Ask Lemmy

From my experience"from what I've heard" stuff can be unreliable, although in your circumstances, sounds like you're best playing it safe. There were cases in China of children being institutionalised for BS like videogame addiction. There's also the chance though that they fixed that problem. For example, I was warned against smog in Beijing, I arrived and there were trees everywhere and half the cars were electric. Turns out they fixed the problem (although the city didn't have the freshest of air but I didn't have any adverse health impact from a temporary visit). I had heard stuff about Christian Persecution there, legally churches do need to be state sanctioned, but people claimed such churches were just propaganda arms/theatres for an illusion of a right to religious belief. I went to a church there and the way the service was carried out had it's unique aspects, but the actual content of what was being preached wasn't any different or concerning from what churches would preach here in the UK. There was no politics mentioned except a Chinese flag sitting outside the building and a poster tucked in the corner outside talking about "socialist values" which translated wasn't really anything alarming from a theological standpoint.

Further research indicated the reason why Opendoors (an organisation commonly cited regarding Christian Persecution) put them in the "red" category was due to Xinjiang and Tibet where family or community members may not take kindly to an apostasy from their traditional religions, as opposed to state persecution.

Sure, China isn't ideal but I have seen people over exaggerate stuff. It is advised if you renounced Chinese citizenship to always carry proof with you from what I've heard.