If the threat wasn't specifically DPRK, but something that really forced me to leave, I would also have to consider family which includes Chinese wife and a child (who is currently infant).

Furthermmore the kid currently doesn't even have ID or hukou yet, much less foreign passport, so it really depends on how fast we'd need to depart.

But given time to spare, our initial choice would obviously be to return to my home country in Europe since there we have at least some safety nets and easiest way to arrange residency for whole family. But I wouldn't have that as long term option.

In Asia-Pacific my preferred destinations would be Malaysia or New Zealand.

Work-wise I get revenue from abroad. We are just registering business in Kunming to remodel that revenue, but if we'd have to leave, we could just reregister anywhere else and keep going - which would also help to get residency pretty much anywhere affordable without finding new job.

Given threats that could force us to leave Kunming, I'd rate major earthquake higher than anything else - if we'd survive it.

I suspect that they are now vigorously enforcing real name registration, and some shop staff just cannot comprehend how to input foreign passport holder's information.

I think that the stepping back comes naturally.

New media, and all the technology it relies on, didn't exist when the earliest control mechanisms were put in place decades ago.

New controls get implemented as new things to control appear.

In that perspective, I wouldn't say that it has gone worse in relative terms.

Just the absolute number of things that the party considers challenge to their authority has increased.

Of course it is unfortunate to have such controls at all.

I don't think that Kim will launch nukes on China, or even South Korea, knowing that the aftermath from their own bombs may carry back home.

Similarly I don't believe that USA and their allies will retaliate to DPRK's nuke strike (against Japan, Guam, or even continental USA) with nukes of their own. Collateral damage, and not just to civilians in DPRK, but to neighbouring countries, would be too big.

Besides, nuclear retaliation would eat away the political "we told you so" victory that DPRK's launch would have just provided.

I believe that "the west" will do just fine with traditional weapons.

So I may very well not go anywhere further than perhaps occassionally that new new shelter on BaiYun Lu if it gets finished by then. It'll be just a few blocks away.

Howevever, if it comes to it that population in China (foreigners included) start fleeing the country on sudden notice, I think the situation will be such that any nearby (or even semi so) country isn't much safer. Airports will be a chaos, trains too if even operational.

The question then may be how to get anywhere, rather than where you want to go.

Here's one laughable example case from August this year from Weibo stream of CGTN (previously CCTV News)

2017-08-11 19:30
China's top social media sits including Baidu, Tencent, Weibo, are under an investigating over failing to comply with strict laws which is required to ban violent, obscene or deemed offensive content to the Communist Party[...]wiping out a combined 1.3 billion US dollars worth of stock between Weibo and parent firm Sina Corp.

2017-08-11 22:21
correction: China's top social media sites, including Baidu, Tencent and Weibo, are under government investigation for failing to comply with laws which ban violent and obscene content.

That mess up showcases both the reasons for requiring real name registrations, and the entity the users utimately are supposed to be responsible to. It's not the Chinese public and not the Chinese state, but the party.