This section runs two ledgers: your personal liberty, and your money. The acts below are ones ordinary people often treat as “no big deal,” yet they can bring detention, fines, and in serious cases prison. Each item gives the concrete figures in the statutes, plus cases published through official channels. The Public Security Administration Punishment Law cited here is the 2025 revision, in force from 1 January 2026; article numbers differ from the old law. The Criminal Law citations follow a consolidated text carried by the Beijing Public Security Traffic Management Bureau, marked as amended under Amendment (XI); the body notes the matching amendment where needed. Items in this section are grouped by theme below, with item numbers in parentheses. Posting and forwarding online: Do not forward unverified disaster, epidemic, or police news (item 1), do not forward content that insults heroes and martyrs (item 2), close foreign-site material after viewing (item 3), do not send pornographic videos into groups (item 4). Helping others take money, loan fraud, and insurance fraud: Part-time work that uses your card to receive money (item 5), packaging materials to cheat loans (item 6), do not withdraw from a found bank card (item 7), claim discounts under your real identity (item 8), do not lend your ID card (item 16), fabricating accidents to cheat claims (item 21). Small everyday matters: Do not throw anything from balconies or windows (item 9), do not buy imitation guns online (item 10), register drones under a real name first (item 11), card games without a rake or organizing for pay (item 13), do not eat wild game (item 14), never electrofish at any time (item 27), do not light fires in forest or grassland when visiting graves or cooking outdoors (item 28). Conflicts and the police: Do not detain people to collect debts (item 15), cooperate when police stop you (item 17), count the cost before hitting someone (item 19), do not carry telescopic batons or stun devices for self-defense (item 26). Sex, children, and the body: Do not secretly film others (item 12), no sexual relations with anyone under 14 (item 18), if you cannot raise a child use civil-affairs registration (item 20), do not sell your own organs (item 22), do not assume solicitation ends in a fine alone—default is detention (item 23). Copyright and derivative works: Fan translation, reposting, and pirated e-books (item 24), get permission before selling fan works for money (item 25). Exams: Do not take a test for someone else, hire a proxy, or buy or sell answers (item 29).
English, Russian and Spanish use dlgrv’s unofficial translations. Newly revised entries appear in the Chinese original until a checked translation is available. The author’s latest Chinese text is authoritative. Translation revision: dlgrv/HowToLiveBetter · b25fa8a
A message about a disaster, epidemic, or police incident that you know is false and still forward is punished as heavily as if you invented it. Even if you did not invent it, the same applies: detention for 5 to 10 days, and a further fine of up to 1000 yuan. If you seriously disrupt social order, the sentence is up to 3 years; if serious consequences follow, 3 to 7 years. Photoshopped or AI-made fake scene pictures all count as inventing it yourself.
Cost
No cost involved. Simply check whether the message is an o…
Benefit
Those who deliberately spread rumors or make false reports about disasters, epidemics, or police incidents to…
Insulting heroes or martyrs or denying their deeds can bring 5 to 10 days of detention or a fine of 1000 to 3000 yuan; more serious cases bring 10 to 15 days of detention. Publicly insulting the national flag or singing the anthem in a distorted, demeaning way can bring up to 15 days of detention. Serious criminal cases in either category can bring up to 3 years of imprisonment. A person who posted 2 remarks defaming Yuan Longping in a 499-person WeChat group received 6 months of public surveillance, which restricts movement without imprisonment.
Cost
No cost at all. There is absolutely no need to comment on,…
Benefit
Insulting or fabricating facts to harm a hero or martyr’s name, likeness, reputation, or honor in a way that d…
These laws target actions of spreading content abroad, not merely viewing it. One notable exception applies to books, audio, or video materials promoting terrorism or extremism: simply possessing such materials with full knowledge of their nature can lead to a sentence of up to three years in prison, depending on the severity of the case. For all other content, reposting, sharing in groups, or commenting on it is considered dissemination. If such actions amount to inciting subversion or separatism, the penalty is up to five years; leaders or those with major roles face more than five years. Those collaborating with foreign entities to commit these acts face harsher penalties. Anyone receiving funding from abroad to carry out such activities may be sentenced to five years or less; repeat offenders or those with serious consequences face more than five years. Illegally obtaining or providing state secrets or intelligence to foreign entities results in five to ten years in prison; especially severe cases may lead to life imprisonment or over ten years. Even lesser violations still incur a mandatory deprivation of political rights for one to five years, during which voting rights and eligibility for public office are suspended. Additional penalties may include confiscation of personal assets. On the administrative side, no individual or organization may use the internet to threaten national security, honor, or interests, or to incite subversion, separatism, or anti-socialist activities. Violators face penalties under relevant laws and regulations. Possessing extremist or terrorist materials without sharing them can also lead to criminal charges under Article 120-6 of the Criminal Law, punishable by up to three years in prison, fines, or both.
Cost
No cost involved. Once the page is closed, the matter is o…
Benefit
Those who spread false information, slander, or otherwise incite others to subvert state authority or overthro…
Private viewing is not listed in the punishment provisions, but possession of content involving minors is prohibited. Posting in a group is dissemination; the provision sets no minimum number of posts. It can bring 10 to 15 days of detention and an additional fine of up to 5000 yuan. Serious criminal cases can bring up to 2 years; selling material for profit can, at the most serious level, bring life imprisonment. For a dissemination group of 30 or more members, founders, administrators and principal posters are treated as committing a crime.
Cost
There’s no expense involved. Simply avoid forwarding, savi…
Benefit
Disseminating obscene information online brings detention for 10 to 15 days, with a further fine of up to 5000…
This kind of part-time work pays a few hundred yuan but can cost you detention and a fine, or, in serious cases, a prison sentence and a criminal record. Someone brought a bank card to cooperate with the transfer and withdrawal and earned more than 500 yuan. The procuratorate did not prosecute him, but the police detained him for 10 days and fined him 1,000 yuan. Another person handed his own and other people's bank cards and mobile phone cards to a gang to collect money and withdraw cash. He was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months and fined 22,000 yuan.
Cost
There is no direct monetary cost, but you should steer cle…
Benefit
Knowingly helping to transfer, buy, sell, or otherwise conceal money or property from crime brings up to 3 yea…
Helping others “package materials” for a loan and taking a cut is treated as fraud. A 126-person gang dressed unemployed people as “prime customers” and cheated more than 30000000 yuan (3000多万) in loans across over 80 bank outlets. Those who signed in person took a 30% kickback on the loan amount; of the 80 already sentenced, 76 got from 1 year 4 months to 6 years 6 months. Whoever’s name the loan is under owns the debt.
Cost
There’s no cost at all. Just say no. Never lend your ID ca…
Benefit
Committing fraud to obtain loans, acceptance letters, letters of credit, or guarantees from banks or other fin…
Keeping found items for personal use when the value reaches “a relatively large amount” without returning them is a criminal offense known as misappropriation, punishable by up to 2 years in prison. If the amount is especially large, the sentence rises to 2–5 years. Using a found credit card at an ATM to withdraw cash is even more serious — it constitutes “unauthorized use of another person’s credit card.” When the amount involved is relatively large, offenders face up to 5 years in prison plus fines ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 yuan. In such cases, police open a case automatically without needing any complaint from the owner.
Cost
No cost at all — it only takes a few minutes. Simply call…
Benefit
Found property should be returned to the owner: notify them promptly to collect it, or deliver it to public se…
Claiming one coupon with one account under your own real identity is outside the scope of these penalties. Registering fake users in bulk, or placing and accepting your own orders to claim more benefits, is treated as fraud: obtaining 3000 yuan can bring a sentence of up to 3 years, and amounts starting at 30000 yuan can bring 3 to 10 years. One delivery rider bought virtual numbers for 0.1 yuan each to farm coupons and cashed out more than 90000 yuan; all 12 people in the same case were sentenced.
Cost
There is no cost involved. You simply avoid taking part in…
Benefit
Under Chinese law, defrauding another person or the public of property involving a relatively large amount is…
Throwing objects from a building to the ground below, as long as it may hurt someone or break something, even if it doesn't hit anyone, you can be detained for up to 5 days or fined, and in serious cases, you can be detained for 10 to 15 days. If you hit someone, you'll be charged with another crime: Someone threw a wine bottle and glass from the building after drinking on the 21st floor, hitting a 13-year-old student and causing serious injuries. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another person threw 8 bricks from the 32nd floor and killed one person. The death penalty was approved in 2024.
Cost
This costs nothing and takes no time at all. Simply bring…
Benefit
Throwing objects down from upstairs or another height, whenever there is a risk of injuring people, damaging p…
Any BB gun or air rifle purchased online that meets or exceeds a muzzle energy threshold of 1.8 joules per square centimeter is classified as a firearm. Possessing such a gun without a permit can lead to a sentence of up to 3 years in prison; more serious cases may result in 3 to 7 years. In one case, a couple sold “toy guns” at a local market. Of the 43 guns seized, 18 were confirmed to meet firearm standards. Since there was insufficient evidence to prove they knew these items were firearms, they were not prosecuted due to evidentiary doubts.
Cost
No cost involved. If you want to shoot, visit a licensed s…
Benefit
Possessing or privately hiding firearms without a permit brings up to 3 years;
Flying a drone without proper registration can result in a fine of up to 200 yuan; repeat or serious violations may incur fines ranging from 2,000 to 20,000 yuan. Flying in restricted airspace without authorization carries a maximum fine of 500 yuan; in severe cases, the drone is confiscated and additional fines of 1,000–10,000 yuan apply. Serious violations may also lead to detention for 5–10 days. One individual paid to remove altitude restrictions on his drone, flew it to nearly 3,000 meters to capture cloud images, and posted the footage online; he was subsequently detained for 5 days.
Cost
Registering your drone is free and takes just a few minute…
Benefit
Operators who fly without registration may be ordered to correct the issue and face fines up to 200 yuan;
Secretly filming, peeping, or spreading someone’s privacy brings detention for under 5 days or a fine of up to 1000 yuan; when circumstances are heavier, detention for 5 to 10 days. Using dedicated covert-filming gear and causing serious consequences brings up to 2 years. Two people installed gear in rooms at three hotels for remote filming and got 1 year 3 months and 1 year. Rooms others stay in must not be filmed without consent.
Cost
There is no cost involved, nor does it require any time in…
Benefit
Peeping, secretly filming, eavesdropping, or spreading another’s privacy brings detention for under 5 days or…
Playing cards without the intention of making money and with a small win or loss is not considered a gambling crime, and there is no penalty if the gambling capital does not reach the "larger" standard set by the local area. Anyone who provides conditions for gambling in order to make money, or participates in gambling with stakes reaching the local large-amount threshold, shall be detained for not more than 5 days or fined not more than 1,000 yuan. Gathering people to gamble for profit or living off gambling brings up to 3 years; running a casino brings up to 5 years.
Cost
No expense at all. Small‑stakes games among friends are pe…
Benefit
Providing facilities or services for gambling in order to make money, or taking part in gambling with relative…
Eating nationally key-protected animals means the items are confiscated and a fine of 2 to 20 times their value. Buying, selling, or transporting precious or endangered animals brings up to 5 years; serious cases, 5 to 10 years. Captive-bred pets whose breeding technology is mature and already at scale are generally not treated as a crime when traded; wild-caught ones are not in that class. Most wild orchids on the mountain are protected; someone who dug 3 plants to sell got criminal detention.
Cost
No money. Buy only pets of lawful origin and captive-bred…
Benefit
Eating nationally key-protected wild animals, or buying them to eat, means the items are confiscated and a fin…
Even when the money is truly owed to you, you still cannot detain or lock someone up: the statute expressly says doing this to collect a debt is still illegal detention. If the conduct does not reach the criminal threshold, it brings 5 to 15 days of detention plus a fine. Illegal detention as a crime brings up to 3 years; causing serious injury, 3 to 10 years; causing death, 10 years or more. To collect a debt, sue in court.
Cost
There is no cost. If someone owes you money and refuses to…
Benefit
Illegally restricting another person’s freedom, unlawfully entering their home, or conducting unauthorized sea…
Lending, renting, or transferring your ID card to someone else brings a warning and a fine of up to 200 yuan. Using someone else’s ID, or one obtained by fraud, brings a fine of 200 to 1000 yuan, or detention for up to 10 days. Using a fake document or someone else’s papers in real-name settings such as buying train tickets or checking into a hotel, when circumstances are serious, can bring criminal detention or public surveillance.
Cost
No expense involved. If someone asks to borrow it, simply…
Benefit
Lending, renting, or transferring one’s resident ID card to another person results in a warning and a fine of…
Simply refusing to comply with police orders can result in a warning or a fine of up to 500 yuan; more serious cases may lead to detention for 5 to 10 days. Using physical force against officers falls into a separate category: biting, slapping, kicking, tackling, or throwing objects that cause even minor injuries is classified as violent assault on police, punishable by up to 3 years in prison. If weapons, controlled knives, or a vehicle are used, the sentence rises to 3 to 7 years. Simple acts like pulling away or resisting lightly do not count as violence.
Cost
No cost at all. Simply refrain from any actions on the spo…
Benefit
Refusing to comply with lawful police orders carries a warning or a fine of up to 500 yuan;
Any sexual contact with a person under 14 is treated as rape, regardless of whether they consented. Such acts incur harsher penalties, with a baseline sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison. If the victim is under 12, it is automatically assumed that the perpetrator “should have known” their age. For victims aged 12 to 14, if the perpetrator can tell from their physical development, speech, behavior, or clothing that they are minors, and still proceeds, they are deemed to have “known” the victim was underage. The exception of “genuinely unaware of the victim’s age” is strictly limited in application.
Cost
No cost at all. If you’re unsure about the other person’s…
Benefit
Sexual contact with anyone under 14 is classified as rape and punished more severely, with a standard sentence…
The immediate consequences of throwing a single punch: detention for 5 to 10 days plus a fine of 500 to 1,000 yuan. If the injury is classified as minor, it becomes a criminal offense, leading to up to 3 years in prison; for serious injuries, the sentence ranges from 3 to 10 years. Additional financial costs apply: one individual who broke three ribs in another person was required to pay 113,000 yuan to settle the case out of court, thereby avoiding prosecution. Another person who fractured the radius bone in a victim’s arm received a 10-month prison sentence after refusing to pay compensation.
Cost
There’s no monetary cost or time investment required. The…
Benefit
For simple assaults or intentional harm, offenders face detention for 5 to 10 days and fines of 500 to 1,000 y…
There is a legal way out for parents who cannot raise their child, but it is limited to registering the adoption with the civil affairs bureau; the adoption relationship becomes official only on the date of registration. Privately handing over a child — especially for payment — can transform what appears to be “voluntary placement” into child trafficking, a crime punishable by a minimum sentence of five years. Conversely, leaving a child unattended and refusing to provide care may be classified as abandonment, carrying a maximum penalty of five years.
Cost
There is no monetary cost. However, submitting documents t…
Benefit
Article 240 of the Criminal Law states: “Whoever traffics in women or children shall be sentenced to not less…
Inventing an accident or inflating losses to cheat a claim is insurance fraud; a relatively large amount brings up to 5 years plus a fine of 10000 to 100000 yuan (1万 to 10万). People who deliberately give false proof when testifying, appraising, or assessing property are convicted with you as accomplices. A repairer who agrees with you to fake it is treated as a joint crime. In a Xuancheng, Anhui case, 8 people got 2 to 4 years and each was fined 10000 yuan (1万).
Cost
There is no cost and no time required. All you have to do…
Benefit
Criminal Law Article 198 lists five situations. (1) The policyholder deliberately fabricates the subject of in…
Living organs may be donated only to a spouse, direct blood relatives or collateral blood relatives within three generations; buying and selling are both illegal. In a Beijing case, kidney sellers received just over 20000 yuan, while the same kidney cost the patient 180000 to 220000 yuan. The proceeds are confiscated, followed by a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount. For the physical cost of losing a kidney, see Section 1, item 35 (the remaining kidney does the work of two).
Cost
There’s no expense or time involved. All you have to do is…
Benefit
Article 5 of China’s Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation prohibits any organization or ind…
Getting caught doesn’t just result in a minor fine. Statutory law stipulates that the default penalty is 10–15 days of administrative detention, plus a possible fine of up to 5,000 yuan. Only in cases where circumstances are relatively minor might the penalty be limited to 5 days of detention or a fine of up to 1,000 yuan. Additionally, knowingly engaging in prostitution while infected with syphilis or gonorrhea constitutes a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Cost
There is no cost and no time required. All you need to do…
Benefit
Article 78 of the Law on Administrative Penalties for Public Security stipulates that individuals convicted of…
Translating and posting someone else’s work without permission, or uploading it, infringes copyright even if you charge nothing: you must remove it and compensate the loss. Ads or membership fees establish a profit-making purpose. Illegal income of at least 30000 yuan, at least 500 works shared, or at least 1000 registered members can meet a criminal threshold; the maximum sentence is 10 years. The head of the Renren Yingshi subtitle group received 3 years and 6 months.
Cost
There’s virtually no cost involved. You can buy or downloa…
Benefit
First, civil liability under Chinese law. Copyright includes translation rights, the right to convert a work f…
Even fan fiction that only borrows character names, personalities and relationships may infringe copyright if published. Jiang Nan’s This Side of Youth borrowed more than 60 of Jin Yong’s characters. The appeal judgment ordered 1.68 million yuan in compensation plus 200000 yuan in expenses; he has already paid these amounts. After 9 years, the litigation ended in mediation and both earlier judgments ceased to have legal effect. The court said free fan fiction written for enjoyment must be assessed case by case.
Cost
There are no upfront costs. Before publishing or selling y…
Benefit
Jiang Nan’s novel The Young Here used names such as Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Qiao Feng, and Linghu Chong from Jin…
Controlled knives such as daggers and switchblades, if found carried out, can bring detention for under 5 days. Taking them into stations, malls, or buses brings detention for 5 to 10 days. Police batons may only be held by police; an individual’s are confiscated and detention is possible. Actually drawing them also often costs you: someone hit once with an empty hand pulled a knife he had hidden in advance and stabbed, and got 4 years for excessive defense.
Cost
No expense. Keep anything already bought at home;
Benefit
First, Public Security Administration Punishment Law Article 38. Illegally carrying crossbows, daggers, or oth…
Electrofishing, poisoning fish, or exploding fish in prohibited fishing areas or during prohibited fishing periods in inland waters are sufficient to meet the threshold for illegal fishing of aquatic products, with a maximum sentence of three years. Only when the catch is small and harm clearly light may non-prosecution be possible. There is also a fine for electrofishing, usually less than 200,000 yuan, and you can also be fined for taking electrofishing tools into the water. Someone on the Yangtze River made a profit of 9,000 yuan by electro-fishing and was sentenced to one year in prison.
Cost
No money. Before entering the water, check closed zones, c…
Benefit
Criminal Law Article 340: harvesting aquatic products in a closed zone or closed season, or with banned tools…
Lighting a fire in a fire-prevention zone during fire-prevention season can bring a fine of 300 to 5000 yuan even if nothing burns. Burning 2 hectares of forested land is enough to file for the crime of negligently causing a fire, with 3 to 7 years, or up to 3 years when circumstances are lighter. Someone whose grave-paper fire burned 39 hectares got 1 year suspended for 2 years and still had to replant 32 hectares of forest.
Cost
No money. For grave visits switch to flowers, weeding, or…
Benefit
The Regulations on Forest and Grassland Fire Prevention and Fighting take effect on 1 January 2026;
Hiring a proxy or taking a test for someone else is a crime; it can bring criminal detention and a fine, and those who became civil servants through a proxy exam were dismissed from public office. Organizing cheating or selling answers brings up to 7 years. Driving-license exams count too; a driving-school boss who organized trainee cheating was sentenced. Short of a crime, scores are voided and you may be barred from testing or unable to retest for a year.
Cost
No money. Do not trust “guaranteed pass” classes, “VIP cha…
Benefit
Criminal Law Article 284-1 covers four acts, on the premise of a “state examination prescribed by law.” Organi…
