Zhaoyuan, China

The population of 543,127 sounds impressive, but the reality is that Zhaoyuan is a city plagued by violence. In 2014, a brutal beating death of a woman at a local McDonald's made international headlines, underscoring the persistent safety issues. Bureaucracy is also a persistent headache, as the text notes a litany of other violent incidents at fast food restaurants in the region. This is not the idyllic small-town life many dream of when moving abroad - Zhaoyuan is a gritty, high-crime city that is best avoided by all but the most hardened expats.