How safe is China for tourists and travelers?
It’s an issue being debated
at the online question-and-answer site Quora.
The users, many of them foreigners living in China,
view China as safe for travelers.
But what do people who have never been to China think?
We asked some Americans in New York City.
“I think China is a great place to visit
and it’s safe to be there absolutely.
Why not?
It’s as safe as any other place.
Why not?”
“I really don’t have any safety concerns about China.
It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go.”
“I won’t be concerned traveling alone in China.”
“I don’t think I have any that
I can think of other than I don’t speak Chinese.”
“So that would be your only concern?”
“I think so, yeah.”
Every tourist and traveler
I’ve spoken with here at Time Square said
they have no qualms about visiting China,
but not a single one of them has actually
been there to know for sure.
So I’m taking this question to a man
who has been to China and knows the country well.
Professor Joseph Foudy teaches Economics of China
and Asia at New York University Stern School of Business.
Every year he takes 200 students with him on an Asia tour.
He assures me that China is the safest large country in the world.
“I think there’s always some small risk of petty crime
but the risk of that to me in China is
either the same or smaller than most other countries,
but the real metric has to be violent crime
and for violent crime China is just
so much more safe than at virtually any country
we can compare it to that there’s really
no basis for saying it’s dangerous.”
One Chinese government official
says the country’s homicide rate in 2014
was lower than in developed countries like the US,
Britain and France and violent crimes are on the decline.
The US State Department says that China remains
a safe country for most visitors.
So why the debate?
“Well, I think that there are websites
that love to debate things.
China is obviously, you know,
a constant subject both good and bad,
and so people want to sometimes exaggerate
how things play out in China.”
So best to go by official travel guidelines and as Matthew Bell,
Expat and Loving It suggests on Quora,
use your common sense and everything will be fine.