5 ms·

Sounds good, but reads surface level to me. I'd be interested to see something with more detail and citations. Or maybe even a rebuttal piece.

B1FF_PSUVM 1y ago
Perhaps a pretty picture to tide you over while waiting for your requirements to be met? https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-countries-by-annual-electricity-production-1985-2024/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-countries-by-ann...
zemvpferreira 1y ago
Better yet is to book a plane ticket. I haven’t been in China since ~2015 and already back then it felt inevitably advanced. I’m hoping to go back soon to see the future.
drake99 1y ago
China has a 240-hour visa-free transit policy for foreigners. Most major cities have direct flights—come and see China! (Remember to download Alipay in advance and link your Visa card.)
- skeptrune 1y ago
  I should! It sounds like it would be an amazing and eye opening experience.
- mysterypie 1y ago
  Do you still get fingerprinted under the visa-free transit policy for foreigners? I can accept a facial scan, but I draw the line at fingerprints and more invasive biometrics.
  - drake99 1y ago
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/12/2025-03944/alien-registration-form-and-evidence-of-registration https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/12/2025-03...
  - jama211 1y ago
    Weird hill to die on imo but even Japan does fingerprints, it’s not that weird
  - CamperBob2 1y ago
    Seriously? After the OPM hack, you're objecting to being fingerprinted for a visa? They already have everything on us, and I mean everything.
  - netsharc 1y ago
    I went to China in 2019, and they scanned my iris... yeah... At an airport, there was a sign that said "Stand in front of the camera and we'll tell you the way to your gate.". It scanned my face, and on the screen it showed me my name (I guess to make sure it's the correct person), my gate, and how to walk there. I never consented to this commercial use...
    - vessenes 1y ago
      That's almost certainly available in a public database in China, FYI. I got to speak at a cool event in Shenzhen in 2019 and the gates automatically face (and maybe iris?) recognized for entry -- I never 'got scanned' consciously, but they worked great first try.
    - jama211 1y ago
      I mean, you’re in a public place, I don’t know any airport in the world that isn’t full of cameras recording you the whole time
      - netsharc 1y ago
        As far as I know, face-recognition tech is illegal in law-abiding countries. Although it's probably mostly a legal impediment, I can imagine if the authorities spotted an event and need to track a suspect, they can put all the footage into a system and it will return a sequence of videos/angles in which the suspect was seen.
        jama211 1y ago
        I live in Australia and it’s legal here. Even if it wasn’t, wouldn’t stop much.
  - lmm 1y ago
    You mean like what the US does? Yeah, crazy.
- coldpie 1y ago
  That's good info, thanks. I've been studying Chinese (Mandarin/Simplified) for about 2 years now, just as something to do on the bus for fun. It would be cool to go visit some day, maybe once my listening skills get up to an intermediate level.
WaxProlix 1y ago
China poured more concrete in 2023-2025 than the US has throughout its entire history. China creates and consumes an order of magnitude more energy, and in an increasingly sustainable and cost-effective manner. China has largely moved towards internal market sufficiency, with internal demand outstripping external imports. I'd be interested in a rebuttal piece too, because I don't necessarily want reality to be what it is. But it is, and it is.
- _Algernon_ 1y ago
  How much of that concrete was poured into ghost cities?
  - neptuneskeptic 1y ago
    Name a ghost city
    - dr-detroit 1y ago
      [dead]
  - bryanlarsen 1y ago
    Building in advance of demand is something the US should do a lot more of. Find a >10 year old story about a Chinese ghost city, then Google current population. It'll be full.
    - RandomBacon 1y ago
      Where I live, they build a four-lane highway, then immediately after completing it, they start renovations on the same highway to expand it into a six-lane highway. While the U.S. has Eminent Domain, although China's version seems to be more impactful (displacing 1.3 million people for the Three Gorges Dam).
      - Fricken 1y ago
bigcat12345678 1y ago
Surface level? What are depths you look? Are you not familiar with China's relentless obsession with education and excellence? The cutthroat competition in business, the insane persistence in long-term planning and execution, the vast land of rich treasure underground, the emoumous long history of singular view of history and ancestry? All these are traits of greatness. And they have the brutal struggle from external invasion and internal turmoil since 1800s, those hard time breed generations of strong man, men who not only endure physical hardership, intellectual struggles, and spiritual torment, they embrace it, treat them as enjoyable and rewarding. They not only are instant in action, they are also ruthless in reflection. They dire to challenge the strongest coalition of power when they were just gained independence, they are also totally ok to subdue to the same super power when they decide so, without much of a mental conflicting, while still maintaining a unwavering commitment to greatness beyond anyone else's imagination. China is bound to be the overlord of the nations on earth. That or it vanquish itself in its pursuit of that destiny. What else do you need to know?

B1FF_PSUVM 1y ago

Perhaps a pretty picture to tide you over while waiting for your requirements to be met? https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-countries-by-annual-electricity-production-1985-2024/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-countries-by-ann...

zemvpferreira 1y ago

Better yet is to book a plane ticket. I haven’t been in China since ~2015 and already back then it felt inevitably advanced. I’m hoping to go back soon to see the future.

drake99 1y ago

China has a 240-hour visa-free transit policy for foreigners. Most major cities have direct flights—come and see China! (Remember to download Alipay in advance and link your Visa card.)

skeptrune 1y ago
I should! It sounds like it would be an amazing and eye opening experience.
mysterypie 1y ago
Do you still get fingerprinted under the visa-free transit policy for foreigners? I can accept a facial scan, but I draw the line at fingerprints and more invasive biometrics.
- drake99 1y ago
  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/12/2025-03944/alien-registration-form-and-evidence-of-registration https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/12/2025-03...
- jama211 1y ago
  Weird hill to die on imo but even Japan does fingerprints, it’s not that weird
- CamperBob2 1y ago
  Seriously? After the OPM hack, you're objecting to being fingerprinted for a visa? They already have everything on us, and I mean everything.
- netsharc 1y ago
  I went to China in 2019, and they scanned my iris... yeah... At an airport, there was a sign that said "Stand in front of the camera and we'll tell you the way to your gate.". It scanned my face, and on the screen it showed me my name (I guess to make sure it's the correct person), my gate, and how to walk there. I never consented to this commercial use...
  - vessenes 1y ago
    That's almost certainly available in a public database in China, FYI. I got to speak at a cool event in Shenzhen in 2019 and the gates automatically face (and maybe iris?) recognized for entry -- I never 'got scanned' consciously, but they worked great first try.
  - jama211 1y ago
    I mean, you’re in a public place, I don’t know any airport in the world that isn’t full of cameras recording you the whole time
    - netsharc 1y ago
      As far as I know, face-recognition tech is illegal in law-abiding countries. Although it's probably mostly a legal impediment, I can imagine if the authorities spotted an event and need to track a suspect, they can put all the footage into a system and it will return a sequence of videos/angles in which the suspect was seen.
      - jama211 1y ago
        I live in Australia and it’s legal here. Even if it wasn’t, wouldn’t stop much.
- lmm 1y ago
  You mean like what the US does? Yeah, crazy.
coldpie 1y ago
That's good info, thanks. I've been studying Chinese (Mandarin/Simplified) for about 2 years now, just as something to do on the bus for fun. It would be cool to go visit some day, maybe once my listening skills get up to an intermediate level.

WaxProlix 1y ago

China poured more concrete in 2023-2025 than the US has throughout its entire history. China creates and consumes an order of magnitude more energy, and in an increasingly sustainable and cost-effective manner. China has largely moved towards internal market sufficiency, with internal demand outstripping external imports. I'd be interested in a rebuttal piece too, because I don't necessarily want reality to be what it is. But it is, and it is.

_Algernon_ 1y ago
How much of that concrete was poured into ghost cities?
- neptuneskeptic 1y ago
  Name a ghost city
  - dr-detroit 1y ago
    [dead]
- bryanlarsen 1y ago
  Building in advance of demand is something the US should do a lot more of. Find a >10 year old story about a Chinese ghost city, then Google current population. It'll be full.
  - RandomBacon 1y ago
    Where I live, they build a four-lane highway, then immediately after completing it, they start renovations on the same highway to expand it into a six-lane highway. While the U.S. has Eminent Domain, although China's version seems to be more impactful (displacing 1.3 million people for the Three Gorges Dam).
    - Fricken 1y ago

bigcat12345678 1y ago

Surface level? What are depths you look? Are you not familiar with China's relentless obsession with education and excellence? The cutthroat competition in business, the insane persistence in long-term planning and execution, the vast land of rich treasure underground, the emoumous long history of singular view of history and ancestry? All these are traits of greatness. And they have the brutal struggle from external invasion and internal turmoil since 1800s, those hard time breed generations of strong man, men who not only endure physical hardership, intellectual struggles, and spiritual torment, they embrace it, treat them as enjoyable and rewarding. They not only are instant in action, they are also ruthless in reflection. They dire to challenge the strongest coalition of power when they were just gained independence, they are also totally ok to subdue to the same super power when they decide so, without much of a mental conflicting, while still maintaining a unwavering commitment to greatness beyond anyone else's imagination. China is bound to be the overlord of the nations on earth. That or it vanquish itself in its pursuit of that destiny. What else do you need to know?