Re:Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period
by FabHK on Wednesday October 04, 2017 @02:18PM
(#15402838)
I've lived in HK, not mainland China, and I avoid China personally (air pollution, increasing nationalism, politics, etc.), so take this with a grain of salt:
- violent crime is rarely an issue, and I'd feel safer taking an MBP and iPhone 7+ there than, say, in the Americas. Having said that, don't flaunt them.
- opportunistic property crime (theft, pick-pocketing) might be an issue, particularly in crowded urban areas, but I think with some basic measures as you mentioned you can handle the risk.
- There are many (non-violent) scams, such as the tea house girls on popular shopping streets, etc. Check wikivoyage for your destination, and the general scam page (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Common_scams)
- I'd look into setting up a good VPN/proxy before you go, or buy a Hong Kong SIM with roaming and massive data allowance and tether. Also, might want to enable disk encryption. (If you use WeChat etc., assume that you're monitored.)
There are many other issues more relevant/specific than the risk of robbery/theft.
- violent crime is rarely an issue, and I'd feel safer taking an MBP and iPhone 7+ there than, say, in the Americas. Having said that, don't flaunt them.
- opportunistic property crime (theft, pick-pocketing) might be an issue, particularly in crowded urban areas, but I think with some basic measures as you mentioned you can handle the risk.
- There are many (non-violent) scams, such as the tea house girls on popular shopping streets, etc. Check wikivoyage for your destination, and the general scam page (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Common_scams)
- I'd look into setting up a good VPN/proxy before you go, or buy a Hong Kong SIM with roaming and massive data allowance and tether. Also, might want to enable disk encryption. (If you use WeChat etc., assume that you're monitored.)
There are many other issues more relevant/specific than the risk of robbery/theft.