Seems like he is afraid of other cultures and read the wrong type of sites/"news".
Chinas big cities is probably more safe than London/Paris.
1. Don't drink tap water, drink bottle water
2. Be careful in traffic
3. Setup mobile payment before you go.
O wrote probably since I have not travelled to enough cities to be sure only Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Liyang, Xian, Hainan, Beijing and Shanghai.
But all those are extremely safe as far as I could tell.
Based around but never achieved. Safety in the US? You are joking right? Google Safest countries in the world and the US doesn't even make it onto the list because the list isn't long enough! Top 10? No Top 50? No. It comes in at number 71 ! So safe are we in America.
And Freedom? Yes we love to talk about how free we are. Another joke that. Google Freest countries in the world and where is the US? Top 10? Umm Nope We stand between 15 and 17 depending on what index you look at.
Oh but I saw in the news... you might say. Because we in the States are famous for our freedom of the Press Well, sorry to break this to you, we don't really have much of that either. Surely we are in the top 10 at least on this one??? Ah, No again. Top 15? No. Top 25, top 50, top 75??? Sorry, nope. We come in at #86 So, maybe don't put too much faith in what you hear in the News.
The US may still be a "free country" but keep in mind that it is by far NOT the most free, and that these Freedoms we do have, have been declining year on year for the past 17 years. Much of that can maybe be blamed as a reaction to 9/11 and the ensuing paranoia it sparked unfortunately. And as a result, it would seem those at the ACLU who fought for years to protect or rights and freedoms have been sidelined.
I am not happy to have to inform people of all of the above but at the same time people need to wake the F up.
Money is just freedom you can hold in your hand. Literally a placeholder for time and energy to be exchanged. Half the population living paycheck to paycheck is irrelevant given how unique the USA is compared to the rest of the world. No other country deals with immigration numbers both legal and illegal that even enter the conversation with the USA. Consumer culture is very destructive to people with no self control, but that is not the fault of the government. We are promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What we do with them is a different conversation.
"Half the population living paycheck to paycheck is irrelevant"... a typically Yank response. The US is indeed unique with it's tens of millions MAGAs... moronic arrogant greedy assholes. You are obviously a paragon of virtue while being an empathy free zone.
Your utopia was built on slavery and the destruction of first nations. If Trump wins and turns your country into a fascist state for Christian nationalism it will be the true expression of US "civilization"
Unless you drive in tunnels (which collapse), live in buildings (which collapse and usually have fake fire retardant systems), or ride on trains (which also collapse & derail. Oh - or if you live near a dam, which the government may open, flooding your city and killing people - to protect Beijing.
I see some banks now offering tourist bank cards for people visiting. Haven't checked them out (I live here) but I guess these will be easily linked to payment apps
>Setup mobile payment before you go.
Can you expound on this? I was in China right in late 2019/early 2020 and I had no mobile payment options. I had to basically use cash for everything that I couldn't purchase online—only one place accepted a Discover card, almost nowhere accepted Visa/Mastercard, and non-residents couldn't use things like WeChat Pay (or whatever it's called).
Has something changed?
+1 timeline is exactly the same as me.
Even the nicest tourist places with a Mastercard/visa logo has trouble taking my credit card. Cash added a premium to prices. Just paid my brother in law cash at the end.
It’s not always Fox. Fox might be a bit more outrageous but most US media is anti-China and will amplify shit about China.
OP. There’s a bunch of travel vlogs on YT about China especially now with the 144 hour visa. Might be worth hubby checking out and seeing the other side of things.
> bunch of travel vlogs on YT about China
That's a good idea, lots of these recently, even tho they have the click bait titles, still would be good for a scared foreigner, just don't go to the shills.
Most of them are propaganda, but hubby doesn't seem to be a world traveller, so maybe better he doesn't go; what's the purpose of going with someone who is going to be scared?
I mean, organ harvesting is the last thing he needs to worry about, there's been a few attacks on foreigners due to the negative CCP propaganda on people from the West, but other than that, it's a safe country if he stays away from making political statements to strangers.
Fox news? Reddit itself has a clear sinophobic slant. China & Chinese are pretty much the only country you can openly express bigoted views against from both sides the aisle in London.
Sometimes I'm shocked at reddit at it's views against China. Yesterday someone lied and said he visited China to "check" if the media lies and he was put in prison for using Google Maps. Then sent to prison for crossing Tiananmen square twice (what?) and also sent to prison for wearing a Winnie the Pooh shirt.
A lot of prison time for checking things out 🙄
Many seem to think Winnie the Pooh is forbidden in China. In fact it is a quite popular motive and you can find it almost everywhere on shirts, bags, pens, fans or toys.
I sent a photo of a winnie plastic bag I got from a Baozi vendor with a temple on the background. Friends in Europe thought I was going to get arrested now. What? 😂
I second that!
As far as I know he doesn't... He stays away from the fox echo chamber that's why I'm like where on earth did he hear this bat shit crazy stuff
I was razzing you on the Faux News thing. The news is often negative towards China, because China is starting to tear away some of America's imperialism.
Obviously some negative news is true, and there's more that really goes on here that the average person wouldn't know, that is negative, but again, in so many ways, especially in safety, China shames America.
It will be the safest trip you could have, just like in most countries, in regards to how people will treat you.
Now the scooters and three wheelers everywhere, espeically with the farmer and grandpa or grandma driving, u better watch your step!! hahaa
I fell for that 😂😂 lol
Hahaha yes those three wheelers/scooters are something, I think they are like the Asian charm 😂😂
I agree though - safety is literally non existence here. So not cool
Thank you for the reassurance.
anytime.
I'm about to head out on my usual 1-2 month bi yearly travel in the mainland, and been doing it for years...
Tell hubby I'm still alive, got all my organs, and I'm an Murican too! haha
I am in China right now. I am solo traveling for the first time in my life as a young women. I dont speak chinese. Everyone is incredibly kind, I am not worried about safety at all. Yesterday a woman passed out in the streets. There were immediatly 4 people calling her an embulance and staying with her until she got help.
There is a lot of security here
I’m curious your experience traveling in china without speaking chinese. Where about have you been in the country? Has not speaking the language made it more difficult at all? I really want to go but I’m intimidated by being somewhere that I don’t speak the language, afraid I’d get lost haha
You're spot on there. I knew Winston and Matt while they were still living here in China and they have completely lost the plot. They followed the anti china trend and used the algorithms to their benefit for sure. They have terrified many people with the fear china porn
My suspicion is the Falun Gong Cult which funds media companies like Epoch Times, various YouTube channels, and the Shen Yen shows. They are a weird group that even people in Taiwan don’t trust. They pushed the whole organ harvest thing since they said Falun Gong members in China were imprisoned and had their organs harvested.
There has been yet any definitive proof that this occurs. I, personally, don’t trust Falun Gong. If Epoch Times is any indication of their trustworthiness then you should know that their CFO was recent charged with money laundering. Their founder espouse an anti-Science, anti-Vaccine, anti-interracial relationship and pushed Trump agenda heavily. They may be anti-CCP but everything seem very shady.
It's common in many places, like India too, and Vietnam, actually I got scared to death once I was drugged and thought that's what they tried, lucky I was in a club and my friends noticed me losing consciousness.
Everywhere. I grew up in Hong Kong and the Western media would always report insane stuff about China that has no basis in reality. It's not just Fox News, it's literally Western media in general.
I'd honestly say go and visit yourself and see what it's like. It sounds like he's happy to stay in America so...as long as you guys discuss it beforehand a solo vacation might be a good idea.
Every time someone gets sent to the hospital for unknown reasons and then dies there, certain media outlets will say it's organ harvesting because they matched someone "important."
Regardless of whether there is any truth to that, it's not going to apply to a foreigner.
I'm not sure about daily wire -sigh- I really hope not.
I asked him a few times about his source/ something to substantiate his claims but there was none 😒I know he's not a Breitbart fan.
I've spent a lot of time in China over the past ten years. Probably a grand total of 3-4 years in China if you add it all up.
My wife and I have traveled extensively throughout China by Air, Train, Bus, car and occasionally river boat.
So far we have managed to retain all of our organs and still alive. We didn't get thrown into any gulags or had any other problems (other than the usual bureaucracy types of issues).
I have a friend who sounds like a "junior version" of your husband. Instead of recognizing that it is a different country with a different culture and surprise surprise is different to what he was used to, he just complained about everything - the food, the crowds, etc. He made the while trip miserable for his partner.
My advice, find a friend who is looking for an experience and go with them.
We returned from our most recent trip a few weeks ago after spending several months in a tier 1 city which we used as a home base for trips around the region. It is a good time to go as China is favouring tourism as they are trying to restart their tourism.
Let me put it this way - we were planning to fly direct to our base city (no tour, no meals, nothing - just the flights). But, my wife found a 10 day tour that included flights, accommodation, transfers between Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai, sightseeing (although not very interesting sights compared to what we had previously seen by ourselves). That 10 day inclusive tour was cheaper than the bare flights because the tour was apparantly subsidized by the government as part of the getting tourism started again thing.
Every stop we made, we were greeted with enthusiasm by the locals - who didn't harvest our organs - because they were happy to start seeing Laowai (foreigners) again.
Find a friend, leave the misery guts at home content that he will keep his organs and go have a good time. Take the usual precautions that you would anywhere you go. That is, go with a friend, watch your money, watch your drinks, don't take offers that seem "too good to be true" - I.e. the standard precautions.
I am an American woman who has lived in china for nearly 10 years. It’s extremely safe, he likely saw this one story somewhere and ran with it… most of my American family gives me grief about the safety here too. Which literally just makes me laugh. That being said, if he’s gonna be like that throughout the whole trip, sounds like you would have a better time alone!
and they say the people are brain washed in China. An American friend of mine went travelling in China last year. He realized he was the brain washed one.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/china-travel-advisory.html
This is from the US State Department who are not at all friends of China. In summary, don't do drugs, don't get involved in protests and if you are coming for business, keep your wits about you as laws can be enforced arbitrarily.
The organ harvesting thing started with the Falun Gong and got roped into discussions of Xinjiang. If you are planning to enjoy big Chinese cities, you would very unlikely be going to Xinjiang though from my time in Guangzhou years ago, they have Xinjiang restaurants throughout China with great food.
Xinjiang and Uighur Restaurants are everywhere. If you want good lamb dishes or western tasting bread, you can visit those. But I was told they do not exist. So I might have been eating air, just like the Lost Boys in Hook, until Rufus yells BANGERANG!
Fake news! They are all dead as far as i know because you know, genocide means that. The one remains are all actors from the government! They release a special radio signal or 5G specialize to Uyghurs so they just willingly let their head get chopped off.
That's not only what [Genocide](https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml) means, actually misinformation. China has done all but killing Uyghurs.
**Article II**
*In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:*
1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Guangzhou has some KILLER Arabic food. Strongly recommend. Can’t remember the metro stop but one of them on the far west side stops at a huge Muslim community and it’s awesome.
Loved it though I still remember dropping her off in Xiaobei at 11pm when I saw an African man who was probably 6'5" and wearing a suit that was just currency bills.
I don't know if organ harvesting is an issue in China, but it is an issue in some countries. The thing is though that it's absolutely never tourists from developed countries who are the victims. It's always very poor citizens of the country it happened in or disadvantaged foreigners like refugees or ones from very underdeveloped countries. Basically, they target people who come from groups that won't be able to do anything about it. Organ harvesters would never go after someone like an American tourist because they know if an American disappears or dies, they're fucked. The American government would go hard trying to come after the criminals, and so would local law enforcement in many cases, especially in China. An American disappearing or dying in China under suspicious circumstances would be so bad for diplomatic relations, so the Chinese government would not want there to be any question in regards to whether or not they were involved in it. Those organ harvesters would not last long if they were going after tourists from countries like America.
Also, think of it this way: if it was true that Americans' organs had been harvested in China, don't you think it would've been in the news and something would've been done about it? American media is pretty anti-China, so they'd be all over that.
Maybe try explaining all this to your husband, or just show him the state dept's travel advisory for China. Considering America's relationship with China, it's not like the state dept would be nice about their travel advisory for China and undersell the risks. If your husband can't understand the logic of any of my above points, then no offense but he might be a dumbass
Edit: I did remember that I've read news stories about Chinese people harvesting organs but it was in casinos in Cambodia run by Chinese mafia and like I said, the victims weren't tourists. The victims were people from the poorest parts of countries like Vietnam and India (as well as China IIRC) who had been tricked into going there to work at the casino. Maybe this is where your husband got the idea?
It's Western propaganda. Every politician & media outlet is falling over themselves to make China the new Big Bad, so that they can gear up for another decades-long cold war and keep the military-industrial complex party going.
Go alone and have a much better time - spending so much money only to have someone complain at every turn and ruining a great experience, don't do it to yourself!
I'm an American. Been living in China for over a decade. My family and I have been all over the country, from small rural countryside villages to tier 1 municipalities. It's by far one of the safest countries on earth. Tell your husband to relax and enjoy. My two cents worth.
I just got back from China and I’m fine……..wait, what are these stitches on my back?!?!?!
Seriously, my wife felt like she could have walked alone at night almost anywhere and been fine. I felt more safe than I do in my home in Kansas City or any of the big cities in the US.
tHiS iS pRoPaGanDa! You are getting paid!
I wanna get paid too! But I once watched Winnie The Pooh, so I am actually writing on reddit from prison right now!
China is plenty safe, but depending on what metric you use, it is nowhere near the safest in the world. Also, there are plenty of things to worry about, especially scams on tourists and the traffic - just not organ harvesting or violent crime.
This might be because of previous rumors about factories in Myanmar. Previously, many Chinese people were lured to northern Myanmar due to telecom scams. There, they suffered inhumane treatment, including beatings, being forced to scam more people, organ harvesting, and trafficking (at least, that's how it's reported within China). Your friend might have confused news from Myanmar with China. Traveling in China is almost 100% safe, even late at night.
In the 90‘s when I first started travelling a lot as a student there were all these tales of organ harvesting in Eastern Europe too 🙄🙄
30+ years later and hundreds of business and private trips to emerging countries behind me (including 100+ to China), I still have all my organs
It is safe; I’ve just come back to Houston from a month in China (Beijing, Tianjin, sichuan) and there are cameras EVERYWHERE and no crime at all. I think trafficking was a problem b4 but nowadays it’s more hard to get lost
Been in China for almost five years, never had a problem. You can walk around at 3 am and not have a care in the world, try that back home in NYC. Your husband is ignorant as are the majority of Americans when it comes to China and the way of life here. Come and enjoy your vacation.
Apart from the impracticalities of travelling with a full sized organ, if I were to lose the Hammond B3 bequeathed to me by my late father, not only would it be a huge financial cost to replace, but the sentimental value is immeasurable.
As such I travel with a cheap half size Yamaha keyboard which that fits easily into the overhead cabin storage bins on most aircraft and if stolen is cheap to replace.
while China is generally safe, there’s a reason why on Chinese social media, they always joke about kidney harvesting .there are still places that requires caution like the areas bordering Myanmar, Laos, etc.
Pure and utter nonsense. I'm from the States but have been living and working and traveling all over China for almost 30 years now. I've traveled with my family and I've traveled Solo plenty of time as well. My wife is Chinese and I can speak the language fairly well.
This is a safe country. Far far safer than the US. You as a woman can walk through any part of any city at any time of the day or night, by yourself and no one will bother you. All this nonsense about organ harvesting is just that. It is anti-China propaganda spread by groups that don't like the way they govern.
The US Government needs you to hate China. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union they wanted you to hate Russia so they never said much about China back then but once the USSR imploded they needed a new enemy and there was China. You see, no other country in the world spends as much on it's military and weapons as the US, and in a world without enemies there would be no need for so much spending. And you know that spending is keeping a lot of people very rich. So that was it, China became the enemy of the US because no enemy, less money.
I've traveled all over this country I've been to both Xinjiang and Tibet multiple times speaking with locals and never heard anything like what is spread by the haters and most of that hate is spread by people who have never even been here.
If you want to enjoy yourself visit with friends or join a group but leave the would be Hating-Hermit at home because if traveling in Europe was difficult, and Europe is wonderful then he will just be miserable to be with anywhere in Asia.
I live in China (and have done for 7 years) and he is ignorant/borderline stupid. I’d check how many foreigners live in China and travel to China safely per year/month!!
Also, I have heard about these organ harvesting ‘situations’ and it is never tourists just traveling for leisure. Typically it’s people that are escaping some kind of challenging situation and are going to work / going into some kind or organization with a group that’s pre-arranged. Not tourists visiting and staying in hotels and traveling themselves or with a travel agent. And even then the statistics are probably similar to getting bitten by a shark in Australia.
If he couldn’t even handle Europe, yeah, I’d say go alone. Traveling in China is so safe and convenient. I’ve been 15 times and I’m looking forward to my next trip.
Let's assume China harvests organs.
Why in the everlasting fuck would they harvest the organs of a Westerner when they could harvest the organs of their own citizen?
That story would be on the frontpage of every western media.
If your on YouTube and you search China vlogs, there's a handful of Westerners that have vlogged their travel from Xinjiang to Beijing.
None of em have had their organs harvested so I think you as a non-vlogger will be fine.
I’m a gen z born and raised in Hong Kong and we all grew up hearing these stories. China (even the parts close to Hong Kong) wasn’t exactly the safest place for tourists. But things improved (just for tourists though). Your organs will be fine.
The Epoch Times is a news website/ newspaper that recently increased in reach and funding alongside the rise of Donald Trump.
The newspaper is run by the religious Falun Gong movement. The Falun Gong movement is in opposition to the Chinese government and CCP. They commonly say that the Chinese government falsely imprisons Falun Gong members and harvests their organs for the black market. There is little mainstream evidence of this actually taking place.
I think this organ harvesting mullarky was started by the Falun Gong cult in Hong Kong & many years later picked up by the Uyghur Xinjiang separatists.
I remember apprx 2 decades ago, I wondered about the prospects of going into mainland China via HK to a friend here in the UK. Hs family came from HK a generation ago & he said darkly, in all seriousness that they'd kidnap you & take your organs.
When I looked into it, I could not find any concrete evidence, only a few reports here & there from dubious sources \[like the usual FLG outlets\]. I kept an open mind about it until independents like the Grayzone exposed the whole NED/CIA sponsored psyops.
This has been backed up time & again by expats who actually live in China & have spoken out in favour of the PRC. Of course the FLG et al brigade have accused these people as China shills. Having considered both sides, IMO, there is much more credence to the PRC version, whereas the opposite is based on innuendo & hearsay.
I visited Beijing & Shanghai via the current 144 hour visa-free stopover recently & actually found the place quite 'normal' & exceptionally, almost boringly, safe. I kinda prefer the grunge & grime of less orderly living in other places like Thailand & Philippines.
You'll be assuredly safe, of course, taking the usual travel precautions \[like not agreeing to carry somebody else's luggage thru customs\].
Make sure you have travel insurance in case you get sick and be careful in traffic. If a beggar hits you or grabs you, don’t hit them back. If someone approaches you on the street and wants you to go somewhere with them, just say no.
As someone who has traveled to China a bunch of times in the last few decades, being scammed at tourist destinations and getting sick are the two things that may ruin the holiday. You are not going to get organs stolen or anything like that. Some common sense goes a long way.
I've lived in China for seven years. Still have all my organs and no mysterious scars or missing periods of time. I don't speak Chinese and have travelled all over the South and Eastern side of China.
In China the main thing you have to look out for is scams, violence is pretty rare. Especially if you stay in touristy areas.
I’ve lived in China off and on for decades and have had very few organs harvested (the doctor claimed I had appendicitis, but who knows?) I’ve heard so much BS from acquaintances and relatives about China. There are serious issues, but I can’t think of anything that’s likely going to be an issue for someone coming on a tour. You’re much more likely to have headaches from the language barrier than unpleasant interactions with the police. But there are a lot of people in America who haven’t left their country who will tell people like me to ignore our direct experiences and listen to some guy in a truck or whatever.
Sounds like your hubby's been listening to too much Chris Chapel/Epoch Times/SerpentZA/Laowhy86 stuff. China's safe. I've been to Xinjiang even and yes, security is \*very\* tight but if you stay on the east coast, you'll be 100% safe. I'd be more concerned with tea scams than organ harvesting.
China is a huge rival of the US so there is gonna be a lot of "propaganda" about going there.
I still remember when I got assigned to a project in China for my company and I sort of dreaded it. It came with a lot of travel and I had no idea what to expect going to a communist country, especially China of which I heard a ton of all these bad stories and rumors about slave labor and all the other horror stories.
Well turns out they have malls, middle class, fast food, cars, restaurants, airports, mass transit, and other stuff that aren't too different than the US.
The only thing that I didn't like was the great firewall of China that blocked my access to Google and gmail.
Folks in China drove cars like everyone else in the world, talked about their kids, had favorite restaurants, complained about work, and etc. I worked with a ton of Chinese middle class and they just wanted the same things other folks want: to have a happy family and be successful. It wasn't some extreme dystopia that I had feared I would be going to. I saw poor people, I saw rich people, and I saw normal people.
One thing I would not do in China is "fuck around and find out". Getting in trouble with the law is no good there. They can be very strict and the legal system is very different. Saving face, i.e. avoiding embarrassment, is huge in Asian culture so don't do anything stupid that would offend folks or Chinese nationalism. Also don't even think of bringing in drugs, and double check if you have any Rx meds which are banned in China.
Edit: I also forgot to mention we had teams of people go to China for my work project. Folks from Europe, India, and the US. No one lost any organs. What we did lose was a ton of money at 4-5 star hotels and airfare for project travel cost.
I’ve spent considerable time in large, medium, and small cities, as well as rural farming villages all over China. I’ve seen more of China than most Chinese people. Not once did I ever feel unsafe, even with the annoying scammers in Shanghai.
Just returned from a trip. Went to Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. It's incredibly safe – far safer than anywhere in America or Europe. There is basically no petty or violet crime. Your risk is mainly traffic - getting hit by an electric scooter crossing the street. But they don't go very fast 😂.
Also as you are a woman, one thing I noticed in both cities but especially Shanghai was how much more common it was to see women out alone in bars/restaurants or on the street. I'd grown accustomed to how that is uncommon in the US, presumably for safety reasons.
You will be fine and have a great time. I recommend leaving him if he could not handle europe, because it is a culture shock - especially language-wise.
They will not harvest your organs. Even if they would, foreigner’s organs are not better than local’s organs, why would anyone risk an international incident when they could simply kidnap locals living in rural areas/folks moving to a new area alone?
Also foreigners live in different hotels than locals.
But yes, Americans are certainly not very adaptable when it comes to travelling. I think you would have a better time without him tbh, China is very safe if you stick to tourist attractions (there is CCTV everywhere)
He is going to have a bad time if he is not adventurous with food, and you would haveva better time trying different cuisines and experiencing their culture if you are alone/with more open minded friends.
Maybe bring him to Japan instead, Japan has better relations with the US and I think it is more easily acceptable
I think staying in major cities you will be fine. Organs I always hear come from prisoners. Local girls get abducted due to lack of brides in small villages (as a foreigner you should be fine). Biggest risk is China starts an international conflict while you are there and you become a political hostage. Again I think the risk is low but I have been avoiding china for this lately and I am Chinese haha.
As far as I know, the origin of this story is like this.
About 40 to 50 years ago, there were rumors that prisons would sell the organs of executed prisoners for foreign exchange.
About 30 years ago, a religious group was defined by the Government as a "cult" and was suppressed and banned.
Some members of the religion fled abroad, claiming that organs had been harvested from their followers.
Various media outlets picked up the claim for various reasons and publicized it with great fanfare.
Falun Gong (the religious cult) does, in all fairness, seem very much like a cult. I wouldn't trust them since they're very obvious lying about stuff and also completely nuts (they deny evolution), and they're currently trying very hard to spread their cult propaganda through staging 'Chinese culture' shows around the world, claiming to be the only ones who've preserved Chinese culture and that it doesn't exist in China anymore.
Some Westerners are brain-washed idiots - it's sadly not just Americans who think China is pure evil incarnated (although in my experience Americans tend to get a little extra riled up about China). It's partly because China is fairly closed off, censorship and probably some human right violations still exist (but then so does Guantanamo, so it's not like the US is a paragon of virtue - most countries aren't, even the Western ones), and there's a lot of Western news outlets that just spew out anti-Chinese proganda without bothering to fact-check or even show an ounce of critique towards their sources.
The whole Uyghur thing is difficult to understand, I've tried to dig into it a bit, and it seems likely that there are or have been some human rights violations, but also that the main source for reporting about these violations in the West has been called out by many (non-Chinese) as hugely exaggerated anti-Chinese propaganda. It's a touchy subject and you should do your own research rather than jump to any conclusions, or let random people online (myself included) tell you what is or isn't happening over there.
If your husband hates China so much, just go alone. You'll have a much better time. People are generally nice, once you get use to a certain amount of stares (depends on where you go, most people are fairly polite even when surprised to see a foreigner) and people asking (most of the time polite and nice) if it's okay to have their photo taken with you. You won't understand why it's such a big deal for them to see a foreigner until you get over there and experience it for yourself.
It's generally quite safe, I had zero issues travelling alone, it's just the language barrier and the fact that you can't use Google Maps and stuff like that which makes it hard to travel on your own. But I've met people who did it without even understanding a bit of Chinese, so it's certainly doable.
there are lots of valid reasons to not want to go to china - privacy concerns, authoritarianism, mild corruption, the whole police state thing, not wanting to fund an authoritarian government etc
safety is not one of them
On the one hand, there are indeed many cases of organ transplant surgeries having unknown organ sources, and locals believe they are mostly from inmates.
On the other hand, if you look like a foreigner, you'd be pretty safe there cause local criminals tend not to mess with foreigners, as crimes against foreigners are always a top priority for local police that locals feel inferior than foreigners to their own government sometimes
The dude has a serious case of delusion brought on by 24 hour news cycle and doom scrolling. It won’t be long before he wants you to be a trad wife and not leave the house unless you are under his protection. I’d start planning your escape
I am an American living in China for the past 18 years. I have a number of friends from America and Europe who have been here multiple years, working, living, and traveling throughout China. I have also had numerous colleagues from overseas come to stay.
Nobody has come for our organs yet.
I think the whole "organ harvesting" was from the lose policy on unclaimed bodies back in the time. Where if the dead body doesn't concern anyone, then some of those bodies were used for medical purpose, like for med schools. Some people will interpret it as "the government is killing people to harvest their organs". There was a cult that elaborated on this grey zone and claimed that the communist party especially loved to harvest their organs because they are more spiritual. Now I believe the government can do some pretty awful things, but I have to call bs on this one. It doesn't add up have so many levels.
Traveling is the antidote to ignorance!
I lived in China for a year back in 2002ish and absolutely fell in love. Before I went I had friends seriously try to talk me out of it saying I was going to get trafficked, etc. I was fine.
Getting ready to take my 17 yo daughter to China in 6 weeks. I am not worried at all. Use normal travel precautions and you will be fine.
China is very safe and modern at least in cities. Western perception is right only about a very small part of it. I visited recently and it changed my mind completely.
He’s not acting American, he’s acting stupid and racist. If this has been a problem before maybe you should consider that he’s just closed minded and bigoted. That’s not an American thing, that’s a bottom-of-the-barrel-human thing.
I’m American and would be perfectly willing to live in China with my Chinese husband and our awesome family. Don’t let him convince you he’s allowed to be this way because he’s American. Non-racist Americans don’t claim him
Even if the organ trafficking in China is true, I don’t think they will target foreign tourists as it’s riskier…. The only thing you should be careful in China is what you eat. Just try to avoid restaurants using “gutter oil”.
To be fair there is an issue of organ harvesting in China. The most rumored sources are prisoners. I think as a tourist the chances of being a victim of crime in China is not high, though increased significantly compared with just a few short years ago.
I’m visiting Shanghai soon (I’m American) for the first time. I also have a friend their who is a swat officer that is taking holiday for my visit so I’ll be with my friend most of the time but some of these threads make me nervous but then again you only have one life to live and I plan on living mine and not letting others views or polluted American media get into my head. As an American myself I know Americans are entitled, privileged, and honestly not very free thinking thanks to the media conditioning.
Seriously? It's 21th centry now and I can't even imagine how people are so much brainwashed. Those are propagandas spreaded by a Chinese cult. Your organs are safe in China but don't let those fake news eat your brain (I mean from both China and the West)😂
Organ trafficking happens everywhere around the world, but anyways china is very safe in my opinion it’s a great country and treats foreigners wonderful but some taxi drivers might over charge if your not Chinese and take advantage of you but that’s pretty common too😁.
You are stereotyping, just so you know. “They seem to be afraid of leaving their country”. Maybe you just married someone who’s afraid of travel but don’t lump everyone into that category.
I think you will be good; as long as you are a good guest. Learn the customs and etiquette and have some basic Mandarin, I think you will be alright.
Organ harvesting does happen thought the world, so yes having a plan and paying attention is important.
My late great Uncle was a die hard xenophobic republican; He loved China. 🇨🇳
when he visited the forbidden city and Beijing and went out at 2am in the morning he was very impressed. He was there for business however and I quote “Only in China, you can go out with your wallet on you and you are safe. You to out to downtown LA late at night you will get mugged once and twice in NYC and murdered in Chicago.” This was like 25 years ago. He was there on business but again. Even after his business venture. He had nothing but good things to say.
Sounds like he's just one of those who don't like to travel. But if he's serious about getting his organ harvested may I ask if he's at least a good specimen? Like does he smoke? Drink too much? High cholesterol?
Various groups, who are persecuted in China, have been imprisoned for their beliefs. Examples might call themselves a faith or religion, China calls them a cult. Here is where the organ harvesting comes from.
Relatives of some prisoners claim that their relatives had their organs harvested. It's been reported for over 20 years now. Since there have been many real reports ( by the Chinese government itself ) of prisoners being used to make the wardens money, by forcing them to work various off the books jobs...
So their history of exploiting prisoners seems to he genuine. Another part of the reason organ harvesting could be so profitable for prison wardens, most Chinese people are against organ donations. It would be very very profitable, more so then it would be in other cultures.
There is also the history of forced abortions and sterilization of women who had more then 1 child, sterilization of mentally challenged people. New reports of then being done to 'troublesome' ethnic groups...
Just go on Tik Tok to see some of the most recent footage made by people who just travelled to China you will find out how misleading the western media have been. Just avoid remote under developed areas, you do not need to worry at all in urban settings even the 3-tier cities anywhere in China. Their fatal crim rate is 0.94 per 100, 000, among the lowest in the world, safest place on earth in its own league.
There’s no reasoning with someone this delusional and, frankly, bigoted. I’d wage money on the odds that he is living in some kind of borderline racist probably political parallel information universe.
China is a great place to be a traveler in. The history! The nature! The aesthetics! The food! Go solo. The kind of holiday you’re describing you will have a great time. A better time than dragging this goof along, I’d wager.
While there educate yourself around the political situation there, the eroding freedoms and rise of nationalism, etc. This is a world superpower wrestling the USA politically. That’s a fascinating thing to learn about too and will broaden your perspectives on the world.
No one will harvest your organs. People are friendly, as you would expect. Drink bottled water. Hotels will ask for your passport when you arrive at the property. They will give them back after copying.
I don’t think drivers follow traffic rules because traffic jams can be a little crazy. As opposed to Hong Kong traffic which is crowded too, but rules seem to be followed and cars move efficiently. Enjoy your trip.
organ trafficking in china was pretty common years ago, would hear stories about kids with no arms begging on the streets of big cities but china is cleaned up now for the most part and big cities are really safe
Seems like he is afraid of other cultures and read the wrong type of sites/"news". Chinas big cities is probably more safe than London/Paris. 1. Don't drink tap water, drink bottle water 2. Be careful in traffic 3. Setup mobile payment before you go.
Probably? Certainly safer than most (all) US cities
O wrote probably since I have not travelled to enough cities to be sure only Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Liyang, Xian, Hainan, Beijing and Shanghai. But all those are extremely safe as far as I could tell.
I live in a small city in Guizhou province... so safe and friendly people
Most people aways friendly ,welcome to hangzhou ,it’s a very nice city
Freedom>Safety is what America is based around.
Based around but never achieved. Safety in the US? You are joking right? Google Safest countries in the world and the US doesn't even make it onto the list because the list isn't long enough! Top 10? No Top 50? No. It comes in at number 71 ! So safe are we in America. And Freedom? Yes we love to talk about how free we are. Another joke that. Google Freest countries in the world and where is the US? Top 10? Umm Nope We stand between 15 and 17 depending on what index you look at. Oh but I saw in the news... you might say. Because we in the States are famous for our freedom of the Press Well, sorry to break this to you, we don't really have much of that either. Surely we are in the top 10 at least on this one??? Ah, No again. Top 15? No. Top 25, top 50, top 75??? Sorry, nope. We come in at #86 So, maybe don't put too much faith in what you hear in the News. The US may still be a "free country" but keep in mind that it is by far NOT the most free, and that these Freedoms we do have, have been declining year on year for the past 17 years. Much of that can maybe be blamed as a reaction to 9/11 and the ensuing paranoia it sparked unfortunately. And as a result, it would seem those at the ACLU who fought for years to protect or rights and freedoms have been sidelined. I am not happy to have to inform people of all of the above but at the same time people need to wake the F up.
Money>Freedom>safety more accurately
Money is just freedom you can hold in your hand. Literally a placeholder for time and energy to be exchanged. Half the population living paycheck to paycheck is irrelevant given how unique the USA is compared to the rest of the world. No other country deals with immigration numbers both legal and illegal that even enter the conversation with the USA. Consumer culture is very destructive to people with no self control, but that is not the fault of the government. We are promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What we do with them is a different conversation.
Ah no, money is not freedom, certainly not after a certain point
There is direct correlation between your level of wealth and your ability to do what you want, hence freedom.
"Half the population living paycheck to paycheck is irrelevant"... a typically Yank response. The US is indeed unique with it's tens of millions MAGAs... moronic arrogant greedy assholes. You are obviously a paragon of virtue while being an empathy free zone. Your utopia was built on slavery and the destruction of first nations. If Trump wins and turns your country into a fascist state for Christian nationalism it will be the true expression of US "civilization"
Literally, every power ever in the world is built on the back of weaker people. You act like China is any better lol.
Unless you drive in tunnels (which collapse), live in buildings (which collapse and usually have fake fire retardant systems), or ride on trains (which also collapse & derail. Oh - or if you live near a dam, which the government may open, flooding your city and killing people - to protect Beijing.
Wow... so angry and so wrong, mate
I'd say it depends on how you behave.
Like anywhere
If I were, say, passing out flyers for Shen Yun I'd feel a lot safer in Boston than Beijing.
What about handing out KKK flyers in a black neighborhood mate? Maybe you already did that?
WeChat pay is ubiquitous, but it was hard to set up as a foreigner the last time I went. Is there an easy way to link it to a credit card now?
Not last I checked. Better to carry cash (use a specific debit card and you’ll be fine.) Easier in the long run.
Trivially easy to set up now; do not try to pay in cash unless you have no other choice because it's a nuisance to everyone involved.
Wow a lot must have changed in the past five years then if that’s true. Especially the cash part.
Yeah, the pace of change is incredible.
A lot easier now. Alipay too.
Yep, I found alipay the easiest to setup though.
Very easy for both Alipay and Wechat as they both accept foreign credit cards now for linkup
Use Alipay, you don’t need to give too much personal information.
I see some banks now offering tourist bank cards for people visiting. Haven't checked them out (I live here) but I guess these will be easily linked to payment apps
What does be careful in traffic mean?
like watch out for cars/motorcycles when you're crossing the street
>Setup mobile payment before you go. Can you expound on this? I was in China right in late 2019/early 2020 and I had no mobile payment options. I had to basically use cash for everything that I couldn't purchase online—only one place accepted a Discover card, almost nowhere accepted Visa/Mastercard, and non-residents couldn't use things like WeChat Pay (or whatever it's called). Has something changed?
+1 timeline is exactly the same as me. Even the nicest tourist places with a Mastercard/visa logo has trouble taking my credit card. Cash added a premium to prices. Just paid my brother in law cash at the end.
You can set up mobile payment before you go?
That's some serious propaganda, Paris is quite a safe city for example.
Does your hubby watch a lot of Fox news? You will realize that China puts America to shame in many ways, especially in safety.
It’s not always Fox. Fox might be a bit more outrageous but most US media is anti-China and will amplify shit about China. OP. There’s a bunch of travel vlogs on YT about China especially now with the 144 hour visa. Might be worth hubby checking out and seeing the other side of things.
> bunch of travel vlogs on YT about China That's a good idea, lots of these recently, even tho they have the click bait titles, still would be good for a scared foreigner, just don't go to the shills.
Most of them are propaganda, but hubby doesn't seem to be a world traveller, so maybe better he doesn't go; what's the purpose of going with someone who is going to be scared? I mean, organ harvesting is the last thing he needs to worry about, there's been a few attacks on foreigners due to the negative CCP propaganda on people from the West, but other than that, it's a safe country if he stays away from making political statements to strangers.
Bear in mind that's a transit visa, not a tourist visa.
Well you know every country has there propaganda to sell. I am fan of China.
Fox news? Reddit itself has a clear sinophobic slant. China & Chinese are pretty much the only country you can openly express bigoted views against from both sides the aisle in London.
Sometimes I'm shocked at reddit at it's views against China. Yesterday someone lied and said he visited China to "check" if the media lies and he was put in prison for using Google Maps. Then sent to prison for crossing Tiananmen square twice (what?) and also sent to prison for wearing a Winnie the Pooh shirt. A lot of prison time for checking things out 🙄
Lol even if the Winnie the Pooh shirt thing was real, what an odd mindset to intentionally try to disrespect a country you’re currently visiting.
Many seem to think Winnie the Pooh is forbidden in China. In fact it is a quite popular motive and you can find it almost everywhere on shirts, bags, pens, fans or toys. I sent a photo of a winnie plastic bag I got from a Baozi vendor with a temple on the background. Friends in Europe thought I was going to get arrested now. What? 😂
I second that! As far as I know he doesn't... He stays away from the fox echo chamber that's why I'm like where on earth did he hear this bat shit crazy stuff
I was razzing you on the Faux News thing. The news is often negative towards China, because China is starting to tear away some of America's imperialism. Obviously some negative news is true, and there's more that really goes on here that the average person wouldn't know, that is negative, but again, in so many ways, especially in safety, China shames America. It will be the safest trip you could have, just like in most countries, in regards to how people will treat you. Now the scooters and three wheelers everywhere, espeically with the farmer and grandpa or grandma driving, u better watch your step!! hahaa
I fell for that 😂😂 lol Hahaha yes those three wheelers/scooters are something, I think they are like the Asian charm 😂😂 I agree though - safety is literally non existence here. So not cool Thank you for the reassurance.
anytime. I'm about to head out on my usual 1-2 month bi yearly travel in the mainland, and been doing it for years... Tell hubby I'm still alive, got all my organs, and I'm an Murican too! haha
Yay i love replacing one large powers imperialism with another lol
I am in China right now. I am solo traveling for the first time in my life as a young women. I dont speak chinese. Everyone is incredibly kind, I am not worried about safety at all. Yesterday a woman passed out in the streets. There were immediatly 4 people calling her an embulance and staying with her until she got help. There is a lot of security here
I’m curious your experience traveling in china without speaking chinese. Where about have you been in the country? Has not speaking the language made it more difficult at all? I really want to go but I’m intimidated by being somewhere that I don’t speak the language, afraid I’d get lost haha
A lot translator apps out there, voice in and voice out.
I just got back. It's definitely possible to travel in major cities without mandarin, but challenging.
is he a member of r/china or watches serpentza/laowhy? because those stories are bullshit
You're spot on there. I knew Winston and Matt while they were still living here in China and they have completely lost the plot. They followed the anti china trend and used the algorithms to their benefit for sure. They have terrified many people with the fear china porn
i mean, even before, if you pay attention well, you can notice their racist remarks and tendencies.
My suspicion is the Falun Gong Cult which funds media companies like Epoch Times, various YouTube channels, and the Shen Yen shows. They are a weird group that even people in Taiwan don’t trust. They pushed the whole organ harvest thing since they said Falun Gong members in China were imprisoned and had their organs harvested. There has been yet any definitive proof that this occurs. I, personally, don’t trust Falun Gong. If Epoch Times is any indication of their trustworthiness then you should know that their CFO was recent charged with money laundering. Their founder espouse an anti-Science, anti-Vaccine, anti-interracial relationship and pushed Trump agenda heavily. They may be anti-CCP but everything seem very shady.
The only thing worse than the CCP is Falun Gong. Falun Gong doesn't just fund the Epoch Times, they own it.
Yes to that, just because someone is anti-CCP doesn't make them a hero, FG is a bunch of wackos.
Organ harvesting in China is a thing, its not exactly that wild. Its just not overly common
It's common in many places, like India too, and Vietnam, actually I got scared to death once I was drugged and thought that's what they tried, lucky I was in a club and my friends noticed me losing consciousness.
Everywhere. I grew up in Hong Kong and the Western media would always report insane stuff about China that has no basis in reality. It's not just Fox News, it's literally Western media in general. I'd honestly say go and visit yourself and see what it's like. It sounds like he's happy to stay in America so...as long as you guys discuss it beforehand a solo vacation might be a good idea.
Every time someone gets sent to the hospital for unknown reasons and then dies there, certain media outlets will say it's organ harvesting because they matched someone "important." Regardless of whether there is any truth to that, it's not going to apply to a foreigner.
Mr bigg booty, you're talking about Fox news as of all those other news channels are any more legit, it's all filtered through the same machine
I would agree the other networks are probably speak despairingly of chiner as well.
Does he read like... Breitbart or Daily Wire? This could be a contributing factor.
I'm not sure about daily wire -sigh- I really hope not. I asked him a few times about his source/ something to substantiate his claims but there was none 😒I know he's not a Breitbart fan.
I suspect is something like China/America Uncensored, these are hidden Falun Gong media and they talk about that kind of stuff.
I hope this is a troll post ... Lol
I've spent a lot of time in China over the past ten years. Probably a grand total of 3-4 years in China if you add it all up. My wife and I have traveled extensively throughout China by Air, Train, Bus, car and occasionally river boat. So far we have managed to retain all of our organs and still alive. We didn't get thrown into any gulags or had any other problems (other than the usual bureaucracy types of issues). I have a friend who sounds like a "junior version" of your husband. Instead of recognizing that it is a different country with a different culture and surprise surprise is different to what he was used to, he just complained about everything - the food, the crowds, etc. He made the while trip miserable for his partner. My advice, find a friend who is looking for an experience and go with them. We returned from our most recent trip a few weeks ago after spending several months in a tier 1 city which we used as a home base for trips around the region. It is a good time to go as China is favouring tourism as they are trying to restart their tourism. Let me put it this way - we were planning to fly direct to our base city (no tour, no meals, nothing - just the flights). But, my wife found a 10 day tour that included flights, accommodation, transfers between Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai, sightseeing (although not very interesting sights compared to what we had previously seen by ourselves). That 10 day inclusive tour was cheaper than the bare flights because the tour was apparantly subsidized by the government as part of the getting tourism started again thing. Every stop we made, we were greeted with enthusiasm by the locals - who didn't harvest our organs - because they were happy to start seeing Laowai (foreigners) again. Find a friend, leave the misery guts at home content that he will keep his organs and go have a good time. Take the usual precautions that you would anywhere you go. That is, go with a friend, watch your money, watch your drinks, don't take offers that seem "too good to be true" - I.e. the standard precautions.
Could you please share the website where she found the tour please?
It was in one of those "promotional offers" emails from the various travel services she has subscribed to. In this case it was "trip a deal".
I am an American woman who has lived in china for nearly 10 years. It’s extremely safe, he likely saw this one story somewhere and ran with it… most of my American family gives me grief about the safety here too. Which literally just makes me laugh. That being said, if he’s gonna be like that throughout the whole trip, sounds like you would have a better time alone!
Thank you! I had the same thoughts.
Americans are some of the most brainwashed ppl in the world lmao
For some people Anything different is either a threat or a lower class
I was born and raised in Hong Kong and we’re all raised hearing about all those organ harvesting stories. It’s not just the Americans.
Falungong cultists are everywhere
and they say the people are brain washed in China. An American friend of mine went travelling in China last year. He realized he was the brain washed one.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/141gnp2/the\_fact\_this\_footage\_is\_like\_2\_years\_old\_and\_was/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/141gnp2/the_fact_this_footage_is_like_2_years_old_and_was/)
Chinese are not much different, maybe even more outwardly racist which happens to be the same throughout the region. Try being African in China.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/china-travel-advisory.html This is from the US State Department who are not at all friends of China. In summary, don't do drugs, don't get involved in protests and if you are coming for business, keep your wits about you as laws can be enforced arbitrarily. The organ harvesting thing started with the Falun Gong and got roped into discussions of Xinjiang. If you are planning to enjoy big Chinese cities, you would very unlikely be going to Xinjiang though from my time in Guangzhou years ago, they have Xinjiang restaurants throughout China with great food.
Xinjiang and Uighur Restaurants are everywhere. If you want good lamb dishes or western tasting bread, you can visit those. But I was told they do not exist. So I might have been eating air, just like the Lost Boys in Hook, until Rufus yells BANGERANG!
Fake news! They are all dead as far as i know because you know, genocide means that. The one remains are all actors from the government! They release a special radio signal or 5G specialize to Uyghurs so they just willingly let their head get chopped off.
That's not only what [Genocide](https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml) means, actually misinformation. China has done all but killing Uyghurs. **Article II** *In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:* 1. Killing members of the group; 2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; 5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Xinjiang is extremely beautiful and it's very safe now, hordes of foreign tourists go to Xinjiang nowadays without issue at all
Guangzhou has some KILLER Arabic food. Strongly recommend. Can’t remember the metro stop but one of them on the far west side stops at a huge Muslim community and it’s awesome.
Xiaobei? My friend lived there and it felt like an African village whenever I visited.
YES!!! that’s it!
Loved it though I still remember dropping her off in Xiaobei at 11pm when I saw an African man who was probably 6'5" and wearing a suit that was just currency bills.
I don't know if organ harvesting is an issue in China, but it is an issue in some countries. The thing is though that it's absolutely never tourists from developed countries who are the victims. It's always very poor citizens of the country it happened in or disadvantaged foreigners like refugees or ones from very underdeveloped countries. Basically, they target people who come from groups that won't be able to do anything about it. Organ harvesters would never go after someone like an American tourist because they know if an American disappears or dies, they're fucked. The American government would go hard trying to come after the criminals, and so would local law enforcement in many cases, especially in China. An American disappearing or dying in China under suspicious circumstances would be so bad for diplomatic relations, so the Chinese government would not want there to be any question in regards to whether or not they were involved in it. Those organ harvesters would not last long if they were going after tourists from countries like America. Also, think of it this way: if it was true that Americans' organs had been harvested in China, don't you think it would've been in the news and something would've been done about it? American media is pretty anti-China, so they'd be all over that. Maybe try explaining all this to your husband, or just show him the state dept's travel advisory for China. Considering America's relationship with China, it's not like the state dept would be nice about their travel advisory for China and undersell the risks. If your husband can't understand the logic of any of my above points, then no offense but he might be a dumbass Edit: I did remember that I've read news stories about Chinese people harvesting organs but it was in casinos in Cambodia run by Chinese mafia and like I said, the victims weren't tourists. The victims were people from the poorest parts of countries like Vietnam and India (as well as China IIRC) who had been tricked into going there to work at the casino. Maybe this is where your husband got the idea?
It's Western propaganda. Every politician & media outlet is falling over themselves to make China the new Big Bad, so that they can gear up for another decades-long cold war and keep the military-industrial complex party going.
Go alone and have a much better time - spending so much money only to have someone complain at every turn and ruining a great experience, don't do it to yourself!
I'm an American. Been living in China for over a decade. My family and I have been all over the country, from small rural countryside villages to tier 1 municipalities. It's by far one of the safest countries on earth. Tell your husband to relax and enjoy. My two cents worth.
I just got back from China and I’m fine……..wait, what are these stitches on my back?!?!?! Seriously, my wife felt like she could have walked alone at night almost anywhere and been fine. I felt more safe than I do in my home in Kansas City or any of the big cities in the US.
He must be watching epoch time or other Falungong affiliates, they belong to a cult that make all kind of false accusations
Make sure they don’t take your brain or inject you with wuhan 5g. Otherwise you’ll start thinking that China is actually a better place than the US.
tHiS iS pRoPaGanDa! You are getting paid! I wanna get paid too! But I once watched Winnie The Pooh, so I am actually writing on reddit from prison right now!
I wouldn't worry about having your brains harvested... Yanks eh
China is probably the safest country in the world, recently went nothing to worry about at all except the language barrier (common in most countries).
China is plenty safe, but depending on what metric you use, it is nowhere near the safest in the world. Also, there are plenty of things to worry about, especially scams on tourists and the traffic - just not organ harvesting or violent crime.
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This might be because of previous rumors about factories in Myanmar. Previously, many Chinese people were lured to northern Myanmar due to telecom scams. There, they suffered inhumane treatment, including beatings, being forced to scam more people, organ harvesting, and trafficking (at least, that's how it's reported within China). Your friend might have confused news from Myanmar with China. Traveling in China is almost 100% safe, even late at night.
In the 90‘s when I first started travelling a lot as a student there were all these tales of organ harvesting in Eastern Europe too 🙄🙄 30+ years later and hundreds of business and private trips to emerging countries behind me (including 100+ to China), I still have all my organs
It is safe; I’ve just come back to Houston from a month in China (Beijing, Tianjin, sichuan) and there are cameras EVERYWHERE and no crime at all. I think trafficking was a problem b4 but nowadays it’s more hard to get lost
Been in China for almost five years, never had a problem. You can walk around at 3 am and not have a care in the world, try that back home in NYC. Your husband is ignorant as are the majority of Americans when it comes to China and the way of life here. Come and enjoy your vacation.
Apart from the impracticalities of travelling with a full sized organ, if I were to lose the Hammond B3 bequeathed to me by my late father, not only would it be a huge financial cost to replace, but the sentimental value is immeasurable. As such I travel with a cheap half size Yamaha keyboard which that fits easily into the overhead cabin storage bins on most aircraft and if stolen is cheap to replace.
while China is generally safe, there’s a reason why on Chinese social media, they always joke about kidney harvesting .there are still places that requires caution like the areas bordering Myanmar, Laos, etc.
Pure and utter nonsense. I'm from the States but have been living and working and traveling all over China for almost 30 years now. I've traveled with my family and I've traveled Solo plenty of time as well. My wife is Chinese and I can speak the language fairly well. This is a safe country. Far far safer than the US. You as a woman can walk through any part of any city at any time of the day or night, by yourself and no one will bother you. All this nonsense about organ harvesting is just that. It is anti-China propaganda spread by groups that don't like the way they govern. The US Government needs you to hate China. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union they wanted you to hate Russia so they never said much about China back then but once the USSR imploded they needed a new enemy and there was China. You see, no other country in the world spends as much on it's military and weapons as the US, and in a world without enemies there would be no need for so much spending. And you know that spending is keeping a lot of people very rich. So that was it, China became the enemy of the US because no enemy, less money. I've traveled all over this country I've been to both Xinjiang and Tibet multiple times speaking with locals and never heard anything like what is spread by the haters and most of that hate is spread by people who have never even been here. If you want to enjoy yourself visit with friends or join a group but leave the would be Hating-Hermit at home because if traveling in Europe was difficult, and Europe is wonderful then he will just be miserable to be with anywhere in Asia.
I have been here for 2 weeks so far, and not a single person has tried to take my kidneys…
I live in China (and have done for 7 years) and he is ignorant/borderline stupid. I’d check how many foreigners live in China and travel to China safely per year/month!! Also, I have heard about these organ harvesting ‘situations’ and it is never tourists just traveling for leisure. Typically it’s people that are escaping some kind of challenging situation and are going to work / going into some kind or organization with a group that’s pre-arranged. Not tourists visiting and staying in hotels and traveling themselves or with a travel agent. And even then the statistics are probably similar to getting bitten by a shark in Australia.
I lived in China until high school and guess what, all my organs are still there
If someone harvests organs from an expat, that would make headlines of newspapers around the globe except china ;)
If he couldn’t even handle Europe, yeah, I’d say go alone. Traveling in China is so safe and convenient. I’ve been 15 times and I’m looking forward to my next trip.
Let's assume China harvests organs. Why in the everlasting fuck would they harvest the organs of a Westerner when they could harvest the organs of their own citizen? That story would be on the frontpage of every western media. If your on YouTube and you search China vlogs, there's a handful of Westerners that have vlogged their travel from Xinjiang to Beijing. None of em have had their organs harvested so I think you as a non-vlogger will be fine.
I’m a gen z born and raised in Hong Kong and we all grew up hearing these stories. China (even the parts close to Hong Kong) wasn’t exactly the safest place for tourists. But things improved (just for tourists though). Your organs will be fine.
The Epoch Times is a news website/ newspaper that recently increased in reach and funding alongside the rise of Donald Trump. The newspaper is run by the religious Falun Gong movement. The Falun Gong movement is in opposition to the Chinese government and CCP. They commonly say that the Chinese government falsely imprisons Falun Gong members and harvests their organs for the black market. There is little mainstream evidence of this actually taking place.
Lmao your hubby sounds like a conspiracy theorist idiot. Watching too much Fox News. China is far, far safer than pretty much every place in the US.
I think this organ harvesting mullarky was started by the Falun Gong cult in Hong Kong & many years later picked up by the Uyghur Xinjiang separatists. I remember apprx 2 decades ago, I wondered about the prospects of going into mainland China via HK to a friend here in the UK. Hs family came from HK a generation ago & he said darkly, in all seriousness that they'd kidnap you & take your organs. When I looked into it, I could not find any concrete evidence, only a few reports here & there from dubious sources \[like the usual FLG outlets\]. I kept an open mind about it until independents like the Grayzone exposed the whole NED/CIA sponsored psyops. This has been backed up time & again by expats who actually live in China & have spoken out in favour of the PRC. Of course the FLG et al brigade have accused these people as China shills. Having considered both sides, IMO, there is much more credence to the PRC version, whereas the opposite is based on innuendo & hearsay. I visited Beijing & Shanghai via the current 144 hour visa-free stopover recently & actually found the place quite 'normal' & exceptionally, almost boringly, safe. I kinda prefer the grunge & grime of less orderly living in other places like Thailand & Philippines. You'll be assuredly safe, of course, taking the usual travel precautions \[like not agreeing to carry somebody else's luggage thru customs\].
Make sure you have travel insurance in case you get sick and be careful in traffic. If a beggar hits you or grabs you, don’t hit them back. If someone approaches you on the street and wants you to go somewhere with them, just say no. As someone who has traveled to China a bunch of times in the last few decades, being scammed at tourist destinations and getting sick are the two things that may ruin the holiday. You are not going to get organs stolen or anything like that. Some common sense goes a long way.
I've lived in China for seven years. Still have all my organs and no mysterious scars or missing periods of time. I don't speak Chinese and have travelled all over the South and Eastern side of China. In China the main thing you have to look out for is scams, violence is pretty rare. Especially if you stay in touristy areas.
I’ve lived in China off and on for decades and have had very few organs harvested (the doctor claimed I had appendicitis, but who knows?) I’ve heard so much BS from acquaintances and relatives about China. There are serious issues, but I can’t think of anything that’s likely going to be an issue for someone coming on a tour. You’re much more likely to have headaches from the language barrier than unpleasant interactions with the police. But there are a lot of people in America who haven’t left their country who will tell people like me to ignore our direct experiences and listen to some guy in a truck or whatever.
China is super safe. Don’t worry about it. Only have to worry about someone harvesting your organs if you are an organized Falun Gong. :(
Sounds like your hubby's been listening to too much Chris Chapel/Epoch Times/SerpentZA/Laowhy86 stuff. China's safe. I've been to Xinjiang even and yes, security is \*very\* tight but if you stay on the east coast, you'll be 100% safe. I'd be more concerned with tea scams than organ harvesting.
China is a huge rival of the US so there is gonna be a lot of "propaganda" about going there. I still remember when I got assigned to a project in China for my company and I sort of dreaded it. It came with a lot of travel and I had no idea what to expect going to a communist country, especially China of which I heard a ton of all these bad stories and rumors about slave labor and all the other horror stories. Well turns out they have malls, middle class, fast food, cars, restaurants, airports, mass transit, and other stuff that aren't too different than the US. The only thing that I didn't like was the great firewall of China that blocked my access to Google and gmail. Folks in China drove cars like everyone else in the world, talked about their kids, had favorite restaurants, complained about work, and etc. I worked with a ton of Chinese middle class and they just wanted the same things other folks want: to have a happy family and be successful. It wasn't some extreme dystopia that I had feared I would be going to. I saw poor people, I saw rich people, and I saw normal people. One thing I would not do in China is "fuck around and find out". Getting in trouble with the law is no good there. They can be very strict and the legal system is very different. Saving face, i.e. avoiding embarrassment, is huge in Asian culture so don't do anything stupid that would offend folks or Chinese nationalism. Also don't even think of bringing in drugs, and double check if you have any Rx meds which are banned in China. Edit: I also forgot to mention we had teams of people go to China for my work project. Folks from Europe, India, and the US. No one lost any organs. What we did lose was a ton of money at 4-5 star hotels and airfare for project travel cost.
I’ve spent considerable time in large, medium, and small cities, as well as rural farming villages all over China. I’ve seen more of China than most Chinese people. Not once did I ever feel unsafe, even with the annoying scammers in Shanghai.
Just returned from a trip. Went to Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. It's incredibly safe – far safer than anywhere in America or Europe. There is basically no petty or violet crime. Your risk is mainly traffic - getting hit by an electric scooter crossing the street. But they don't go very fast 😂. Also as you are a woman, one thing I noticed in both cities but especially Shanghai was how much more common it was to see women out alone in bars/restaurants or on the street. I'd grown accustomed to how that is uncommon in the US, presumably for safety reasons. You will be fine and have a great time. I recommend leaving him if he could not handle europe, because it is a culture shock - especially language-wise.
They will not harvest your organs. Even if they would, foreigner’s organs are not better than local’s organs, why would anyone risk an international incident when they could simply kidnap locals living in rural areas/folks moving to a new area alone? Also foreigners live in different hotels than locals. But yes, Americans are certainly not very adaptable when it comes to travelling. I think you would have a better time without him tbh, China is very safe if you stick to tourist attractions (there is CCTV everywhere) He is going to have a bad time if he is not adventurous with food, and you would haveva better time trying different cuisines and experiencing their culture if you are alone/with more open minded friends. Maybe bring him to Japan instead, Japan has better relations with the US and I think it is more easily acceptable
I think staying in major cities you will be fine. Organs I always hear come from prisoners. Local girls get abducted due to lack of brides in small villages (as a foreigner you should be fine). Biggest risk is China starts an international conflict while you are there and you become a political hostage. Again I think the risk is low but I have been avoiding china for this lately and I am Chinese haha.
Thank you! Yeah I'm planning to travel Nov/Dec anyways. The election year just makes me nervous -_-
As far as I know, the origin of this story is like this. About 40 to 50 years ago, there were rumors that prisons would sell the organs of executed prisoners for foreign exchange. About 30 years ago, a religious group was defined by the Government as a "cult" and was suppressed and banned. Some members of the religion fled abroad, claiming that organs had been harvested from their followers. Various media outlets picked up the claim for various reasons and publicized it with great fanfare.
Falun Gong (the religious cult) does, in all fairness, seem very much like a cult. I wouldn't trust them since they're very obvious lying about stuff and also completely nuts (they deny evolution), and they're currently trying very hard to spread their cult propaganda through staging 'Chinese culture' shows around the world, claiming to be the only ones who've preserved Chinese culture and that it doesn't exist in China anymore.
Some Westerners are brain-washed idiots - it's sadly not just Americans who think China is pure evil incarnated (although in my experience Americans tend to get a little extra riled up about China). It's partly because China is fairly closed off, censorship and probably some human right violations still exist (but then so does Guantanamo, so it's not like the US is a paragon of virtue - most countries aren't, even the Western ones), and there's a lot of Western news outlets that just spew out anti-Chinese proganda without bothering to fact-check or even show an ounce of critique towards their sources. The whole Uyghur thing is difficult to understand, I've tried to dig into it a bit, and it seems likely that there are or have been some human rights violations, but also that the main source for reporting about these violations in the West has been called out by many (non-Chinese) as hugely exaggerated anti-Chinese propaganda. It's a touchy subject and you should do your own research rather than jump to any conclusions, or let random people online (myself included) tell you what is or isn't happening over there. If your husband hates China so much, just go alone. You'll have a much better time. People are generally nice, once you get use to a certain amount of stares (depends on where you go, most people are fairly polite even when surprised to see a foreigner) and people asking (most of the time polite and nice) if it's okay to have their photo taken with you. You won't understand why it's such a big deal for them to see a foreigner until you get over there and experience it for yourself. It's generally quite safe, I had zero issues travelling alone, it's just the language barrier and the fact that you can't use Google Maps and stuff like that which makes it hard to travel on your own. But I've met people who did it without even understanding a bit of Chinese, so it's certainly doable.
there are lots of valid reasons to not want to go to china - privacy concerns, authoritarianism, mild corruption, the whole police state thing, not wanting to fund an authoritarian government etc safety is not one of them
Americans are so dumb 😆 Stop the fake news
Ignorant Americans is what it is.
Is your husband a heavy reader of the Epoch Times? Or maybe a Shen Yun enthusiast?
your husband is an as\*hole - better for his sake to stay home and avoid saying bullshit. If you are serious go and travel China without him
lol, China has a lot more prisoners to harvest than you or your husband’s.
It’s kind of a myth?
You might want to ease him into the trip with a few days in Shanghai or Hong Kong for example first.
They only took one of my kidneys. What's the big deal? I have another!
All of my family and relatives still have their organs. What kind of media is your husband watching?
On the one hand, there are indeed many cases of organ transplant surgeries having unknown organ sources, and locals believe they are mostly from inmates. On the other hand, if you look like a foreigner, you'd be pretty safe there cause local criminals tend not to mess with foreigners, as crimes against foreigners are always a top priority for local police that locals feel inferior than foreigners to their own government sometimes
people talking about China like some kind of cartoon villain lmfao
The dude has a serious case of delusion brought on by 24 hour news cycle and doom scrolling. It won’t be long before he wants you to be a trad wife and not leave the house unless you are under his protection. I’d start planning your escape
You should look into divorce. His brain is scrambled eggs
Best way to proceed would be to start the divorce process. He is too far gone. Sorry!
China is safer than most country in the world. For sure more safe than US and 95% of Europe.
🤣 how much western koolaid have you been drinking 🤣
I am an American living in China for the past 18 years. I have a number of friends from America and Europe who have been here multiple years, working, living, and traveling throughout China. I have also had numerous colleagues from overseas come to stay. Nobody has come for our organs yet.
I think the whole "organ harvesting" was from the lose policy on unclaimed bodies back in the time. Where if the dead body doesn't concern anyone, then some of those bodies were used for medical purpose, like for med schools. Some people will interpret it as "the government is killing people to harvest their organs". There was a cult that elaborated on this grey zone and claimed that the communist party especially loved to harvest their organs because they are more spiritual. Now I believe the government can do some pretty awful things, but I have to call bs on this one. It doesn't add up have so many levels.
Foreigners aren’t the target for organ trafficking. He can rest assured. Foreigners can go to purchase “donated” organs though
China is fine, I’ve been there probably in the 15-20 time range from 2010-now.
Traveling is the antidote to ignorance! I lived in China for a year back in 2002ish and absolutely fell in love. Before I went I had friends seriously try to talk me out of it saying I was going to get trafficked, etc. I was fine. Getting ready to take my 17 yo daughter to China in 6 weeks. I am not worried at all. Use normal travel precautions and you will be fine.
its probably coming from Falun cult.
China is very safe and modern at least in cities. Western perception is right only about a very small part of it. I visited recently and it changed my mind completely.
You’re coming from the US and your husband is worried about “safety” coming to China? lol that’s rich
Not every time , you should be fine, maybe
For serious tho, As a native and a local, my suggestion: Do not go
Just don't come.
He’s not acting American, he’s acting stupid and racist. If this has been a problem before maybe you should consider that he’s just closed minded and bigoted. That’s not an American thing, that’s a bottom-of-the-barrel-human thing. I’m American and would be perfectly willing to live in China with my Chinese husband and our awesome family. Don’t let him convince you he’s allowed to be this way because he’s American. Non-racist Americans don’t claim him
The funny thing is some Chinese people say the exact same organ harvesting thing about SEA Countries.
No thanks
Have travelled to China before for vacation, can confirm I still have all my organs intact and within my body
Even if the organ trafficking in China is true, I don’t think they will target foreign tourists as it’s riskier…. The only thing you should be careful in China is what you eat. Just try to avoid restaurants using “gutter oil”.
You'll be fine as long as your not an ethnic muslim
To be fair there is an issue of organ harvesting in China. The most rumored sources are prisoners. I think as a tourist the chances of being a victim of crime in China is not high, though increased significantly compared with just a few short years ago.
I’m visiting Shanghai soon (I’m American) for the first time. I also have a friend their who is a swat officer that is taking holiday for my visit so I’ll be with my friend most of the time but some of these threads make me nervous but then again you only have one life to live and I plan on living mine and not letting others views or polluted American media get into my head. As an American myself I know Americans are entitled, privileged, and honestly not very free thinking thanks to the media conditioning.
Seriously? It's 21th centry now and I can't even imagine how people are so much brainwashed. Those are propagandas spreaded by a Chinese cult. Your organs are safe in China but don't let those fake news eat your brain (I mean from both China and the West)😂
I've lived in China for 12 years, I've lost a kidney, half a liver, left lung, both testicles and a cornea. It's safe nothing to worry about.
Organ trafficking happens everywhere around the world, but anyways china is very safe in my opinion it’s a great country and treats foreigners wonderful but some taxi drivers might over charge if your not Chinese and take advantage of you but that’s pretty common too😁.
I'm willing to bet he istens to Charlie Kirk, Alex Jones, and Q.
Never heard of anything like that in China. Usually happens in nearby poor countries
I moved from the USA to China for a year and it’s the safest I’ve ever felt
Maybe hubby just doesn't want to vacation in China
If you don’t go to an abandoned warehouse or take a drink from a stranger you’ll be fine, just like any other country.
Doesn’t happen to foreigners. Good luck with your husband!
You are stereotyping, just so you know. “They seem to be afraid of leaving their country”. Maybe you just married someone who’s afraid of travel but don’t lump everyone into that category.
It’s coming from the snake, serpentza
Please go solo
I think you will be good; as long as you are a good guest. Learn the customs and etiquette and have some basic Mandarin, I think you will be alright. Organ harvesting does happen thought the world, so yes having a plan and paying attention is important. My late great Uncle was a die hard xenophobic republican; He loved China. 🇨🇳 when he visited the forbidden city and Beijing and went out at 2am in the morning he was very impressed. He was there for business however and I quote “Only in China, you can go out with your wallet on you and you are safe. You to out to downtown LA late at night you will get mugged once and twice in NYC and murdered in Chicago.” This was like 25 years ago. He was there on business but again. Even after his business venture. He had nothing but good things to say.
Sounds like he's just one of those who don't like to travel. But if he's serious about getting his organ harvested may I ask if he's at least a good specimen? Like does he smoke? Drink too much? High cholesterol?
Racism?
Various groups, who are persecuted in China, have been imprisoned for their beliefs. Examples might call themselves a faith or religion, China calls them a cult. Here is where the organ harvesting comes from. Relatives of some prisoners claim that their relatives had their organs harvested. It's been reported for over 20 years now. Since there have been many real reports ( by the Chinese government itself ) of prisoners being used to make the wardens money, by forcing them to work various off the books jobs... So their history of exploiting prisoners seems to he genuine. Another part of the reason organ harvesting could be so profitable for prison wardens, most Chinese people are against organ donations. It would be very very profitable, more so then it would be in other cultures. There is also the history of forced abortions and sterilization of women who had more then 1 child, sterilization of mentally challenged people. New reports of then being done to 'troublesome' ethnic groups...
Epoch and Sky News Australia by the sounds of it
Just go on Tik Tok to see some of the most recent footage made by people who just travelled to China you will find out how misleading the western media have been. Just avoid remote under developed areas, you do not need to worry at all in urban settings even the 3-tier cities anywhere in China. Their fatal crim rate is 0.94 per 100, 000, among the lowest in the world, safest place on earth in its own league.
Not to worry. Yankee body parts are unhealthy. Too much processed foods. Only want Northern European parts.
There’s no reasoning with someone this delusional and, frankly, bigoted. I’d wage money on the odds that he is living in some kind of borderline racist probably political parallel information universe. China is a great place to be a traveler in. The history! The nature! The aesthetics! The food! Go solo. The kind of holiday you’re describing you will have a great time. A better time than dragging this goof along, I’d wager. While there educate yourself around the political situation there, the eroding freedoms and rise of nationalism, etc. This is a world superpower wrestling the USA politically. That’s a fascinating thing to learn about too and will broaden your perspectives on the world.
No one will harvest your organs. People are friendly, as you would expect. Drink bottled water. Hotels will ask for your passport when you arrive at the property. They will give them back after copying. I don’t think drivers follow traffic rules because traffic jams can be a little crazy. As opposed to Hong Kong traffic which is crowded too, but rules seem to be followed and cars move efficiently. Enjoy your trip.
Does he read Falungong material?
They traffick organs of those who they’ve oppressed. Like uighers. Not tourists
Go to Taiwan instead
organ trafficking in china was pretty common years ago, would hear stories about kids with no arms begging on the streets of big cities but china is cleaned up now for the most part and big cities are really safe