[seanmcdirmid]

Visa situation is a bit easier since they don’t require an invitation letter for Americans anymore. I’m not sure about the biometrics and surveillance now, but it should be limited to a finger print and…China probably has little interest in monitoring you while in the country, they would rather have more tourists than less, as long as you aren’t unlucky enough to be picked for retaliation (or naive enough to snap pictures of navy ships in tourist areas).

[mixmastamyk]

Thanks. Well, everyone says there’s little interest in…, but for some reason surveillance keeps increasing. That tells me there actually is interest.

[seanmcdirmid]

It is wrong to think of the Chinese government as a well organized/disciplined machine that can ease drop on citizens and visitors alike. It really is much more chaotic than that: they rely on services to local self censor because they don't have anywhere near enough to do so on their own, nor do they really want to.

When you visit there is lots of chaos, like people parking on sidewalks when they aren't supposed to, or driving the wrong way down a street and no one even batting an eye, or obvious brothels advertising out in the open. Like, if the Chinese government can't even control these simple kinds of things, why do you think they are going to try and control much harder cases?

[mixmastamyk]

I believe that.

However, as patio11 said (and surely not the first), the optimal amount of fraud for a payment system is non-zero. Profit is higher when convenience is prioritized over security.

Similarly, it seems the optimal amount of crime for a government is not zero either. Everyone breaking the law allows everyone to be dealt with as needed. Sure I keep a low profile, and they probably have a full profile on us already, but it doesn't feel satisfying helping out.

On the other hand, despite my better judgement I let Japan take photos of me, etc. Who knows what they do with them.

[seanmcdirmid]

I guess. You'll never feel as free and as restricted as you will in China, both at the same time! Free in the sense that almost anything goes in the party scene (although stay away from drugs, big no-no, even if you are offered some), restricted in the sense that many internet sites don't work and you are always worried that the Chinese authorities will become interested in you for some odd reason (even though this is unlikely, we usually aren't as interesting as we think we are).

Japan in comparison is much more law and order from the start, and mostly the opposite. Japanese Police will search your stuff just to look busy, but they are never going to unnecessarily persecute you.