The violent crime rate in China is fairly low. People can walk through the streets at night without having to worry about being in danger. Nevertheless, one should always be cautious. Petty crime is somewhat higher in the South.

Watch out for trick thieves and cons in big cities. Male foreigners who are alone in large shopping areas in Peking or Shanghai are often approached by young women who identify themselves as students wanting to improve their English. They will probably take you to a tea house or cafe that will charge ridiculous prices. The profit is then split between the women and the owner of the cafe. These swindlers usually travel in small groups, are young, and speak fairly good English. Sometimes, women and groups of foreigners are approached. Unfortunately, you can not trust anyone in areas that are often frequented by foreigners. If you nevertheless walk into a trap, do not pay money, get out as quickly as you can and call the police.

The violent crime rate in China is fairly low. People can walk through the streets at night without having to worry about being in danger. Nevertheless, one should always be cautious. Petty crime is somewhat higher in the South. As a foreigner, you should be aware that usually Chinese will assume you have much money at your disposal. Pickpockets are common in some areas. It is important to keep a close watch on your bags, wallets, and mobile phone, especially in crowded markets, busses, dance clubs, and in the metro. It is advisable to wear a money belt or pouch to carry valuables.

Watch out for trick thieves and cons in big cities. Male foreigners who are alone in large shopping areas in Peking or Shanghai are often approached by young women who identify themselves as students wanting to improve their English. They will probably take you to a tea house or cafe that will charge ridiculous prices. The profit is then split between the women and the owner of the cafe. These swindlers usually travel in small groups, are young, and speak fairly good English. Sometimes, women and groups of foreigners are approached. Unfortunately, you can not trust anyone in areas that are often frequented by foreigners. If you nevertheless walk into a trap, do not pay money, get out as quickly as you can and call the police.

In China, it is not unusual to witness people arguing loudly with each other in public. These situations are usually not dangerous, but you should avoid joining crowds of curious onlookers. As a rule, Chinese try to come to an agreement without involving the police. Also in business related situations, it is common to try to come to a compromise by means of friendly negotiation in order to continue the working relationship. If nevertheless you get involved in serious conflict, try to stay calm. Only hand over material goods if you are threatened with violence. Besides calling the police (emergency number 110), you can contact your consulate to help you receive legal aid.

Police: 110

American Consulate in Emergencies call from China:

Shanghai: 010 6433-3936 Beijing; 010 8531 4000

The fire brigade in China is comprised of volunteers and professionals. The fire trucks are red and usually fire fighters wear black suits with yellow stripes. In China, all larger public buildings have fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and emergency exits. Many building are also equipped with fire sprinkling systems.

The numbers of the most important emergency services in China are:

Fire department: 119
Rescue services: 120
Police: 110

There are no general practitioners in China, like there are in many Western countries. If someone has a complaint, they go directly to the hospital and are treated by a specialist. In China, there are state and private owned hospitals.

State hospitals are not expensive but are very crowded. There patients can expect a long wait and registration is complicated. Conditions at private hospitals are much better but the prices are also a good deal higher.

Most high-quality hospitals are located in the larger cities like Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong but provincial capitals and smaller cities also have good medical facilities. In some rural areas medical care can be inadequate.

International private hospitals like Medex, Global Doctor or International SOS offer high-quality medical care and cover some of China’s urban area’s. Many doctors in these hospitals come from other countries and speak fluent English as well as other languages. It is advisable to find out ahead of time or upon arrival where the nearest international medical facilities are located and to have their addresses written down in Chinese in case of emergencies.

In all large Chinese cities, there are doctors who can speak English. Contact your consulate for current lists. Usually, you pay the treatment costs directly. By major complications, it is necessary to first contact your travel or overseas health insurance. Also make sure that the proof of payment (receipt) includes the name of the person treated, the name of the doctor, the date, and treatment costs.

If your valuables get lost or stolen, you should go to the closest police station as soon as possible (Public Security Bureau, PSB). There you can fill out the relevant papers. If you have lost your money, your consulate can help you contact friends or family at home and give you information about how to transfer money as quickly as possible. If you are in a city where your consulate is not based, you can open an account at a Chinese bank and have your bank transfer money to you.

If you have lost your passport (i.e. visa), immediately contact the closest police station (Public Security Bureau, PSB). There you can obtain “confirmation of reporting the loss of passport”. To apply for a new passport at your consulate, you will most likely need the Chinese “confirmation of reporting the loss of passport”, two passport pictures, some form of identification or a copy of your lost passport. When you receive your new passport you can then apply for a new visa. This is done at the Public Security Bureau (PSB).

For exact information, contact the consulate or embassy of your country.

Moving overseas is an important decision that, along with excitement, brings numerous concerns. Both new and experienced expatriates view the purchase of medical insurance to be an additional cause of anxiety and stress.

In your home country, the majority of people are provided with medical insurance by an employer. Even if your employer does not provide medical insurance, there are many sources of valuable information to help and assist you. However, that changes once you move overseas. Not all companies have the experience to assist their employees with medical insurance overseas, and expatriates often have to take care of medical insurance on their own.

China’s insurance market is still at a relative immature stage as compared to developed countries and dominated by domestic insurance companies. Foreign insurers are still very new to the Chinese market and have yet to make significant inroads into the domestic insurance industry.

These are your options when you go to China:

No insurance

Insure at an international company located in China (AXA Minmetals Interglobal, MSH…)

Insure via your home insurance

Insure at a Chinese company (IMG Ping’An, Goodhealth Chinalife, Taiping…)

Most insurance companies provide these types of plans:

Individual plans

Family plans

Group plans

Travel plans

Teacher plans

Every international health insurance policy can be fully customized to meet individual needs and requirements. Health insurance policies allow individuals to customize their level of cover. Understanding the definitions and key terms of a policy means that you know what to expect from your plan.

The main coverage options to consider before purchasing a plan:

Chronic Conditions

Dental

Emergency Assistance and Evacuation

In-Patient: Treatment at any medical facility or hospital where an overnight stay is deemed medically necessary. Coverage typically include: organ transplants, x-rays, pathology, ambulance transportation, MRI-scans, PET-scans, CT-scans etc.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Out-Patient: The prodedure does not require hospital admission and may also be performed outside the premises of a hospital

Maternity

Overall Maximum Benefit

Pre-Existing Conditions: These can potentially affect the insurer’s decision to provide cover. For group insurances, according to the number of employees and the gravity of the conditions, the insurer will still consider to cover it.

Deductibles: The amount of expenses that must be paid out of pocket before an insurer will cover any expenses. It is normally quoted as a fixed quantity and is a part of most policies covering losses to the policy holder. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium, and vice versa.

Geographic Coverage: Mainland China only, worldwide including USA and Canada or excluding USA and Canada but with coverage in case of emergency in these area.

Waiting periods

Payment options: The major players on the insurance market have a wide network of medical facilities where you don’t need to pay in advance. It is recommended to use these hospitals within the insurers’ network.

Many people take out a health insurance policy with the intention of having coverage over the course of their lifetime. It is therefore advisable that you understand the ins and outs of any policy before purchasing it. Plans will vary due to individual requirements, when purchasing a policy it is good to think about what you would like your plan to provide.

Differences between individual and group insurance
Individual insurance is a policy that you purchase from an insurance company on your own and not through an employer to cover your health. You can choose coverage either for your own or including your family. Even if you have pre-existing conditions, some insurance companies still provide coverage for you. Since this policy is covering you alone or just including your family members, the premium is usually higher and more expensive compared with the group plan.

Group healthcare is generally purchased by the employer to cover their employees. Basically, the premium is relatively lower than an individual policy because it is based on a group of people who have the similar job base. An important note, there is no assurance that the employees are coverd by the policy once they are retrenched by the employers or they have resigned from the company. When someone is switching from group health insurance to an individual one, the most obvious difference is the increment of the premium.

Today’s post is about Fāpiào (发票), a Chinese bill. If you were thinking of Fabio, you might have been as confused as we were at first, when you (mis)heard the name.

What kind of fapiaos exist?
Fapiao is the receipt for buying goods, services and other sales. There are three kind’s fapiaos: common tax fapiao, value-added tax fapiao; specialty tax fapiao. We normally use common tax fapiao, i.e.: taxi fapiao, air-ticket, bus ticket, food fapiao, etc.

How does it work?
When you buy goods, services and other sales, you can request the seller to give you a fapiao.

Why did the government create this fapiao system?
In China, a lot of sales are cash sales, making it very difficult for the government to track the taxes, so they created the fapiao system.

How does the scratch game work? How much can we win?
The fapiaos of entertainment have scratch games in the bottom right corner. You can scratch them with a chance to win different prizes: non-prize, 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan, 50 yuan, 100 yuan, etc.

How does the lottery games work? How much can you win?
The fapiaos of entertainment have a second prize – lottery prize. You can check the lottery prize details on this website.

What can we do if a restaurant refuses to give you a fapiao or wants you to pay for it? Is there a phone number you can call?
Some restaurants instead of wanting to go through the legal process of paying taxes (20% of the amount spent) will offer you free gifts to settle the fapiao situation. If you request for a fapiao, but they keep on refusing you one, you can call 12315 (the hotline of Customer Guarantee Center) for Chengdu.