You've been given plenty of good advice. I definitely would avoid Harbin though, never heard a good thing about it. Other than they speak clearly with no dialect. In terms of living there I've heard it described as "hell on earth".

If I was randomly attacked even 2 or 3 times I'd probably consider leaving wherever I was. Or at a minimum try to do something to stop it happening in the future. Forget about 8 times, you must have some serious motives for staying.

Obscurity guard is a good name. The "only me and my own" attitude gets me down at times too.

This is my own pet peeve and not very relevant to the conversation. But its really annoying when on a crowded elevator you get to the bottom floor and a crowd of Chinese tries to elbow their way in, barely allowing those already inside to exit. Same goes for a crowded bus. In pursuing their own self interest most fail to notice they are making things worse. As if things are not difficult enough in the most crowded country on earth, lets make it a free for all, and hey if I have to throw a couple shoulders to get a seat so be it. $#%#^$@! Sorry, rant over.

I've also had a bike ripped off. Additionally caught someone going through my bag, with, I believe, the intent to steal. Fortunately I was able to react to that one and lost nothing. I definitely second the warning though.

Perhaps the thousands of idle security guards I see every day could do something? Or maybe its impossible to prevent I dont know.

Interesting how quickly people seem to cut one another down on Gokunming.

Perhaps you are right. Maybe Metro is different here, making that analogy misplaced in Kunming terms. It was simply an opinion, based on past Metro shopping experiences...that were, to put it mildly, frustrating.