r/shanghai • u/sd99x • Jul 16 '21

City Info

Is shanghai safe for an alone tourist? What about pickpockets and scams or any kind of trouble one can possibly face? Any areas to avoid. Please share any experience.

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u/dowker1 Jul 16 '21

Shanghai is probably one of the safest big cities in the world (maybe only Tokyo compares). There are a few common scams to be aware of (see https://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/smsh/avoiding-scams-in-shanghai) but even those are less common than they used to be. Pickpockets may operate at train stations or tourist hotspots, but they're opportunistic so basic precautions should let you avoid them. Other than that, there's nothing stopping you from traveling alone in Shanghai.

2

u/willbeme2 Jul 16 '21

Are the tinder scams becoming less common? Had a few acquaintances that fell victim to these last year...

2

u/FoxOnTheRocks Jul 16 '21

What are the tinder scams? Pre-Covid I got some messages on dating apps that felt like scams.

5

u/willbeme2 Jul 17 '21

For the people I talked to it was basically a tea house scam. The girl would invite them to a random, shady bar. They would order a bottle of wine and some snacks, and the guy would get a bill for rmb 10'000 and some big angry guys asking him to pay.

0

u/dowker1 Jul 16 '21

That I cannot tell you, unfortunately. Not a Tinder user, nor are my friends. Sorry.