Safe Travelling In China 101: A Guide
When it comes to safe travelling, China is one of the destinations that people love to praise for its overall safety and lack of general crime. BUT even China has its fair share of dangers you should look out for. Travelling can be a wonderful and freeing experience! But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also be safety savvy about where we’re going.
1. Taxi Driver’s Money Scams
One of the most common scams taxi drivers try to pull on fresh tourists- you hand your money over to the taxi driver, they hand it back to you saying your note is a fake. You then give them more money and the cab driver gives you back the ‘fake’ money. What you didn’t see was the taxi driver tucking your PERFECTLY LEGIT money away and handing you back a fake note. If this happens to you, don’t panic, don’t back away and, above all else, DON’T hand over any more money.
2. Pickpockets
Imagine your in Beijing on a hot summer’s day. You decide to buy a cold pearl milk tea and take a break from the heat. But as soon as you go to take your money out, you find that your wallet, your travel card and all your freshly exchanged notes have vanished! Yup. You guessed it. This happened to me. Pickpockets are rampant throughout China, especially in tourist destinations. Why not try out some simple safe travelling tricks for keeping your money safe! Like wearing your back-pack on your front, keeping your money in zipped pockets, or using a fanny-pack!
3. Knock-Offs And Rip-Offs
Knock-off brands are strangely one of the main attractions of travelling in China. The street markets are filled with ‘genuine’ Adidas and Hike wear. Not to mention my trendy pair of Ball-star Classics I got for just 30 yuan! Some knock-offs, however, are not so obvious, and the sellers will try and sell them to you at absolute extortion rates! You know what they say, ‘always expect the worst’. You could either haggle the price down or simply walk away.
4. Street Food
Chinese street food? Yes, please! There’s nothing more satisfying than food that’s cheap and delicious! But how do you know which ones are safe? With street-side restaurants, first you must judge its popularity, is it packed with people? If so, it’s probably a good bet! If not, best give it a miss! A good tip with fresh fruit carts is to always make the vendor cut the fruit in front of you. You want the watermelon you know is safe, not the one that has been sitting in the sun all day.
5. Take Tissues And Hand Sanitiser
If you’ve met anyone that has been to China, they might clue you in on one thing: public toilets. When thinking about safe travelling, it’s always handy to have a spare pack of tissue on you and some hand sanitiser for when you need it. You know. Just in case!
6. Dodgy Massages And Tea Ceremonies
Sometimes curiosity just kills the cat- or traveller in this case. A safe travelling guide just wouldn’t be complete without a ‘don’t talk to strangers’ section. That being said, China is relatively safe, but if a nice lady walks up to you in the street and asks if you want a massage or an authentic Chinese tea ceremony, be travel savvy and just walk away!
7. ALWAYS Expect Plane Delays
Less of a safe travelling tip and more of a general warning. China is MASSIVE, with many airports. So, delays are something you can always count on. Domestic flights in China rarely fly on time. If you are flying domestically, make sure you don’t have anything major planned that same day. If everything does go well, then this is the perfect day to relax! But if not, then at least you didn’t miss something important.
