Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period

#1

Post by jason_slack » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 10:56 AM UTC

I'm headed to China for 2-3 months for my job. C++, writing docs, etc. I have been learning Chinese for a while.

What advice does anyone have for equipment safety? Things to think about, etc.

Examples:

1. Someone told me to not take my "expensive" iPhone 7+ as it is a high priced item and a target for pick pockets. Same thing with my ceramic Apple Watch series 3. Buy an iPhone SE or even an Android phone as HTC phones are very common there and not really an item to steal.

2. Same with my cash and id, don't carry in pants pockets, hide it in a backpack someplace.

3. Laptop. Same thing as my phone. Don't take my 15-inch MBP, but an Air or something.

How valid is this advice? My employer is sponsoring my trip, obviously.

Any other advice on laptop setup?

Re: Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period

#2

Post by mtmail » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 11:36 AM UTC

That reads like pick-pocket advise for any country, it might fit New York City or Paris subways as well.

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/New_York_City#Stay_safe "The most common crime against tourists (not including being overcharged!) is bag snatching. Never let go of your handbag (putting other bags down is OK, as long as you guard them carefully), especially in the subway but also when eating at a restaurant. Take special care if sitting outdoors or in a crowded self-service restaurant. Leave your passport and other valuables that you don't need to carry in a hotel safe or hidden in your suitcase. Don't flaunt a wad of money if you can help it; if you want to be safer, count your money in your room before you go out and take only what you think you may need. Unless you have protective outer wear, consider not wearing expensive jewelry, and hide valuables like cameras when you're not using them. [...] While muggings are rare, they do happen."

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Paris#Stay_safe "The métro is also a popular place for pickpockets. Hold things tightly and be aware of your surroundings. [...] Pickpockets are most likely to be found working at crowded tourists hotspots, so keep your wallet and phone in your front pockets and hold your backpack tightly when in a crowd."

Re: Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period

#3

Post by PaulHoule » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 2:06 PM UTC

Bring a Dell. Nobody will want to steal it. Pickpockets might even stuff one into your bag when you are not looking.

Re: Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period

#4

Post by FabHK » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

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.

Re: Ask HN: Traveling to China for an extended period

#5

Post by LiveFastDieYoun » Thu, Oct 12, 2017, 3:49 AM UTC

I've lived in mainland China for almost 4 years .. It depends on the area you go to, but I'd say China is fairly safe as long as you behave responsibly (don't leave your laptop alone on the coffee shop etc). I never had any problem in this time (I lived in Shenzhen and Jieyang). But, protect all your communications with SSL or similar, and for gods sake don't use wechat. I uninstalled it recently because of the new privacy announcement. As for privacy and accessing blocked websites, I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnQDiGBFIXk to be very effective