Someone told me that they once asked a Chinese woman whether she would be taking a tram up to the Great Wall of China, rather than walk.

“Oh, no,” she replied, shaking her head. “China not known for safety!”

She ain’t kidding. China’s idea of safety is at odds with the rest of the world.

I first saw this on a tour of the Temple of Heaven, I believe. I walked past a two-foot-wide hole in the brick, topped by a foot-high rim. An old well, according to our guide, and one with no visible means of keeping anyone from falling into it.

I turned to Richard, my Brit tourist. “You know, if this was America,” I cracked,”that well would be well-marked with a group of lawyers, handing out business cards.”

The one that beat all was the one I saw on the taxi ride on the way home. As we stopped on a side street, I looked over to see a man on a store’s front stoop holding a drill. His right foot was balanced on a small chair. His left foot was balanced on a stack of plastic kids’ step stools. He was holding the drill above his head, apparently using it to drill out some metal inside a light fixture in front of his store.

And yes, he was not wearing safety goggles, leaving whatever he was drilling to fall right in his face. He would’ve earned bonus points had the light fixture been energized, but I had no way of knowing.

China controls population growth through birth limits. Its lack of safety standards is the other means of population control.