Is China more safe than NYC?

[ithelps]

I studied abroad last year in Nanjing, and I loved it. Overall, I thought China was a safe place, especially compared with NYC. I could walk any time outside, and I would not get jump, but in NYC, I have been jumped more than 5 times, some of which I have escaped.

But when I was in Nanjing I was a student, and in NYC i commute to school, so it's a little different. I don't know what China is like outside of school. Is it as safe as I thought it was and is it a comfortable place to live?

[Shelley]

I think this is a big question and not easily answered.

 

Some parts of China will be more dangerous and some parts will be less dangerous than some parts of NYC which might be safer in some places than some places in china.

 

If you get what I mean

[ithelps]

I do know what you mean, but how bad is China generally? You know maybe the worst part of China is the good of NYC.

[Silent]

 

Is it as safe as I thought it was and is it a comfortable place to live?

What's your definition of safe? I don't have statistics and never been to NYC, but I think it's a fairly safe bet to say that the chances of a fatal traffic accident are larger in China then in New York. I'm pretty confident in stating that the risk of being murdered in NYC is bigger then in China. But then, your own behaviour has a huge influence on these risks too.

[Shelley]

I have been to NYC, in 1970. I was going to be 13 in 2 weeks. I arrived in the Greyhound bus station and was not concerned at all.

 

After standing and waiting to be collected by a family member for about 20 minutes or so i got the distinct feeling the group of men mostly black (no offense, merely a fact) were beginning to close in on me, I wasn't scared.

 

This was sort of confirmed by the way the person collecting me bustled up to me and in a loud voice said come along now and gathered up my bags and off we went and got into the taxi.

 

My point is I wasn't aware I should be scared till i was whisked off and the gang quietly dissipated. With hindsight I was in danger, but not aware, I am sure a lot of it is your attitude, do you see the possible danger around you or not.

 

I don't know why but I still don't think i would be a target for various reasons and go where i like when I like. I refuse to be stopped going where I want..

 

I lived in a big Canadian city and never felt like i was in danger. I think NYC has a reputation that may colour your feelings.

[Flickserve]

How can one generalise a large country to one city? It's too different.

[Silent]

 

I think NYC has a reputation that may colour your feelings.

My statements are not based on feelings but statistics I do know, or at least believe to remember from statistics I've seen in the past.

 

The US murder rate is a multiple of the China murder rate. Combined with the fact that usually murder rates in large cities are higher then at smaller towns I think my murder statement is a very safe one. To be honest I'm more confident about my murder statement then about the traffic accident statement. Though it's a fact that traffic in China is very dangerous, the lower number of motor vehicles per capita compensates the overall risk.

 

But as stated, your own choices and behaviour have a huge influence. Murder is often associated with other criminal behaviour and close relations (crimes of passion). Traffic fatalities are strongly mode of transport dependent and also related to your amount of travel. a daily commute to the office a block away from your home has a completely different risk profile then hours of travel a day in a sales or service job traveling to (potential) customers.

[889]

There's certainly a good deal of crime in China that affects foreigners, theft of various sorts mainly, but it's almost always done without personal harm, like pickpocketing for example. Crimes of violence affecting foreigners are exceptionally rare. In New York, and elsewhere in the U.S., crimes of violence are not rare.

 

On the other hand, if you mean safety in the broadest sense, then just walking down a Chinese street is pretty dangerous, as cars and bikes pay you no heed at all. Indeed, a lot of cyclists seem to make a game of just brushing past you from behind at high speed. 

[hedwards]

@889, not just that but even pickpocketing seems to be a bit gentler in China. My friend had her wallet lifted in Xi'an when we were going through one of those tunnels used to cross busy streets and the person wound up leaving the wallet for us about a half block away on a planter.

[Johnny20270]

i just had this conversation yesterday with Chinese friends. For me, Beijing is far safer than London no question. A girl can walk the streets at nighttime in Beijing (generally speaking) easier than in London. Fights between guys here seems to resort a lot of yelling and bitch slapping. In UK it can get pretty severe and likely for someone to get a bottle in the face, or their head stamped on. 

 

Same in NYC right? I'm told there are some real no-go areas if you are white. 

 

The traffic aspect 889 referred to is road safety. Its worse here than much of Germany no doubt. Also, I would rather be knocked down by a car in London and rescued by the emergency services there than in Beijing.

[grawrt]

I think NYC is safer.

 

The traffic is killer in China, drivers look like they want to kill you. Security guards don't seem to do anything to protect people, I never really see cops around, shoddy construction in China (collapsing sidewalks, elevator malfunctions), Pollution, Unsanitary cooking facilities, when girls are raped they're not seen as the victims but as the cause of the rape OR they don't even consider rape as a possible reason, Unreasonable prison sentences, etc.

 

in NYC certain places are dangerous but not all. I live in NYC, and commuted to school regularly. I never got jumped, but I'm not going to lie and say some areas didn't make me a bit uncomfortable. But all things considered I think NYC is just safer in the longrun.

 

Just curious, where in NYC do you live?

[ithelps]

I can see now how China may be a dangerous place. When I made this post, I originally meant danger in terms of murder, assault, etc. From what I been reading, it does seem like the U.S, have a higher rate of these crime than China. Honestly I don't even think America is even that much safer than China, at least, in NYC. I have called the cops a bunch of times before, and they are completely useless. Guy gets away, they do nothing. And it doesn't take them 1, 2, 3, or 4 hours to get to the scene, but whenever they feel like it. Just a couple weeks ago, some idiot was arguing with me in a restaurant how I stole his phone (he was just mad because he lost it), we called the cops we waited 4 hours, and they never arrived, called the ambulance, never arrived. Owner called the cops, never arrived. We even lie and said there was weapons, still no show. After 4 hours we both left, so we don't know if they actually came or not. We called the cops in total like 10 times. I am just tired of getting jump and beat up so that's why I wanted to ask this question. 

 

I live in Morris Park, in the Bronx. It's actually a very safe place, but you know, idiots like to hang out around in other people's neighborhood.

 

I won't get knock down by a car in China because I would jump in the sky if they try to touch me. I J walk all the time, nothing happens. I J walk in a running traffic. I like it, its cool lol.  

[grawrt]

j walking in NYC and j walking in china is different. lol. When my mom came to visit me she almost got hit twice because she thought she'd have no problems. Better to keep it safe!

 

I had a nagging feeling you were from the Bronx. I'm a queens girl myself, and I think Bronx, in terms of all 5 boroughs is the most dangerous (based on the crime rate statistics I read a year ago, old I know, sorry haven't been back home for a while).

 

But I think you'd probably feel more comfortable in China. Confrontations like that are rare. The only thing that will make you lose your mind is getting ripped off by taxis. I was in an insane situation trying to reason with Taxi drivers in Lijiang about how ridiculous it was to charge me double for a short-distance ride because they "had to come back". Every taxi driver standing around there were all in a pact so no one was willing to reason themseves down, and the only ones that did were about a 5-10 minute walk away from the rest of the pact, and not by much.

[Chris Two Times]

I lived near Harlem and in Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. Some may say these are unsafe neighborhoods, but I never had a problem with them.

 

Sometimes it's about luck. I have stumbled home drunk down 125th in Harlem after riding the subway at 3 in the morning. Definitely not a good move. I was an easy target, but luckily nothing happened to me.

 

That's my point about both NYC and China (I agree with Flickserve's point--it's pretty much comparing apples to auto transmissions to compare one city to a whole vast country). Both NYC and China can be safe and both can be threatening (violence against foreigners in China, while it may be rare here, is not unheard of--stumbling home drunk at 3am in China is also a bad move and can open one up to being jumped). It may depend on the time and place, just as much as it can depend on the moon being aligned with the sun and the planets and the stars.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

I won't get knock down by a car in China because I would jump in the sky if they try to touch me.

 

Come again?

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[gato]

Just to add another data point, the overall murder rate in the US is 5 times higher in the US than in China.

More than half of murders in China involve some kind of domestic violence. That number is about 10% in the US.

[淨土極樂]

The rule of the thumb is the crime in the West is usually violent, while in the East (China, Korea, Japan) it's more about con artists and pickpockets. Muggings are very rare this side of the globe.

[Chris Two Times]

 

 

The rule of the thumb is the crime in the West is usually violent, while in the East (China, Korea, Japan) it's more about con artists and pickpockets. Muggings are very rare this side of the globe.

 

I think it's hard to generalize: there's plenty of con artists and scammers in the West as well as plenty of violent crime (e.g., domestic violence, drunken assaults, and yes, muggings) in the East.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Johnny20270]

The rule of the thumb is the crime in the West is usually violent, while in the East (China, Korea, Japan) it's more about con artists and pickpockets. Muggings are very rare this side of the globe.

 

 

 

seems like a good 'loose' rule to me. I haven't even seen a fight in china yet. Standard occurrence across many towns in the UK on a Saturday evening. 

 

Although as an after-thought: its not necessarily safer nor more dangerous. Just means more idiots beating each other up. 

[TyO]

I won't get knock down by a car in China because I would jump in the sky if they try to touch me.

This might be the funniest thing I've read all month