How safe is China for travelers?

Safety and the most common scams

Physical safety is high - crime against foreigners is uncommon. What does operate is organised scam crews working the places tourists concentrate.

• The tea-tasting scam is the one the FCDO names, in Beijing around Wangfujing and Tiananmen Square, and in Shanghai on The Bund. The script does not vary: friendly, English-speaking young people approach, present themselves as students, and want to practise English or take a photo. After a few minutes they suggest a traditional tea house nearby. The bill that follows runs to hundreds or a few thousand yuan, the "students" are gone, and the venue's staff apply pressure until you pay. The FCDO warns the same crews run a massage-parlour version, and that both can escalate to threats, violence or credit-card fraud.
• The art-gallery scam - foreigners are steered to a "student exhibition" and pressured into buying worthless prints for thousands of yuan on the pretext of supporting young artists.
• The fake-monk scam - a "monk" presses an amulet or bracelet on you as a gift, then demands payment aggressively. Real Buddhist monks in China do not solicit tourists in the street.

The defence is the same for all three: decline any invitation from a stranger on the street, however friendly the approach. Nothing you would actually want to do requires being recruited on a pavement.