Is China/Japan a pretty safe country? That is what I heard.

[Temprano26]

Travelers have told me about China and Japan being really safe. One told me that in Japan he lost his camera at the park, went to the police and the police told him to go back to the park and in fact it was still there. Nobody had touched it. In China I heard the streets are safe even at night.

The point is whatever an individual does in China is reflected upon his/her family whereas in the US, the individual shames the individual.

I don't know about China but I know about Costa Rica because I lived there. In most areas I had to keep stuff chained to me so it didn't get stolen. Even the people that live there are ashamed of the bad apples that rob their own people at knifepoint for the next crack fix. Once I saw a mother screaming at her son because he stole something at a store. Latino cultures in general value family and they want to beat that into their children's heads before they become another stereotype as a common petty thief.

So does that mean people need something more than lengthy prison sentences to keep them from doing something wrong? A higher law than just getting arrested and going to jail?

[Winston]

You can't lump China and Japan in the same category. They are different. People in China hate Japan.

Yes Japan is safe, but very robotic and cold and cliquish. There's no eye contact with strangers.

In China, people are much more open with strangers. But they can be aggressive as well. There is more crime in China so it's not as safe as Japan.

What I heard was that if you are white, China people will be friendlier to you and give you extra courtesy. But if you are Asian, they will be pushy and rude because they assume you are a local.

[xiongmao]

I've visited both. Japan is very safe. China is safe if you're a foreigner. But there's a lot of crime there. However, the crime is mainly theft and stuff. When there was an armed robber in Chongqing a while back, it even made the headlines in the UK. That's how rare gun crime is in China.

The bigger danger in China is the complete lack of personal safety. People drive on any side of the road, electric bicycles make no noise and appear from anywhere, and random other stuff happens. There's just so much stuff to fall over/into on sidewalks, and the tallest hotels allow the windows to be opened on any floor.

One of my ex's told me a waitress opened the fridge door at the restaurant where we had our first date and the waitress got electrocuted and died. Scary stuff.

[djfourmoney]

The more equal a country is in terms of economics and education, the lower the crime rates are. It also helps that most countries with low crime rates are homogeneous.

In America some of the safest areas in the country are nearly homogeneous given our racial makeup.

Of course in America there is more too it than that. The safest cities in the US often have the highest per capita incomes and no segregated areas to push low income residents into. That's not to say there's no poverty in these areas, there is, I've met some of these people, usually White.

Using Latin America is a poor example because its very unfair society as a whole. Our working poor is considered middle class in Latin America to give you an idea.

[djfourmoney]

I've visited both. Japan is very safe. China is safe if you're a foreigner. But there's a lot of crime there. However, the crime is mainly theft and stuff. When there was an armed robber in Chongqing a while back, it even made the headlines in the UK. That's how rare gun crime is in China.

The bigger danger in China is the complete lack of personal safety. People drive on any side of the road, electric bicycles make no noise and appear from anywhere, and random other stuff happens. There's just so much stuff to fall over/into on sidewalks, and the tallest hotels allow the windows to be opened on any floor.

One of my ex's told me a waitress opened the fridge door at the restaurant where we had our first date and the waitress got electrocuted and died. Scary stuff.

I am assuming she was in low end housing, if so these sorts of accidents are normal around the world. We have UL, this would NEVER happen given the litigious nature of America.

[xiongmao]

Nah, it was in one of Guangzhou's most popular Cantonese restaurants.

It closed for a while, but money apparently exchanged hands, and it reopened. It was business as usual when I was living in that neighborhood.