I do not understand how in such a juggernaut， in this city clutter， a crime could ever be solved – on the other hand， all the Chinese tell me that nothing remains concealed， no one can hide， because all the Chinese are very curious and talkative and weird secretive people would be noticed immediately. I have no doubt that the Chinese do take a very active part in the lives of neighbours， for I witness this myself almost every day. Once our employee， SunLi， was pregnant， and twice within a period of several weeks we ate dinner in a restaurant close to my home. And some time later， when I was eating there alone， I was asked with polite interest when “my wife” was going to get “my child”， and whether this wasn’t surely exciting， was it？ Because of my limited knowledge of Chinese it was hard to explain that she was not my wife and the unborn child was not my child， but that she was an employee and married to a Chinese. In another restaurant where I was occasionally a guest， during a period of years thus “more often”， I had once as well been eating with SunLi， and some time later I was asked whether “my child” was now born and whether “my wife” was now in her home-town as was custom， and whether it was a son or daughter and how everyone did fare ...
Back to crime. I am convinced that there is in ShenZhen a remarkably high rate of petty crime and certainly of organised crime. I think ShenZhen is less than New York a capital of serious crime. But I do not know.
I have also been robbed – but fortunately so far only once. My first bicycle was stolen after more than a year of cycling. My former Chinese teacher， LiLin (李琳)， had warned me that I had better avoided purchasing “such an expensive bike”， because she was curious as well and asked me what I had paid for my bike， and she was speechless for minutes when I mentioned the exorbitant amount of “RMB 1600”， being about 160 ？.
She had a foreign couple as her students in learning Chinese， and their bicycles (both bicycles！ And not even expensive ones！) had many times already been stolen before Starbucks. “But were they locked and chained？” I ask. No？ Then it is not surprising， for such bicycles would indeed be stolen in Germany as well， I tell her. Really？ Yes， really， I confirm， and I would always lock my bike not only in Germany but also in China， even tie at something with a chain and， if possible， keep an eye on it.
She thinks buying cheap bicycles was preferable， for if they were stolen I could easily buy another. I disagree， claiming that I want to go properly on a sensible bike and that on weekends I had four times to ride a pretty long distance to the football pitch， and I did not know whether I could do that on cheap bicycles. She replies that she was understanding that much； she had three Japanese students， too， who were learning Chinese， and each of them had bought from Walmart a cheap bicycle at a price of about 10 % of my bike， one collapsed after 500 metres， the other before reaching the residential area， the third one a few days later. Well， there！ That’s exactly what I had in mind.
With my Sunday team I join dinner as always； and as always I fix my bike on the parking lot， at a side gate which is not moved for any reason， by threading and closing my massive (actually hysterically voluminous！) lock around two thick iron rods and then to the rear wheel and the frame.
This evening， after eating and drinking， I want to liberate my poor lonely bicycle and take it home， but it’s gone！ The two (not too thin) iron bars of the gate have been severed with a hacksaw， and then， probably， my (even more solid) chain lock was as well cut. The thief(s) must have observed that the bicycle was chained at the gate behind the cars more or less every Sunday， and that behind the cars， in the dark， one could indulge in heinous actions unobserved.
I get the boss of the restaurant and my football friends， showing them the mishap， but they can indeed do nothing more than pitying me and telling me that this all too frequently happens in ShenZhen. A few days later I am buying a new bike， even one category higher and more expensive， and this one I do not even allow to be (locked) in front of the house， it is now always in the middle of my living room.
However， I have no major concerns about my safety in ShenZhen. I am always careful and aware， but not scared. Many Western (European， but especially American) business partners ask me if I really had no problems riding a bicycle in ShenZhen， with this traffic and crime so threatening？ No， I don’t have such problems， I am very aware when driving (not unlike Germany)， trust that in case of doubt I can call for help or go away quickly or run away， I do not feel any more threatened than， say， in Hamburg or Frankfurt Central Station. I was told that some senior managers of major
U.S. companies feel constantly under threat in ShangHai， even in the car of their own branch. I think that’s really hysterical. In New York I feel more threatened than that.
Whatever， for Sunday night football dinner I take my new bike from now on always into our private chamber. For of course – I have not yet mentioned that – our team is occupying on Sunday not public restaurant space， but one of four special rooms for specially loud guests， as we are. At the Saturday evening dinner， we are usually in a roadside restaurant， and the bike is – tightly locked – standing next to our table. On Sundays， neither the service nor the boss nor my friends criticise that after football I carry my bike upstairs and into a corner of our private chamber while the first cold beer is served. (青岛！ 冻的！ 快一点 “QingDao！ Dong de！ Kuai yi dian” – A cold Tsingtao！ And hurry up， please！)