British woman in Hainan finds safety to be 'not just protection, but freedom'

Recently, international residents and travelers to China have been sharing candid videos of daily life, such as late-night snack runs, laptops left unattended in cafes, or fruit vendors napping beside open stalls, which have helped popularize a term online: the "Chinese sense of safety". Their unscripted moments offer a message to potential visitors that coming to China is safe.

Maxine Sharples, now in her 30s, first came to China as a nervous student two decades ago. Since January this year, she has lived in Hainan province.

"I'm not anxious. I'm curious," she said on a Friday night in the provincial capital Haikou, as she walked alone past street vendors and students.

For Sharples, her sense of safety is a feeling that reveals itself in small acts, such as when she eats alone, rents a shared bike, or catches the last high-speed train of the night.

"That was another kind of safe," she said. "Not just protection from harm, but the freedom to be spontaneous."