CD'ing to China!! Is it Safe?

[abigailf]

As many of you know I travel abroad a lot for work and when possible, I like to travel as a-broad. (Ok, sorry for the silly pun.)

So I have a trip to China coming up. I had gone last year for a couple of days, but it was a short trip (well, two days there, three days travel) and I did not dress going there or while I was there - boring.

For this trip I am going to Shenzhen via Beijing and I will be there for two weeks. That will give me plenty of Abigail time.

My question to those in the know. How safe is it to travel to China dressed and to be out dressed while there?

I sent an email to the embassy to check on laws, but no response yet.

So far I have traveled to Mexico, Poland and several domestic locations as Abigail. I plan to make this trip dressed unless it would be breaking a law or something. After all I need to keep up with Kimberly.

Thanks,

Abigail

[clairebabe]

hi Abigail,

I am from china, and now leave in UK. On my own point of view, our people may treat foreigners more generous than own people. But I can image if you been spotted CD on the street, small amount of people may talk about, take pic or even laugh at you. cos that what happened when some chinese CD and walk on the street, but they did some very unskilled make up and dressing. I can't recall there would be some laws not allow people to do so, but my suggestion is you may consider again about this.

[Jenniferathome]

Abigail, I travel to Asia a lot and have had occasion to bring my girl things. There are no laws against this in China, Japan, Taiwan, HK, etc. Just remember if you are big in USA terms, you'll be huge in Asian terms, meaning you might standout more.

[NathalieX66]

Abigail,
I have been to Shenzhen a number of times. It's a very dirty industrial city in the south about 2 hours away from Hong Kong by car, and 1 hour by fast ferry. I'll be honest with you: I do not like leaving the hotel in Shenzhen under any circumstances. I have always stayed wih my co-workers from Taiwan who can't stand it either. I always felt I was being watched at all times, even as a guy. I can tell you more in private if you like, I have quite a few stories about Shenzhen. China is not like any other place I have been. I would rather be in Taipei or Hong Kong, where they are much more comfortable with westerners. On the upside, I have never had a bad meal in Asia , despite getting food poisoning in Taichung, Taiwan.
However, if you are in Hong Kong, it might be different, or even Beijing, which I would expect to be a bit more worldly......Shenzhen, not so much.

[Blaire]

Agreed with the above.

When I was in Beijing, just about everyone that walked by with a phone will take your picture - asking you if it's ok isn't likely to happen - those that do wanted to have a big posed shot with all their friends. My family and I could have paid for our vacation if we could have charged 5-10 RMB per photo! If that kind of attention isn't your cup of tea, you may want to rethink things.

Also, laws or not, I remember that everyone pretty much conformed - the average person on the street was, well "grey" is the only word I can use to describe it. Too much non-confirmist attention isn't a good thing at the best of times. Shenzen would be worse than Beijing.

Perhaps take your things, and have a quiet chat with the hotel reception or concierge equivalent about outings before going for it.

[JamieG]

I was in Shanghai last year and was actually quite surprised by it. The part I was in was a very Western-style city with giant malls and every young woman was dressed in amazing fashions. Although there was a very visible police presence, I never saw them harass anyone, foreigner nor local. The thing that really struck me though was one day the English language newspaper had a full page on LGBT people that was quite progressive; apparently there was even a pride parade the day before I arrived (perhaps in my honor? ). However, I should say I never went out dressed. I was there with a lot of colleagues who have no clue about my CDing. Also, Shanghai is probably only second to Hong Kong as being the most cosmopolitan city in China, so your experience in Shenzen may be very different. I do recommend that you avoid going through customs as Abigail. I think this is where you undergo the most scrutiny.