See the section on “Safety & Crime” for more info.   In short, crime against foreigners (especially violent crime) is extremely rare in China.  Any would be criminals understand that getting caught committing a crime against a foreigner is bad publicity (and “loss of face”) for the country’s ambitious tourism industry. If anything, you’ll just be over-charged for stuff.  At worst, you might get pickpocketed if you’re careless and unlucky. Or if you're not careful, you could get scammed (see “Scams”). On the whole, the Chinese have a very favorable and respectful view of Westerners (even Americans despite our recently battered global reputation).  Some may not like our government policies but as a population, they're good about differentiating between the actions of a country's leaders and the average citizen.  On a similar note, when I was backpacking through Vietnam, I was a little worried about telling people that I was an American.  I was astounded to find that not a single person I told showed even the slightest bit of ill-will towards me, despite the "American War" that killed millions of Vietnamese (I heard the same from many Caucasian Americans too). So don't worry about being poorly treated or targeted as a foreigner.  Instead, worry more about that bus barreling down the street towards you.