I, (a 28 yr old Chinese-American male), am planning a trip to Rio and Sao Paolo for a week at the end of August 2021. This will be my first time in South America. I've been seeing mixed reviews of people's experiences in Brazil. Some say they were fearful all the time of being mugged or had been mugged, while others say they had really great experiences. I haven't read much on Asians travelling in Brazil and their experiences. Can any Asians that have been to Brazil share any advice or experiences they've had while traveling to Brazil? I know I'll stick out in Brazil due to my looks but I was wondering if there was more I can do to try to "blend in" with the population. I don't know any Portuguese, but have been studying a little on Duolingo.

I'm mainly planning to stay in the Ipanema Beach and Copacabana Beach area in Rio and stay at higher end hotels like Copacabana Palace. However, I do plan to venture out to see Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue. I might fly to Iguazu Falls and plan to spend 2 days in Sao Paolo, mainly in the Liberdade district. I wasn't planning on joining tour groups but I may do that for safety reasons.

Another question I had was how the anti-Asian sentiment is right now in Brazil. I know it's a big deal now in the US, but not sure if Brazil is dealing with any similar issues. I know Bolsonaro has made some anti-China statements. Brazil also has been suffering badly from COVID-19, does it look like things are improving now and will be open for mass tourism by the end of August? I'm not sure how safe it is for me to go there if things are still in lockdown and there are barely any tourists.