Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

"European people love reading. Instead of staring at their tablets or cell phones, they always read books on the subway." This argument is very popular in China. I was confused about it since tablets can also be used for reading, until I visited Paris myself. Perhaps many of them don't love paper books so much, but are cautious about having their precious devices snatched. 

When I planned my trip to Europe, some friends told me that I should be very careful when taking public transportation there, never take my cellphone out and watch over handbags.

I was very cautious from the beginning, but clearly not enough. My cellphone was pulled from my grasp when I tried to get directions on the subway.

When I talked about my sad experience with friends, I found that many who had been to Europe have experienced similar problems.

My brother in law's credit card was stolen in Rome, one of my friends was robbed in Brussels, my schoolmate's wallet was stolen in Paris, and the father of another friend's handbag was snatched in Paris, too.

Almost all of the people I know have a relative who has been to Europe and has been stolen or robbed.

Is this still the romantic and fashionable Europe we expected?

When I shared this with locals in Europe, they told me that Chinese are increasingly popular targets. I was quite aggrieved and angry.

Many Chinese people prefer using cash to credit cards. It's not wrong, just a kind of habit.

In the present day, many of them have already changed this habit, which make them less easy targets for pickpockets but also make thieves' methods more violent.

In March 2013, a Chinese tour group with 23 people was attacked just hours after they landed at the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Why are the thieves and bandits increasingly rampant?

Chinese are still viewed as moving money trees who carry large amounts of cash and speak little of the local languages.

When I was shopping in The Mall in Florence, I saw that Prada there received a complaint from a Chinese woman.

The woman knows Italian, so she could hear a staff member introducing products to Chinese customers reluctantly in English and abused Chinese people in Italian at the same time.

Many European people recognize Chinese people's wealth but do not give the deserved respect. So they are quite indifferent to thefts and robberies.

I screamed after my cellphone was snatched. The other passengers on the train just glanced at me and remained the same after they understood what happened. No one lent their phones to me to call the police, no one tried to help, and they offered no comfort.

It seems that they were already used to seeing distraught Chinese women.

And the police departments' reactions were anything but efficient.

My friend and I were crowded by four girls outside the Paris Opera. We rushed out the circle when they tried to snatch our handbags. After making a wide loop around the Opera, we found that the girls were still there trying to rob others, with no sign of the police visible.

As a typical representative of European cities with poor public security, Paris has already transformed from the "capital of fashion" to the "capital of thieves and bandits."

It has even been called "Paristine."

But I have been to both Palestine and Paris. Walking on the streets of Palestine is much safer than in Paris. At least, in Palestine, Chinese people are not the "targets."

Europe has become the last place I want to visit. If governments there still don't react effectively to the targeting of Chinese, a growing number of tourists will share such thoughts. 

The author is a PhD candidate at Shanghai International Studies University and a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv university. shumeng710@gmail.com