns. Also, at least in my city, people prefer to solve problems by talking instead of other violent ways.
Rod L'Huillier, Lived and studied in China for 6 years
Originy Answered: Do you think China is rey safe?
It is safe. major cities have a strong presence of police and “chengguan”, which are unarmed security officers. I think the strong visible presence acts as a deterrent along with instilling the feeling of safety.
Is that to say there are not bad people in China? humanity is equal, and societies are made of good and bad, and different cultures have different ways of managing that fact.
Police are more likely to take action when a foreigner is involved and due that fact, criminals are more likely to target locals.
The biggest cause of problems for foreigners in China is genery themselves, or white collar crimes such as business related issues, and cultural misunderstandings.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Very, very safe. I spent a month in Shanghai last year and was amazed at the total lack of violent crime. You can walk around any place in the city, day or night, by yourself, whether you are a man, woman or child, whether Chinese or foreigner, with zero chance of being mugged or attacked. I asked my coworkers and friends why, and they said it was because (a) nobody owns guns, (b) the government and police have tight control, and (c) penalities for violent crime are so severe that nobody dares to do it. It also seems the mentality of the Chinese, from what I have glimpsed into it, does not lend itself too much towards violent crime. (A bit odd, considering their kung fu fame.)
I can speak from first hand experience, having wandered around Shanghai by myself at hours, and from discussions with my office mates there and my Chinese friends both there and here, that Chinese cities are orders of magnitude safer than American cities. In fact, I will go so far as to say that Shanghai is the safest city that I’ve ever been in.
I was told that pickpocketing and petty thefts are common. I didn’t experience it myself, but I can believe its true.
I just got back from Shanghai again, this time I was there for 2 weeks. Exactly the same impressi...
Ju Tu, lives in Houston, TX (2014-present)
I was born and raised up in Guangxi Province (Southern China) and got my 4-year college education in Tianjin, China (Northern China). I studied and worked in Texas, US for the past 5 years and I travel back to my and my husband’s hometown, Chongqing (Southwestern China) annuy. I would like to my intimate experiences from my extensive domestic & international travels in both the US and China, including sm and mega metropolis.
General Street Safety
China: I had no problem walking alone from a cinema to my hotel in Shanghai for 20 minutes after watching a midnight movie “Saving Mr.Wu” in Oct 2015.
US: I was scared to death while walking with my husband and mother-in-law in the Hollywood area in Los Angeles around 7pm in Dec 2014. A lot of homeless people sleeping in the street screamed at us in a murmur along the way and even outside our hotel. You hear people telling you not to wander in the downtown LA, Detroit or Baltimore in the evening the time.
Street Theft and Pick Pocket
C: It is common to see theft related stories across news agencies. Ladies should carry sealed totes in public space and should keep valuables in a less noticeable place at time.
In universities, I never left my belongings unattended in self-study classrooms. Bicycles get stolen easily. Sadly my beloved orange bike was safe for 4 years but was stolen 3 days before my graduation commencement.
U: I never have to worry about whether my tote is open or closed in the majority of cities.
Italy & France: I’ve seen numerous coverage on street theft happening to Chinese tourists in these 2 countries. I hope the same does not happen to me this July.
Public Transportation Safety
C: No matter which city you are in, X-ray scanning of your belongings is mandatory at every subway or train station. Although it is a bit of trouble, you never have to worry about a b threat or assault weapon crime when taking a train in China.
Subway is emerging in a lot of 2nd and 3rd-tier cities. Nanning, capitol city of Guangxi Province, just opened its first line to the public in June 2016, greatly eviating traffic congestion in main streets. The clean and fresh look of Guangzhou & Chengdu rail transit impressed me a lot. Routes options are expanding and accessibility is improving at an unthinkable speed.
US: I never need to leave my personal belongings to a X-ray machine when entering metro stations or train stations. There was discussion on whether such measures be considered at airports. Considering the existing long wait at the security check points inside airports, it is doubtful whether the proposal can be approved.
Financial Safety
C: Coverage on fleeing investment firms’ managers is not uncommon. I’ve also read lots of news on how people scammed the elderly or parents via cold cs or text messages. Same is here in the US though.
With the prevalence of Zhifubao, people can pay by barcode scanning via the App in a large number of vendors such as street shops, breakfast eateries, photo shops, grocery stores. One can track expenditures easily in the App and even put money in Yuebao, a high-interest flexible checking/saving account, or many funds in this App, making financial control much more easily.
US: I received letters from Target, Neiman Marcus, IHG, Sephora in the past 5 years, informing me of potential identity theft risks due to stolen credit card information. With the new chip technology, I pray that it is getting better.
Food Safety
C: There is a fun saying the less clean, the more tastier. I cannot agree with it more. Sacrificing sanitary concerns for an elevating level of good taste is a decision many people have to make every day.
Here there are much more cuisine varieties and endless restaurants in shopping ms and back streets. Watch a Bit of China (Season 1 & 2) and you will know what I mean.
US: Cleaner & safer, less varieties. Steak, seafood (normy fried or grilled), BBQ, fries everywhere. Local flavor does not deviate much from the mainstream cooking method. Less likely to be surprised in a foreign city.
General Friendliness to Foreigners
C: There are a large number of expats, English teachers and business/leisure travelers here in places across China. Yangshuo, a touristic town near Guilin, Guangxi, has foreigners visiting from across the globe. Parents are willing to spend a large sum of money investing in kids’ English education. More and more kids are sent abroad for short-term camps or for middle/high school education at a young age.
An increasing number of foreign students choose to have college education in China. During my 4 years in Tianjin, there were not many cross paths with foreign students since I was not a student ambassador. They seem to have their own student clubs, dorms and friend circles.
I’ve seen many western faces in sm and large cities alike. The society is much more open to new ideas. Merchants and shopping ms celebrate Valentine’s Day, Christmas holiday for the purpose of increasing sales. Movies are never short of imported western films. MK, Kate Spade, Coach, Jimmy Choo, SF, RV, these brands can be seen in high-end shopping ms and in streets.
I would say, genery speaking, Chinese are very friendly towards foreigners and foreign cultural values.
Usama Ahmad, From Pakistan.
My information is grossly outdated since i visited China more than a decade ago.
While out to see the cultural attractions of Urumqi, i managed to lose myself completely in the city somewhere around late night. And no, i don’t mean the romantic notion of being lost or enthred completely, i mean litery lost. I had no idea where i was and how to get back to my hotel. This was before the age of google maps and those flashy apps we have now.
I spent nearly an hour trying to retrace my steps in the increasingly quiet city and honestly began to get a little scared. It was my first time outside my own nation, i was in a foreign country, i was lost, it was probably midnight and i had no idea whether i would have to sleep on a footpath till morning and hope for the best or whether i could run into some serious trouble before then. South Asian cities are urban jungles after night time and no one in their right state of mind would stay out after dark in our region’s cities.
I managed to locate an open shop in my path and thanked my lucky stars. I could ask for directions! I was safe!
The moment i stepped in, i realized, to my utter horror, that this was an alcohol shop. Three completely wasted dudes sat sharing a bottle under their only fluorescent light. Drunk People + Late Night hours can never be a good combination. And i didn’t even speak the language. Still i had no options at this point.
We engaged in a difficult conversation, hard to navigate due to the language barrier and complicated even further by the effects of alcohol. I tried to explain that i was attempting to reach my hotel whose name i kept repeating as well as some general directions that i could still rec.
90% of their response was laughing hystericy, hugging me, throwing their arms around my shoulder, aggressively shaking my hand and making loud jokes with each other in Mandarin. The guys were toty wasted.
Nevertheless, the motley crew decided to act as my escort and engage in the endeavor of navigating the streets of Urumqi at night in order to reach a destination they had barely understood.
As luck would have it, i had managed to run into the most navigationy proficient drunk gentleman in Urumqi and we soon managed to chance upon the intersection from which i could see my hotel. I thanked them profusely with multiple “Xie Xie”s. I also opened my wet to offer them some money as compensation for their assistance which they rejected. I returned to my hotel and they went off on their merry ways.
(BTW, are there laws in China regarding alcohol shops having to close early as well as public intoxication? I hope those guys didn’t get in trouble with the police later)
So if my experience of getting lost late night in one of the frontier cities of China, running into a few intoxicated gentleman and rather than being the victim of a crime, being provided assistance is any benchmark of how low crime is in China, then i’m happy to help. Their cities, even the pretty remote ones seem to be fairly safe.
I would make similar ventures in other cities as well and never noticed any concern among the citizens of crime after night. Actuy, i barely noticed a heavy police presence either.
I should mention though, that they were safe for me as a young adult male (and a foreign one) so my experience might not be applicable to everyone.
This question and the memory of this incident actuy lead me to reflect on something i’d seen on Mindhunter a while back on the topic of crime and the citizen’s relationship with their government.
There’s an interesting conversation in Mindhunter, a TV series about the FBI trying to develop a profiling system in the behavioral science unit. This is based in the 60s,70s era and the FBI is faced with a spate of a new type of crime: violent crimes between complete strangers (serial killers and so on) for reasons that defy traditiony defined motive. In the first episode, the primary character Detective Holden has an interesting conversation with a visiting FBI professor Rathman on this new spate of violent crime with no motive and no link between the criminal and victim:
Holden : It's as if... we don't know anymore what moves people to kill one another.
Rathman: Used to be you find a victim with 50 stab wounds, you look for the jilted lover, the ex-business partner. Now... it could be a random run-in with a disgruntled mailman.
Holden: It's a different era. No more "Just the facts, ma'am."
Rathman: That's television. And reruns.
Holden: Crime has changed.
Rathman: Right.
Rothman: Look at the unprecedented events that have occurred in the past decade and a half. A president assassinated. Fighting an unpopular war that we didn't win.
Holden: National Guard killing four college students.
Rathman: You can hardly wrap your mind around it.
Holden: Watergate.
Rathman: Our democracy is vanishing into what?
Holden: Is that what this is about? Just a response to turmoil?
Rathman: The government used to be,symbolicy, a parental institution. Now? It's a free-for-.
Holden: The world barely makes any sense, so it follows that crime doesn't either.
Source: Mindhunters, Season 1, Episode 1.
The conversation is pretty interesting and if we were to accept the logic of it, it would imply that Chinese citizens still view their state government as a parental institution and place their faith in it’s abilities, rulings, decisions and capacity to deliver in order to meet their needs. They also accept its legitimacy and have a fair degree of trust in it. And that could be the logic behind why China’s crime rates are so low.
I have observed from reading the answers of Chinese Quorans, when they discuss matters of state and it’s relation to Confucian values, that the Chinese cultural dynamics also place a similar emphasis on the state as a kind of parental institution. It’s authority and legitimacy is accepted as long as it delivers and this is in stark contrast to other parts of the world where the state is either viewed with suspicion or seen in conflict with the values of it’s citizens (e.g. Secular states vs conservative Muslim’s Islamic values).
When the state’s legitimacy and the trust in government is as high as what we see in China, there are few incentives for citizens to turn to violent crime. Because they trust in the plan the government has in store for them, trust the system, obey the laws and live their lives within the order set out for them by the legitimate State.
Honestly, i don’t think it’s not even the consistent economic growth and the riches of society that prevent crime (You can have fantasticy wealthy states and still have huge crime rates).
If citizens look at their government and state and :
Do not view it as legitimate or accept it’s authority
Look at their state and see only a free for , a chaotic mass of disorder
Then they will turn to crime regardless. I guess a kind of panic or frenzy grips society and the first impulse of citizens is to parel the break down of the state with a break down of their own social order as well. Leading to a spike in crime rates. Because when you feel that the people in charge have no plan, no way forward, the automobile is speeding off the road, then you will hardly be in the mental state required to live that ordered, lawful way of life that implies you putting your faith and trust in the state and it’s system.
Lets take Pakistan as a case study. Here, we have a state in disorder. Politicians cant finish their terms without being ousted by un-elected state institutions. This encourages them to focus more on cementing their power through corruption and backroom deal making than focusing on eviating the problems of the country, which are crimes. Their crimes reduce the trust of the citizens in the government and the citizens now indulge in tax evasion and illegal self-enrichment means to protect themselves and their wealth since they cant trust the corrupt politicians of the state. Similarly, police and other law enforcement agencies are seen as corrupt, serving the interests of political elites or under the control of agencies with their own agenda, be it ethnic or sectarian. So citizens form their own urban gangs and militias to defend themselves.
of the above acts are illegal and lead to crime. And they stem from the disorder within our state which signal to citizens that the entire country is in a free for . “Grab what you can, however you can. The system isn’t working.”
The CPC has ensured that none of that happens due to stable party succession, rule based behavior, predicable and reliable policies and consistency in delivering as well as pragmatic decision making. of these methodologies of state craft and previous track record ensure that, by and large and with a few exceptions, the citizens remain calm, trust the system and living within the lawful framework set out for them by the State.
Anyway, this is just me churning out some amateur theory crafting of my own. I welcome feedback and corrections from any Chinese Quorans on the issue. I should mention that i work a Government job so a lot of my interpretation of events is through the eyes of the state. I welcome alternative suggestions to the one presented above.
When China was much poorer, it was much more dangerous. People had this “get rich or die trying” ...
Thomas Meriaux, Lived in China for 3 years
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Safe: Let’s break it down into several aspects of safety
Pollution: One of the most dangerous countries in the world. It goes to the point where, especiy in the big cities you worry more about the Air Quality Index than the Weather. It is very stressful on the long run. On a more personal note, I slightly suffered from a decrease in white cell that led to repeated infections. Oddly, for once the Chinese hospital did a better job than the western one I had been too before that. Go figure…
Personal Safety: As stated before, it is probably one of, if not, the safest countries I have ever seen. I am about to leave it, but just that would make me hesitate. The only issue to be truly be careful about is when you deal with the government. Otherwise, only common theft and some scam but no big deal as long as you are aware of them and be careful.
Healthcare: The Healthcare system is broken, it’s a fact and not so surprising given how many people there are in China and how little incentive there is to go into a system where your KPIs targets are how many drugs you prescribe as a doctor. The last average consultation time I saw for big hospital was between 7 - 9 minutes. In France it is about 15 minutes: increased rate in misdiagnosis. This is a big problem the government has been working on and has several projects working on.
Kids: Chinese love kids. So as a foreigner you are ok. As a Chinese native, maybe not so much especiy if you are in the most remote corners of China.
Food: a number of food scandals ranging from bad meat storage to rice made out of plastic have surfaced over the years, so be very careful about the food and what you buy. You never know where the meat you are eating truly comes from, even with the expensive imported food you bought from that e-commerce website…
Money: Learn to bargain, and fast. Then you will be Ok ( mind your wet). Mind your phone.
Freedom of speech: Forget about politics and government related sensitive topics otherwise you can get in trouble, not sure how much trouble, probably up to getting kicked out of the country.
My global conclusion:
China is a great country to live in, for a while at least, as long as you know a few things about how to live in it.
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Do NOT EASILY to trust the media！！
Felix Dexter Pinion, BullShitArtist lived and worked in seven countries
Interesting to see the answers that focus primarily on crime. Actuy it demonstrates how twisted our minds are. In 5 years in China I have witnessed very few incidence of violence. Actuy I witness more aggressive behaviour in Australia in a month.
But the issue of safety is much broader than the exposure to "criminal" activity.
To become a victim of crime in China is far more difficult than becoming a victim of grime.
I have lived in seven different countries. China was the safest as far as exposure to personal violence or aggression is concerned. It is a different story when it comes to road safety or safety on and around building sites or inside factories. I visited an aluminium manufacturing plant where I felt as unsafe there as in a German steel mill in the 1960s.
But the average visitor can easily avoid manufacturing facilities. Unfortunately the workers cannot.
As uring as some form of quirky transport might appeal I would suggest to void taking a ride on a moped with 2 other passengers and , of course, the rider from hell.
There is one minor issue in China. At the very few occasions when personal violence erupts it turns into a spectacle. Just stay clear. Happy stay in a country that is it own world.
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Kiki Marcella-Liu, Real Estate Investment Consultant at Everest Property
There is no absolutely safe or dangerous place anywhere in this world.
Depends on where you are in China, most major cities are very safe. But as a citizen, I’d like to mention a few things.
Guns: No gun ownership. Although illegal armed forces could be obtained by the gang members on the black web, it's rare to see gang members these days where I live (Beijing)
Pickpocketers: I would pay attention to your personal belongings on crowded trains or buses. Although things like this happen around the world.
Traffic Safety: I want to highlight this because DUI happens often in China… and most drivers here are maniacs! They do not wait for pedestrians to cross first!
Home Robberies: Again, depends on where you live. I've seen cases on the news from time to time. Always Lock your door!!! Don't expect your home to be not invaded if you leave it open as if in an American suburbs.
Andy, studied at Dalian Nationalities University
If you keep any kind of drug, you will be arrest, whatever hold or smoke.
If you have any kind or any weapon, include BB guns, you will be arrest or died. ( include crossbow, illegal! ）
If you had crime record, you will be under the supervisory of the police officers, government, even your neighbour’s old lady, FOEVER !
sold Heroin 50g = DIED
Security check is necessary at everywhere. Included at bus sometimes.
Tiffany Liu, American expat (but local ancestry) in Shanghai for 17+ years
I grew up in Shanghai, and lived there (summers excluded, which I usuy spent in LA and other various places) for 17 years of my life, until I moved to the States for college. During that time, I’ve never been put in a single dangerous situation. In fact, I think one of the hardest aspects of my transition in moving to the States was having to get used to the imminent prospect of danger. In Shanghai, I would often go out with my friends and sometimes we’d stay out downtown until 6 am in the morning, wandering down the streets of the bund. And I can say I’d be perfectly comfortable doing it alone, too—in fact, safety is rarely even on my mind when I’m in Shanghai, no matter if it’s 3 am in the morning and I’m still in the streets looking for a taxi. The only thing I’d be worried about in China is petty thievery and scams, because that happens quite often. Take your eyes off your phone for just a second and it’ll be gone the next (and yes, this did happen to me very recently, in fact, so I speak from personal experience). And you can surely cast away hope of ever seeing it again. The streets and markets are also usuy full of people with crafty intentions, particularly aimed towards foreigners (I’ve seen so many scenes that remind me of vultures swarming over a particularly unfortunate soul), but once you get more used to living here, it’s easy to avoid being swindled. But quite honestly, in most cases, thievery/being scammed is the worst thing that can happen to you. It’s rampant, but if you take care of your belongings well and are smart about what/who you trust, you won’t have any issues.
Compared to the States, at least, and most of the other places I’ve been—which is pretty much most countries in the world (though I’m also hesitant to include those because I haven’t had personal experience living in those places for extended periods of time), China, particularly Shanghai, is a far cry from dangerous. And I’m currently living in some of the safest places in the States (Irvine, and San Diego), so that’s probably saying something. I can’t walk through the streets of San Diego at 3 am in the night without feeling a constant prickling at the back of my neck, like I’m about to be jumped at any second. Forget San Diego; I doubt I could walk anywhere in America (New York, especiy, sets off very loud warning bells in my mind) alone after midnight without feeling unsafe, to some degree. In the States and most other countries, there’s so much more than petty thievery to worry about.
Shirley Yang, Footloose Traveler, Currently teaching Tourism at University.
I should say, the most safety country is China at present, comparing China with other countries.
Firstly, let me tell you my personal story. I lived in Vancouver downtown, there are some seedy streets, like Main street, Histin street, etc just near city center. I would nerve walk there by myself. Although in the day time I dare not went there, I could see a brunch of drug dealers and drug addicts lay down the streets, they were shouting and crying, it was just so scary!
Once I went out with three of my friends on the weekend, unluckily, when we passed by the Main street, our car was followed by a group of crazy young guy, they threw beer bottles to us, we felt that we were in dagerous at that moment, and we had to drove madly for miles and miles. If we couldn’t runing away fast, we would have got the trouble. I only saw those pictures in the movies not in my real life.
However, I am working and traveling in China for years, no matter I go, the big cities or tourist cities , I am uesd to go out in the late evening by myself, but I have never got the troubles.
Secondly, lets talk bout US. Settle, as Vancouver’ s neighboring city, I went there for shopping once in a while. I also found same thing in that city, those seedy streets in Seattle, there were so many homless people and drug addicts lived there. So that, when I traveled around US, I was worry about might be some crazy guy with gun were following me again. Because I often hear CNN NEWS about a man with a gun is shooting at the crowds.
Finy, It is not necessay to mantion other dangerous countries in the world. I can tell you that If you wish to travel or work in China, then it is very safe country for sure. China will be more safe in the future.
Gordon Hsu, Finance professional of 12+ years, formerly of JP Morgan
Depends on where you go. If you meant the chance that you will become the victim of a violent crime, then the majority of Chinese regions are extremely safe, even urban centers. I have persony walked around Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Suzhou, Shenzhen and other cities well after midnight, passing through less well-lit ey ways and such without ever feeling threatened like I would in most US cities.
With that said, there are some restive regions of China such as parts of Yunan, Xinjiang and Tibet where mass violence or terrorism can pop up. The perpetrators won't necessarily target you persony so the danger is more along the lines of getting caught up in some greater event.
Finy, the standard tourism tip of being aware of your surroundings and keep an eye out for petty crimes such as pickpocketing or street scams still apply.
Benjamin Lee, Free ride in Xinjiang
I’ll give you an example from my real experience. Last summer holiday,I through free ride to travelling around Xinjiang.I am Han Chinese,my grandfather is a soldier,they liberated Xinjiang in 1949 and established Xinjiang Production and Construction Crops.But in inner China,most Han Chinese know little about Xinjiang,I want to through this activity to prove Xinjiang is safe,the minority is kind and enthusiasm.
There have been some violet incidents in Xinjiang recent years. Some foreigners think Xinjiang is dangerous,like Afghanistan .In fact,it rey feels safe to walk on the streets even in the mid night.
Xinjiang is considered as the most dangerous place in China,but people live in Xinjiang are very peace and harmonious.
Through this activity,I have known many foreign and inner China friends.
Xinjiang is the largest province in China.I spent 35 days and it took about 7000 kilometers.
Some people think Xinjiang is full of deserts.But there are many lakes,snow mountains,prairies,rivers in Xinjiang.
This countryside is ced Hemu.It is close to Russia.
In Kashgar,a little blonde girl told me,she is Uyghur.Kashgar is a central Asian city.There have been many ethnic merges since ancient.
The Tajik nationality,living in the Kashgar Region,Pamirs Plateau.
The Chindren in Turpan.
A little Kazak girl in Sayram Lake.
A little Kazak boy in Hemu.
Some Uyghur Children in Kashgar old town,they love playing footb.
My friend,a Han Chinese girl sitting in the middle of a Uyghur old couple.
X. Huang, studied at University of Life
Pretty safe in China. Enjoy walking alone at night in China! And, as a result of gun control, there is no school shooting in China. Assault weapons are under government control. Security check is required before you get aboard on metro.
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Gup: 37 Percent of Americans Afraid to Walk Alone at Night, Gup: 37 Percent of Americans Afraid to Walk Alone at Night
A Gup survey shows that 37 percent of Americans say there is an area within 1 mile of their home in which they are afraid to walk alone after dark. The figure is 2 percentage points down from the historical average, which dates to 1965, when Gup first polled this question.
unquote
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Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World , Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World (Belfer Center Studies in International Security): Graham ison, Robert D. Blackwill, Ali Wyne, Henry A. Kissinger: 9780262019125: Amazon.com: Books
I find parts of it toty unacceptable: guns, drugs, violent crime, vagrancy, unbecoming behavior in public, in sum, the breakdown of civil society. The expansion of the right of the individual to behave or misbehave as he or she pleases has come at the expense of orderly society
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Ramanath Iyer, studied at University of Southampton
I can't speak for the whole country, but it is much safer in the city where I live than the rest of the countries I have been to. Most of the cities in China where foreigners often live are quite safe, even for women. I live in Yangzhou, where I can go out with my wife at any time, day or night, without fear. That can't be said of cities in many other countries where we would rather prefer to live, inlcuding those in Europe. I have heard that cities up north are not that safe, but then I dont have much idea. Having said that, it is quite possible to get tricked and end up getting robbed if we are careless. Friendly tour guides could invite you for tea party and would take you to a place where they would rob you. It is also not a good idea to stay in cheap/budget hotels away from the city centre, especiy when travelling with family.
Genery China is quite safe and very friendly for expats living here. (Though I have lived in India/Singapore/UK and my wife lives in Netherlands, I feel more comfortable living in China)
Holger Lindberg Joergensen 林博士, Calm is the new sixpack
I have lived and worked in China for seven years now and only once have I felt slightly threatened.
It happened about 2 years ago when, one (otherwise fine) morning, my wife and I found our car blocked by another car. The owner had left his phone number on a piece of paper on the dashboard of his car as people around here often do (my wife included) if they have to park their car in a way that may block other cars from getting in and/or out.
So no big deal. My wife dialed the number and a woman at the other end of the line promised that her husband would come down right away and move the car. Business as usual in other words.
After a while a man did appear only to briefly announce that he had no intention of moving the car. No reason given but sudden not business as usual anymore. My wife got a bit upset as she had to be at work on time and raised her voice demanding the man to just move his car.
The man on the other hand stepped forward with a gesture as if he were to slap my wife in the face. This instantly prompted me to step in front of my wife blocking him from doing anything while, at the same time, I yelled "DON'T" in Chinese. I did not hit him, nor did I touch him. he saw and experienced was an angry foreign face between him and my wife telling him to back off.
The man quickly backed away and went to the other side of the road while pulling out his cell phone and starting to dial different numbers. I didn't understand his Chinese dialect but it was quite clear what he was doing: cing and gathering a sm "war party" in order to deal with this foreigner who had obviously made him lose face, which is just about the worst thing that can happen. And indeed I had even though this wasn't my intention. Everything just happened very fast because of his unexpected stubbornness in terms of moving the stupid car.
End of the story: Another man came - this time not to beat me up - and moved his car behind ours so we could in this way squeeze our car out. I didn't get beat up because I stood my ground and refused to let myself be intimidated just because, of a sudden, he had four other men lining up behind him. And yes, I do know how to defend myself and my loved ones but I never intended to start a fight, nor did I intend to make him lose face. Just a stupid incident which happened very fast and which should never have happened in the first place. Just trying to protect my wife as I have seen Chinese men who think slapping a woman in the face is okay and more or less a right they have.
Other than that I can only say that China is one of the safest countries that I have ever lived and worked in.
Magnus W. Magnusson, Living in China for 20 years and counting, speaking the language and reading it
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China is extremely safe, especiy for foreigners. I have traveled extensively in China, often with expensive photo equipment, in the big cities and to remote places where 100RMB (15 US$) is big money. I have hiked and hitchhiked, I have been arrested for unknowingly hiking into a military area.
In that time I have not even experienced theft.
I have know friends and people who have had problems, always due to obviously very risky behaviour, e.g. going to very (!) shady nightclubs and massage parlours. Yet even they do not see China as dangerous. And even in these places the danger is to your purse, not to life and limb.
The biggest danger is the traffic, so always expect the unexpected. If you do so, even as a woman, you will always be safe.
A Facebook friend from me, Thomas Schröder, has been biking from Gnoien, Germany, to Beijing. He rode almost 12.000 km in 143 days, and from his traveling experience, I would say China is very safe: G9toBeijing
I am Indian. I am from Bombay. I have an upcoming project in India for which I am currently in China. Foshan is a comparatively smer city but its proximity to Guangzhou makes it big. It's proximity to Hong Kong does the same. By far the safest country I have been to. And I have travelled extensively to areas that look exactly like Indian villages in Ningbo and around Hangzhou. Shenzhen and its sorounding areas are fantastic and walking out at 3 am is just as normal as walking out at 3 pm. Last night I walked back from a bar at 2:30 am in Foshan and the walk was a little over 1 km and no one could be bothered that “this alien is walking acroSS our land” and “let's see if we can pick on him” as a matter of fact someone asked me if I needed help finding my hotel. in Bombay is safe to but it's my land my home my country where I have wiggle room. Here in a country where almost no one speaks my language the feeling of safety is enormous.
Bill Herman, Lived, Traveled Europe, Japan and China 12+ yrs.
Very safe compared to most other countries. Yes they have some problem areas but compared to most countries they have a very low rate of crazy crime every day. Their main crime seem to be corrupt business and politics and when caught they usuy pay the Ultimate price.
In big cities you can walk around at 2 am, 3am, 4 am by yourself and no one bothers you.
Keep in mind they have a population close to 2 billion people and around a .07 homicide rate per 1,000,000. They as large as they are, are the same as sm Switzerland.
They have both police and military on watch in the big city areas.
I lived and visited various areas of China, the everyday people are friendly and helpful.
It’s a much safer country than a lot of western countries.
Daniel Churchman, Living in central China
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China is rather unusual in this category.
If you mean “violent crime”, it is almost non-existent. A paramount feature of Chinese society is (the appearance of) social harmony.
Non-violent crime, on the other hand, is extensive and practicy accepted. Not that anyone thinks it’s OK, but when it happens to someone, everyone shrugs their shoulders and s stories of their own experiences. Like my 5-day old Giant bicycle, chained to a steel structure, under a security camera. I later went to the security office and watched the guy calmly walk up, unlock the the chain (some kind of master key), and walk my bicycle away. My colleagues practicy laughed and d numerous stories of their own bicycles being stolen. One student told me about his bicycle he owned for just one day before it “walked”.
I have read some responses here by women claiming that inappropriate behavior or staring doesn’t happen. I am in total disagreement. I’m a guy, and I get stared at. My daughter visited here for a month, and though she loved the country, she was from time to time distressed bu the staring, men moving well within her personal space, and several cases of touching. I’ve heard reports from some of our female teachers of being followed and touched also. I do not think this is extremely common, but it definitely happens. I have talked to female Chinese colleagues about this, and the result is that this seems to be mostly confined to foreign women; for some reason, the normal social rules forbidding such activity don’t seem to apply in the minds of some men here.
On balance, however, despite needing to be very aware of your belongings, and scams (especiy in tourist destinations), I feel safer here than in most large cities in the west I’ve been to. I live in a large city in central China, and I feel quite safe at night - theft excepted.
Peter Ensey, works at Medicine and Healthcare
As a local Chinese has lived in China almost 26 years , I have to say China is very safe no matter rural and city , big city or sm city , west or east .
I rasied on the countryside in the northern part of China , I have never met robbery or stolen things except for the bullies on the way to school . There rey were some fighttings happend among the neighbours because of the farmland or financial problems . But it is none of your business .
In the samll cities ,It is very safe ,too . I attended the junior high and university in sm cities . The traffic are safer , the people are nicer . The foreigners seem to be more welcome in the sm city .
In the big city such as Shanghai , It is pretty safe too . I have been living in SH for 2 years . My feeling is very safe except for the group of thieves who are from XinJiang provience and the passengers who ignore the traffic rules can make aciddents .
In Chinees impression , there are some cities or places are not safe enough such as : Guangzhou , Xin Jiang . But that is rare .
Raphaël Tpr, studied at Paris-Sorbonne University
Hi, I work for SafeAround the website and app that lets travelers travel safely.
China is a safe country. Here’s what our page about China says:
Is China a Safe or Dangerous Country?
Over, yes, China is currently under no major threats. In fact, China has a low murder rate – Similar to the United Kingdom and Canada, and less than half that of the United States.
Crime and Scams
However, travelers are often victims of petty crime such as theft. Always take precautions and use common sense as you would in any tourist area and crowded place. Be especiy cautious at train stations like when you are waiting in line to buy your ticket. The Chinese tend to push up rey tight because they don’t want people to cut in line, so be wary of the person behind you. If you happen to catch a pickpocket in the act, make a big loud scene as the last thing a scammer or pickpocket wants is attention, and with some luck, a policeman might be around and help you. Chinese criminals understand that committing a crime against a foreigner is bad publicity for the country, so not many are dumb enough to risk being harshly punished by the government.
Counterfeit is a significant concern in China, especiy counterfeit currency. Always try to carry sm bills or to use exact change. If you need to withdraw money, use ATMs at trusted financial institutions. bills (except the one yuan) have metal ribbons from top to bottom a little left from the center. You should be able to see them as a silver line when looked at from the back. The flower design near the middle of each bill and the Chairman Mao’s jacket image are textured, so there should be some bumpiness when touching them.
Just like in Turkey, some well-dressed men or women may approach you and ask you to take a picture of them before dragging you to expensive cafés or restaurants and then leaving you with a crazy bill that you will be forced to pay. These con artists are usuy found along Shanghai’s East Nanjing Rd, the Bund, and Beijing’s Wangfujing Dajie.
Transportation Safety
Beijing’s Capital Airport is infamous for its taxi scams; always stand in line at the taxi rank and make sure that the driver uses his/her meter. It is best to avoid pedicabs and motorized three-wheelers as many people have complained about drivers changing the price even if you had already agreed on a price.
Traffic accidents are the major cause of Death in China. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 600 traffic deaths per day. Do not be surprised if there are no seatbelts on long-distance buses, or if they are unusable.
And since we are talking about traffic, it is important to note that crossing the road in China has also its risks. Be extra vigilant when crossing the street as cars frequently turn on red lights, so the green for pedestrians does not always mean safe to cross.
Read more on China
Robert Wu, Enjoying a long and productive life.
One afternoon, I was walking on the uncrowded sidewalk of a large Chinese city 50 feet behind a young couple. I noticed a young boy aged about 12 walking closely behind them. Then the boy tried to pick pocket the girl’s purse but failed to reach in. He tried a few more times and similarly failed. I gave a shout for him to stop. The boy turned around and I saw him to be an Uyghur boy with one blind eye, explaining why his depth perception was poor and hindered his reach. He stopped his pick pocket attempts and backed off. The young couple turned to see the attempt, but walked away briskly without thanking me.
Then I noticed three Uyghur men sitting on a ledge nearby, sneering and looking at me. Then I realized they were a criminal gang training the boy as a thief. As Uyghur were owed to carry knives in China as a deference to their tradition, I did not want to confront them and risk injury. I walked away as quickly as I could.
This was one criminal incidence I experienced while working and living in China for three years. Otherwise, I felt very safe and secure.
Laoshi Seo, studied at Beijing Normal University
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Shanghai is genery considered safe relative to other metropolitan cities of comparable size. China’s high conviction rate, use of modern technology in policing, and extensive law enforcement presence throughout the city serve to deter most criminal activity. Violent crimes (homicides, burglaries, robberies) do occur, but the rate of these crimes is relatively low considering the city’s large population (estimated to be roughly 24 million in 2015). Petty crimes (pickpocketing, credit card fraud, various financial scams) occur at rates consistent with previous years and occasiony target foreigners.
Although a number of U.S. citizens visiting Shanghai reported being victims of crime in 2015, in most instances Americans do not appear to have been targeted specificy. A majority of crimes are financial in nature, and foreigners may occasiony be the victims of crime due to perceived affluence.
Violent crimes affecting the expatriate community most often occur at bars, clubs, and restaurants in Shanghai’s vibrant nightlife districts. Bar fights have occurred due to misunderstandings, miscommunication, bravado, alcohol consumption, or a combination thereof. While the legal age for consuming alcohol is 18, most establishments do not require identification. Some bars are overcrowded, and safety standards are seldom enforced. Prostitutes and drug dealers are known to be present in some clubs, though illegal in China.
Pickpocketing is quite common on public transportation, at shopping areas, and at tourist sites. Sm pickpocketing groups commonly work in concert. At tourist sites, thieves are genery more interested in cash and will immediately abandon credit cards; in shopping areas, both cash and credit cards may be sought.
Sexual assaults have occurred, although reported incidents remain relatively rare. Most instances involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars, nightclubs, and massage parlors. Other factors potentiy contributing to sexual assault include the use of unlicensed taxi cabs and over poor judgment.
While there have been several reported instances of robbery by force, many cases appear to have involved a variation of the same scam. Typicy, a victim is invited to a specific location for a massage, tea, drinks, or music, often by an attractive local national. While in the establishment, the victim is confronted and forced to turn over his/her credit card under the threat of violence. The credit cards are promptly charged thousands of dollars in undelivered services, and the victim is forced to sign the receipt. In most cases, victims are released unharmed, though distraught or embarrassed, with further threats of violence if the police are notified. Although this trend has occurred for several years, it appears to continue unabated. Local police are engaged, but little is done because the victims genery do not report the crime until after they have departed China. Police often seem unwilling to investigate the crimes if the complainant is not present in China. In instances where the victim has reported the crime to the police immediately, there has been limited success in recovering lost money or valuables, but evidence of perpetrators being prosecuted is scarce. For more information on common scams, see “Tips on How to Avoid Becoming a Victim.”
Cybersecurity Issues
There are active cyber threat actors targeting foreign governments and members of the private sector. Foreign individuals and organizations in Shanghai should remain vigilant against potential intrusions to their proprietary networks and information technology systems.
Don Kyle Ochoa, 6th/7th Grade Science Teacher at Galaxy International School
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
As far as violent crime is concerned, extremely safe, though I have known several women who have been attacked in China. As far as General health and well being safety, not safe at .
The driving in tier 2 and 3 cities in China is insane. No one follows the rules. According to the US State Department, you're 16–32 times more likely to get into a traffic accident here than in Los Angeles.
There is little enforcement of food safety regulations, so food poisonings and other food related scandals are a regular thing. In fact, many locals in China will tell you not to eat or drink this or that because its “unsafe” and they often buy imported food as a result of the food scandals.
When you do get sick, forget about going to a hospital. The local hospitals are nowhere near up to international standards, and going to one will often leave you feeling worse than when you went in (at least my experience). (There are United Family Health hospitals, however, which are up to standard, but you'll pay US uninsured person prices to go there).
In my experience, Chinese villagers will steal anything that isn't nailed down. I've had 2 motorcycles, an iPhone, a camera, a jacket, and even a half eaten bag of potato chips stolen in Qingdao.
Then there is the air pollution. The WHO estimates breathing the air in tier 1 and 2 cities in China to be as bad for you as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. The pollution extends to the surrounding environment as well. People spit, uniniate, and even deficate everywhere in public. This leads you to not be able to touch anything in public because “youll get sick. Its dirty.” On top of this, most of the locals smoke (especiy the men) and will smoke anywhere (schools, hospitals, taxis, elevators) and look at you like you're Crazy when you ask them to put out their cigarettes.
In short, you probably wont get attacked, mugged, or robbed. You won't get killed by terrorists. As a tourist, watch your belongings and you'll be ok. Living there, however is another matter. I'd think twice about doing so for more than a year, and bring plenty of medicine with you.
3.4k Views ·
I have been living in China for nearly 8 years both in shanghai and shenzhen now and I never rey felt unsafe rey in this country. This is one of the nice thing in this country: you can be in the street at 4am nobody will happen to you if you behave properly. However of course if you tempt devil such as trying to grab a girl in a group of men in a bar, or if you don't understand other pitf related to service or product invoicing style, then you may end up in dirty situation (but there are some ways to avoid this: make things clear and agreed before getting involved : e.g taxi).
In china as a foreigner you will not get free violence. Having lived in Paris for 20 years also , I can easily compare and I can tell you Paris metro and other suburbs are much much more dangerous that places I have been in China.
China doesn't joke with crime and other problems. You make some bullshit you will go to jail easily. For this reason people tend to behave mostly properly. Most that can happen (and it happened one time to me) is to get pickpocket in metro, train or bus. But they do it so well that you would not even feel it. By opposition in Paris they would threaten you and would take it with violence.
So for me, I consider China quite safe.
19.2k Views ·
As a native Chinese living here for over twenty years, I gotta say China is very safe, especiy for foreigners. If a foreigner gets into trouble and cs the police, the Chinese police will arrive immediately and handle the case, much shorter than a Chinese needs to wait.
For example, a foreign coach lost his phone and got it back within 13 hours with the help of the local police, which would never happen to an average Chinese. (Usuy what we do if the same thing happens is to blame our bad luck, since we know it wont work if we turn to the police.)
As for the reason for this, I have no an absolute answer. Possibly the Chinese government cares much more about its image in foreigners' eyes.
10.4k Views ·
Chealsea Zheng, Financial Trainee-Financial Planning&Analysis at Alipay (2016-present)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
My sweet hometown is Jiangshan, a sm county-level city located in west Zhejiang, the population is about 0.5 million. In my memory, I only heard about 3 times of murder case in my hometown since I was born. Maybe the residents are not sooo rich ,but its enough for them to have a good and satisfy life than 20 years ago.
The question “Does China have a level of social security far beyond its economy development level and why?”has 1623 answers in Zhihu right now(https://www.zhihu.com/question/5...). Perhaps you can use translater to get some answers.
Many people pointed several reasons that China has high level social security:1) There’s a unspoken rules that murder case and cases involving guns must be solved，or else the police will received mass pleasure from very very high office. 2)China strictly banned drugs and gambling (at least more strict than most countries). And the police will regularly organize large arrest campaign (named like rectification movement) 3)High employment rate in China. Not a joke, it’s very easy to make a living in China right now, if your goal is just make a living ,not be rich. The labor force is lacked in many place because more and more people would rather stay at home than earn money just 100–150 yuan a day.
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Clare Chen, knows Chinese
First, I want to my experience.
Last summer, my friend and I went to Suzhou, a city which is famous for its tourism, for sightseeing. Although we were both 18 years old, our parents were still worried about us very much, and they told us a thousand times not to go out at night. However, we didn’t listen to them. On the second night in Suzhou, we visited a garden which is one of the tourist attractions there at 9 pm. The gate of the garden was hidden in the dark and there is a winding ey. The ey was so quiet and dark that made me nervous. When we walked through the lane, we always felt like someone is stalking us. And at that moment my mind was filled with terrible news, such as two girls were killed by an unknown man. Nevertheless, we finy arrived at the garden safely.
You can see from my experience that we Chinese are still not entirely reassured about the safety of Chinese society. Indeed, there are still many security problems in our society. But to some extent, China is a rather safe country. In most cases, you can live safely.
Here are some facts that might explained why China is a rather safe country.
First, China bans guns.
Second, China has strict laws.
And last, China also has a sound social safety management mechanism.
In addition to these political reasons, I believed that cultural reasons might be the main cause. Deeply influenced by Confucian culture, most Chinese possess simple moral thought and advocate harmonious society, so they are less likely to go to extremes to undermine social security.
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Winfred Huang, Native Chinese pursuing an international view
If you consider safety in a broader view than just being away from homicides or street crimes, then China is actuy not so safe. However, as street crimes or homicides are much more common in Europe and North America, most people from there may feel that China is quite safe.
I have never been abroad (including HK, Macau and TW), and have lived in three different cities ( with millions of people). During my 26 years of life I have only experienced street crime ONCE in my high school days (when two men tried to drag me out of the bus and beat me, luckily they were stopped by passengers and I was not injured). I believe that for most foreigners, who choose to live in cities rather than rural or remote areas, the possibility of experiencing a robbery or street fighting is ignorable. Thieves are more common, but still rare.
However, other aspects of safety will be your major concern.
The first advice is, you should not walk out of the room without knowing the air quality index today in your mobile phone app, and if it says it’s seriously polluted today, avoid outdoor activities if you can, and wear a mask of excellent quality if you can’t.
Food is another major problem. Don’t be too innocent about what you eat. Learn some knowledge about food “made in China” from any Chinese locals is necessary.
Be extremely careful about traffic. Chinese drivers tend to be more like road killers. Even scooter and bicycle riders are proven so. Although you can see many Chinese don’t obey traffic lights and rules, you are not meant to be among them. Never drink before drive.
The following advices should be taken if you want to be extremely safe.
Since thefts are “few but still common enough”, be quite cautious about your personal belongings no matter where they are.
Never own even a single gram of drugs, including but not limited to heroine, marijuana, cocaine, you name it. Those who come from regions where marijuana is legal should always remember it is a crime to own marijuana here.
If you are looking for fun, be careful when you want a sauna or feet treatment. These places may also provide “special services” (i.e. prostitution). You don’t want to be an AIDS victim, do you? AIDS is uncommon in China, but not ignorable.
Personal information is quite easy to be leaked via smartphones and computers, so do not provide any personal information to anyone except a few certain circumstances, such as in civic center, buying a mobile phone number or seeing a doctor in a big hospital.
Avoid talking about politics, ethnic issues, freedom of speech or democracy to a person you don’t know well, unless he/she tells you that he/she doesn’t care if you may have a “disputed”(i.e. doesn’t coincide with official opinion of the Communist Party) answer. Never express your “disputed” opinions in these areas when you’re facing a government official, a “civic servant” (including policemen, bus drivers, etc.) or anyone who served or is serving the Army, and never do this in your Weibo or WeChat. (You can still be yourself in Facebook and Twitter, but you should confirm that nobody is a person mentioned above. )
Foreigners are genery welcome in China, and most people will treat you as best as they can do.
422 Views ·
Mark Evison, Lived traveled and worked in China 6 years plus. Probably not again thanks
In terms of personal safety, China is a very safe place to live. I lived there six years + and felt relaxed walking the streets at times of day, in many cities. Being a foreigner gets you some special treatment in nearly every place, and Chinese themselves cannot imagine the underlying that's in western countries.
That being said, health and safety can be a problem - ok, learn to look out for yourself again instead of being nannied - but there's also instances ilof entire shopping ms collapsing due to improper /corrupt building practices. Then there is the air pollution. In areas of the day coast it is terrible. You need to get a good quality face mask (eg. 3m not a Hello Kitty one!) and wear it, even though most people living there don't.
Good safety is also an issue - the Chinese are rey only concerned about making money. There is even fake cigarettes and fake red wine sold in major supermarkets, and people dredge sewers to take cooking oil to sell back to Street vendors. You might want to reread that last sentence!
Is China safe? Most places are, in a way
1.3k Views ·
Alex M, studied at Xiamen University
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I’ve been happily surprised walking around in the city by night and feeling perfectly safe.
Most of the time restaurants, shops and bars/clubs are open until very late in the night (or early in the morning, it depends on your judgement of time haha). So basicy , even if you go take a walk at 1 or 2 am it will be okay, you’ll see a lot of young people partying, laughing and discussing in the roads. That’s one of the things I liked the most about China; very lively and joyful vibes! Of course, this is most likely to happen in big cities! In sm towns you might feel a bit awkward as chinese people like staring at foreigners; anyways China is a safe country or at least likes to make people feel so.
7.6k Views ·
Quan Zhang, Am Chinese
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
My SO, who is a tiny Chinese girl of waifish build and thin arms, feels perfectly safe walking around the middle of downtown Beijing at midnight.
Try that anywhere else.
(As it turns out, authoritarian regimes are actuy pretty good at also enforcing the laws that are good for everyone)
10.1k Views ·
Wei Wang, works at Ethos Technology
In most cities of China, except those in SinKiang (Xin Jiang） and Tibet, you don’t worry about gun shoot, bomb attack, gang kidnap, or bit and scratched by wild animals. The top threatens here are drunk driving, over-loaded truck, and midnight wild racing car drivers.
Don’t make it too obvious where you put the wet, watch, or smartphone on on your body when you are in any cities of Guangdong, even in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Yet I was told that the robbing rate there is lowered most recently.
In northeast of China, laying eyes on people for more than 3 - 5 seconds is a kind of offense, especiy to lads. If you happen to watching something else yet make a lad feel being stared at, you’d explain friendly that you were thinking about something and didn’t realize that your eyebs fell on him (don’t try and explain that you were not staring at him, because that will make him feel being stupid which will make things even worse). Friendly manner will calm them down quickly.
One reminder to males, that don’t sleep with a girl that you are not familiar with. It might be a romantic night, or a wedding-or-rape alternative, or a 10k-dollar-bill or an angry husband alternative.
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Yu-Hsing Chen, Well versed on history of China, and follows its politics a bit
If you are a foreigner, your very safe from major crime, reasonably safe from petty crimes but maybe at risk of accidents relative to average developed nations
Ok, we can divide this into several different catagories , the points are rather subjective to myself I guess.
Safety from violent crimes : A- you are extremely unlikely to run into violent crimes in China, this is true for locals and foreigners. no one has guns, there’s no street gangs, even the poor places are pretty safe in this sense.
Safety from petty crimes (pickpockets / scams / theft etc ) : B it can happen, it’s much more of a risk for locals (or Chinese speaking person ) though, because the bigger risk is actuy scam. pickpockets could potentiy happen in crowded destinations though it’s nothing like Italy or anything crazy.
Safety on the road : B- at least in regards to driving, let’s just say China’s still in the wild wild west stage of driving though it’s getting better rapidly, the more rural place you go the more crazy it might get. However, taking the train is insanely safe. but walking / riding / driving on the road in general is … less safe. there’s definitely way worse places out there though
Gender / Racial safety : A Chinese may certainly harbor some less than polite opinion to certain race or religion, but it’s not going to be reflected in everyday life usuy, they genery just treat foreigners with equal curiosity . Women safety is very high in China in general.
Food safety : B- it can get wild at times, but usuy it’s reasonably safe. at least in terms of health, in terms of taste certainly there’s sorts of extreme that may not be for everyone.
4k Views ·
Anonymous
I spend the first 17 years of my life in Suzhou, China before moving here. I still go back on a annuy basis over the past 6 years, I’m gonna answer this from my personal experience.
It comes down to your definition of safety. If you are talking about the chance of being involved in a violent crime, or personal safety, like being punched, robbed, shot, etc, then vast majority of China is rey rey safe, even in the largest cities. Chinese culture values peace, the Chinese government is very strict on violent crimes, and people overwhelmingly support harsh punishments for violent crimes. In fact, I was never aware personal safety can be an issue before moving to America. My friends and I sometimes would hang out rey late into the morning and walk back home, or go out late in the night to get some food, there was never a sense of danger. You just don’t think you would get robbed or shot or anything, it’s not a regular occurrence in this city of over 10million ppl, or in many other cities. And even in rare stories where people do get robbed (I only heard this on news, never knew any real case myself), it’s usuy just a knife, personal injuries or death almost never happens. This being said, murder rate in China is not extremely low, but most of them are just between people who know and hate each other. So basicy you don’t worry about getting involved in a violent crime in China, I never did anyway, even at 2am on a dark city street. Boy was I in for a huge surprise when I first went to San Fransisco.
If you are talking about anything that relates to race or religion, then again don’t even worry. I’m not saying Chinese people are not racists, in fact some elderly are, race or religion just isn’t a big issue in the Chinese society, Chinese people tend to be open and are rey nice to foreigners, unless you look like a Japanese, in which case most people might still be friendly but the risks are higher.
If you are talking about crimes in general, then things get tricky. Although violent crimes that can cause physical harm are rare, general crimes against your property, especiy minor ones like theft, pickpocketing, and fraud, are more common in China than the states. Also, if you lose things like your phone, it is less likely to able to get it back in China.
On a side note, traffic is a bitch in China, drivers are aggressive, it’s easier to get into a traffic accident than in the states, but personal injuries are unlikely, usuy it’s just a minor bump or scratch, because traffic tends to be slower.
In general, I think here is how it goes:
if a criminal wants some money in the states, he robs or kills
if a criminal wants some money in China, he steels or commits fraud.
Of course this is only a general description, and it depends on where you are at and what you do. Obviously living in Silicon vey is safer than in Xinjiang.
5.3k Views ·
Kevin Pearson, Born a Kiwi, lived as a Kiwi and will die as one!
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I lived in China for a decade, in many cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, Changsha, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Jilin Shi, and Changchun. I’ve also lived in some smer cities (Tier 2/3/4). I’ve been in tiny rural hamlets and smer rural towns. I went to these places because I have friends there and in NO place did I feel unsafe or insecure.
In saying this, one evening, in Guangzhou, I was walking along a fairly good sized street with a female friend of mine and 2 men on a motorbike tried to grab her handbag. I grabbed her, and the ‘grabee’ came off the bike. Locals were very helpful in detaining this character until the law arrived. That’s the sum of 10 years living in China, 1 incident.
In Guangzhou, friends and I would sit at the little corner stores, mainly one behind Tianhe Nan Yi Lu which was open 24/7 and run by a lovely family. We’d sometimes drink there night just practicing each others’ languages and just being ‘mates’. The family would watch over us, the local street guard would watch over us and there is a local police station 100 metres away. Sometimes the cops would sit with us as well, no problem with safety there! Several times, I fell asleep there and the family put a cover on me and someone sat there until I woke up. (I think that they wanted me to marry one of their daughters…didn’t although she was a nice gal, just too young for me) No problems there. I think it depends on you and how you relate to the locals. I had no problems at and when next in GZ, I’m going back to that shop and sitting there again, with friends because, I know I’m safe, no matter what!
1.5k Views ·
Lam Wai-Leung, works at China
I am Chinese. Soroy, my Enlish not good.
I am from a province in northern China, you know that China's land area is very large.
I live in a county in Shanxi, is a national poor county, I went to college to apply for a student loan.
My hometown ced Guangling, very sm, when I was in high school, we at ten o'clock in the evening after school, and then go home. China's northern winter is genery very cold, my hometown night temperature may reach minus twenty degrees.
I have three years of high school home, a section of no lights, very dark, but I never worry about being robbed or shot.
In summer, I often play with my good friends, until 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock to go home, I never worried about an accident.
When I was in college, I came to the other province, Hebei city of Cangzhou Province, we often go out at night to eat supper and then walk or take a taxi back to school, do not worry about the accident.
The vast majority of Chinese society is safe.
This is my high school，my class.
Last year I worked Park-time at the supermarket,Go home on New Year 's Eve.
We count money in public places, never worry about the supermarket was robbed.
This is my hometown, Guangling.
The world has a lot of prejudice against China, in fact, you can come to China to see. Believe me, you will be surprised.
I love China！
1.1k Views ·
Yasmine Lova, I just read a lot of books by relationship experts.
I’m twenty and I lived in Beijing for 6+ years, still living here. I’m partiy foreign, partiy local. Beijing is a 4 on a scale of 5 to me in terms of safety.
But lemme mention a few dangers you might face occassiony, most times:
Crossing at intersections. The traffic light system is..bizarre. If a dummy doll were to walk while it’s green for pedestrians, he’ll be badly injured. Cars can pass from a ‘right turn’ continuously, its made that way.
Counterfeit money. Be careful when trading, learn how to spot a fake and make checking for fakes a habit. ATMs contaim fake money too!
Beggars. I don’t know if they’re dangerous but there are fake beggars who are quite rich lol.
If you are a foreigner and you need a bank loan, as far as I know, you can’t get any.
Going against communist policies. China is strict on this, anything they find suspicious will be destroyed. I heard they didn’t even let Taylor Swift have her tour here because her album was ced ‘1989’ and a traumatic war related event occured in that year.
Hazardous pollution. Your health will be at risk if you don’t wear a mask outdoors. You can see the fog of pollution with your bare eyes on some days.
Thieves. Popular tourist spots like The Great w of China, Forbidden city are the most targetted. They usuy target tourist looking people.
Working without a proper visa. It can get you arrested, detained, or deported for years. Scary stuff.
Criminal offences, drugs. If you do anything that you’re not supposed to, you’re going to hell. It’s very strict.
I’m not sure about crime rates. It’s high, but that’s probably because the population is high. It’s over safe, and a very casual, cultured country.
1.8k Views ·
Green Jim, live in China, former politic journalist, worked in CCTV
Well, it depends on what did you mean by “safe”.
Genery, China has a well-operating administration, which means we get functional police system, hospital system, etc.
Chinese as s whole don’t get the reputation of prone to violence.
There are no problems of rampant drug lords, terrorists and mafioso in China.
And gun is strictly forbidden in part of China.
5k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Recent years have seen too many mass shootings and bomb attacks.
But it seems that we have never heard of such things f in China.
Thus,there is no wonder that someone asks such question.
Yeah,China is seen as a non-free country in our eyes.But that not means it has lost its secruity protection.
In China,you can never any shootings,anytime.
In China,one has to worry a coming war.
In China,even a dying man can get saved everywhere,everytime at the cost of milions of money and sources.
No one denies that the development of China is better than America.But it does not matters,
we live for life,not for money.
Now,there is a choice,a developed country full of dangers, a developing coutry which can provide safety,which will your chioice?
The answer is easy.
2.1k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
There is no significant difference for different part of a Chinese city in terms of security level.
I grew up in Beijing, and I never being warned for avoid to travel to certain area of the city because of safety issue, despite there is a considerable gap of rich and poor between city centre and outskirts.
Although here in Sheffield in Northern England, the environment is genery safer than other major British cities, I do receive some information as some gangs are estisting in certain communities.
China does have a lot of cases of stealing and sometimes robbing, but rate of murder is much lower compared to many countries, since the gun is banned by the authority and the murderer will be executed.
At the same time, there also a lot of cases for trafficking as children and even some women are being kidnapped from cities by Traffickers and sold to the rural countryside since many villagers want to have a child or a wife. This in many sense, is quite horrible and although it doesn’t occur very often.
Otherwise everything is fine. I hope it can help you.
7.5k Views ·
Brian Johnson, Lived and traveled extensively in China
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Very safe for a visitor. China is a massive country with an estimated 1. 35 billion people. In a country this size and with this many people, anything can happen. However, if you play by the rules and respect local authority, you should be fine.
For a visitor, like a visit to most any non-war country, the biggest danger involves driving. In some of the cities, pollution can affect safety, but this can take years, and there is always risk in the food supply, but the odds are against you pulling the ‘acute food poison card’. Beyond that, petty theft is common. Though it may be less likely in China towards foreigners than in a Western country because I’ve heard the authorities don’t treat crime to foreigners lightly. Persony, I’ve traveled to most provinces in China and never had a problem.
Lastly, I want to say fights do occur between local gangs of youth and foreigners, though this is rare. In instances I have heard about, it was at night, alcohol was involved, and the foreigners were acting disrespectful or aggressive. If you are ever in a bar and confronted, no matter what, never throw the first punch. Respectfully walk away and even bow down in submission if you need to. Never fight because gangs will fight as group and will use bottles, chairs, etc. Worse case scenario, you should run. But again, don’t put yourself in this situation and you should be fine.
1.9k Views ·
Hassan Saeed, Working for a Fair Society
How safe is China?
Like USA no gun totting criminals…
Like India no thugs or hawkers after you..No eve teasing or raping
Like Bangkok no one willing to be your massage guide…
Like Saudi Arabia no one forcing you for prayer at prayer times..
Like Iran no one asking your woman for head cover or no security agency looking for your where abouts..…
If you have a marking scheme of 1 to 10 in public safety scale, china will get 9.5.
You are one of the thousands or millions on a street or in a city and as long as you abide by law you are as good as any citizen.
It must be remembered this is one of the safest country and people are occupied with their daily lives and their dreams and they enjoy loving eating and enjoy life. Therefore, they don't have time for trouble making.
1.5k Views ·
China is one of the safest counties in the planet . Let me show you some comparisions:
Murder rate in China from 2011 to 2014 is 0.7 - 1.0 per 100,000 people
Murder rate in America is 5 per 100,000 people ( 5 times higher than China)
The worst American cities :
St.Louis 60.37 , Baltimore 55.4 , New Orleans 45.17, Detroit 44, Kansas city 23,
Atlanta 20.2 ,,Chicago 17.5, Indianapolis 17 , Miami 17, Cleveland 16.2 Houston 13.3 ,
Las Vegas 8.1 , LA 7.1, Boston 5.7, San Francisco 6.01 , New York 3
Best American Cities:
New York 3 , Honolulu 1.5 , Plano, TX 1.4 (very safe ,almost like China) ,
Irvine, CA 0.8 ( as safe as in China )
FYI, Irvine is in Orange County, CA ( actuy in Los Angeles area ) ,it has a population about 270,000 today, about 47 % population are Chinese and Asian, about 43% are white .
234 Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China is genery safe, and much safer than it was about 10 years ago when I would (and had been) be held at ransom in a desolate place after dark by illegal tax drivers and surrounded by them when I won’t take their taxi.
Thanks to the jobs being generated, basicy everyone can get along with some form of simple labour based job and be paid RMB5000 or so (and increasing about 5–10% yearly). This is the golden age for China.
That said, if you’re outside the touristy areas, so you have to be careful. Anything can happen. Lights are dimmed out at night and this is not Tokyo or Hong Kong or Singapore.
[I’ve been working in North Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan) for more than 10 years]
1.9k Views ·
Why are China's big cities more secure than other cities and China has the world's largest cities? However, compared with the rest of the world, people living in big cities in China are safer.
Alti, a 33-year-old Indian financial analyst, moved her family from mumbai to Shanghai in 2010 and fell in love with it. "Shanghai is much safer than mumbai," she said. You can take the bus or subway at any time and never feel dangerous. Also, don't worry about taking a taxi or driving alone late at night. And in mumbai, I'm afraid to take public transportation."
According to a study by east China normal university in China, the crime rate per 10,000 people in Shanghai is even lower than in Munich, Germany's most secure city. Not only Shanghai, but big cities like Beijing and guangzhou are also safer than other cities. Why is that?
Chinese cities are equipped with various safety monitoring devices for urban security. In 2010, there were 10 million surveillance cameras in China. China also has a wide range of grass-roots organizations, and cities are divided into neighborhood committees. These neighborhood committees manage community affairs and send people to patrol at night. They think suspicious passersby, if necessary, can c the nearby police.
Many foreigners came to China and were surprised to find no slums in big cities. In large cities in many countries, slums are hotbeds of violence and crime. But in China, land belongs to the state, and the authorities will not tolerate the construction of large-scale slums.
Although China has a widening wealth gap and a phenomenon of xenophobia, these are not reflected in criminal cases. In a vegetable market near the Nanpu Bridge in Shanghai, Mr. Gao and his wife from rural henan province set up a vegetable st. They get up early and early every day, day after day. In the face of Shanghai's wealth and luxury goods, Mr Gao did not complain, saying he would work harder.
Experts say the Chinese do not have a sense of violent crime unless they are desperate. The Chinese have a profound Confucian tradition, while Confucianism forbids extreme behavior, which is deeply rooted in the Chinese ideology and value system. Chinese traditional education also plays an important role. Most parents attach great importance to their children education and strict discipline. (author marcus rimeer, aoki)
Beauty and base die each year in a criminal case of 400,000 people, die of shooting 31,000, and die of drug abuse
China's homicide rate is 96 percent and 85 percent in the United States. The rate of major criminal cases such as rape and murder in the United States is more than 10 times higher than in China
643 Views ·
In my opinion, having lived in the U.S., Scandinavia and China (and travelled to many other places) I would have to say that China is one of the safest. Like anywhere else you can do quite a bit to avoid trouble simply by not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lone person on a poorly lit street in a sketchy neighborhood late at night? Probably not a great idea anywhere, China included.
About the only thing I've found more of in China than in many other places would be scams. Street violence, however, is rare.
7.2k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I am a native Chinese. From my experience of travelling: very safe indeed, although I’ve never been to any other country.
During my last travel with my twe children, covering both big city and sm village, I feel no danger around, and we are safely back after 11 days of journey. We have taken express train, also tradioional “green skin” train with low price and low speed. We experience different subways in cities, also some illegal taxi in rural area where public transportation cannot reach.
There is only one time I feel a little nervous. One day in the morning, about 4AM, I got up to see sunrise. The location is very remote, and the taxi driver also didn’t know how to get there. So I had to find by myself on foot. During my search, I witnessed nobody, and the road was very dark indeed. Only by a torch for lighting and a mobile phone for navigation, finy I made it.
When I arrived, I was surprised that I was not alone. Tens of young man were already there, waiting for the first sunlight.
That is the most wonderful experience in this trip. I still memorise every detail, you know, I was taking a DSLR, an IPhone, and nothing to protect myself.
Why didn’t I take something, for example, knife, or sticks, or some poisonous gas? The security check before taking on the train will get rid of possible dangerous things. The sm city is even strict than big city. Once I had taken a very sm knife for fruit. I came out from Beijing, got on the train, and went back after abandoned it in Luoyang raileay station.
So after that, I never think of taking anything of even trivial danger to aboard. Therefore I take for granted that I am surely quite safe to travel around.
My first post. Thanks.
2.9k Views ·
Daniel Xu, Average Chinese living in China
I will answer this question in a rey different way.
If as Ray Comeau said we “assume this means how safe is it to live or travel in China, compared to other countries”, and we take traffic as a key evaluation factor for personal safety, since worldwidely there are way more people hurt or killed in car accidents than there are wounded or killed by guns, or any other kinds of accidents or crimes.
China should be one of the worst countries to live in!
Chinese people just don't have the ability to drive a car properly! They almost never follow any traffic rules! A LOT OF Chinese drivers can't follow a lane straight for over 50 meters in heavy traffic, there isn't anything meaning “to queue” or “to wait for 1 second” in their brains. They find someone ahead slightly slower, they overtake that dude, but they almost never look around, and they ram into the third guys trying to overtake them, who by trying to evade, rams into a fourth car. I know this sounds exaggerating, but it often happens in China with Chinese drivers.
I’ve written this in another answer, so many drivers don't fasten their sit belts, because they are too tight or too uncomfortable.
So many cars driving on the bicycle lane. Way more driving in opposite direction and on the bicycle lane too!
The system in China is that each driver’s license has 12 penalty points per a period of one year. One can be taken 1 to 12 points away varying of which traffic rule(s) that person broke. If 12 are taken within a period, there goes away the license, and that person has to take traffic lessons to get a renewed license. And there goes what a colleague was implying a week before:
“My license period is over in a month, yet I had no point taken during this time, what a waste!”
WHAT A WASTE!???
And when a Chinese driver tells you he's “a good one”, it never means he has excellent driving skills, is means “I know every ways to break the traffic circulations and get away with it! Trust me! I tried each and every of them!”
The same applies to Chinese pedestrians, how many Chinese have you seen waiting for a green light? And there is this average Chinese citizen answering “Do we need to wait for the lights? And I thought they were for cars.” Or another young white collar speaking with a real serious tone “Life is short, I must get good use of every second of my life.” Did you feel the sarcasm? Life could be rey short indeed, if you get hit by a truck. Remember what just happened at the Tour of Qinghai Lake last Sunday? Some dude ran to the middle of the road when the cyclists were about to pass by. Sure the guy was menty unhealthy, but this is nothing compared to “menty healthy people” crossing the road in rey busy places in rush hour, like the evil Guomao or Zhongguancun in Beijing.
Edit: found two comment saying sb. In English it means: Stupid asshole.Actuy lots of my compatriots (yeah, Chinese people) respond with this when they are just not human enough to face the truth and admit they were doing something wrong.
1.7k Views ·
Lucky, worked at China
I am a chinese and i live in a sm city. Someone in other country maybe think China only have such city like BeiJing,ShangHai,GungZhou. But the most city in china is like HuiZhou,LangFang,LaiWu…And more prople live in village. And the village is not like village in America. It’s poor. there are little Police,little doctor. And there are aggressice traffic.People drive the reverse direction. And at school, some students even hit teather.
And because of the lack of education, Parent don’t know how to get along with their children. They hit and scold their children.
BUT they can’t write in Quora and can’t publish their voice.
China is not a safe country. At least not a safe country for the people in poor area.
41 Views
Victor Zhou, Native Chinese
Genery speaking, China is very safe,but you still need to pay attention.
1.Pocketpicking,especiy in crowded buses,markets and railway stations.
2.Bicycles are often stolen
3.PengCi（碰瓷）: someone intentiony got himself hurt (or pretended to be hurt) by your bicycle/motocycle/car in the road and extort money from you.
4.XianRenTiao（仙人跳）: Badger game. Women ure you to some room and then a group of men extort/rob you before or after the sex.Prostitution is officiy illegal although it exists in every city,in different kinds of forms.
5. Being drunk alone means putting youself in danger.
6. Don't drive or sit in a Japanese car especiy when the Sino-Japan relationship is strained.
7. People don't obey the traffic rules.It' dangerous to cross the road alone,so the pedestrians will wait and gather and then cross the road together,no matter green or red light.In some sm cities there's no traffic light so you need more courage and timing ability.
8. Do not take drugs even it's soft.
9. Do not take part in political activities against the govt.
10. The Chinese govt doesn't care about individual person's religion,but does stay alert on organized religion activities.
11. If you are stolen/extorted/robbed or need some help, c the police (110). Usuy the foreigners have more opportunities to get money or stolen things back. First,the govt wants to show a better image to foreigners and also doesn't want to get trouble in foreign affairs;Second,helping ordinary Chinese cannot 'make news' to get praised.So the police is more willing to help foreigners. (It's something sad for Chinese). Anyway,if the policeman has worked hard to help you and you also want to thank him, you can send the police a letter of thanks which probably can help him in the evaluation and get a promotion or hike in salary.
2.2k Views ·
China may be the safest country in the world.
As is known for , China bans the gun. So there is absolutely impossible for you to be involved in some gun battles. The most dangerous thing may be the driving. As actuy, driving rules are basicy being ignored by drivers due to the relaxed regulation by police. Just be careful when driving, no one is going to harm you deliberately.
And Chinese people are quite friendly and hospitable. If you have ever lived in China, you know how sociable Chinese people are. For foreigners, they just regard them as guest in China with great respect. Usuy, when Chinese peole are familiar with you, they will invite you to dinner or watching movie or party something like that. They just treat you as a friend and often show their kindness.
Even if you are in some trouble with people there, I think it can be the least harm to you compared with assault. And you can also c the police to solve your problem. In my view, police in China is very fair in dealing with dispute.
1.1k Views ·
William Gary, works at Government
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I have been going to China for 10 years, staying a minimum of a month at a time. My fiancée is Chinese and serves as an interpreter. She is wary of me going out alone because of because the cultural differences. She worries for nothing. I love China, it is universy safer than the cities in the United States, or at least the many cities that I have gone to.
Violence, I haven’t seen any. Even on TV there isn’t much. You do have to be keenly aware of thieves in public places. So with being aware of your surrounding and taking care of your belongings you’ll enjoy your visit of any length in China.
I have found the Chinese people outside of Beijing and Shanghai very accommodating to Americans (especiy older ones). Both cities have hundreds of thousands of foreigners, so foreigners are no big deal.
My fiancée lives in Xiangtan, CN, very close to Changsha, the Capital of Hunan Province. Even though Xiangtan has a large population in US terms it has few foreigners. I always draw a lot of stares, but typicy offered preferential treatment. At the very least, I’m ignored and treated as equal. When I get on a bus someone always offers me their seat (I’m 66). Typicy it will be a woman, or young girl or boy. The men don’t give up their seats. It’s funny, I always give up my seat to a woman with kids, pregnant women, older men and women. There usuy is a “No thank you”, but with a smile they will take my seat. I want to show the Chinese men, Americans respect elderly people and women with kids.
A funny story, there are many people that shine shoes on the street. They sit on little stools and hawk people that walk by. I went to get my shoes shined, the price is two yuan. My fiancée then went into a nearby store to shop. When the shine was finished the woman wanted three yuan. I did not understand why the price went up and tried to ask her why. My fiancée started yelling at the woman because she thought the woman was scamming me. When asked why the price went up the lady said, “I didn’t know he had such big feet.”
I love my trips to China, when you get there you know your not in Kansas anymore.
7.9k Views ·
Lareina Bronte, lives in Shanghai
A Chinese saying:
People say we don’t have the faith like Catholicism, Christianity. But we do. We have our faith in our heart deeply and we c it morality. We believe that if we do bad thing to someone else, we will be punished by the GOD or our Offspring will have no luck forever.
We don’t like to attack others. We just need to protect ourselves. We believe our government, the Chinese People's Liberation Army and police. They protect us and the only thing we need to do is just to live happily without hurt and hurting others.
1.3k Views ·
I am a female Chinese who now living in a peaceful city in USA.
Well, compared to USA, I would say, China is rey a very safe country when it comes to your life safety, you don't need to worry about guns and shooting. People won't kill you with knifes or something else...at least not so often as with guns.
However, when it comes to your personal belongings? Um..........Well, um, you know.
6k Views ·
Benjamin S. Zhang, Founding Partner, Trademark & Patent Attoreny at Luo & Jia Associates
In general speaking, YES, It is quite safe if you live in China, especiy in the South of China. As you may know, China spending a lot of resoureces to keep the society stable. Of course, China is very big and has a huge pupulation, there is no way to simply say it is safe or not, every city is different from each other. No matter what, we still need to be careful.
9.6k Views ·
Eideon Vourlire, B.A Electronic and Information Engineering & English, Sun Yat-Sen University
Well, as a native college student, I have been to metropolitans in China like Beijing and Shanghai, as well as less-known cities like Guangzhou and Guiyang. I can tell you this: China is much safer than any other parts of the world. In China, security Check is not limited to airport, but railway station, subway station and even highway station. That means you have no chance to bring any weapons like bombs, cleavers, not to mention guns that are strictly controlled by the public safety sector. Therefore, there are little horrifying terrorisms happening in China. And you may have little concern about your safety.
Besides, I often hang out with my friends in KTVs, bars and so on to late nights in 3–4 AM. Even in such a late night, we can freely walk on the streets where no pedestrians are seen, talking and joking. Then we may just find a restaurant and fetch something to eat. I China you may find it surprising that people seldom sleep in the night. In midnight, you can easily find vendors doing business, taxi drivers transporting passengers and peoeple partying in clubs. For me, things in daytime are nothing different from that in night.
And I wish you can just travel to China to feel how safe it is!
1.7k Views ·
Jordan Boyd-Graber, 我什麽都不知道
I’ve never feared crime in China. The biggest threats to health and safety are drivers and pollution.
3.3k Views ·
Yu Bai, studied at University of Science and Technology Beijing
This is my first answer and I’m rey interested in this topic as well. At first, I have to admit that there is no a country utterly safe in anywhere. However, I promise that you can feel safe in China at any city center.
I’m glad to introduce our capital Beijing at first. I was born in China and attended a university in Beijing. Tell you guys a truth, Beijing might be the safest place in the world, even during the night.(Lol, maybe except Pyongyang). My girl friend and I tried to walk back to school at 3:00 AM. It was a rey long trip, at least during the night, about 5 miles and took almost 2 hours. I felt nothing strong when we wandered. In addition, instead of driving, most of Chinese students have to take public transportations or walk back if too late. For me, it was very normal to return my dormitory AFTER 1 AM. So, according to my experiences, Beijing is safe enough. Plus, even a mosquito can not fly into center of Beijing when there are some important conventions. Expresses are prohibited to access the tricyclic due to safety problems. It’s not an exaggeration.
As for my home city Yinchuan, which is a sm capital city. It’s safe, genery. I heard criminality happened serval times, but most of them aimed at FEMALES.
Good news is, if you are not a Chines person who wants to live or work in China. Congratulations! Please don’t worry about the safety problems. Chinese criminals are not interested in foreign people, or in the other words, they never consider foreign people as their targets. Because Chinese polices are gonna pay double or triple attention on foreign reporters, it’s no different from a suicide.
Anyway, good luck! Welcome to China, and please feel it by yourself.
1.1k Views
Hongtao Zhang, Manchu Chinese From Tangshan.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Yeah, China is very safe in public places as everyone said.
But, China is very unsafe in private places.
By private places, I mean schools and homes.
Domestic violence and school bullying are very serious in China compared to developed countries, because traditional culture considers violence took place in a private place as personal affairs. Perhaps, China's middle schools are the most dangerous places in the world.
In addition, considering the white privileges widely existing in China, China is safer for the Whites than for the Chinese.
1.4k Views ·
M A, IT
It's mainly safe. I say mainly because I was a victim of a taxi scam there! I took the train from the airport to downtown Shanghai and as soon as I arrived to the station some guy approached me and asked if I'm looking for a cab, and I was stupid enough to say yes! I remember he charged with an exaggerated amount of money. Lesson learned: use your common sense and always use official/public transportation.
Check out this link (especiy the "Stay Safe" section) as I think it's fairly accurate: Shanghai travel guide - Wikitravel
5.3k Views ·
Sorry for the bad experience in China, the non-official cab are usuy not safe with much higher...
Jingjing Peng, former Government Lawyer
I lived in Yangtze river delta in China, which is regarded as one of the richest and safest region in China.
Yes, we are well-tempered, I rarely see people fight, we are not used to solve problems by fist but sometimes by quarrel or most time trying to persuade others. This is one reason, people on this region is born to be milder.
Another reason makes this place safe is the government control. Monitors are around the city, you will be easily detected if you commit a crime. Punishment are very severe, China do not abolish death penalty till now, murder or rob can amount to death penalty. And gun are very strictly controlled, as a 31-year old woman, I never see guns before, only police are owed to have possession of guns, and each gun have registration.
Nowadays, hangzhou will be hosting G20, you know what happened, government are daily check the express mails, and drug store or painting store where can buy risk items( like potassium permanganate, it will product oxygen if heat, and will easily make fire), knife is forbidden during public transportation, and each one take bus or train will have security exam.
1.1k Views
Nathan Kinsman, Living and working in Shanghai since 2008.
As far as people are concerned it is relatively safe. Chinese people are not especiy violent but you need to be wary of people drinking alcohol as you would anywhere else. There is occasional terrorist type incidents with large numbers of people being killed. Also, opposite of many countries, the country and sm towns are genery less safe than the large cities.
Environmenty it is a bit more dangerous. People get hit by cars quite often. I've seen someone f into a hole in a sidewalk and break a leg. Recently escalators are killing and maiming people.
Overcrowding, cleaning standards, and pollution make it very easy to catch an illness and Chinese hospitals are not that great if you do get sick. Of the people I know, maybe 1-2 die each year from things like lung infections even at a young age. You need to know how to protect your health if you live in China.
6.4k Views ·
Wu Shenglan, former Ser at Maosonsoft (2015-2017)
i live in China about 2 years .Genery speaking . China is a safe country to travel around, and most people you meet are friendly, honest, and trustworthy. Well ,You maybe have heard about some bad news about this country for example: earthqueak or Xinjiang separatist violence at Kunming Station on March 1, 2014.But the attack was ended in minutes and the attackers have been caught. You didn’t need to worry about the murder.
The most likely causes of harm to you as a tourist in China come from more mundane causes: road traffic accidents, accidents during other tourist activities, or gettiif ng ill through poor hygiene or not keeping warm/cool enough and well-hydrated.
I can show you some real pictures about China , if you want to visite this country, I can be your tour guide. I live in ChengDu, its a beautiful city, i love it.
By the way , my job is promote a dating App, The world's best and largest online App for elite singles and beautiful women.just download App on millionairematchapps.com
868 Views ·
William Regan, I've been living in China for seven years.
How Safe is China?
As with any other place in the world, I think how safe a place is depends on your own personal habits and whom you associate with. With that said, I’ve had my fair amount of sketchy encounters here in China — but none have resulted in bodily harm. My answer is, of course, in the context of being a foreigner here. If you’re Chinese, your experience is bound to be different.
Physical Harm - Fights / Battery / Assault / Guns/Knives
I’m bigger than most Chinese people, so I think even if they want to start a physical confrontation they’ll at least think twice before doing so. Chinese men, in particular, seem to get quite belligerent when they’re drunk. It’s not uncommon to see them scuffle inside a bar or a club.
People here over have less “personal space” — so you can get nudged, pushed, or stepped on — and that’s just an everyday thing. In the USA you could receive a beating for stepping on the wrong person’s shoe, or looking at someone in the wrong way.
Menty Ill
I’ve had a few menty ill (appeared to be) people follow me around. They never did anything to me — but for instance one time a guy just squatted naked at the window staring at me with a confrontational posture. Another time I d a public bus with a teenager. He kept shouting at people at random — and told people do go die or to shut up in Cantonese — even if they weren’t talking.
Over, I think if someone is menty ill here, sometimes they’re just disowned and put out on the streets. In this USA these people would at least have been detained by the police — or simple cared for by their family members.
Lack of Help
I’d be more concerned about what the people around me would (or wouldn’t) do in a situation where I needed help. Chinese people don’t tend to hold any sort of sense of responsibility towards strangers. I’ve seen a woman get smacked around while a group of guys merely smoked cigarettes and offered glib commentary about what was going on.
Police
I definitely feel less afraid of Chinese police compared with American police. Unless there is some kind of “mission” or “crackdown” the police basicy mind their own business unless ced upon. I don’t fear that a Chinese policeman will stop me, search my property, or try to detain me for no reason. In the USA I definitely had this fear every time a police officer got behind my car.
The Stuff You Can’t See
The most dangerous things here in China are the ones you can’t see. The contaminated food and water. The polluted air. The petty thief looking to make off with your cell phone — or a business partner trying to cut you out of the deal to take off with the money.
2.7k Views ·
I have lived in a few major cities in China and NYC. Petty crime like pick pocket and groping are more common in crowded areas in China than in NYC. So keep an close eye on your valuables like cellphone, camera and wet. Also avoid Urgir street vendors, they use their poor mandarin to trick customers. Otherwise robbery or gun crime are a lot less in China than in NYC. Gun ownership is illegal in China.
2.3k Views ·
Razvan Popovici, PhD
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
It is very safe. I’ve visited Shanghai, both city and suburbs / countryside and never felt threatened and never witnessed a crime (except of people “skipping” metro turnstile).
Also we did “walk by the map”, which is something I won’t advise you doing in Detroit.
Most of the people do not speak English, so the only safety concern would be to get lost or fail to take the right transportation.
10.1k Views ·
Thushara Subasinghe, 6+ years in China.
It is not same everywhere in China. Some places are exceptiony safe, such as the city I am living right now, Hangzhou. We can find young girls walking in night without any fear, sometime even alone. I have gone to Beijing and Shanghai, I think both of those places are also much safer. People are genery very friendly and do not aggressive toward you. There are exceptions though. And also depend on you. If you risk yourself too much, your safety will be subjected to vulnerable.
2.7k Views ·
I am a native chinese born and live in China for 27 years. in my experience, if you mean no violence is safe, then China is safe, I have never seen violence in my life. commonly, thief is the more possible happen in China, but this kind things is rare too, my family, my friends and I have never been stolen. but, the most common things that will happen that will affect your benifit is cheat, I was cheated twice and lose 750RMB. the first time is on the side of a road near yellow river, I buy fruit from a couple who looks like local farmer, and they looks very kind and nice, the change they give me was fake money. the second time was in a railway station, two young sold me an iPhone for 700RMB，however the iPhone they give me was a toy model, when I find out it, I was on the train……..so China is very safe, you can go anywhere any time, and no need to warry about violence or safety. but you must be careful with the people you meet, mostly they looks very kind and nice, but maybe behind the smile, they are cheating you.
545 Views ·
Maxime Martin, E-commerce entrepreneur
For Shanghai it is rey safe and that's well appreciated. You don't have to worry about looking at someone and be beaten because he didn't like it.
Even during night it is pretty safe except if you are going close by some night club. Like in every country in the world it will be easier to get into a fight but the biggest difference is if you just pass by no one will bother you except maybe some prostitutes if you are cing that to be bothered.
4.6k Views ·
Zuo Tonglin, works at China
It's Ok to walk on the street at 2 a.m. in every major city in China, while it's not OK to do same thing in major cities in United States and Europe.
You can see a lot of people on the street at 2 a.m. enjoy their night snack and beer in China, especiy in summer. This is an evidence about Chinese people are confident to the safety situation.
2.3k Views ·
Shawn Lutes, studied at The College and University Experience
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I spent a year living in Beijing and driving there. I also traveled to several other cities. As far as crime the only issue I noticed was groups working together pickpocketing. So it's important to keep aware of your surroundings and keep your valuables close to you. I always kept mine in my front pockets and never had an issue. Driving was a whole different story then in the west. I would say I rey enjoyed that, however it can be pretty dangerous. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it back then. Also there's hardly any enforcement of laws like here in the States. Compared to the U.S. I would say your a lot safer in big city in China then the U.S. Just be smart and stay aware and you will be fine. For the most part I was treated very well during my travels and life in China.
1.6k Views ·
Matt Hammond, Owner
This applies less to living in the central districts of major cities like Beijing and Shanghai: I lived outside of Guangzhou for 2 years and in Sanya for 8 years.
China is not “safe” - I’m not talking crime and murder rates: in that sense, it’s not so bad, but in terms of:
Scams: you will get scammed at almost every opportunity.
Roads: drivers are not very experienced, combined with aggressive taxis, overabundance of motorcycles, overloaded dump trucks, rich drivers who don’t care about anyone else’s safety, and pedestrians playing on their iPhones, and you’ve got a very dangerous situation.
Construction: buildings collapse.
Bar Fights: my experience is that there are always a few Chinese who want to get into a fight with a foreigner, and once they start a fight, they get their friends to join in. This is NOT a safe situation.
Pickpockets and theft: be aware, there are sneaky pickpockets everywhere. I once woke up to find that someone had stolen our phones, computers, and money from our 9th floor apartment WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING!!!
Amusement parks/etc: Safety is not what you’d expect - just be careful.
Everyday things like escalators and elevators - just search YouTube, and you’ll see what I mean. Again, ‘safety’ is a very different concept in China than in the West.
2k Views ·
很高興看到外國朋友對中國治安如此滿意！
這是我在英國讀書的第一年，之前我一直生活在中國江蘇。
我是個天文愛好者，經常晚上一個人帶著昂貴的設備出去拍攝。對我來說並不存在太多顧慮。
但是我來英國之後，幾乎很少拿出自己的相機——哪怕是在白天。
我並不是說英國治安很差。相比英國，中國給我更多的安全感。
I am very happy to see that foreign friends are so satisfied with China's security!
This is my first year studying in the UK. Before that, I had been living in Jiangsu Province, China.
I am an astronomy enthusiast who often goes out shooting with expensive equipment by night. There are not many concerns for me.
But after I came to England, I seldom came up with my own camera - even during the day.
I am not saying that Britain is not safe. China gives me more sense of security than Britain.
848 Views ·
Yu Ko, Worker (2014-present)
There’re strict laws which focus on restricting guns in CHINA.
And these laws become more rigorous than before.
When I was a child, I could even buy guns which shoot plastic BB bullets(I don’t know if I describe it properly).
Plastic BB bullets can hurt! There used to be news about injuries or accidents caused by Plastic BB bullets.
Now you can hardly buy or get BB bullets or guns that shoot BB bullets in CHINA.
As a conclusion, in CHINA, gun crimes occur less than gun crimes occur in the USA. People might feel safer according to this factor.
32 Views
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Many foreign guys took top cities like Beijing and shanghai as examples. Come on! You have no idea about how many people, money and equipment they spend to ensure the secutity of these big cities! I have heard quite a lot of bloody cases in smer cities. For example, there were once a kind of criminals who killed and robbed people with a sm “hand-hoe”. They hide in the corridor and killed people by cracking the head then took the money and valuables. (A lot of corridors has no light) Genery the people who was killed were not rich at , but the criminals did not care. They just kill first, then examined the body for money! Usuy they only collected less than CNY 100 (USD 15) to kill a person!
Another reason you feel good is that you are foreigners and will genery be “better treated”, especiy those white folks.
568 Views ·
Diana Tevlon, Chief at Risks Assessment Group
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China is one of the safest countries in the world.
That doesn’t mean it has no criminals but severe punishments reigned them.
Most of the crimes are business-related such as faking branded and other high-end products.
No mass-murders nor random shootings happen in China as do normy occur in Western countries, notably the U.S.
Beware though of the fact that there has been an on-going low-level conflict between central government in Beijing and separatist movement in Xinjiang province.
Sometimes it escalated up to a point when innocent people got caught in the middle.
Definitely China is far safer than the U.S.
As a Beijinger I can assure you of that.
229 Views ·
Vinnton Yao, Chinese youth born in 1990s.
In my definition of “safe”, it genery means “without terror, unease and threats”. I was born and raised in a sm city located at the southeast coast of China, and grafefully I have witnessed the progress that this emerging society has made on “safety”.
When I was little (in 1990s), China was still quite poor, so did her people. Hence quite a lot people did commit crimes, for example kidnapping little kids, to earn money. My parents were rey feeling unease at that time, and although they had to work day long, they still refused to hire a stranger as my babysitter.
But right now in 2017, few news like these have been heard. Indeed, China’s economy has grown several times larger than in 1990s, and therefore people are richer than ever before. Since most of the motivations of crime originate from economic reasons, people who can make a living on his/her own won’t commit crime on most occasions.
I am a college student in Guangzhou, one of the most “unsafe” big city in China. But still you could take a walk around the city at 2:00am without worrying about getting shot by a gun from somewhere. Moreover, cities in China become much more convenient then ever before, and even convenient than other cities in rest of the world. You could handle almost everything on your smart phone.
1k Views ·
Grace Bear, works at Baojii
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
The first time was in Urumqi, Xinjiang in 2006 when a group tried to scam us on a
carnival like game where the object was to pop boons with a little gun. After a
round the runners tried to charge us nearly $30 USD as opposed to the 30 cents it
should have cost. My friend and I were surrounded, pushed around, a car came
flying up while we ran to escape and hit me. But the police came and we ducked into
our hotel. No big deal. Urumqi has, deservedly so, a bad reputation. For simplicity's
sake, let's just say, it is full of Russians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Uyghurs, and Han that
don't get along, run nefarious business, etc. That being said, go, enjoy yourself in
the countryside, and maybe stay out of the city at night.
The second time was related to my landlord. To make a great story short, she
was/is a criminal, and a crazy one at that. She bit me. She attacked a police
officer, was sentenced to a labor camp for 6 months, and she is still operating
in Shanghai today to the best of my knowledge. Do not rent from Cathy Zeng.
Leon Lorke, Lincoln International High School at Lincoln International Academy (2015-present)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
i suggest you need to come to see China on your own. Western media has been working their butt off to vilify China for decades. People come from western world got brainwashed somehow have a few of false pictures towards this country. It's important for you to get rid of the old thoughts imbued by the media and perceptives of others and to learn and witness the history, precent and future of this great country as a whole.
1.7k Views ·
Henry Tomhave, M.D. from Yale University (1990)
China welcomes more than 100 million tourists every year and is in the top five destinations to visit every year which sounds like a recipe for safety issues in travel. However, they do a fantastic job of accommodating the large influx of people every year. Their economy is doing well so the rates of homelessness and crime are also pretty low, there is rarely any sort of violence. The only issue to be aware of is pickpocketing. If valuables are easily accessible just like in any other place there is the risk of someone making an attempt at them. Don’t carry anything in your back pocket or anything in pockets that are easily accessible and don’t zip or button closed. A money belt is one of the best ways to avoid having any valuables stolen as they sit comfortably below pants attached to your belt. Make sure also that you don’t f prey to any sort of scams involving fake brandname products. If you are making a major purchase and there isn’t a price tag but rely on bargaining you could be finding yourself in a scam. People will often look closely at the money you give them to make sure its not counterfeit. As far as safety differences for men and women traveling, the risk for both is basicy nonexistent. Looking both ways is always a good idea because one of the biggest dangers is the heavy flow of seemingly uncontrolled traffic that doesn’t seem to cease. The number of cases of reported assault, muggings, or sexual assault are rey low, the bigger danger is being run over. China is extremely safe and people can travel alone with very little to worry about. Petty crime is the only thing that people can count on as typical. Another concern to consider is that of food poisoning. Avoid cheap restaurants and places that have special deals for foreigners meaning it may be counterfeit alcohol. Buffets and seafood can be particularly risky because you could potentiy ingest fake or toxic foods. It is not uncommon to see people wearing medical masks in their day to day. The air pollution in China is some of the worst in the world with it being so bad some days that people don’t let their children go to school. Checking the weather to see how bad the pollution will be is a good idea, wearing masks and avoiding exercise on the worst days and buying an air filter to use at home help to counter that.
799 Views · 2
Jane Smith, Marketing Manager at China (2010-present)
Genery speaking, China is a safe country to travel around, and most people you meet are friendly, honest, and trustworthy. However, China is far from immune to crime, the weather can affect travel plans, and accidents do happen.
Hope this article will help you China Travel Safety & Security, Chinese Public Security
434 Views
Victor Zhang, former Engineer at Tencent (2013-2017)
Yes, in contrast to some developed countries, megalopolis of China are very safe in general, but, the safety we Chinese currently own is on the base of the sacrifice of individual’s freedom and inconvenience, the severe violation of our privacy and various heavy taxes we are affording, to be frank, most of Chinese don’t get this point. They are regarding the safety as a proof of good governance by CCP, but how hard such a ruling on earth?
Actuy in most east-Asia cities, crime rates are much lower than western countries, the primary reason is due to no immigrant in a large amount. This isn’t worth being proud of. The more human rights are took back by the Government, the safer the society would be. Think about Nazi German, Soviet, and Kim’s Korea, anything else could be more manifest than this?
261 Views ·
Tony Fordyce, Have lived and worked professiony in Japan for 20 years, China for 3 . . . .
Having lived in Shanghai for 3 years and travelled quite widely in China, I would say that persony you will be quite safe, but your belongings will not. Time and time again I heard of friends having mobile phones stolen; if you leave something in a taxi, you can pretty much say goodbye to it; I had 3 bicycles stolen ( locked and in bright and public areas). I never heard of any cases of house-breaking, so I can’t comment about that.
The only time I felt physicy in danger was when our office was occupied by half a dozen large thugs who had been hired by someone who claimed that a bill hadn’t been paid and stayed until that was sorted out by our head office in Europe directly with the Chinese claimant. They didn’t actuy hurt anyone, but didn’t ow us to leave the office for about the 4 hours it took to sort out the problem. We ced the police but they didn’t want to get involved in a business dispute. There was no actual violence (although clearly would have been if anyone had tried to leave the office - they barred the doors), but they caused some damage inside the office and threatened to cause more until the matter was resolved.
4.1k Views ·
Poonam Pavar, Quality Program Manager, works with a automotive supplier with operations in Chi
I have traveled to China n number of times on business - 2–3 times a year. I have mostly been to Shenzhen & Dongguan areas. I have never felt threatened, I have taken taxi rides alone. Even though I cannot speak Chinese & my pronunciation rather weak taxi drives have been rey helpful & not tried to swindle me.
Actuy people have been rey friendly, I have taken walks etc by myself. Same thing with my colleagues & we have felt that people are anything but friendly. Obviously in crowded places you have to be careful with your belongings which again applies anywhere. I also had a colleague who lived in outer shenzhen area for about a year & he traveled alone everywhere & never a bad experience to .
1k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Safer than the US. It difficult to own guns and as such no random or mass shooting. There is little racial discrimination. There are petty crime and local authorities normy act swiftly. You do read that high ranking official are caught for corruption but thay are dealt with severe punishment, death. Crime among the masses are genery low. Commercial crimes depending on the severity are at times given the death sentence like the laced milk powder case. One or two owners were given the death penalty.So over China is quite safe.
697 Views ·
Drew Southern, Spent well over 12 months in China over the last 15 years.
Off and on I’ve lived over a year in China, - in a sm town on the outskirts of Xi’an.
Only time I’ve felt a little risk was when an unemployed bloke in ragged clothes who had been drinking walked up to me and shouted (in Chinese) “FOREIGNER!” . I didn’t feel at risk at (rey).
Security guards and police do carry guns, but are normy polite and non-threatening with them (maybe because I’m white?).
The most harassment I got was women trying to chat me up, or parents trying to “put me in touch with their daughters”. As I’m married, it wasn’t appropriate, one lady 20+ years my senior did follow me home though… egedly to see if I had an elder relative I could introduce her to.
Someone did try (very badly) to pick my pocket once, and legged it as soon as I realised.
China is genery a safe place, just don’t take the mickey - e.g. be polite and don’t pretend you’re anything special - and the worst you’ll get is people trying (very unsubtly) to take a photo of you with their kids sitting next to you.
I have no doubt I’m in a few school project reports as “the day I chatted in english with this foreign man”.
1.5k Views ·
I think you just need to go visit and find out yourself. China has more than 1.3 billion population. That being said, you would have super dramatic experience depending on who you are engaging with. But just don’t just keep your mind open while exploring everywhere, no matter north or south. If somebody overacts and shouts “why quo ren” when they saw you, just imagine you are the president of the United States walking in a neighborhood …….
China, in general, is much safer than the US, period. There is no guns owed among citizens thanks to the communist party
1k Views
James Tay, lived in China (2015-2016)
China in general is safer than most South East Asian countries, excluding Singapore. I have lived in Nanjing and even if its not the most educated or cultured city in China, I have never felt any safer. In my travels around China, never once have I felt intimidated or worried about my safety. Strangers are genery helpful. Some may be rude but there is no correlation to crime or violence.
343 Views ·
Henrik Benson, Historian (2001-present)
China, just as many countries with Confucianism influence, is a pretty safe country.
You can go hang out at night, completely drunk (and maybe even naked), no one will judge you.
China’s social life is actuy not dangerous at .
That is, until you start speaking your mind about anything closely related politics, freedom or democracy. The CCP has a habit of censoring, repressing and controlling any Chinese media.
33 Views
Perfect question.
Before long I just thought on an interesting phenomenon in China which can reflect how safe is China to some extent.
You could often find the elderly occupying safeguard jobs for a whole community or even a company in China. These security guards are weak and usuy they are only responsible for some simple affairs such as arranging car parking, at least it is so in three communities I lived. Their figures rey doesn't match their job named after ‘security guard’.
Maybe when a community manager recruits security guards, he merely expects them to take some work like handling car parking in the future. In other words, maybe this job has already become a place to distribute retirees.
However, further reflection realises me that there’s no need to consolidate security because China is rey safe enough in terms of daily life, even we residents haven't realised how safe it is in China.
216 Views
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I felt safe to walk around even in dark ey to find food in some of the city i've been to (eastern and southern part). In fact i did my solo travel from Tianjin, Beijing, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Huangshan without any fear of being mugged or met with petty crimes. It helps that i can understand the language to go around, but i reckons any foreigners will not have any problems. But my local friends did warned that it may not be the same at the central or western part of the country. I have never been there so don't know much.
2.7k Views ·
Sonia Meyer, worked at Beihang University
Coming from America, I can say it is safe in the conventional sense—I never worried about sexual assault, violent crime, gun violence.
However, it is unsafe in other nonconventional, but very important, ways, including food safety, construction safety, environmental safety, and other bizarre events.
Food safety: gutter oil, enough said
Construction safety: the poor kids that died in the Sichuan earthquake
Environmental safety: air pollution; the trash landslide in Shenzhen
Bizarre events: Once in a club on New Year’s Eve, something exploded filling the air with white dust. Everyone kept partying like it was no big deal, but whatever that stuff was it completely choked me and I couldn’t breath. Also on New Year’s Eve in Shanghai, a giant crowd stampeded a few people to death.
Oh, and terrorism. When I was in Chinese, there were a lot of terrorist attacks on train stations, and I frequently traveled by train, so that freaked me out a bit.
1.6k Views ·
Veronika Hradilikova, Traveller | Blogger @TravelGeekery | Prague resident
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I find China very safe. Especiy because as a tourist, you stick out. I lived in Chengdu and Shanghai and felt absolutely safe, even at night.
Crime levels are higher e.g. in Shenzhen. But for locals too.
Over, it’s more petty crime that happens in China. Taxi driver not giving you the correct amount of money back (avoid that by using apps), getting fake money… but I’d say physical safety is not an issue in China.
I wrote about my personal experiences here.
929 Views ·
Bill Raney, works at Retirement
According to the best selling author, Jarard Diamond in his book “Collapse,” China’s ancient civilization in doomed to collapse because of its ecological problems associated with too much fertilizers for growing crops and the hooking together of the the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. Diamond also cites how this has already happened in the many other civilizations that have collapsed over the centuries.
170 Views
Tan Peng An, lived in China
RIt depends on which yardstick you use. Do you compare apples with oranges or apples to apples?
I agree that China is rather safe compared to most parts of the world but is China rey safe compared to their Asian neighbours like Japan, Taiwan and Singapore? The crimes in China are different from those occurring in others. For example, high aggression crimes are not that high but crimes against kids are rey quite worrying.
Chinese parents keep an eye on their kids 24/7 as there has been serious issues of child abductions (China's children abducted by gangs) and it is estimated that as many as 70,000 kids are abducted and sold by child tracking gangs every year. Some kids are intentiony made into cripples so that begging gangs can use them to get money off unsuspecting people. You can google the website “Baby Come Home” which has over 300,000 hits a day.
So I guess it is relatively safe for adults….but for kids? Not so much
3.6k Views ·
Roger Gilmartin, Traveling the world and learning wherever I go
My experiences in China are not universal, in that I wasn’t able to tour in many cities.
I was able to travel in Beijing, Xi’an, and Wuhan during the time I was in China, which was November 2015, and in each case, we were able to walk un-impeded and un-molested wherever we wanted to go. Taxis were not a problem (once we could get the driver to understand where we wanted to go), but we didn’t even get “short-changed” in our purchase transactions.
There were some vendors around the Forbidden City that weren’t happy that we declined their “offers”, but besides grumbling by them, that was about it.
Many people asked us to take their picture, which we were happy to do, and we asked others to take our picture. No problems, good natured people that we saw or dealt with.
Very enjoyable, I felt very safe in any of the areas where we were. Over, I was impressed with China and look forward to returning in the coming year.
2.9k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
My wife can walk out building to buy snacks in midnight in her pajama, alone, in a little town.
And big city even better.
I was shocked when a drug dealer tried to sell me sth at the gate of hotel 140st. NY.
And two days before that, in New Haven, a policeman warned us to hide from a gun shot, we had to hide behind front desk.
and before that and after that, we saw drunk(or high) people everywhere… they shout, cry, ask for cigarette………
Europ same.
1.9k Views ·
Max Lee, former Sales Rep at Soway Tech Ltd
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
If you are talking about the possibility of being physicy attacked, this is not a question which is worthy of discussing.
China is a safe country where you can hang out at midnight, even in the poorest area, you are mostly safe.
Chinese criminals are not good at violent crime since our culture always teaches every one to tolearate and be temperate, although there are some violent guys. But you can find violent guys everywhere in the world.
To visit or live in China, the bad guys you should beware of is scammers and thieves. If anyone in the train station or airport try to close to you and talk to you in English, for 99%, they are trying to scam you.
And suppose you go to tourist attractions or any places where there are many peopole, take care of your wet and cellphone. For many Chinese, they don't even c the police if they lost something. Because it is nearly impossible for to find it.
1.3k Views ·
Chris Ni, Coding, Basketb, Improving English
I think China is safe mostly because of two points.
Firstly, the civilians’ use of guns is banned and toty illegal in the mainland. I have been living in a city near Shanghai since I was a kid. It is nearly impossible to hear news like Campus Shooting, being robbed by a pistol, compared to America, no offense. You may have already know that except emergency, common police are not owed to carry guns with them. So wherever a gun-fighting takes place in China, it can become a rey astonishing national headline.
Another point is that the east of China is much safer than the west. Because people in the east are commonly well educated and more civilized. But the west…..yes the west owns the unique natural views like prairies and meadows. However, especiy in Xinjiang and Tibet, anti-gov activities are more prevailed. Better not travel to these places alone.
763 Views
China is very safe.
The population is huge, so there are always other people in the street everywhere, which makes the cost of criminal behaviors quite high.
Cultury, most Chinese people are very friendly and peaceful.
In the cities, there are cameras almost without blind angle.
The gun control is restricted in China.
…
417 Views ·
Scott Tyler, lives in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
This very much depends on where you live in China. And by what you mean by ‘safe’. Petty crime, especiy cell phone and bicycle theft, is common throughout China. Some areas of China (around the borders, especiy) have a reputation for being lawless. But over, it is much safer than many developing countries. If you use common sense, and avoid walking down dark eys at night, for example, you should be fairly safe travelling around China.
65 Views
Idibun Zhan, Arabic IR
As a Chinese, I never realize that it is unsafe to go out at night until an American friend told me they don’t usuy go out at night for safety reasons. And by night I mean after 12pm. But still I don’t like to go out at night because sometimes you need to wait for a while to grab a cab back home. And when we say some place is not safe, we usuy mean there might be theft happening…
And also my parents can never understand the idea that in the city, some blocks are safe while some others are not. I don’t get panic or frightened when we get lost in the city, instead of the worrying that I might be walking in a dangerous community, I might use the app to find out whether there are some famous local restaurant that provide delicious snacks.
I do admit that there are some crime happening everyday, given to the fact that China is a densely populated country. But if someone in your neighborhood is killed out of murder for example, people will be shocked for the next fifteen or twenty years. Because this happens rarely to none.
2.1k Views ·
宋 皓然, lives in Tianjin, China
I'm so glad to see this. I'm a Chinese,and I went to many big city around the world.In a way,China is not only safe but also unsafe.
First,let me tell you why China is safe. In China,you don't need to worry about gun, when you walk down a street it's impossible to hear a shot.Even at midnight no one plunders with a gun. So you can walk safely. And the police is very responsible.I hear that in many countries,you need pay for the police and so on. But the police of China is very helpful and for free. They solve problems quickly.
But I have to admit there are also some unsafe things in China.The traffic in China isn't very safe. Sometimes the cars run red lights and ignore yellow traffic lights. It causes a lot of traffic jams. And in the village,there are human trafficking courses.As a Chinese,we must face up to the facts.Our governments are very nice.They are trying their best to deal with these problems.
I believe China will be safer and better.
104 Views
As a Chinese, I can tell that daily life in China Is safer than many countries.You can walk with your friends or even alone At one or two o'clock.And even if you were drunk and sleep in the street,There may be a kind man to send you to your home.But in some ways China is dangerous.Gangsters take control in many Industries like traveling and decoration And so on.
Gangs Here are not like those in US.The gangs don't fight each other,They just control the industry and force their customers to buy Some cheap things in a high price .If the customers tried to refuse,they will be beaten up or even killed. And the gangs Are in good relationship With local police.
But if you are not Chinese civilians,You will be safe even if you fxxked up with the gangsters.Chinese government Is careful about foreigners' safety.In China we often crack a joke that If you are in danger,You can c the police and say“I have a foreign friend under attack！”And the police will drive tanks to save your foreign friend.
80 Views
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
There are many people in China! So no matter how late it is, there must be cars, walkers or opening shops in the city. Don’t worry about no one help you if you are in danger. Besides, surveillance cameras are everywhere, police will help you find the truth out if something rey happen.
3.5k Views ·
Mervyn Locke, Enlightened laowai/Decade-long China resident/Permanent China bull
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I’ve lived in China and the only place of the 30-odd countries I’ve ever visited, only Japan beats it. During my 10 years here, I’ve never heard about anybody in my social network that has even got a hair curled on their head. Regardless of location or time of the day. Only place I’ve heard to be relatively more unsafe would be Guangzhou and Xinjiang, but even these places pale in comparison to most of the Western part of the world.
7.9k Views ·
I could say china is the safest country in the world !
The government care so much about our safety .
We ban guns .
Now in our subway station,train station, even bus station,we give anything a going-over before u take it . We check every bottle of water, test it first then let u take a sip.Sometimes we can't even bring the makeup in (cuz some makeups contain the alcohol).
We feel safe in the public area because there are also the regimental policemen on patrol duty to protect anyone of us.
Btw welcome to Chengdu ^^ our city “never sleep”
It's at 9:30pm still a lot of people are doing shopping .
605 Views ·
Lucky Luo, works at Didi Chuxing
As a Chinese citizen, I have to some views with you.
Maybe you are very admire the safety in China in some aspects and I also think it’s true,therefore you should know the reason underneath the safety.Chinese government is extremely strict with weapons.
There are always debate between if one citizen should own guns or shouldn’t.And this is one of the key point lead to the murder cases occurring in US more frequently than China. Especiy when we hear some blood murdering happen in campus,we think the issue again.However,the law is still keep this term.
But in China, not only the gun is forbidden,knife using is partly refrained.Refer to the rules <<對部分刀具實行管製的暫行規定>> (temporary provisions about controlling some knife).In some special time,you have to use your ID card to buy one fruit knife.
By the way,I still suspects the numbers about the safety issues in China.Sometimes the local government tend to minus the dead numbers for achievement in one’s official career.
You think China is safe,but in my opinion most Chinese don’t think so.They are also anxious in midnight,and concerned about the truth under the harmonious society.
2.2k Views ·
Jim Dang, 20+ years living in China
In Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, I have lived for more than 15 years. I haven’t realized that go out alone at night is dangerous until my friends who stays in the U.S told me. She was forced to leave her friend’s house before sunset only because the way to the car park from the house (no more than 500 meters) is dangerous. Actuy, I can’t imagine a host dares to say this to his guests in China, if they are friends.
4k Views ·
Gideon Joyce, college student
I’m Chinese,live in ChengDu.From my birth to now, I was 19 years old and have not seen a thief patronage my house, let alone robbery, murder.
I'm glad in this safe country of birth, grow up without any worry.
I don't know what kind of crime index to compare, I just want to tell you that I live here is very happy. No matter where go to China, it is happy, no fear, because Chinese are kind.
No matter where you to China to travel, you will be enthusiastic, Chinese hospitality.
889 Views ·
Sylvie Zhu, lives in Shanghai
I was born in Shanghai.
Pick-pocket now is much less than 10 years ago. What worried my foreign friends most was XinJiang thief(they had heard about that before coming to China), which became history because of nice local policy of XinJiang province - people there now live and work happily and peacefully and some poor people no need leaving hometown and doing bad things.
Even around 2000, which might be worst years of theft, I put my backpack in front (not aside or back) and took care of my pocket and bags in crowd (People’s Square, Metro, Nanjing Road), by which I not only kept away the unhappy things myself but aslo helped my friends save their phones and wet. I still remember my father and I helped police catch 2 thieves when shopping in downtown area (Shanxi Road) in 1998. But now that’s very very safe!
There are few violent cases here in Shanghai and, as far as I know, in Beijing, Xiamen, where I (as a pretty lady, lol) can go home alone midnight or take some midnight snacks with friends at 2am. (Just be relaxed in most Chinese tourist cities. But in some poor inland city and remote area, better stay in hotel after supper. )
I saw “Mobike” in other friend’s answer. Yes! That makes me even safer. I love this invention.
Most impressive is the railway safety work in Spring Festival. Thanks to thousands of police that “Chun Yun” (billions people over China flood into railways to hometown for family reunion) undergo efficiently and safe every year. Once I came back from Europe, the airport there was in chaos because many people stuck there by heavy snow, which is unlikely to happen in China due to our great police and rich experience in coping with crowded flow.
However there might some safety problems in food and traffic (for pedestrian esp.) I do believe in another 10 years these problem will disappear just like the theft cases did:)
Welcome to China~ And if you come to Shanghai I would love to show you around:)
148 Views
David Joseph, Founder (2012-present)
China feels incredibly safe - you can go out by yourself at any time and feel comfortable. I have many lady friends too who feel the same.
The only issue could be your possessions, if for instance you have a e-bike and park it on a street with a lock it’s very possible for the bike to get stolen.
591 Views ·
Olivia DU, studied Study of Globalization
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I'm a female and was born and grown up in Chengdu, a southwest city, and have been living in Ninbo, a economicy developed city next to Shanghai, for 4 years. I've traveled to some places including megacities like Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, etc. as well as some mountain areas teeming with multiple ethnic groups by hitchhiking. And now I'm living in Japan for about three years.
By safe if you mean personal security, yes it's very safe in China, even if compared to Japan. But if you mean property security, I think it's rey depending on which city you are in. I kept a record of having one cellphone stolen every year… stolen in Chengdu…But my friend in Shanghai said it's not so frequent as in Chengdu that pickpocket happens. And when I was traveling in Nanjing where my purse was missing, a local stranger took me to a nearby police station and I found my purse! Policeman said someone picked it up and gave it to them. So I guess maybe my hometown is not that safe :-(
948 Views
Hurley Huang, studied at 南昌航空大學
I think China is more safer than some western countries to some extent,especiy in some big cities such as Shanghai ,Hong Kong and so on.
There is high quality of the population in big cities,and there is better public security in big cities.In China,i can go to have supper outside and walk alone even until two o'clock in the morning,but i hear that in western countries,supermarket usuy closed at nine o'clock at night and people are afraid to go outside late at night alone because robbery.
Besides,I think there is a very important point is that Chinese citizens don't have gun.China government don't ow Chinese citizens use gun because China has large population so that it's hard to control people with gun.
1.3k Views ·
Peter Boor, former Children and Family Practioner and at Private Consultant
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
You are probably in one of the safest areas in any city in the world apart from the Scandinavian Ones but it is sad to say that Western culture and behaviour is far behind that of the far eastern countries, both in safety, respect, elderly care and family and most importantly respect for others.
You are a lucky person, I live in a town in West Cornw, England and would not dare to do this through my local park and we only have about 25,000 to 30,000 people living here. It’s sad.
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Arthur Jing, lives in Beijing, China (2000-present)
You guys must know that I’m a chinese.
I thought that my country was just a normal country.
But after a lot of things happened in the other country I realized that how safe my country is.
Most of us thought that other big country is more safely that us,such as UK,USA,France and more.
We think that the way of our daily life we live in is a normal thing in yours.But I find out I’m wrong.
We can go out in the midnight just because we’re hungry but you cannot.
We can take tube when we go home in the evening.
We even don’t care about we can get killed on the road.
We have security chek so we don’t care about the bad things happen.
That’s my way to think of how safe China rey is.
756 Views ·
Suleman Su, studied at Moscow State University
whatever you think China is safe or not safe as you expected. at least, Chinese people has no GUN at …
And Children or student (includes: little school, middle school, high school)in China, they can go out at night or even midnight…yeah. if you have been living China for 1 year or more, you will know and see that can be happened. no worries…
if you go the 1st level cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and 2nd level cities like Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Shenzhen… you didn’t have to worry about your body safety, even those cities have a huge population…
417 Views
I lived in China for almost seven years and I can say it's the safest place I've ever been. I walked in what we as westerners would c “scary” suburbs in big cities and did the same in countryside villages and the most unpleasant thing that can happen to you is just being ignored, otherwise they will just look at you with curiosity and laugh.
The only place which has historicy been more dangerous is Guangzhou and that's because there's a large community of Africans (sorry to say but it's true) who often rob people.
822 Views ·
I live in China for 26 years, and I decided to immigrate to Canada. I live in Sichuan province until 18 and went to Beijing for university. From my experience, if you obey what community party’s rule, like not criticise their wrong-doing, you are almost safe.
However, some of my friends expressed their true thought online, they are in great danger. There is no freedom of speech in China.
Some of my friends practice Falun Gong, an ancient Chinese meditation practice based on the value of truth,compassion and tolerance, they were arrested illegy without any legal notice or document, kidnapped from home, without notifying the family members. It is scary to hear the stories of my friends. Some told me they were severely beaten and tortured in the detention center, labor camp, and brainwashing class. Outsiders can’t imagine how black Chinese detention center, labor camp and prisons are.
One of my friend, Tianxiao Zhang, a former Qingdao resident now living in Toronto， Canada. Her brother-in-law，Songtao Zou was tortured to death in Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, Shangdong Province in 2000. He graduated from Marine University of Qingdao and obtained his master's degree. Because he practiced Falun Gong, he was prohibited from looking for a job. At the end of 1999, he was arrested immediately in Qingdao after his appeal in Beijing.
Her sister, Zhang Yunhe, also practice Falun Gong, now it is believed is being detained in the Dashan Forced Labor Camp, Qingdao City. The authorities does not ow family members to visit her. Tianxiao also worries about her sister, when she knows there are hundreds of thousands Falun Gong practitioners’ organs were harvested to sell to foreigners for huge profit since 2001 and still going on.(There are many western media report about “organ harvest”, if you google it) .
And the above is just a tip of iceberg in China.
I can write endlessly real stories of my friends’ families torn apart, family member tortured to death, how they escape from China, obtained the UN refugee status in Thailand.
As a Canadian Chinese, I love China and my fellow Chinese. I hope one day Chinese people can enjoy the basic human rights, including the freedom of speech, freedom of religion/belief, and enjoy the democracy like Canada.
After I immigrate to Canada, I found Epoch Times newspaper and NTDTV are very good resource for me to know the truth about China. I also recommend you to read it online: The Epoch Times - Breaking news, independent China news, and 中國電視新聞網|網絡電視|衛星電視 - 新唐人中文電視台在線
2k Views ·
Jayce, lives in Wuhan, Hubei, China (2000-present)
I’ve lived in Wuhan for nearly 17 years.China has a less-than-stellar record when it comes to food safety. Though it may be tempting, I discourage you from eating street food, as there is a chance the food is being prepared with unsafe ingredients, the most common of which is recyled oil.However，the public security in Wuhan is fantastic！You can hardly find violent incidents or crazy criminals even in midnight.You can hardly imagine being robbed in China.That’s I want to say.
332 Views ·
Minh Long, Oracle DBA (2014-present)
Yes, China is very very safe. You can walk alone on street in China without worry - except picpocket in some cities.
China has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. Homicide rate in China is as low as Switzerland, a country known as one of the safest nations. The homicide rate in China in 2014 is 0.7 per 100,000 residents, which is better than those in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom or France.
Source: China has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world
I think if Westerner feel lives in EU, USA is not safe, threatened by Muslim, terrorist, you may go to move and live in China.
6.7k Views ·
Steven Wu, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1993)
I have traveled to many cities in China sometimes as a solo traveller. The streets, public transport and public areas such as parks are safe.
Cities that I have traveled solo included Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Wuxi.
There were few homeless people.
538 Views
Monica Guan, Lifestyle blogger who loves to Travel
Of course, it depends on where you go, but in most major cities it is relatively safe. There are the risk of scams or pickpocketers like in some major tourist spots, but if you're careful there should no problems, I haven't heard of anyone being physicy abused while traveling in China. In terms of health, your body might experience some shock due to the new food and environment. If you want to avoid getting sick, I recommend only eating at restaurants that you trust. You can read this article for more tips on staying safe and healthy in China: http://sublimechina.com/stay-saf...
2.1k Views
Depends on areas.
Quite different from US cities, a city always has safe area and unsafe area(depends on you know it). Safe or not in China is based on province.
Genery, Southern and Eastern part of China are safer than Western. Most foreigners will travel around Shanghai, Nanjing or Beijing, these cities are good. But if you went to Xi’an or some other western cities, situation might be a little worse,but still better than many US cities.
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James Zhu, Always feel hungry
I just want to add one thing. When it comes to safety issue in China, there
is one factor that can't be ignored, which is, any form of possession of guns is considered as illegal in China, Which means, getting access to guns in China is very difficult.(Most Chinese never get a chance to see what a real gun looks like through their lives)
Some people may say, the reason why China is safer than other western country mostly is that Chinese people are mild and tend not to solve problems by violence. In some way, I have no argument with that. But I think people are essentiy the same. When a person is controled by his rage and lose his sanity.He needs to find a way to vent. When he goes on an extreme way,like guns, it could be very dangerous.
I have imagined it millions of times in my mind that if I had a gun, I would shoot directly into that person's head who pissed me off. But since I don't have one and other ways are too much troubles, I might just suppress the evil me and calm down.
So I can assure you that China is definitely a safe place no matter to settle down, or just travel to.
We don't have a gun.
3.9k Views ·
Jackon Chen, former Dentist at China Dental
China is relatively safe country. It depends on what part. If you are visiting near the eastern border with Kazakhstan it can be a bit rough. Shanghai and Nanjing are very safe places, but keep in mind they are alot of people in these cities, in the millions. If your not used to a large population mass around you then that might alter your perception but still China is genery safe.
31 Views
China as a whole is as safe as possible from the point of view of life threatening to the foreigner. Here, there is a minimum of attacks on foreigners, both in the light of day and at night . The Chinese are 99% friendly, willing to go to the aid of a foreigner, and the general criminal situation in China and Hong Kong has dramaticy improved over the past 20 years - the number of murders has dropped many times.
This is related to the improvement of the living standards of the population. There are exceptions here: young girls come to the risk group who come to work in China, who do not speak Chinese, and who are in a semi-legal position - employers do not intercede for them, no one will turn to the police
282 Views ·
Ohthatron, J.D. Juris Doctor Degrees, Emory University School of Law (2020)
I lived in Shenzhen for 20 years, been to several countries and has studied in NYC for several months. I have never ever felt unsafe in my life walking alone in the midnight in China, so as many of my female friends. I have never heard of any kind of violent crime happened to any of my friend, not to mention family. Pickpockets are relatively more common, though, depending on where you are.
When I lived in upper west, Manhattan, that was the first time I felt like I need to keep my eyes open and look around in case of being “mugged”, which I never had to worry in china.
So please by assured and enjoy your time in china. speaking of which, a plus is foreigner can be quite welcomed here. enjoy
553 Views
Safe from what?
Violence?
I can only say that as a 5′10″, 185lbs. white man, that it’s very safe. I like to walk. I’m from Baltimore. That’s my default setting. I’ve been to like 30 Countries and in every one I would walk, aimlessly, day after day. Sydney, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Cairo, Istanbul, London, Paris, etc. Sometimes I’d end up in some pretty dicey areas. Sometimes someone would tell me I was in a dicey area, and I would hide my amusement. In a neighborhood in Sydney I was warned that the neighborhood I was in had had a murder just in the last month. Less than one a month, lol. Anyway, long aimless wandering in Beijing, Shenyang, Changchun, and Si Ping China and I never felt threatened or uncomfortable.
Stupidity?
Oh it’s super dangerous. Haven’t you seen photos of the path on Mt. Huashan? I’m willing to say here it that in China, you’re free to be as stupid as you want, and opportunities abound.
2.1k Views ·
Eric Ivers, Peon to CEO at Silicon Vey (2008-present)
We were in Beijing a couple of weeks ago. We rode the subway system over the city. We were the only Westerners in sight. I never perceived any danger anywhere. I am much less comfortable riding the subway anywhere in the U.S.
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Ryan Yuan, worked at British Chambers of Commerce
You can go to Numbeo.com to check out the comparison between China and US. I can tell u that China is the safest place at least to me. In Shanghai, I often hang out in 2am and not worry about a thing.
In the Numbeo.com, the safety index of Shanghai at daytime is 80 and 70 at night. Now I live in Berkeley, the safety index here at daytime is 70, however, 25 at night. I think such comparison can tell u how safe China is.
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Well,I'd like to say,safety is very http://important.No matter what is your nation, you know is to protect your life. I am a Chinese girl living in Chongqing province.So I rey like to express how safe my country is.
•Cause guns are not owed to use in China,so you don't have to worry about if you would get hurt.
•There are some exact laws existing,and China is a country which is paying a lot attention on nomocracy.
• When I get outside to have shopping,I can find police everywhere,which means if anything happen to you,you can get the immediate help.They are rey effective.
I have heard a lot about death caused by shooting in USA,that was rey sacred for a person who lives in a country which guns are not owed.However,different country has their different laws and social order.
1.3k Views ·
Tyler Hervey, Moved to Beijing in 2012 to pursue a language scholarship; Haven't left since.
Violent crime in China is quite low. If there is a violent altercation it is usuy between drunk men. Nonetheless, if a violent altercation were to arise between a foreigner and a Chinese (alcohol or not) you can be sure groups of Chinese will make sure they have the numbers/weapons necessary to prevail in the situation. If the police get involved the foreigner will be responsible for compensation on the spot or it’s jail time.
While violence in China is quite low, petty theft is a daily occurrence. Cell phones, wets and scooters are the first to go.
If you happen to be a victim of any crime in China, good luck. Most of the time there is little if anything you can do in response.
2.7k Views
I lived almost one year in Shanghai, and I could say that it is a very safety place. I felt confident in every part of the city in day and night. I didn’t meet aggressive and angry people and saw only several drunk people. Same is correct for traffic. It is crazy in China, but I saw only one or two accidents for a year.
So, as for me, Shanghai is pretty safety. However, you should take care of yourself and control the situation.
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Luyu Zhang, lived in China
Of course safe.
Although there are still some dangerous things like kidnap ,steal in China.Every country must has same things,too.Actuy every country has good guys and bad buys.The reason I think China is safe is that guns are banned in China.We don't need to worry about that we will be shot dead.Even if in night and midnight,even if in some places where is deserted.And our Chinese government protects us very well.
In my opinion ,China is safe.I couldn’t say China is the most safest country in the world.But I think China is safer than most countries.
To be honest ,most Chinese People are very kind and friendly.These characters are traditional of Chinese People.Chinese people are not chill and offish.
I’m sorry I can’t speak English very well.TvT….
920 Views ·
I am a Chinese student in Hangzhou(maybe you have heard this city through G20 this year).
In 2015 New Year’s Eve ,I celebrated this festival with my several friends in West Lake.After the end of the activity,it was 1 am the next day,we had to go back to our school.But it was to late and so many people in there want to go home and our school was a little far way from there,we could not c a taxi.
We knew we should go to other place to c a taxi.Then we wandering in the street, it was very few taxi,so it spent us amost 1.5h… We didn’t familiar with this city(we were freshman),it was about 2 am,some place had no people around.But we were not afraid,even hadn’t thought about it.We just wandered,looking for the taxi,talking and laughing.
What I mean is that we rarely worry about security issues when we are hanging out in China.
But when it comes to a young girl ,we often care about the security of her when she go alone in the night.
China is not the safest country in the world,but it’s very good,at last i think so.
Thank you for reading.Maybe it will have some grammar mistakes?( 'ω' )? ,welcome to point out them,I am practicing my English.
Adding: “we” were three students.
768 Views
Its genery safe. no place in the world is 100% safe. as usual avoid the dark places, dont go out too late etc. Locals will know of more news reported in the country - the crimes and stuff but the tourists will not know so much. Same as any other country.
I think China is genery safer than what the media reports it to be. And people are genery friendly and not mean and bad or that rude as what most people think.
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The cost of homicide in China is high, at least you do not have to worry about the perverts in the fbi story will run rampant everywhere, as long as the dare to commit a criminal case is simply impossible to give you a second chance of crime, of course, reduced bureaucracy Efficiency but the total efficiency is in it, as long as you do not make die you will not die.
在中國殺人的成本是很高的,至少你不用擔心fbi重案實錄裏的變態會在各個地方橫行,在這個裏隻要敢犯案立馬槍斃根本不可能給你第二次犯案的機會當然官僚主義降低了效率但是總效率在呢放著呢,隻要你不作死就不會死.
Well，as a Chinese citizen, it is impossible to own guns. And most people can only see those deadly weapons on TV. Some of the police cannot have guns, either. So compare to America, China is incredibly safe.
Wang Sherry, lives in China (1996-present)
Relatively safe, not absolute.
Guns control is very strict, and now Skynet is everywhere, serious cases will be solved definitely.
For us ordinary people, afraid of being stolen,when traveling fear of being cheated, fear of being abducted children,robbery crime is relatively sm, at least in my hometown town lived for so many years, there is very little such information,I can go for a walk night long.
And very few murder,the country has strict legal provisions for the murderer must pay the penalty,a life for a life.Young groups fought sometimes, but seldom aimed at strangers.
Yan Wang, studied at Beijing Institute of Technology
Answer as a Chinese student who has lived in my country for twenty-one years. To be honest, I do not think living in China is a sweet thing and most of people find it stressed out here. But for the safety in China, I think it is pretty good.
There are two reasons. Firstly, Chinese government has a severe law with guns. Anyone who wants to crime can only use knife. If not be hurt badly, people will not die by knife easily. Secondly, Chinese culture is kind of conservative. Most of normal Chinese people do not have a strong mind to hurt others because of our relatively conservative education.
Tracy Yuan, Intern at Juniper Networks (2017-present)
I am a native Chinese and lived in China for more than 20 years before I moved to America. When I was in China, I was raised up in Soochow, then worked in Nanjing and Shenzhen, and also traveled alone to more than 30 cities in almost every province. I never felt unsafe except I needed to keep watching out my phone and wet when I was in the crowd. I could go out to work out or have supper alone, as a young female, in the midnight. But, I would never go out alone in Los Angeles after sunset. It’s not because of the worries about the safety of my wet or phone, it’s about the safety of my life. I even saw two guys fighting with knife and stick on the main road around 9 AM and a guy was caught by two polices 5 minutes after saying hello to me in the morning. I also traveled in other states like Utah, Arizona, etc. I found it’s safer in those sm cities with sm population but less convenience. I have not decided where to settle down yet.
Not that I think that China is unsafe, but there is a difference between being a local, who fits ...
Jokic Hu, works at Shanghai International Studies University
I wouldn't tell you any legendary story about my or my friends’ experience in China. But I want to my 22 years simple daily life in our safe hometown.
Although I had saw many different kinds of TV shows about killing ,murdering. But,these things never happened around me.
Haosen Cai, Engineer
A few weeks ago I would have answered this question as very safe, but after someone pointed out I realized that safety has a lot of aspects & definitions.
If we are talking about violent crimes such as robbery, assault or mass shooting, then China is very safe.
If we are talking about food safety, then arguably China has a bit to work on.
If we are talking about environmental safety then China definitely has some works ahead.
But I think people genery consider
Yilin Jia, former Internship at Shanghai Daily (2016)
As a Chinese student studying in the U.S. now, I’ll be so surprised if I just read the first paragraph of Michael Black’s answer. China is definitely and undoubtedly the safest country in the world. By saying this it means if you were just an ordinary people live in an ordinary life in an ordinary community, the chance of being killed or hurt by crazy or fanatic people is so minuscule. Genery, you don't need to worry about this will happen. In China, we're not owed to have guns persony, even big knives will be scanned and taken away when you're on public transportation such as the railway. The police department and law enforcement did a great and hard job to make sure there is no obvious and giant risk to endanger the public.
However, if you take other factors into account, we could say that it's not that safe in China.
The traffic is horrible and most of the drivers have no respect for pedestrians, and pedestrians don't obey rules as well. You could get killed or cause disability on the road in China by a great chance.
The quality of food is unbelievable poor. We don't know what we intake every day from birth to death.
What's more, the natural environment is famous for its severely polluted. The more frequently we expose under the condition like smog, the great chance to die we will have.
There are a lot of things China need to do to make improvement for being a safe country. A long way to go for many aspects.
Nowadays,the most citysand many villages in the eastern China are very safe. In some region,especiy someplace where are poor,we can find that people's safe don't get enough attention,but things got better in these years. In a word, China is a safe and hospitality country.You needn't worry about the question about Personal property safety.
I am an Chinese student,it is my first answer and I hope that you can tell me something wrong I wrote.
I have never gone abroad but I often travel inland alonely when I was young. Of course nowhere is absolute safe,I mean it that if you live in China ,you just need to get common safety awareness then you can have a great life .
For instance,as for me ,I am 21.and in my life I never heared someone be killed or something frightful like terrorist events. Every time I browse international news about wars and terrorist events I always feeling so sad . To be honest, I never think about the war in China,I hope that every country is peaceful and everyone do not worried too much about live safely.
assuredly,mang people are dissatisfied to government but no one can deny that it is rey safe in China.If you have a chance ,welcome to China,most Chinese are friendly and nice.
my English is so poor that I wrote words above so long time. Don’t make fun of me please!bless .
Ha Sea, Skilled.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
That depend on how rich you are. It's difficult to compare the country. So in my answer, if not pointed, it's The United States was token into comparison. If you are poor, in China it's much safer than US,EUROPE, etc.. The government controls everything. It's ced “網格化管理” in Chinese. Its meaning is that the society is divided into cells and no serious crime is tolerated. the murdering must find the criminal no matter whether there is possibility the accused have. Political influence is more important than justice to the cell governors. That's safer than US in poor area. In US, it's controlled by the society itself, the US government don't responsible for that. According to a sentence in 1980s, the police even have no responsibility to save the innocent people in crimes. But in China, the police is ordered by law to save the victims.
As the side effect, it's not safe for the rich people. In China, if you want to get the same safety as US. It's not enough that you have enough money. You need to have power in your hand. In China, the society turn a blind eye to domestic violence, identity theft, etc, which is not toleratable in US for the rich people. You don't have the stand on your ground right, you are not owed to own guns. If you hurt the attacker in your defense, you will be jailed, too. There was a sentence in Fujian province, a girl hurt the criminal in defeating herself from raping jailed for a year.
In China, robbery, pocket picking, drug abuse are not that serverly as US. They are rare. The mainly crime is telecommunication fraud. Your lost won't be covered by the bank. According to the report from the government, only 4% of the cases were solved. And mostly, if the loss is under 30000, the police usuy won't give any help, i.e., these fraud are not calculated in that report. The police claim that's difficult. But in Augest, 2016, it cost only a week to arrest the criminals after Xu Yuyu, a poor girl died due to a fraud.
There is no Fair Credit Billing Act and Electronic Fund Transfer Act in China. No bank will cover your loss. So it happens a lot the poor Chinese sucide at the bank due to their possessions are lost in the fraud. Man hanged himself outside a bank after losing £1,000 to phone scam . (Well , in the first photo that's a custom in China ced crowded to watch, just like eating turkey on thanksgiving day. They have nothing to do with the fraud.)
Yulin Song, studied at University of Toronto
Sorry I cannot fine trustful specific statistics about China’s crime rate. Most of the statistics in China were modified.
My personal view is that the crime rate in China is relatively higher than the average level of the world; but the extreme crime is rare in China. Everyone could walk safely on the streets in urban areas, and has no worry about personal security. However, there are many thieves and brigands in China. The personal properties are not safe.
Thomas Parkison, lived in China
Sitting in a Burger King in China right now. Walked here up the back streets througha nearly defunct shopping m and felt not one bit of fear. Pick pockets galore in big cities, but near zero violent crime. In my city I never even feel danger from pickpockets. Just safe.
It is refreshing to note that most of these incidences hardly involve foreigners and hence we feel very safe. Guns are very hard to obtain in China so the weapons of choice are knives, swords or cleavers. The government is cracking on these items as well.
JIANFENG LIN, Master Biomechanics & Computer Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2018)
Above , I am a Chinese student and I have been to several countries in Europe, including half a year in Metz, France as an exchange student. Combing my experience, my opinions about this question are as follows:
Obviously, China is a developing country with shortcoming in health care, public welfare, high taxes, pollution. But as for the safety in China. I think it has been done better than many foreign countries.
For example, when I studied in Metz, I tried my best to avoid walking out after 10 pm. Although at daytime, I can see some drunker hanging out on the street. And at midnight, there were some people yelling and sometimes breaking public facilities. But in Metz, I think it is safe enough. Most People living there are kind. But in Paris, it is worse.
I remember that one day I want to go to the Sacre Coeur basilica Montmartre, Paris. It was nearly 8 am. But when I went out of the metro station. I was surrounding by some people with Arabian look and they staring at me impolitely, which made me uncomfortable. Even at daytime I can not feel toty safe in Paris. I went to Edinburgh at a vocation, and I can hear people yelling and laughing loudly at night.
So with comparison to my experience, I think China is safer than these foreign countries especiy at this time when the terrorists endanger the Europe. But I think wherever you are, be careful with your safety can keep you away from danger.
Interesting question.
I assume the word “safe” means low crime rate, and my answer is it depends. From my own experience, I grow up in middle China, or specificy Shanxi province. My family live in the city, and we have relatives in countryside. None of us met burglary or robbery. Now I am living in university in Shanghai, and I still encounter no crime. Eh but once I visited a tourist spot in Suzhou and a psycho walked in front of me and showing his penis, it rey disgusted me.
And if the word safe means the quality of merchandises, or food safety, I am sorry that China may be unsafe. I remember that several years ago a middle school in China was reported because the ingredients of the new-built playground running track were toxic. Many students had reactions. Not to mention the poor food sanitation of canteens, which was almost universal in rural china in the last decades. I am not sure if it improves now.
Anyway it's pretty safe.
I am a Chinese, live in Shandong province. I travelled many cities around China.
In Beijing, I usuy took a subway to hotel alone after 10 in the evening without any fear(Maybe I am too youngO_o). Actuy, I am discreet.
In Tianjin, I always walked to my hotel after 11 pm. Once time I booked a Uber about at 3 in the morning. the streets were peaceful, clear, and regular. The city under the light was so bright.
In Yantai, a second or third class city, I ran by the sea in the night when I had time. Many boys and girls do the same.
In my hometown, Qingdao, the safest place in my heart.
In China, you can't see armed citizens. Some may think it's not proper, but this is exactly the reason why people have more sense of security.
Xavier Pook, native chinese 20+years
As a native chinese lived in northern part of china for 20+ years,I have never been abroad,so I can only talk about this based on my impressions of other large states ' safety ,such as usa, russia, france,etc.
1st,we are not owed to carry any guns or pistols by law.in some areas,we are asked to show our ID cards to buy a cooking knife that is marked by numbers so the knife is unique just like guns sold in us ,especiy in big cities like Beijing or shanghai.It is worth noting that I have never bought one or seen someone buying one knife that way. But we can see it is hard or almost impossible for the mass to get dangerous weapons which may be used to hurt people,native or foreign.But in usa,anyone can hold a gun ,semiautomachine,ak47,m4a1,through gun shops or black markets. As in euro, Paris may prove more than enough to us.
2nd,we don't worship sloving problems by violence,an old saying goes a gentle man use his mouth instead of the fists.
not pointing fingers,but western people are more easily to fight with each other in a situation ,violence may just be absent.
3rd,strong police forces .or we should say partrols in almost everywhere of the big cities(sm towns or villaeges is another case ,just do not walk alone in late night,ladies especiy).so when u are in danger,just yell for help,people will be there.
4th,people are richer and more educated,they do not want to take chances ruining their own life by hurting others.
still,you can see lots of murders or killings in china just like it is in other countries. so earth is not safe ,but china is a better choice .
Sean Tam, works at China
Number of places I travelled and studied at are not enough to make me 100% sure that China is safer. But they can still do some talking.
I persued my post-graduate degree in Sydney, Australia and lived there for 1 year or so. The first day I got in, I was told not to go to the west part of Sydney and nor into the indigenious communities especiy at night because gun violence and hostility can be experienced. So basicy I kept staying in city and the north across the bridge. Well, safty was guaranteed at these areas but I seldom went out at night unless it was a short walk-distance. But over, Sydney is a lovely city and I miss the time I laid down the grass enjoying the sunlight in front of the University of Sydney.
Just last month, I went to Philadelphia for business for one-month and lived in the Univeristy City there. Over, it is a safe district but I was still told that don’t go further to the west and stay home at night. But I still enjoyed the mesuems and like the people there.
In China, there is little chance that you are told not to hang out at night or watch out for any potential crimes.
It is the feeling of feeling safe that matters.
Peter - NCG Tailor, Sales Manager at Ncgtailor.com (2006-present)
Just trying Quora’s video answer. I am in hangzhou city, and waiting for my daughter (she has a dance class now).
This is China today. Pretty safe to me.
0:00
-0:29
Mario Rossi, 5th year in China
Differently from Americans and British, coming from a sm town in Italy I didn't feel safer.
For:
-traffic
-food posioning
-pollution
China is worse than my homecountry. Actuy despite what some people like to believe is a lot more likely to be injured or die in a traffic accident than anything else, so is absurd to illude ourselves in believing we are safer in China.
Even for homicide rate China isn't better than many EU countries:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I honestly think that China's safety is highly overestimated.
In other answers I can read that most think west is like US which is far from true.
I add that sometimes foreigners believe China is supersafe only because cannot read news and are ignorant. Ask why girls are sometimes scared to take alone a taxi, take pictures of the plate number and send it to friends at night.
ChuSheng, Shanghai at Longcheer (2016-present)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I am a chinese , I have live in many cities in china , like WUHAN,NINGBO,SHANGHAI,HANGZHOU,CHENGDU,SHENZHENG and so on ,I think china is very safe than other country, I can walk on the road anywhere on the night , even 2 am . Also ,I have traved many pleces that not very rich along ,there has no problem, china is forbidden gun, and the security on publice is very well , so don’t warried ,just enjoy.
Selina T. Johnson, I am Chinese from China.
The bigger and the more developed the city is, the safer it is. And visa versa.
The safest place for normal people is Tiananmen square. There is no even a thief.
the criminal case took placed in Tiananmen square are just those whole world knows.
Michael, Civil Engineer at BCEG
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I’m a native in Beijing, it’s toty safe here in Beijing and anywhere else in China. Normy, We chinese are very friendly and hospitable to foreigners, and you don't even need to worry about security issues. However, for girls it's not to walk alone during midnight, every country has bad guys after .
In addition, the only thing you need to keep in mind would be showing due respect to the people around you during your stay in China, which will definitely earn you a lot Chinese friends and make you feel at home.
Chris Luo, lived in China
As a Chinese student ,I have traveled to many cities and feel a lot about Chinese security. The police can toty guarantee your safety when you hang out in a big city like Beijing and Shanghai. However,in some poor city (especiy the cities in the west),the amount of police are far fewer than eastern cities which means the safety can be a problem.
It's just my own perspective.
I am a Chinese.I will say something different.in1980-2000,china is very dangerous.
Kill people in the street,every city have gangster. Kidnapping. Robbery. Heroin. These are common. People Dare not C the police, because This will be suffer Severe retaliation, even cop afraid too. of course, That time cop and government is too dark.
At that time , crime is easy, no camera,no id,no internet. Train hotel Drive No need Any documents. Criminal Was wanted, It does not matter,just go other city have new life.
In that era people had a lot of guns. When I was a kid, I opened the gun In rural areas.
Thief is Different from other crimes, Especiy in rural areas. Because they Always act alone,.so if They were found after, Was beaten to death in rural areas. People tied him to the tree. Beat with a whip,kid will ifted the stone and hit him, Even with farm tools brought back his nose,he Will die within an hour.is very cruel.After he died People will c cop,c cop Is to let them carry the body away, The police did not dare to arrest anyone, If police do that, He will be trapped there.
I would like to say a little more to you about that year. My personal experience, A lot of crazy and evil and cruel things. but my wife c me now, I'm going to cook now!
Trust me,Chinese Mexican us Japanese European……, They are no different. Chinese are kind? Japanese are polite? Europeans are upright?bullshit!!! Poverty and time make us different.
(My English is soooooo poor, enter These words are more troublesome than my first roll of marijuana)
John Alex, student
there is no gun
people are gentle ( Everyone must receive 9 years of compulsory education in china,every one)
There is no religious conflict
Chinese are always very hospitable Especiy the young
if he she know what you say,You can pretend you are Pakistanis
周智仁, works at Wuhan University
Just some personal experience here. As a native who live in China for over 18 years, the only crime I've seen (in fact I wasn't aware of it for I was asleep) is burglary.And that's it, the most horrible crime I've ever experienced.Though rumor has it that there are gangs or something dangerous like that in our town, but I can't see any trace of them ever existing. Thus, I feel quite safe even when walking home alone at midnight, and my girl friends do this, too.None of our families ever worried about us. I believe it that when your parents are sure your safety is guaranteed, then you surely are safe.
Wuya Green, studied at Magnetic Resonance Imaging
I am a Chinese .During my 23 years in Nanjing,Xiamen and hometown .I have experienced nothing dangerous except once being cheated.
One stranger asked ways in my school and couldn't found his friend ,finy borrowed some money from me because he can not get money from his Visa card.
I think people in China are more afraid of the safety of food than anything else.
Anonymous
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I’m not going to say that China is dangerous, it’s a big place and there are many different areas but in my two years of living outside of Guangzhou, it was not exactly as free of crime as many have described here.
Many people are extra cautious before Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and the Mid-Autumn Festival. A few of my foreign friends were the victims of bag snatch and grab robberies around those times, one was threatened with a knife when she resisted. Someone once tried to slash open my handbag on a bus, but missed and nicked my arm, the person ran off of the bus at the stop and it did not seem to be noticed by anyone else on the bus. I also had a taxi driver grab me while I was in his car and I had to throw money at him and run at a stoplight. Outside of the city centers, there are plenty of deserted places at night and this happened in one such place.
Traffic is also dangerous, people drive recklessly sometimes on sidewalks and are not considerate of pedestrians. A sm child was repeatedly run over by cars and nobody intervened near where I lived and the footage was everywhere on the internet and yet many people still drive with no regard for others. There is a fear of being blamed for an accident if a bystander helps, so many people are afraid to do so.
I’m not saying that of China is dangerous, but I lived in a place with few foreigners and perhaps we were attractive targets for criminals.
Paul Mendez, lived in Manila
Well, having travelled to China back and forth for the last decade, I can say it's pretty safe in the major cities provided you don't do anything fishy, avoid talking to random strangers on the street and going to places that looks dangerous. I haven't had one bad experience here, except for cabs that command a high rate when it's raining or there is shortage.
Wu Zhi-Xu, studied Physics & Computer Science at Inner Mongolia University (2007)
中國最困難的時候治安依然很好，更不要說現在了。安分守己的思想傳承幾千年已經深入人心了。China had a safety environment when she was very poor about 40-50 years ago. Even when earthquake happened, safety is also well, because we believe our Country and people nearby.
Gassen Thadea, Safe in China
I haven't left China, so I don't know how safe the country or region is outside China. But in China, when I go to the street, I never worry that someone will shoot an innocent crowd. When I work in the evening, I never worry that someone will rob my property. I live in a sm city of five lines in China. I am the father of 2 children. I am glad that they can grow up in a safe and stable environment.
Kurt Zhang, works at China Grill
I have been to many parts of USA alone,countryside,sm town,sm cities,middle size cities,big cities.China is not a safe country if you live here as chinese national,random attack in public or stret robbery in China are no more than in big US cities.But mafia crime and gang crime in China is way much more serious than US,In Usa it’s more like gang people killing each other for illegal business interest conflict like drug business,but in China,mafia and gangs aim at disadvantaged civilians and normal people who prefer live a decent way of life as targets.some gangsters and mafia people have family or relative work in powerful position in government,they get protection from officials,some mafia and gangsters have interest related to government officials,they protect each other and use each other.Don’t ever count on justice department;police and court in China,they are on government’s side.Chinese police rarely patrol,they mostly stay in police station watching TV,having fun with their smart phone,i am talking about those low rank policemen,who suppose to patrol on street like US policemen,so let alone those high rank one.I went to police stations several times,they didn’t want to answer me or help me at .
The reason of why there is not so many random attack and robbery in China comparing to Chicago is because there many monitoring cameras in chinese cities,and those are not just for social security and crime,but also for anti politiclal dissidents,so this has nothing to do that chinese people are less likely to involved in crime than other ethnicities,saying that chinese are more peaceful than europeans and americans is just a ridiculous joke.There is no social justice in mainstream chinese society,gang and mafia crime and mentality is deeply infiltrated in China,and the main victim of this is not rival mafia or gang at ,it’s civilians and disadvantaged people(poor people who refuse to be criminal and thug) who prefer to live a decent way of life are the victim,to brainwashed inexperienced naive chinese people and superficial foreigners here,period.
Now I am living in a big city of eastern China,Hangzhou.You can not see any armed policemen even in the center of this city.You can go to outside in the morning,the afternoon or the evening,even the midnight,if you wanna go to see the movie or you are hungry !
This picture was photographed near the west lake ,the most popular sightseeing in this city,you and your camera would be safe even in the crowd of people,whichever brand or price it is!
848 Views
Tiffany Huang, lived in China
compare to some countries in Europe and Mideast and American ,China is quite safe right now. Except the unsafe food and the theft ,there are noting to worry so much in China right now.coz there is no conflict during the citizens and the government and we are banned to use gun ,so if you would like to come and visit China right now ,what you have to watch out is that don't be cheating by the people .I gonna say dishonesty and irresponsibility are what you should be careful in China .
1k Views ·
Matthew Massee, works at China
If we define “safe” as free from violent crime then China is quite safe. Modern urban apartments have giant metal doors with several locks and most communities have extra (ineffective) gates. Moreover, physical attacks on the street is uncommon. Violent crime is rare in China.
My time in rural China was also safe, other than occasional motorcycle theft.
Non-violent crime, such as wet theft, can occur in tourist areas, but otherwise this is also rare.
in , I find China to be free from violent crime and mostly free from petty crime. I must note I am a white minority in China, which likely gives me special privileges. Police here not only are polite with me, but would likely take my police report — my African sisters and brothers may have had different experiences in China.
496 Views ·
Jacky Hwang, lives in China (2004-present)
Originy Answered: How is China safe?
Well I have a question for you too, How is anywhere safe. I mean some places are definitely safer than others but it depends what you c safe. Like would you mean? Murder rates? Theft? Pirate activities? Terrorist groups? Natural disasters? Rape? Since I lived in China for 14 years I know something about China, and almost every day or week there is a theft, murder kidnappings etc… but speaking from my own perspective its safer than some places, put if your to scared go to Nepal or something
17 Views
Anoop Saxena, works at Self-Employment
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I am currently in Shenzhen. While my answer can not qualify for the whole of China, I do believe in ‘sample data’. I have been cheated by cab drivers a couple of times and I have had trouble asking for Mustard Sauce in English. I have walked alone in some of the arterial roads, I have loved catching a glimpse of some very beautiful women on the road, I have loved interacting with the locals and I have struggled for food given I am a vegetarian but unsafe is not a word I have come to associate remotely with my stay in China.
1.1k Views ·
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
It's perfectly safe from a native's perspective.
I used to walk alone/take taxis frequently at around 2-3AM in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I never felt unsafe and never got ripped off. Instead, they helped me a lot especiy the taxi drivers in Guangzhou. PS: I'm short, slim girl from South China.
I've been travelling to many countries. There're very few places I dare to walk alone in midnight. Even in daytime I got ripped off a few times.
796 Views ·
Anonymous
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Petty crimes? Lots of it. But what did you expect from a developing country?
Major crimes? Very little. The government is very decisive when it comes to gangs, have incredibly strict gun laws and there is little incentive to commit a major crime because of the low potential reward and high potential risk (death penalty)
Chinese cities are safe, for the most part. Beware in more rural areas though.
1.3k Views ·
That depends on where you live in
if you live in the first–tier cities’ downtown like beijing shanghai shengzhen or others you will be safer than those who live in the rural areas of three or four lines cities.
As far as I am concerned,the security situation is toty better than US.
A person who has through his teen time lives in china.uh in fact i am a chinese
Haha
The photo is Qingdao
Lived in Beijing for more than 10 years.
When I was in Beijing ,I usuy used my bucket bags for daily work,wide-mouthed，without zipper. I took them to subways, to ms, to crowed places. My wet and cellphone were on the top of my stuffs,to keep it handy.Even myself thought it was so easy to steal my wet and cellphone.But it never happened.
I think for now, China is a land full of opportunities. There are abundant of jobs which are much easier to earn money with lower risk than being a thief or robber.
221 Views ·
Yinghan WU, studied at University of Sydney
I come from Beijing, so I just talk about Beijing. In Beijing, I think I can go outside freely and at any time. I live in Sydney now, although most people are friendly, I would not go outside after 7pm. The teenage problem is serious.
154 Views ·
i have lived. in China for many. years.i think China is safe enough.China has a greatly large population.When you walk on street in a normal time,you always find it is crowd.But you may take care of your bags money mobilephone and your kids in case they are stolen.To be honest,i never lose my money or my smartphone,but many my friends have the experience that they lost their important things before.In conclusion, in China,you almost don't need to worry about the safe of your life,but you must worry about your money purses bags mobile phones!
412 Views ·
ZhongYukai, works at SCUT
I’m a Chinese, so maybe I have enough experience to answer this question. Just take my daily life as an example. I live in Guangzhou city, which is in south China. Once I want to watch movie, I just ride to the cinema without caring about what time is it. And in many times, I back home at mid-night and never found out something happened different from daytime. In one word, in China, at least in Guangzhou, people would never need to care about their safety problem. So, I think China, to some extent at least, is safer than many other counties in the world.
Gigi Wang, lived in China
As a Chinese, i think China is so safety.
Most of the Chinese are nice people, welcome the foreigner, and be so friendly to foreigner. If you need some help in the street, someone who knows English definitely will help you. And less people in here drink or take drugs, most of the Chinese are honest people. Just one thing, if you go to some station where full of people, pls keep eyes on your money, phone, be carefully is better than lose things. This is normal in the station in other country i think.
BTW, China also have so many beautiful places. You can come to see.
709 Views ·
Josh White, English Language Learner Teacher at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
Originy Answered: Is China rey safe?
It rey depends on a lot of factors. It’s very safe in comparison to the United States but theft is very prevalent. I lived in China for a number of years and I only had things stolen from me. China is a lot safer then many parts of the United States . If you are smart and are not participating in illegal activities you will be fine.
Larry Chao, retiree in LA
I have lived in China for many years and I have never experienced any dangerous situation no matter how often I walked alone at night and what kind of places I’'ve been to I mean remote or poor places. Chinese people in nature are very peaceful and mild,not like many in America that are violent and criminal minded.
Michael Beauchot, lives in China (2001-present)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China has a lot of problems. One thing I can say , though, is only once did i ever feel in danger here and nothing came of that in the end. once in 16 years - wish the usa was as safe.
2.5k Views ·
Long term? Dangerous as hell. China is redefining pollution, the lifestyle is not sustainable, the Chinese do not seem to care much about natural resources that do not pay out, such as those reefs they are destroying in the south china sea. The air quality, the water, of it is at serious risk.
Shulei Mao, master Masters of Engineering, Beihang University (2018)
I has never seen a gun.
I always go out to eat BBQ with friends even in midnight.
No Chinese people ask a foreigner to go back to their country, instead, they treat them friendly and hope to provide as many help as they can.
Peter Kelly, pumpkin eatër
Given the prc execute more people every year than the rest of the world combined, I wouldn't consider it ’safe’.
There isn't a justice system in the world which gets it right every time. In other words, whatever the crime, no system is flawless, and consequently, innocent people are wrongfully convicted.
In the case of totalitarian / authoritarian regimes, a large part of that wrongful conviction demographic isn't even honest mistake, but consciously fabricated via torture and forced fictional “ admittance” of guilt.
That and, e.g. , the biggest illegal organ harvest for transplant system in the world.
Doesn't sound so safe.
China remains world's top executioner
NB don't take my word for it, (or any Wu Mao), use your unhindered access to the information on the internet and research for yourself, there are many reputable bodies, charity NGO etc, the link above referring to one.
Baron Yeung, studied at American International School of Guangzhou
You won't die to random criminals, but people's regard for traffic laws were incredibly lax where I lived for ten years. That said, if you keep an eye out for people like that, you shouldn't have anything bad happen.
1.6k Views ·
It’s safe above your imagine.
You don’t have to worry even if you want to go outside at 11 p.m.
At night, the city is bright and so much people in everywhere.
In addition, Chinese police is responsible for citizens and the polices go the rounds on time especy in some crowded area like squares.
Besides, people in Chine don’t be owed to possess guns so that there were few shooting accidents in China.
well,i am a chinese,and i live in shenzhen .up to now ,no one shoot to me .no one hurt me whith knife.there are some guard in my community,so i can have a nice sleep at night.we can go out to play,even at the midnight.we have a CCTV at almost Every crossing .so it is quite safe in CHINA .Peking,Shanghai,Shenzhen,Guangzhou…it is convenient to live in this type of large cities.and in these cites,many guys canspeak english.
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Alright, I’ve lived the past 12 years of my life in China.
I was 13 when I left, now i’m 15.
And i used to go out to the city with my friends, and compared to the past places i’ve lived (UK,Saudi Arabia) it is the safest place possible to be. With pickpockets only as a verbal threat.” The worst that could happen to you is someone shouts at you, or you shout at them.
Ychen H, studied Materials Science and Engineering & Software and Applications at Beijing University of Chemical Tec...
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Well , as a native Chinese people ,I had noticed the answer above this ,while most people support that it’s safe to walk out at midnight. Yeah That’s truth.
However ,I have to remind you that INTERNET VIOLENCE and the LIMITS of VIEWS ON POLITICS.
it’s too late now 2017-03-18 01:54:31 I hope I can write done in the next day or Maybe the THINKING policeman will take me to the tea talks etc hahaha…
Ryan Grossner, studied China & International Relations at The George Washington University (2016)
There are many pitfs. If you're just there to eat, walk, and go to tourist places, you'll be fine. If you try to do something private, there will always be someone watching you, including many people in that private situation who are incentivized to turn you in.
Lee Young Junior, A guy with a hat , try to make iOS apps and doing Podcast @http://www.bitvoice.xyz
Wait, Don’t we want the car accidents killing rate to be included in this “safety in general” debate though? Then tell me if China is safe at … You'll be surprised that we still have such a large population…
Ziyin, Born and raised in China
I grow up in China and have lived in Singapore For 8 years. I have studied in Munich for a year. Hence I have travelled to many cities in China, in Southeast Asia, in Australia and in Europe.
In terms of violent crime, Chnia is very safe. It is nothing for a young girl to walk alone in the street at midnight. However, in crowded area like train stations, you must be cautious of pick-pocket, as you would do in most cities in the world.
But the traffic safety can be a concern. Drivers in China are not used to give way to pedestrians. Although no one would hit you on purpose, some driver can be rey rude.
Yasin, lived in China
Well as a Chinese, I can say that for the past 19 years, I never saw guns or heard of scaring things or something related to violence around me. And I’m 19 this year.
And what usuy bothers me is that what should I do today and what should I eat today not what will happen today
I am also surprised about attacks ever happened in some developed countries. I feel sorry for that.
You should rey come and have a look.Not just beijing or shanghai seriously.
Sui Kwok, lives in China (1993-present)
Originy Answered: Do you think China is rey safe?
It is, you can walk just about anywhere in big cities as a single woman in the middle of the night and the chances of something bad happening to you are almost zero.
Sadly, murders and sexual assaults do also exist in China, but they usuy happen within inner circles (family, business partners, etc…), it’s pretty much never about targeting random people out here.
Anonymous
Well, I guess it depends on what you want to keep “safe”.
If it’s civil rights demonstrators, or religious freedom protesters or government liberalization advocates, chances are you are going to throw “snake eyes”.
In other words, I wouldn’t wanna be you….
Liam Zeng, I'm raised and born in China.
In metropolitan cities, no need to worried about your safety problem walking on the street at night. You might have slight chance to get robbed but not get shot. Carrying gun in China is illegal issue. Super safe!
Bruce Chen, Born in Beijing, went to US for college, majored in Political Science
People of China spit on the ground the time, once someone spitted on my face once when I was riding a bike and trying to surpass him when I was a child ( he didn't do it on purpose). Traffic is like a zoo which animals on loose, plus, people beep everywhere and anytime. As a Chinese native who lived in Beijing for the first 20 years of my life then went to America for 4 years, I feel China is more safe for westerners than Chinese themselves. Westerners enjoy certain degree of privilege here while the Chinese are more like second class citizens.
Cong Liu, studied at University of Science and Technology Beijing
As a Chinese ，i can tell we never have been scared of assault in the street，even at midnight. Actuy，China is becoming increasingly better and thrive.On the contrary，i can hear ，usuy，torrible assault occour in Europe.How threantening.Though there are many lampness on socical system，justice system and more . It still a very nice cnuntry .Welcome every foreign friends to Chima to experience its charm by themthves.
ps. forgove my broken，tumbling English
China is rey safe. I live in Hangzhou,and I hardly ever met dangerous people.
But in the western part,some people are dangerous.
Chinese police are warm,and most of them try their best to protect us.
哪有什麽歲月靜好，是有人替我們負重前行。
Many of them died every year, the society itself, sometimes,is not safe.
They protect us,even though they will die.
So in China,we live in a safe,harmony environment.
Anonymous
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
China is One of the safest country on this earth.
You and your space is respected as law and order is respected by public.
No drug users…no jay walkers…
No gangs on the street controlling street corners…
ohh, I was asked by whethere China is safe? or is this hotel is safe every time when our freign customers come to China . I am proud to tell them it is very safe in China,even you wal on steet in the mid-night,no robbery,assault,rape etc…
I think foreign news media didn’t reprot China objectively and truely.
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Yuetian Li, studied at Taiyuan No.5 High School (2018)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I live in Taiyuan, a sm city which is not very popular and international. Unlike Beijing and Shanghai, there are a few foreigners here. I think the smer the city is, the safer it will be, just like Taiyuan.
Although there are still some terrorism in China, the circumstance is very safe.
Sharon W, studied Biochemsitry at The University of Hong Kong
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
way safer than most of Europe/America I’d say. I'm a girl and I feel pretty safe walking back home after a party alone in Beijing/Shanghai.
Sure, if you blacked out, when you wake up the next day you might not have everything in your wet. But as far as rapes/violence - the hardcore stuff goes, it's rare.
Ars Koe, studied at Beijing No.4 High School
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
Hello. I’m a Chinese senior high student and this is my first answer at Quora. I’m rey glad to answer a question about my motherland.
I do think it’s rey safe in big cities in China. There’s no guns and even not every police has a gun. Although there are stealings and robberies which happend in cities over the world, I had never met one.
The most dangerous thing in Beijing might be the traffic. Though car drivers follow the traffic rules on main road, some might don’t in an ay or other places with few cars and no police or cameras. And bicycle riders might be more dangerous. Not only they rode fast but also they sometimes don’t even hold the break. And pedestrians walk across the road with red lights on, which caused many accidents. Luckly these events are becoming fewer and fewer.
As I live in the city center of a big city, what I’ve said might not be true in villages or towns—usuy there are more poor people with less education. But from my personal experience—my parents are from one of these towns and I go there every summer—it’s also safe there.
I hope what I’ve said can help you
Heng Liu, studied Computer Science at University of Melbourne (2015)
Citizens are not owed to have guns, so you don’t have to worry about getting shot on street, your children will not be shot in school.
Citizens are not owed to carry anything dangerous on train and in subway.
1 and 2 explain why normy Chinese policemen don’t carry guns, they will carry guns only when it is necessary.
There are cameras everywhere, so normy bad guys don’t crime in public, it is stupid. Even if they do, they will be arrested soon.
US’s population is about 323 miilion, Chinese population is about 1.3 billion. and let’s assume that the education of American people is better than the education of Chinese, the fact is Chinese crime rate is lower than American crime rate.
above 5 facts can be googled and obtained from English websites.
Hope you can get a fair conclusion. Thank you for reading.
James Bartlett, works at Uncle Sam
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
I have visited China several times, Beijing, and Xi’an. I have always felt completely safe, I have walked the streets alone at night and with my children. The only place I didn’t feel safe, and I wasn’t in danger, just in danger of getting ripped off and having my kids hidden from me so I will shop more was the Silk Market.
Yufei Wang, lived in China
In china,if you witness a crime happen,especiy big one like robbery or even killing,you can talk about it to your friends the rest of your life,and your friends will admire you some extent.How safe? its that safe!
Cloud·leewei Cloud·leewei, night
Onece I have asked an American the differences he found between China and his motherland .
When I heard that they can't walk out at night I was confused ，you can go out anytime you want in China
(I only live a Long time in Beijing ,Zhumadian and have traveld many other cities .)
Originy Answered: How safe is China?
When I heard that happened a shot on the st of Russia,robbed in the France,terrorist in USA,I would be very very very astonished,cuz in China,i have never experienced things above,as to me,these things just can be heard from news,and it just would happen in foreign countries,i have never imagine that would happen to me. And live in China not only safe but also convinient,i can do almost things via WeChat,and if you are a foreigner, you still can ask for any help to AnyHelper which is a WeChat account.
佳偉 肖, lives in Zhengzhou, Henan, China (2012-present)
but now chinese dont worry about it,thy use wechat or alipay in many situation.like bus taxi train food or shopping and so on.ithink china ismore safe than many west country，as you say in the past chinese should pay attention on thief but not on their life. now they dont need worry about shoplifter even.you can see many girls and boys go through in the city even it is 24:00.because of the safety ,we can have some activity in the midnight .and you can see many chinese hight svhool student finish their review and back to home at 11:00 ,many things tell us it is so safe in china
