How safe is China, really#
Very. Violent crime against foreigners is rare, cities are extensively policed and camera-monitored, and it is entirely normal to walk alone through a Chinese city centre at 1 a.m. Solo female travellers routinely report feeling safer in Chinese cities than in European or North American ones.
That does not mean nothing goes wrong. The risks are simply different from the ones you are trained for.
Traffic#
Chinese road behaviour follows rules that are not the ones on the signs.
- Right turns on red are legal. A green pedestrian signal does not mean the crossing is clear.
- Electric scooters are silent, fast and everywhere — on pavements, in bike lanes, against the flow of traffic, and often without lights at night.
- Zebra crossings are treated as advisory by many drivers, though enforcement has improved sharply in the big cities.
- Cross with a group of locals whenever you can. It is the single most effective technique.
- Look both ways twice, including on one-way streets, because a scooter will be coming the wrong way.
Scams that target foreigners#
These are concentrated in a small number of tourist locations and follow scripts. Recognising the opening line is enough.
The teahouse scam. Friendly, well-dressed young people — usually two women, often claiming to be art students — approach you in English near Tiananmen, Wangfujing, the Bund or Xi'an's Bell Tower. Conversation is genuinely pleasant. They suggest a traditional tea ceremony nearby. The bill arrives at ¥2,000–6,000, the door is blocked, and a card machine appears. Response: never follow a stranger to a venue they choose. If it has already happened, pay if you feel unsafe, keep the receipt, and report it to the tourist police — foreigners do occasionally recover money.
The art student / gallery scam. Same opening, ends in a "student exhibition" selling mass-produced scrolls at 20 times their value.
The bar scam. A friendly local — often a woman approaching a solo man — suggests a bar. Drinks are astronomically priced and leaving is discouraged. Same rule: you choose the venue.
Taxi meter refusal. A driver quotes a flat fare instead of using the meter, usually at airports and train stations. Insist on the meter (打表 dǎ biǎo) or use DiDi, which prices in advance.
Fake currency in change. Mostly ¥100 notes handed back at markets or by taxi drivers. Check the raised ink and the colour-shifting numeral.
The "closed" attraction. Someone outside a sight tells you it is closed today and offers an alternative tour. It is not closed. Walk to the ticket office and check.
Rickshaw price switch. A quoted "¥3" becomes "¥300" at the destination. Agree the total price in writing on a phone screen before getting in, or use the metro.
Petty crime#
Pickpocketing exists in crowded markets, on packed buses and at major tourist sites, particularly in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and around Beijing West railway station. Standard precautions are sufficient: front pockets, a zipped bag worn in front in crowds, no phone in a back pocket. Bag-snatching from scooters is rare but not unknown in southern cities.
Violent crime, mugging and armed robbery against tourists are genuinely uncommon.
Medical care#
The system. Chinese public hospitals are technically capable but organised very differently: you register at a desk, pay before each step, queue by department, and communication is entirely in Chinese. Payment is up front, in cash or by app, before treatment.
International clinics and VIP wings. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen there are Western-standard private clinics — United Family, Raffles Medical, ParkwayHealth, Global Doctor — with English-speaking doctors and direct insurance billing. They are expensive (a consultation runs ¥800–1,500) and they are what your travel insurance is for.
Pharmacies (药店) are everywhere, cheap and can dispense many things over the counter that would need a prescription at home. Products are labelled in Chinese; use the camera translation in Pleco or Google Translate. Bring your own familiar medicine for anything you routinely need.
Travel insurance is not optional. A serious problem in a remote area — evacuation from the Tibetan plateau, for instance — costs tens of thousands of dollars. Check that your policy covers altitude above 3,000 m if you are going to Tibet or Shangri-La, and covers scooter riding if you plan to rent one.
Vaccinations and health prep#
Consult a travel clinic 6–8 weeks before departure. Commonly recommended for China:
- Routine vaccinations up to date (MMR, tetanus, diphtheria)
- Hepatitis A — recommended for most travellers
- Typhoid — for longer trips or rural travel
- Hepatitis B — for longer stays
- Japanese encephalitis — for extended rural travel in summer in southern and eastern provinces
- Rabies — worth considering for cyclists, hikers and long stays; stray dogs exist in rural areas
- Malaria — not a risk in the cities or on standard tourist routes; limited risk in parts of Yunnan and Hainan
Food and water#
Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in mainland China. Boil it or drink bottled. Every hotel provides a kettle and bottled water; every station and train has a boiling-water dispenser. An insulated flask is the standard local solution and saves both money and plastic.
Street food is generally safe if you apply the universal rule: eat where there is a queue of locals, choose stalls cooking to order over pre-cooked trays, and favour food that comes off high heat in front of you. The higher-risk items are cold dishes, unpeeled cut fruit and anything sitting lukewarm.
Ice in mainstream restaurants and chains is made from purified water and is fine. Chopstick hygiene in cheap restaurants is variable; many locals rinse their bowl and chopsticks with hot tea before eating, which is a habit worth adopting.
Some travellers get an upset stomach in the first days simply from unfamiliar oil, chilli and Sichuan pepper. Bring loperamide and rehydration salts.
Air quality#
Much improved since the 2013 peak, but still an issue in the northern plain from November to March, when winter heating comes on. Beijing, Xi'an, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou can exceed AQI 150 for several days at a stretch.
- Check an AQI app daily
- On a bad day, move museum visits forward and postpone the Great Wall
- Bring an N95 if you are asthmatic or have a respiratory condition
- Kunming, coastal Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and the plateau are clean nearly year-round
Altitude#
This is the one genuinely dangerous physical risk on standard tourist routes.
- Lhasa sits at 3,656 m. Shangri-La at 3,200 m. Jiuzhaigou at 2,000–3,100 m. Everest Base Camp at 5,200 m.
- Altitude sickness begins above roughly 2,500 m, and severity is unrelated to fitness.
- Ascend slowly. Take the train to Lhasa rather than flying if you can spare the time, and spend the first 48 hours doing nothing.
- Symptoms: headache, nausea, breathlessness, poor sleep. Descend immediately if these worsen, or if confusion, loss of coordination or a cough with frothy sputum appears — those signal HACE and HAPE, which are emergencies.
- Acetazolamide (Diamox) helps as prophylaxis; discuss it with a doctor before travelling.
- Alcohol and altitude combine badly. Skip the first two nights' drinks.
Detail in our Tibet guide.
Emergency numbers and what to do#
| Service | Number |
|---|---|
| Police | 110 |
| Ambulance | 120 |
| Fire | 119 |
| Traffic accident | 122 |
| Tourist hotline (multilingual) | 12301 |
Operators on 110 and 120 rarely speak English. Practical approach: ask a bystander or hotel staff to call, or use the tourist hotline 12301, which has English support.
In a medical emergency, going directly to a hospital by taxi is often faster than waiting for an ambulance, and ambulances charge and may not take you to the hospital you want.
If you lose your passport: report it at the nearest police station to obtain a loss report, then contact your embassy in Beijing or your nearest consulate for an emergency travel document, then apply to the local Exit and Entry Administration for a replacement visa or entry stamp. Budget several days. Keeping a photo of your passport and a copy of your entry stamp makes this dramatically faster.
Laws and behaviour worth knowing#
- Drugs. Penalties are severe, up to and including the death penalty for trafficking. There is no tolerated recreational category.
- Carry ID. Foreign nationals are legally required to carry their passport. In practice a clear photo plus the hotel registration slip suffices for most situations, but police may ask for the original.
- Photography. Do not photograph military installations, police, security checkpoints or protests. Airport and station security are also generally off-limits.
- Politics. Discussing sensitive topics (Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Tiananmen 1989) publicly or on Chinese social media can create problems for the Chinese people you are talking to, more than for you. Read the room.
- Drones require registration, and most cities and scenic areas are no-fly zones.
- Smoking is banned indoors in most major cities but the rule is enforced unevenly.
- Vaping is restricted, and flavoured e-liquids are banned from sale; bringing a personal device is generally tolerated but nicotine liquid is not sold.
Solo and female travellers#
China is a comparatively easy place to travel solo, including for women. Street harassment is uncommon, transport is safe at night, and hostels make it easy to find company. The usual sensible precautions apply — share your itinerary, avoid unlicensed taxis, be careful about drinks in bars in nightlife districts — but the baseline risk level is low.
The larger practical difficulty for solo travellers is the food: Chinese restaurant dishes are sized for sharing. Order from the noodle and rice-bowl sections, eat at hotpot chains with individual pots, or accept that you will over-order and take leftovers.
Frequently asked questions#
Is China safe for tourists?#
Yes, notably so. Violent crime against visitors is rare and Chinese cities are safe to walk in at night. The real risks are traffic, a set of well-known scams targeting foreigners near major sights, seasonal air quality in the north, and altitude on the Tibetan plateau.
What is the tea house scam in China?#
Friendly English-speaking strangers — often claiming to be students — invite you to a traditional tea ceremony near a major tourist site, then present a bill of several thousand yuan and make leaving difficult. It operates around Tiananmen, Wangfujing, the Bund and Xi'an's Bell Tower. Never follow a stranger to a venue they choose.
Can you drink the tap water in China?#
No. Tap water is not potable anywhere in mainland China. Drink bottled or boiled water; hotels provide kettles and free bottles, and boiling-water dispensers are standard in stations and on trains.
Do I need travel insurance for China?#
Yes. Chinese public hospitals require payment before treatment, and Western-standard international clinics charge Western prices. If you are going to Tibet or Shangri-La, check that your policy covers altitudes above 3,000 m and medical evacuation.
What are the emergency numbers in China?#
Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119, traffic accidents 122. Operators rarely speak English, so ask hotel staff or a bystander to call. The multilingual tourist hotline 12301 can help in English.
Is street food safe in China?#
Generally yes, if you eat where locals queue, choose stalls cooking to order over pre-cooked trays, and stick to food that comes off high heat in front of you. Avoid lukewarm cold dishes and pre-cut unpeeled fruit.