Is it safe to live in China?

Public safety and security is probably one of the favorite aspects that foreigners like about living in China. At least, being myself once an international student from Costa Rica and currently a resident in Beijing, safety is for sure not something that keeps me up at night.

China has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Besides having a strict control of public order and harsh punishment policies in place for law breakers, there are some key factors I consider China has that differ with many other countries. I believe the following 3 are worth mentioning here:

• Owning, carrying and using guns is STRICTLY PROHIBITED in China. This one is pretty straightforward. No individual or company is allowed to have guns or weapons; these are meant to be made for government use only. Using a gun for self-defense is not a valid justification either. Police forces usually don’t carry guns in public as well.

• Wide use of security surveillance cameras. At least in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai, surveillance cameras are everywhere. They are a great support tool to help police officers keep people safe and in necessary cases, use them to track and catch criminals. Unless you are trying to do or done something against the law, you have nothing to worry about; otherwise, expect a visit from the police soon.

• Losing “Face”! “Face" is a social construct that has very deep influence and meaning to Chinese culture and society. To foreigners, this concept is quite difficult to understand and adapt to. For instance, "gaining face” could be interpreted as gaining respect and “losing face” as being ashamed of something. Due to this, for a Chinese person to be discovered or caught in wrongdoing, especially publicly, is extremely embarrasing and disgraceful not only for that person but for his/her family as well. In a way, “face” is a cultural check and balance system for personal behavior.

All these said, we still recommend our students to practice cautiousness and some common sense. There is a very low probability to get assaulted, robbed, etc. in China, but pickpocketing and some scam schemes do exist. Pay special attention to automobiles though; as a pedestrian, drivers should be of our most concern as crossing on red light is quite common to see here (government efforts are being made to change this).

If you are a student coming to China for the first time, you will feel in no time how safe is China. Many are amazed by the fact that they can walk on the streets at 3 a.m. without having to constantly check the surroundings, especially for women. We hope you will someday experience what we expats feel while living in China.