You go nowhere in Beijing without your passport. Not into a museum, not into a park, not past a security checkpoint. And there are a lot of security checkpoints. Cameras track every corner. Reservations must be in the system before you arrive. Tiananmen Square has so many layers of security we didn’t even bother entering. A glimpse of Mao from the perimeter was enough.
Giulia was here ten years ago and says it wasn’t like this. Locals and expats confirm: the post-Covid security apparatus tightened everything. The city has the unmistakable feel of a place where order is not optional. It’s not hostile. People are friendly, helpful, curious about foreigners. But you are always, always, in the system.
The interesting question is what this does to behaviour. In Dazu, I’ll leave all my luggage in a stranger’s taxi and he’ll return on time without a second thought. Is that trust, or is that enforcement? Is there a meaningful difference, if the outcome is the same? China makes you confront the uncomfortable possibility that safety and surveillance are not opposites but collaborators. The streets feel safe precisely because nothing goes unobserved. Whether that’s a feature or a cost depends on what you value more: freedom or predictability.