Introduction
When traveling, especially with children, the main question you might be asking yourself is whether or not the destination you are going to is safe. China, due to the strict Covid-19 policies has been pretty isolated from the rest of the world, so for a long time the only information that reached us was news report, which are usually not favourable towards china. Now that China has started to open up for tourism, you might be considering it as a travel destination and be wondering: is China safe?
In this article I will break down for you all the factors that contribute to safety.
Chinese cities crime rates compared to other countries
In order to compare the crime rates, it is best to look at the actual statistics. Below is a comparison table and a link to the source website.
The numbers speak for themselves - China is objectively much safer than the US. Yet many travellers wouldn't even ask themselves a question "is US safe?" before traveling to San Francisco. United States are known for high levels of violent crimes, mass shootings and opioid-inflicted drug abuse problem. It has also high (and rising) numbers of homeless people and that is also something that might make you feel unsafe.
In China, by contrast, homelessness virtually does not exist and crime levels are extremely low. It helps to have a sense of security when walking alone, even at night, even for a single woman or a family with kids.
Other factors
Other things you might regard as risks are healthcare quality and cost as well as infrastructure.
The price and quality of healthcare, for example. If you are traveling to US, you usually need to buy most expensive insurance package due to the high prices of healthcare and medication - it is very expensive to get sick or have an accident in the US. By contrast in China, the healthcare system is relatively cheap and efficient, so you don't need to be worried that much about such unforeseen circumstances.
The infrastructure is also of high standard, especially in recent years you can see the results of Chinese deliberate industrial policy - there are lots of newly built roads and railways, bridges etc. Every big city has extensive metro system and generally good quality of public transport. When you compare it with some other countries - especially from the Americas and South-East Asia, China stands out. You will never feel any concerns that your bus or train might break down, or a bridge collapses (like has happened recently in the US).
Magda
Are there any special concerns when traveling with children?
The only thing that you have to be aware when traveling with children, is that in China children seem to be treated almost like "public property" - just because Chinese people think that blue eyes or curly hair are cute, they might take pictures of you and your children without your consent. It happened to us few times that people just went on to pick up the baby and gave it a cuddle - something that would never happen in the West. It is not a real concern when it comes to safety - it is just innocent curiosity and maybe a bit of a cultural difference - but I know that many people would feel uncomfortable and shocked in those circumstances.
Did we ever feel unsafe when traveling in China?
Absolutely not! And we live in Zurich, probably one of the safest and cleanest city in Europe. Especially surprising for us were the big cities - those are extremely clean, with absolutely no homeless people on the streets! When we compare the street of London or Paris to Beijing or Chongqing, it is just on a different scale. In European big cities you often have a reflex to touch your pocket where your phone or wallet is just to check if it is still there, and around train stations there are often homeless people. And even Zurich has the infamous Langstrasse with all the local junkies, drunks and prostitutes, where you feel uneasy no matter what time of the day you walk there.
China is really different in this respect. You really do feel safe, and we have seen many people comfortably leaving their phone or camera on the table when going to the toilet. Even taking evening walks there are plenty of things going on - people do enjoy evenings out, with friends or family - but there are no people shouting, no-one fighting etc. To enter a train station building you need to have a train ticket, so there is also no homeless people there or thieves on the lookout for careless and distracted passengers.
Conclusion
In general, China can be considered safe to travel due to low crime level, reliable infrastructure, good and cheap healthcare and readiness of people to help you. You naturally always have to take some general precautions, but as a rule you don't need to expect anything bad happening to you.
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