When tourists travel to China, are they followed by secret chinese police?
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October 26th, 2011
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Query by joel: When tourists travel to China, are they followed by secret chinese police?
Ideal answer:
Answer by jeffschultzisapimp
no but they are followed by hudreds of chinese folks. they just stop and stare at everything you do.
Add your personal answer in the comments!
Oct 26th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Absolutely not. There’s not enough police to do this work.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:09 am
No!
Oct 26th, 2011 at 10:41 am
No. First of all there are a lot of tourists who travel to China. Secondly there are not enough police officers to do this, nor do the police officers really car that much.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:19 am
No. With so much tourists going to China, how do you expect that much police to follow them.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Oh no, another myth busting moment has arrived!
Tourists wander wherever they want to sightsee, shop, and dine. There are absolutely no government restrictions on tourists or anyone else. Millions of tourists visit China every year.
I am amazed at the ridiculous notions that many westerners still harbor regarding China. While I appreciate that western governments and media like to portray China negatively, for their own purposes, how can so many western people believe such nonsense.
Secret police? LOL. The cops here don’t even carry guns and they could care less about where tourists shop. On any given day there are over 1 million foreigners inside of China happily buying souvenirs and clicking photos.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:42 am
Back in the 80s and 90s, when foreigners coming on vacation were relatively unusual, the police/government sometimes . . . showed interest? Kept tabs? on tourists, which is probably where the stories of “secret police” come from. But it’s been a very long time since that was an issue, and today the only people who care where you are the people on the street who stop and stare when a foreigner goes by. And even that is fading out in big cities as foreigners become more prevalent.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
As previously stated, there aren’t enough police to do that sort of thing. You are, however, required to register with the local PSB when you arrive in a city. It is the LAW and can carry hefty fines if you do not comply. However, this is rarely enforced and most are only “caught” if they decide to “Settle” in China and go to register somewhere. Also, most hotels you stay at will register with the PSB for you. You don’t even have to ask.
If you are a “foreign looking” person (ie not a foreigner of Chinese decent) and you participate in illegal activities (like attending underground church meetings, prostelitizing, drug activity, political protests or anything else that causes police scrutiny), you will most likely have a plain clothes police “escort” that you may or may not be aware of.
Long and short of it is, even though you are a foreigner, when in another country, you are subject to the laws and penalties of that country. Act accordingly.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
China does not have hundreds of thousands of police officers to follow every single person around who visits China, and then more for the foreigners living there.
Its really sad the cold war is over with Russia and the USA has had to find a new communist enemy aka boogey man to make up stories about.
If you are going to be in China for a long period of time, as foreign business people and teachers are you have to register your residence, as you also have to do in the USA and some other countries so they, as western countries also do, can keep track of Visa holders in their country.
Tourists who are mobile and staying in different hotels do not have to register, clearly this would be ridiculous to run to the police station every second day to register as the travel from Beijing to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Nanjing, from Nanjing to Wuhan, from Wuhan to Sanya etc, , not only for the tourist, but also for the police and it would create mountains of paperwork,
Too bad, sprry, another western boogey man myth about big bad communist China and secret police and spies and western fear mongering disproved. Fairy tales and boogey men are for children, adults should know better
I also want to say Christians and other religions are allowed to worship openly in China, there are LAWS protecting your right to freedom of religion and there are HUNDREDS of Christian churches in China, churches with CROSSES on the front of their buildings, they have hundreds of websites registered with the Chinese Government etc so the above poster is VERY mistaken in the information he has given about China. This is another boogey man myth
Oct 26th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
of course not…
Oct 26th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Don’t worry about that.
Do you look like a spy? ha ha ha !
Oct 26th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Nope.
The police will only bother you if you are doing something suspicious or if they are having a crackdown on foreigners where they will ask to check your passport (it happens occasionally).
If you notice someone is following you, you should find a policeman as soon as you can and don’t go home.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
Haha. No way. Unless you are of some high importance.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
If you do something to raise suspcion (more likely if you’re living there and do things that are suspicious, such as taking exotic trips that you obviously cannot afford on reported salary…they wonder where you’re getting your money) and they do have words that are flagged and read from e-mails and phone calls…don’t worry unless you go near sensitive areas…I lived in China over a decade and married a Chinese national who know first hand their spy tactics as she had an official position…so we personally know people who have been fired & deported…it’s not total myth, but since you ask the question you obviously aren’t the type to attract attention…they like for you to spend your money there and be innocent
Oct 26th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Ummm, NO.
I sincerely hope this question was a joke. If so-called “secret chinese police” followed me everywhere in China, I would just turn around and say hi to them, hopefully start up a conversation, make a friend.
…. but there is absolutely no such thing.
Oct 26th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Not in most places.
But in Tibet their presence is felt. The funny thing is that even when they are not in uniform, something about them says “i am secret police and I am watching you”. So much for undercover work.