I think that on the most part, the tours really do try to protect us, and I keep getting this feeling that in China they really don't want us to be running around on our own.
I have to agree with the bit about protecting you for tours in general, not just about Chinese tours. What varies is what it is you're being protected from. I got a chance to wander off from my tour in Shanghai also, on my first trip to China many years ago, and really have never taken a tour in China since. I say this because I got a very similar feeling in the tour I went on in Cairo last year. (In that case I think the tour guide thought he'd make more money if we were more dependent on him.)
I think most Chinese cities are reasonably safe, most of the time. They can be tiring and stressful, of course, but crime and civil disorder don't feature the way they do in many places. Even Shenzhen, which has a reputation for lawlessness and chaos, is pretty safe compared to many other big cities around the world. My last visit to China concentrated around taking the subways in all the cities I hadn't yet gotten a chance to ride the subways--transit enthusiast that I am--outside of rush hour, they're a fairly easy and efficient way to get around. (During rush hour, they're sardine cans.) But I had a lot of fun navigating their systems, and I think I was safer riding transit in Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen than I might be at similar times and places in, for example, Chicago, Philadelphia, or the Bay Area.
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Date: 2013-09-30 05:39 pm (UTC)I have to agree with the bit about protecting you for tours in general, not just about Chinese tours. What varies is what it is you're being protected from. I got a chance to wander off from my tour in Shanghai also, on my first trip to China many years ago, and really have never taken a tour in China since. I say this because I got a very similar feeling in the tour I went on in Cairo last year. (In that case I think the tour guide thought he'd make more money if we were more dependent on him.)
I think most Chinese cities are reasonably safe, most of the time. They can be tiring and stressful, of course, but crime and civil disorder don't feature the way they do in many places. Even Shenzhen, which has a reputation for lawlessness and chaos, is pretty safe compared to many other big cities around the world. My last visit to China concentrated around taking the subways in all the cities I hadn't yet gotten a chance to ride the subways--transit enthusiast that I am--outside of rush hour, they're a fairly easy and efficient way to get around. (During rush hour, they're sardine cans.) But I had a lot of fun navigating their systems, and I think I was safer riding transit in Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen than I might be at similar times and places in, for example, Chicago, Philadelphia, or the Bay Area.