4 ms·

Most Americans, and Europeans too, really don't know much about China. The picture you get painted by only reading news articles is not representative of what

by jdlyga 5y ago

Most Americans, and Europeans too, really don't know much about China. The picture you get painted by only reading news articles is not representative of what real life is actually like over there. China is not a third world country, and the CCP is not a North Korean style military dictatorship. It's really just a normal place, and visiting Shanghai or Hangzhou just feels like you're in US cities. You don't have to like the CCP to enjoy China and respect its people.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago
Visiting China’s richest cities (like Shanghai or Hangzhou) will also give one a biased view of what China is like, just less so than being completely uninformed. For the good and the bad, Beijing is much more representative, or head out to the countryside in the poorer provinces.
- yorwba 5y ago
  Even Shanghai has sparsely populated areas mostly used for agriculture. Someone just visiting the city is unlikely to ever end up there, though.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    Ya, but I don't think a 5 star hotel in Zhizhun (where Microsoft Shanghai's office is located) is going to give you an idea of what real China is like.
    - yorwba 5y ago
      Do you mean the Zizhu (紫竹) technology park? I used to live in the vicinity and took a lot of long walks, so I know there's quite a lot of agricultural land south and east of there. If you follow Dongchuan Road to the eastern end it already looks pretty rural, and randomly taking smaller roads from there in a southeasterly direction should lead you to your first rice field soon. That's less than 5 km away from the Microsoft campus. However, I don't expect the kind of person who stays at a 5-star hotel to spend much time randomly exploring their surroundings.
      - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
        Not my choice, that was during the expo anyways. Shanghai is one of the most boring places in China to visit, even if it has shiny modern city scapes. If you goto China and spend most of your time in shanghai? You’ll see much more of the real China in hefei, it’s only a night by train (and they probably have HSR now). Or what about southern China during the winter? Learn what it’s like to live without central indoor heating is fun. I’ve never been colder in winter than in Changsha.
klmadfejno 5y ago
> You don't have to like the CCP to enjoy China and respect its people. This is the crux of it though. You don't need to like the CCP to enjoy China and its people. But you don't need to dislike China and its people in order to consider the CCP a hostile, morally evil state. Rebranding the latter as racism is damaging.

by jdlyga 5y ago

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

Visiting China’s richest cities (like Shanghai or Hangzhou) will also give one a biased view of what China is like, just less so than being completely uninformed. For the good and the bad, Beijing is much more representative, or head out to the countryside in the poorer provinces.

yorwba 5y ago
Even Shanghai has sparsely populated areas mostly used for agriculture. Someone just visiting the city is unlikely to ever end up there, though.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  Ya, but I don't think a 5 star hotel in Zhizhun (where Microsoft Shanghai's office is located) is going to give you an idea of what real China is like.
  - yorwba 5y ago
    Do you mean the Zizhu (紫竹) technology park? I used to live in the vicinity and took a lot of long walks, so I know there's quite a lot of agricultural land south and east of there. If you follow Dongchuan Road to the eastern end it already looks pretty rural, and randomly taking smaller roads from there in a southeasterly direction should lead you to your first rice field soon. That's less than 5 km away from the Microsoft campus. However, I don't expect the kind of person who stays at a 5-star hotel to spend much time randomly exploring their surroundings.
    - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
      Not my choice, that was during the expo anyways. Shanghai is one of the most boring places in China to visit, even if it has shiny modern city scapes. If you goto China and spend most of your time in shanghai? You’ll see much more of the real China in hefei, it’s only a night by train (and they probably have HSR now). Or what about southern China during the winter? Learn what it’s like to live without central indoor heating is fun. I’ve never been colder in winter than in Changsha.

klmadfejno 5y ago

> You don't have to like the CCP to enjoy China and respect its people. This is the crux of it though. You don't need to like the CCP to enjoy China and its people. But you don't need to dislike China and its people in order to consider the CCP a hostile, morally evil state. Rebranding the latter as racism is damaging.