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Mar. 30, 2005 I've been having a polite e-mail debate about the safety issue in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Hong Kong with an American man who seems to know them well. In a year and a half in China, I never encountered a single situation I'd characterize as really dangerous to myself or anyone. I did suffer a few minor swindles from vendors, pedicab drivers and taxidrivers, with total losses amounting to no more than $50 over the 18 months. And all the sources that I can find on Internet seem to corroborate the opinion that I held regarding these two cities. For example, Wikitravel, apparently connected with Wikipedia, rates them both as very safe. I don't believe that this appraisal is a mere whitewash, since Wikitravel does not shy from labeling a city dangerous, as for example, Rio de Janeiro, which I hope to visit in the near future. Anyway, my correspondent has told all sorts of horror stories about both Beijing and Hong Kong, including descriptions of murders, beatings and other violent crime, claiming that I just missed it all. It's true that I don't go out much at night, but I have done so and would do so again in either city. On one occasion in Beijing, at a bank, I saw a little Chinese lady, unarmed and all alone, receive about $2,000,000 cash in Chinese money, put it in a large paper shopping bag, exactly like the bags you used to get at the supermarket, and walk out on the sidewalk just as nonchalantly as can be. Could she do this in New York or Los Angeles? One thing I will admit is that if you should get in trouble in China, it's unlikely that anyone would help you or intercede in your behalf. Everyone would just look on indifferently, even worse than would be the case in the US. So I don't know what to make of this man's accounts. Frankly, I'm just a little shocked. I suppose that rising and retiring early has worked to keep me safe, and also the fact that I never go into nightclubs or bars, or take drugs, has kept me out of trouble. I've been in 47 countries, at all hours of the day and night, and I haven't had a great deal of trouble, but let me recount some of the incidents that I have experienced. In Los Angeles, I saw one murder, and was in the vicinity of 1 to 3 others. But the worst thing that happened to me personally was one strong-arm robbery. In New York, I was mugged once and assaulted three or four times, suffering about 20 thefts, but these were over a period of 4 years. Once also in Washington Square, I was surrounded by about 100 Black and Puerto Rican youths, who reviled and insulted me in the foulest language imaginable. When they looked as if they'd stampede, I slipped away, and nothing came of it. In San Diego, I suffered an attempted homosexual rape and endless police harassment. In Budapest, Hubgary, I was attacked. One man kicked me, and I threatened several others who had begun to guffaw with a large rock. One of the Hungarians jumped up and started to swing his chair at me, but I parried all the blows with my bag. In Frankfurt, Germany, I was attacked by two Romanian youths, who came flying at me with karate kicks. This lasted about one minute and they were gone. Another man pulled a butcher knife on me, but I could see he didn't intend to use it. Instead he called the police, and the incident blew over. In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, I was shaken down and robbed of $100 by four policeman in the bus terminal about 4 AM. In Lisbon, Portugal, a man tried to slash my bag as I lay on the grass in a park asleep at night. I woke before he got anything. I had $17,000 and a passport. In Athens, Greece, a man started chasing me late at night. I have no idea what he wanted, or whether he was armed, and I didn't wait to find out. In Copenhagen, Denmark, a group of teen-agers began taunting me, so I threw a large rock and hit them. I was afraid they'd come rushing over, but they didn't. In Morocco, on the train between Tangiers and Casablanca, a man who didn't like the way I was dressed jumped up and grabbed me by the neck, but the guards were there in a jiffy, and took him away, apologizing very courteously to me. In Gary, Indiana, one evening when I was in a car with three others, about 50 Blacks mobbed the car, climbing on the bumpers and fenders. We locked the doors and kept driving slowly. Five minutes later we had escaped. In London, England, the same thing happened. A gang of street urchins, White youths, mobbed a car that I was in, but we managed to escape. In Colombia, last spring, when our bus was 8 hours late, we entered at nightfall the terrorist- infested district between Ecuador and Cali that we were supposed to cross during the day. The driver came back and alerted us that we would be running a risk of an attack, so everyone was talking nervously and explaining to me what I should do in the event of an attack, but even though our bus broke down, and we were there a full day, nothing happened. I consider all these experiences minor. After all. I could have been killed, maimed, stranded, held hostage or put in a wheelchair. So far, in Latin America, reckless drivers seem to be the most dangerous people around, but I haven't gotten to the hotspots yet. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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