Pickpocketting is active in Beijing. On our first night a child tried to picketpocket my girlfriend's pocket and take her mobile phone. Luckily it was wedged tightly enough in her pocket. The child stood back with his older partner and giggled about being seen.

Its not too easy to spot pickpockets because they're going to be behind you trying to reach into your pocket. Keep your eyes open when entering a new street or when you're surrounded by many people. Baggy pant pockets, open shopping bags, and accessible zippers/pockets on bags are easy to target.

Put locks on your backpack zippers. You'll notice many people in Beijing holding their purses infront of them and having their backpacks on their fronts. They are doing it for a reason.

In Tianjin new bikes are the target of thievery. You need to park your bike, locked, inside a parking garage when not using it and when going around town ensure to keep two locks on it. Bike thieves cut locks with hacksaws and bolt cutters and will even smash them open with rocks (in broad daylight with people walking by).

Lock your bike to a fence or tree to keep it from being loaded away in a minibus. Use two heavy locks because a single lock won't detour a thief. Make sure atleast one lock goes thru your back wheel and frame. Parking attendents charge 0.2RMB and detour thieves. Once you've noticed an attempt to cut one of your locks you have to change where you park your bike because once its targetted they will keep trying until they get your locks off.

If you have any high quality western clothing then ensure you buy Tide (sold here) or a home brand of detergent. Some local detergents will ruin more delicate western clothings. If your clothing is being washed by hand in the traditional style then ensure its not left to sit in the bucket for too long or the detergents may eat at your colours. Quality hotels have good laundry service so if you need special washing like dry cleaning you can check them out.

Taxi drivers are known to drive around in circles for upwards of a couple hours and charge you a hefty fee. Its wise to set a price before you drive. If you don't speak chinese then bring a calculator and the map/address you seek. I haven't paid over 20RMB yet for a ride.