I spent 9 years living in China, not traveling, so I know what I’m getting myself into. It isn’t just what people are used to, there are significant differences. For however dangerous American cops are, china is the only place I actually saw someone die before (in a traffic accident, the secret to having a safe trip to China is to be careful crossing the street and don’t run red lights on your bike)

China is worse now than it was in 2007 when I moved there. They had a huge backslide in liberalization after the Olympics, which got worse with Xi (who, as you know, is now president for life). Now it’s like 1999 again.