Not just infrastructure, payments are also convenient with Ali pay/WeChat pay. Everyone pays everything by phone, most haven’t used cash or card in years, although you can if you want. Apps are also ridiculously well designed and integrated, less visible as a foreigner, as much if it is obviously in Chinese and you have a language barrier. But you can really do anything you can imagine in WeChat. Alipay can also translate in miniapps. Say you are in a restaurant, you will scan a qr code on the table, can have a menu that you can automatically translate if you so chose. You also can order and pay through that menu on your phone.

Bureaucracy exists like everywhere else, but tends to be faster and more efficient in my experience. It’s not perfect, but the country does feel very different.

Also, it doesn’t depend that much on the city. I have been to most large cities in China, many small and medium sized ones too. I have also been to the countryside. The latter is more relaxed, but everywhere has technology and infrastructure. Basically all cities are serviced by train. Towns will all have bus systems that mean you can get anywhere in the country with public transportation.

Thanks for that

Orientalism definitely plays a role

Agreed, no system, group, or party is infallible. There are many genuine critiques that can and should be made.

Archived link/paywall bypass: https://archive.is/VbSPI

Also, you would think a region once plagued by unrest and terrorism (fomented by our favorite imperialist power of course), now stable and prospering would be cause for celebration? No? Also about NEV subsidies, isn’t this what all countries should be doing? Besides, the Global North has long subsidized industries when they chose to.

Related, China has become the number one scientific destination with the largest inflow of researchers outstripping the US, according to OECD data as reported (archive) by Science Business. I can’t cite the OECD data since it seems to be behind a paywall, but I believe you can find it here.

China also leads the world with nearly half of all applications for international patents (46.8%), trademarks (48.3%), and industrial designs (53.8%).

Japan’s science and technology ministry also conducted a study, as reported (archive) by Nikkei Asia, and found China leads the world in research papers. Both in quantity and quality.

A report by Clarivate substantiates this. This report also describes how China is not reliant with collaboration with the Global North for research, and that China is expanding research with Global South countries.

Despite all this, in the imperial core they still believe China can’t innovate. All while China is out-innovating the Global North.

I can confirm Lemmygrad is accessible. Hexbear is, but loads VERY slowly in my experience. No such issue for Lemmygrad.

By the way, the firewall varies slightly in different provinces. That being said Lemmygrad seems accessible everywhere.

ps: most sites are accessible. Only big American tech sites that don’t want to follow local law (Google, Facebook, etc.) are blocked. Many other websites are not blocked but just load really slowly. Not certain why, part of it may be the websites throttling IP address from China.

Even today you can visit mosques with more than a thousand year of history in Chinese cities. They have a unique style, and are beautiful. The link in the article shows some historical examples of images. You could also tale the Xi’an great mosque as an example. It retains a historical design with both Chinese influences, and Islamic aspects. Minarets for example may look more like pagodas. This is not “tearing down Islam”, but is in fact the hisotry and tradition of Islam in China. As a matter of fact, China is one of the countries with the longest hisotry of Islam.

Besides what others have said, this expat.clearly has a. no more nuanced understanding than your average western armchair expert.

The point that China only cares about GDP growth is false and misinformed. China, in particular with Xi, has made a large shift to quality development. If you follow China this is clear as the official position and policy goal. This includes green development. In doing so they have thus far been quite successful.

All thr points on real estate are superficial conjecture on a complex issue. Just consider that GDP is effectively a mesure of transactions/investments/consumption. High GDP in the US coming from healthcare prices being inflated does not translate to growth or development. Likewise, a hot real estate market might be good for GDP, but it does not necessarily translate to development. We should recognize this, as does the Chinese government.

Not to say real estate in China is irrelevant, land sales is a major source of funds for local government. It has importamce and implications, none of which where reflected upon in the comment you quoted.

It just means we’ll see years, perhaps decades, of negative growth in China, increasingly authoritative measures taken by the government, more protests, more suppressed protests, more people with opinions disappearing, more brain drain, more kindergarten stabbings, more music with revolutionary themes removed. Year by year, things will be a little worse off than the year before. More people will give up and lie flat. The only movies in the cinemas will be about the Korean War, and the only things on TV will be anti-Japanese shows or wuxia palace dramas.

All of this is false and misleading. I cant go point by point, dont have the time. Just consider it is the US and EU with negative growth. (western) International organizations and financial companies project solid growth in China. There is increasing diversity and quality in Chinese cinema, even socially critical movies. There was one commenting on the challenges of rasing a kid these days, touching on house prices, education, and more. I could go on.

I would cite sources, but most of this is easy to find. If you are reading this I encourage you to read more about China.

tell me you have never lived outside any of the green countries on that map without telling me you have never lived outside any of the green countries on that map.

What is the general area/field your diploma is in? I dont think thr Chinese government will let arbitrary people into China to set up a commune… However, you could consider continuing your education in China (presumably a master if you have a bachelor?). China has scholarship schemes that you can look into. Many have full tuition plus living stipend. Then, you will improve your skills and enable yourself to stay more easily subsequent to your studies, if you so chose.

Well, to be fair I didn’t add the link to the article by accident, so it is a bit confusing…

https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/womens-labor-sex-work-and-u-s-military-bases-abroad/

Sorry, I forgot to add the link to the article hahaha

https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/womens-labor-sex-work-and-u-s-military-bases-abroad/

I would suggest people get a profioe picture (pfp) if they are neutral as to getting one or not. Having a pfp makes you stand out and more memorable. Most frequent users have pfps.

Of course it is not required, and fine to not have one as well.

Curious if you could elaborate. Authority is complicated. Perhaps you should read this relatively short text by Engels.

The point is that liberalism and facism are intrinsically linked. Liberalism does not seek to change the world and stems from philosophies instead seeking to explain it. Accordingly, liberalism is a philosophical justification for the capitalist status quo. As such, when contradictions in capitalism accentuate with time, such as those between classes, liberalism turns to fascism. Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds, because the liberal is a closet fascist when times are good; when class struggle poses a threat, it clamps down. You can see this throughout history.

That a poor, simplified explanation, but I hope it helps.

It betrays some deep sated hostility and vehement hatred to the global south. The mentality of colonialism never truly went away, it just evolved.

Even more amusing when you consider that DPRK has nukes, whereas Ukraine has only survived as a NATO proxy.

Chinese high speed train is so stable, you can balance a coin on its side, and it won’t fall over. It’s like sitting in a quiet room, while you are shooting across the surface of the earth at 350 km/h. No need to take the plane for medium trips too, since train stations can be in the city it’s much more convenient. To get on the train you only need your ID and can arrive and get on the train in a dozen minutes.

They are paleo conservatives.

They dislike the traditional right and liberals, and oppose interventionism. Simultaneously, they hold reactionary social views. On economics I haven’t heard them say much. Often times, they will mostly avoid social issues in their programs, and focus on mostly factual news—diplomatic, military, and economic.

I think the appeal for leftists is that they are ostensibly anti-imperialist, however they are still reactionary. In this regard though, they are still perhaps closer to criticizing capitalism accurately than some of the American “left”, since one of the most important elements of capitalism is imperialism.

In effect, it’s a bit like how a liberal might claim progressiveness on social issues, but be blind to imperialism. At the same time their social critique will be lacking and to various degrees superficial. Their critique of what we call imperialism is what might be called a critique of interventionism.

Accordingly, the Duran presents a view indirectly and sometimes directly critical of imperialism, which stems at least in part from the international relations theory that great powers weaken themselves when too interventionist. While they may not have a critique of capitalism in their analysis, they do cover both some of the internal rot in the imperial core, and present most of the critical developments of multi-polarization.

Since these developments are crucial, the Duran can be a decent source of news for some topics, on the condition that your familiar with their position. Perhaps since they have become increasingly resigned in support for the imperial core, and more supportive of anti-imperialist states for reasons other than ours, their content is more approachable for leftists.

Nonetheless, they are reactionary.