5 ms·

As someone who's frequently been to China, and I'm talking remote, countryside, ox sowed rice paddy China, everything published from the government is known loc

As someone who's frequently been to China, and I'm talking remote, countryside, ox sowed rice paddy China, everything published from the government is known locally as being totally fake. Bribes are standard and should be expected to do any transaction of volume. Fake GDP numbers are obvious. Heck, fake everything is the norm there. Tax day is very interesting. Uniformed government officials setup camp at the major "5 star" hotels in town and the factory bosses show up in their Lexus SUVs with duffle bags full of Yuan to pay the toll. It's something to be seen for sure. There is no real accounting in middle China. I attribute all the fakeness to 3 main factors; communist party politics, local politics and the diversity of cultures equating to local protectionism and face saving. It's entrenched and will likely never change. I could probably write a book about fake China.

jonwachob91 10y ago
You could start with a blog... (video, audio, or written) If you get yuge <----> (those are hands far apart...) number of viewers you could get a massive book deal.
- robertelder 10y ago
  I have been watching this guy's videos, and there are a lot of interesting details about what life is really like in China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1At2H-lIJog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1At2H-lIJog
  - ethbro 10y ago
    Having hiked a bit of the Great Wall during a layover in November of last year, China even an hour outside the Beijing airport is a bizarre amalgamation of technology (concrete everywhere, solar, modern roads) and much much older techniques (pre-mechanized farming, no centralized utilities, stores with shelves whose stock looks like it's the US Great Depression). It was certainly different from what I was expecting from the news. I'd highly encourage going if you can (and layover/transit visa's in most international airports are free and don't require pre-approval).
toomuchtodo 10y ago
I'd pay for such a book.
skhnpnb 10y ago
The only dishonesty in this is its insinuation that America is any better. I'd say the amount of "fake everything" that pervades US society is about the same, but the population is in greater denial.

jonwachob91 10y ago

You could start with a blog... (video, audio, or written) If you get yuge <----> (those are hands far apart...) number of viewers you could get a massive book deal.

robertelder 10y ago
I have been watching this guy's videos, and there are a lot of interesting details about what life is really like in China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1At2H-lIJog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1At2H-lIJog
- ethbro 10y ago
  Having hiked a bit of the Great Wall during a layover in November of last year, China even an hour outside the Beijing airport is a bizarre amalgamation of technology (concrete everywhere, solar, modern roads) and much much older techniques (pre-mechanized farming, no centralized utilities, stores with shelves whose stock looks like it's the US Great Depression). It was certainly different from what I was expecting from the news. I'd highly encourage going if you can (and layover/transit visa's in most international airports are free and don't require pre-approval).

toomuchtodo 10y ago

I'd pay for such a book.

skhnpnb 10y ago

The only dishonesty in this is its insinuation that America is any better. I'd say the amount of "fake everything" that pervades US society is about the same, but the population is in greater denial.