Dangers in China

read the book;
The Curse of Lono

by Hunter S. Thomson....

he might disagree with you when ya say
"Lono don't do drugs and don't go to places where people do"

a great read & many of the folks in the story are real.... as is much of that story.
I know, they are friends of mine 

Thing is, the kind of places I used to go to, the illegal parties, were the one 'going out' type thing that was pretty cheap in London - a 'donation' on the door and then 1.50 for a beer... and you got all kinds of genres there - travellers, gypsies, punks, hippies, ravers, and huge venues, abandoned warehouses etc

speed and E the atmosphere was really good and friendly. 

I've never met a "friendly" speed freak, to be frank. Thard core users are usually easy to spot: they're the 20 somethings and 30 year olds who look 55 but aren't.

Taiwan story: I used to hit pubs that had the same general foreign clientel, and one of the regulars I got to know enough - by name, been to their pad for a party once, always chatted for a bit when our paths crossed - was an American engineer. Every weekend the guy was always passed out at the end of the night and his GF had to drag his carcass home. Usually she'd recruit one of the other regulars to help drag him to the car. I was in that position twice. It wasn't the "pissed" kind of passed out, either. It was like comatose. No odor of booze. I never recall him beign a heavy drinker, and frankly I think I only saw him drink booze a handful of times. He disapepared for a few months and then I crossed his path attending a party a mutual friend threw. We chewed the fat. He returned as a teacher (talk about a drop in pay and lifestyle!) and didn't hide his K use. Clearly he liked Taiwan as much as he liked his K. Last I heard he went from teching Enlgish at a Uni to teaching at a buxiban (see any pattern there?).

I think we've strayed a bit from the point. I started this post to make newbies aware that China is not all fun and games. There is a difference in taking whatever social drug of choice you want and having a rape drug slipped in your drink and it doesn't have to be in bar. It can happen in a small restaurant or anywhere. Girls just be careful!

True. You all  should be careful of the company you keep....Chinese or Laowei!

We've got a couple of classes that discuss drinking or the clubbing scene and I usually slip something in there (errrr...) about girls needing to never leave their drink unattended for rape reasons and guys for theft reasons (no doubt a thief here would roofie a foreigner to grab his wallet).

In the words of my ultimate namesake, Hunter S. Thompson: "Hell, I'd never advocate alcohol, drugs, violence, or insanity to anyone. But they've always worked for me."

I distrust blanket statements about things like this. I certainly know of the Dark Side here...but on the other hand I will testify to some pretty damn magnetic times.
I like to think there's some room for intelligence and responsibility, even here.

Date-rape drugs, of course, are another category. There's no argument here. There's no justification for this. It's just wrong...very, VERY wrong. Guys who do thngs like this should all be exiled on a very small and harsh island somewhere. With only each other for company.
If I were a Lady, I'd consider investing in some tippee cups (the tightly-lidded cups babies use) and immediately pouring all my drinks into them...

Meanwhile, back on The Topic (Dangers in China), which was already sort of in progress.
There are some. As I see 'em...

1) Joims. This is a very dirty place. They gots nasties like typhoid, cholera, malaria, several flavors of hepatits, and more here. Sewage is commonly not handled in a way that's safe by Western standards. The population density is amazingly high and things can spread quickly. Foodhandling safety is too scary to even think about very hard. So is the water...water, even tap water, can be pretty dangerous stuff. I HATE to say this again- because it's always made people queasy when I've brought this up before, all over the 'net- but we can't really even be sure about the bottled water we all drink here. Is it REALLY what it claims to be, or is it just another counterfeit sold by some guy with a pile of bottles, a roll of hologram stickers, an old Brita filter, and a bathroom tap?

2) Pollution. A longer-term danger, but a real one nonetheless. The air...the food...the water...very little of it would pass standards in our home countries. You can minimize this problem a bit by choosing the right places to live, but most of it is simply unavoidable.

3) Traffic accidents. I'm sorry...but whoever introduced passenger cars to China needs to be hunted down and beaten to a pulp. The roads here can only be seen to be believed and appreciated. My only surprise is that there aren't a lot MORE accidents.

4) Product counterfeiting. Oops...the heart medicine you've been taking the last few months has turned out to be only gelatine and chalk dust. We hope this is not inconvenient. Statistics claim that something like half of all the medicines sold in China are counterfeits. Unfortunately, this extends to many, many other products as well...even very cheap things you'd never imagine anyone would bother with. You never really quite know what you've got here. You have to operate on a lot of faith. Which you should temper with suspicion.

5) Violence. A very, very, very tiny chance you'd ever encounter this yourself, but it is possible. There are a few muggings. There has been a tiny smattering of random attacks upon foreigners...but still a statistically negligible number of these. Bars and bar districts can definitely be more dangerous than anywhere else.
I do think that some- not all but some- of this latter is self-inflicted. There are some truly deranged and scary expats teaching English in China. Even perfectly nice people sometimes kind of lose sight of where they are and what they are doing, and that they are still indeed somewhat bound by the laws of God and man. The Chinese tend to be a pretty placid and broad-shouldered people in many ways...but if you go around acting like an asshole, sooner or later you're probably gonna get wiped.

There are a few more...
I certainly don't want to dissuade anyone from coming here if you're set on it. I just want you to come in aware and informed and as ready as you can be. All of these dangers can be dealt with if you know they're there.

In the words of my ultimate namesake, Hunter S. Thompson: "Hell, I'd never advocate alcohol, drugs, violence, or insanity to anyone. But they've always worked for me."

Except when Oscar Zeta Acosta had to literally drag him off walls, out of pools, bathtubs, closets, and from in front of knife and gun point - and that time Sonny Barger nearly caved his head in. Still, for the most part they worked for him up until the end, when nothing could drag HST out of his funk.

The population density is amazingly high and things can spread quickly.

Case in point: S. A. R. S.


 

I've brought this up before, all over the 'net- but we can't really even be sure about the bottled water we all drink here. Is it REALLY what it claims to be, or is it just another counterfeit sold by some guy with a pile of bottles, a roll of hologram stickers, an old Brita filter, and a bathroom tap?

My first night in China on my very first trip - over on one of the CCTV Chinese language news programs was an expose on guys who made counterfeit fruit-flavored drinks. While the appearance was up there with the real deal - when they showed the conditions of their little jury-rigged "manufacturing facility" (literally an abandoned squat with its walls coming down around it, and contraptions that looked like Homer Simpson and Barney Gumble had put them together to make rubbing alcohol bathtub gin -  I knew my name definitely wasn't "Dorothy" and the country was sure as hell not "Kansas" (well, given how the U. S. is falling apart: old school Kansas) anymore.

3) Traffic accidents. I'm sorry...but whoever introduced passenger cars to China needs to be hunted down and beaten to a pulp. The roads here can only be seen to be believed and appreciated. My only surprise is that there aren't a lot MORE accidents.

Second night on my first trip to China I saw a guy on a scooter bite it. Lucky for him he only suffered nasty road rash. The other culprit suffered from his understandably colorful tongue lash.

Babala, you are right, there is some need to speak of the dangers here.  Now, back to topic.  If anyone (male or female) needs to leave a drink unattended for some reason (I would suggest that downing most of it, if not all of it before you leave is the proper etiquette in a bar/hotel/whatever) then the best bet is to assume the drink is done for and order a new drink.  I know that this will not completely solve the problem, but it will go a long way to keeping you safer.

Well, the topic is "Dangers in China", but yeah. This is one of them.
I hate to think that a lady can't go to a bar and enjoy a drink without risking being knocked loopy and taken out and raped. But I guess that it's true these days.

As for HST, well, he was always into pushing the limits a little too far. But I do think he actually enjoyed that kind of thing.
He was writing and appearing up to the very end, so I don't think it's really accurate to suggest he was terribly out-of-it when he went.
He has quite a number of fans 'round these here parts.

remember about counterfeited money as well.  I've only heard of the 20, 50 and 100 bills, and late night taxi's are famous for trying to stiff a usually more drunk than sober person with the fakes. 

Learn to tell the differences between the real deal and the fakes. 

or always carry small bills for the taxi so he doesn't have to make change for you.

I was shown how to tell the difference - but I forget now.  Dang!

He was writing and appearing up to the very end, so I don't think it's really accurate to suggest he was terribly out-of-it when he went.
He has quite a number of fans 'round these here parts.

I adore HST, and in no way was I implying he was out of it in the end. Quite the opposite, actually. No amount of anything took away his meloncholy and angst at growing old. I believe he was totally lucid when he pulled the trigger.

As for dangers in China, While my visits lead me to believe it was safer than many, many parts of Mexico, I think it's common sense to suggest that any individual should know the people they party with, know where they are partying, and remember that China is not the west. The "buddy system" is a good thing to have when partying. If you don't have someone you trust, then moderation and restraint is the key. Inhebriation can be achieved at home, or at a friend's house, but the point is to enjoy other's company, and sometimes it pays to err on the side of caution (don't drink anything, or go sober and always order canned drinks).

I never leave any of my drinks unatteneded - anywhere. Beer bottles and cans are portable, and demand to open them yourself. If you can't bring your drink with you or finish your drink before hitting the dance floor or restroom or stepping outside for air/a smoke - then, as someone said earlier: don't finish it.

Common sense saves lives.

Yes, my wife has told me never to accept a drink from a stranger in a bar here.

as to counterfeiting - very true, particularly the 50s.  There's one sure fire way to tell with the 50s.  Look at the little 50 in the corner.  It should change colour when you move it.  If it doesn't, it's fake.

I think boredom should be mentioned as a big danger in China.  Unless you're in one of the more interesting places, a lot of Chinese cities really don't have that much to do other than go to restaurants.  And boredom can lead to the second danger, which relates to cheap local beer, 24 hour internet, and an easy trap to fall into of sitting up all friday and saturday night drinking loads of beer and posting on the interweb.

Its ok to accept drinks anywhere, as long as the waiters/resses open the bottles in front of you. 

Yes. I should have included that distinction.