Just want to say that I hate China.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Rant Begins Now:

There's not a day that passes that I want to get the hell out of this country. But I've still got a lot to see so I'm sticking around.

I've gotten my shit stolen.

I've been conned (unsuccessfully) by the chop shop equivalent of a camera repair store promising to fix my camera.

I've gone a month plus without getting a single breath of truly fresh air.

I haven't been to a single public restroom that didn't stink overwhelmingly of stale urine and smoke and mothballs and sometimes ammonia that makes my eyes water.

I feel like I haven't gone a singe minute without hearing the noises of something man-made.

The internet has been next to unworkable for a traveler without access to fast residential internet. I have to work daily and what normally takes me an hour back in the states takes 5 hours here.

Sites within China are blazing fast like the sites that stream pirated shit such as movies. The biggest video streaming sites are exactly like our YouTube but host blatantly pirated versions of movies (movie box cover and all) from all countries. There is absolutely no respect for global intellectual property at all. You think PirateBay is bad? China is the worst offender by far and the government doesn't do shit to even give the impression that they care or respect the intellectual rights of others.

All foreign websites are either blocked by the national firewall or heavily throttled.

All of Google is blocked. Talk, Voice, Gmail, Chat, GoogleMaps, Search, Translation.
YouTube
Vimeo
Facebook
Whenever a news site publishes something negative about China, such as government corruption, it immediately gets blocked.

I have to use a VPN to access all of these things but the connections are so heavily throttled that I can't even stream Pandora (only requires 64kbps). No Vimeo. No YouTube. I can access them but they are effectively useless.

The Chinese are great at ripping off shit. Take Kickstarter, a site that celebrates the ingenuity of small inventors and entrepreneurs.

www.kickstarter.com

And now the Chinese version:

www.demohour.com

The Chinese Government:

1. Isolates the populace from having access to free information.

2. Protects its Chinese companies that rip off and profit off of the work and creativity of others by blocked the outside originals from being accessed.

3. Throttle everything not Chinese and not blocked so as to be unbearably slow.

4. The communist government recently got together to "debate" new policies and plans for the future. From reports, all the "debates" really were were party members getting together and reading aloud the sections of prose that they enjoyed from the president's speech. No dissenting opinions were heard.

5. The government can go fuck itself.

I'm a Chinese American. I hope the Chinese government, so worried about saving face, will eventually understand how *shameful* their actions have always been. If they do something people don't like they will cover it up and block access to it. Or they allow others to copy and profit immensely off of things invented by others. How is this saving face? This is perhaps the most shameful, cowardly, and shallowest way to preserve one's image. China's efforts at saving face is hypocritical and a crock of shit to anyone but themselves. They need to man the *FUCK* up and take responsibility for their actions, including the bad ones. Maybe then the world can start to respect them.

I completely understand why these things happen. I've been able to learn about the history and the cultural values that have resulted in such a state. But it doesn't mean that I can stand it.

Compare all this to the first thing that has traditionally greeted immigrants to the United States.

The Statue of Liberty.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" - haha, "shove your displays of face up your ass."

TLDR:

The Chinese government can go fuck itself.

[Pr0d1gy]

If you posted that from a net connection in China it may be the last thing you ever post, too. Be careful, our rules do not apply there.

[T_Yamamoto]

The Chinese will say you've been brainwashed by western ideas.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by Pr0d1gy

If you posted that from a net connection in China it may be the last thing you ever post, too. Be careful, our rules do not apply there.

Secured encrypted connection via a disposable SIM card.

[tokie]

Interesting. I thought VPNs allow you access to YouTube etc but I didn't know they were throttled that bad.

Maybe it is just your ISP?

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by tokie

Interesting. I thought VPNs allow you access to YouTube etc but I didn't know they were throttled that bad.

Maybe it is just your ISP?

Nope. Throttling. I can access it. I can upload to it (slowly). But it's not fast enough to stream from. I can download at 700KB/s from the hostel, more than enough to stream YouTube. Something just keeps YouTube from being able to download at 700KB/s.

[Megatomic]

How long are you going to have to stay there? I'd get out asap and come back to the West if I were you. I love our version of corrupt government - at least I won't get arrested here for calling them out on it.

[Fritzo]

We hate you too round-eye. We watch you!

[TecHNooB]

making ripoffs is great business in asia. forget coming up with your own original idea, just take one that already works and rely on nationalism for success

[SandEagle]

uh, who cares? i'm more interested to know if you met any hot chicks there? are real, local chinese women worth chasing around?

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by Megatomic

How long are you going to have to stay there? I'd get out asap and come back to the West if I were you. I love our version of corrupt government - at least I won't get arrested here for calling them out on it.

I'm going to extend my stay for another month or so. A number of factors have forced me to stop what I'm doing and stay in one place, severely delaying my original timetable. So I need to extend.

You know, I used to be so jaded about our government. I saw it as slow and ineffective and completely controlled by those with too much money. I could have cared less if I moved somewhere else permanently.

Being in China has changed that. It has caused me to look back at our founding principles.

Our Bill of Rights.
Our Declaration of Independence.
Our Constitution.
The poem on the Statue of Liberty and what the statue herself represents.
Our system of checks and balances and rule of law.

We sure as hell aren't perfect. But as anyone should know, it's not about being perfect, it's about being able to do the responsible things when things go wrong or when things change. To change with the will of the people, not the will of one or a few. Our founding leaders implored this and tried to weave it into the very fabric of our foundation when they could have so easily used their leadership positions for selfish gains.

But instead they thought of us, the common people, of everyone.

This, I find beautiful.

[EagleKeeper]

You are there to research, not YouTube

[Newbian]

Originally Posted by EagleKeeper

You are there to research, not YouTube

If youtube doesn't work I am guessing redtube and youporn also is blocked.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by TecHNooB

making ripoffs is great business in asia. forget coming up with your own original idea, just take one that already works and rely on nationalism for success

Not just nationalism. There are a number of factors:

1. Chinese people are by and large not creative. At all. Many Chinese exchange students and expats have lamented this fact. Their schooling and daily life rewards copying and rote memorization. Creativity and dissent is punished, or at the least, less rewarding than being unoriginal. Therefore, it's no wonder that so many good are just straight copies and following established recipes.

2. The Chinese automatically think that all Western goods are more desirable in terms of quality and in terms of looking good to other people. Chinese people love to look good to others. Again the "face" thing. Western style. Western quality. Western brands. It's no wonder that businesses copy what people envy. There is no reward for being original.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by EagleKeeper

You are there to research, not YouTube

My work requires YouTube. Daily life also requires Vimeo or YouTube. Video reviews of new equipment? Comparisons of video quality between cameras? Online classes? Videos that I shoot for clients? Hell, I couldn't even watch the presidential debates or the election coverage.

[Vdubchaos]

What's a Chinese equivalent to Siberia?

[gorcorps]

Originally Posted by fuzzybabybunny

Not just nationalism. There are a number of factors:

1. Chinese people are by and large not creative. At all. Many Chinese exchange students and expats have lamented this fact. Their schooling and daily life rewards copying and rote memorization. Creativity and dissent is punished, or at the least, less rewarding than being unoriginal. Therefore, it's no wonder that so many good are just straight copies and following established recipes.

2. The Chinese automatically think that all Western goods are more desirable in terms of quality and in terms of looking good to other people. Chinese people love to look good to others. Again the "face" thing. Western style. Western quality. Western brands. It's no wonder that businesses copy what people envy. There is no reward for being original.

Are they aware that the much of what westerners wear comes from their own country?

[diesbudt]

Originally Posted by fuzzybabybunny

2. The Chinese automatically think that all Western goods are more desirable in terms of quality and in terms of looking good to other people. Chinese people love to look good to others. Again the "face" thing. Western style. Western quality. Western brands. It's no wonder that businesses copy what people envy. There is no reward for being original.

For as much as countries bitch about America. They all want to and try to be like us.

Its the sad truth.

Its even funny knowing citizens in other countries get emotionally involved with our election. Debating on sites, and arguing for each candidate.

When was the last time we debated about the Germany leadership? (etc.)

[Murloc]

shamefurr dispray!

[bigi]

Welcome to the real world.

No fivebucks on each corner, eh? Poor, poor American baby.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally Posted by gorcorps

Are they aware that the much of what westerners wear comes from their own country?

Of course. And these same goods are made in China but sold in China for much more than in the United States.

These goods may be made in their country, but they understand that the original design, the creativity, and the adherence to quality are NOT of their own country. The Chinese are just the blind labor that makes foreign ideas into reality.

I'm continually surprised by the goods in our country that the Chinese do not have in China, despite being the manufacturer of said goods.

Camping and outdoor equipment, for example. While we have designed ultralight, supple, and strong ripstop material in or tents and jackets, the Chinese brands seem to be at least a decade behind. Their jackets are thicker, not woven to stop rips, heavier, and not as supple. The designs sometimes don't make sense (sleeping bag zipper along the top and center of the bag???) The sewing work isn't as precise.

Apparently Camelback-like backpack water bladders still shock people.

[Charles Kozierok]

Originally Posted by fuzzybabybunny

You know, I used to be so jaded about our government. I saw it as slow and ineffective and completely controlled by those with too much money. I could have cared less if I moved somewhere else permanently.

Being in China has changed that. It has caused me to look back at our founding principles.

Our Bill of Rights.
Our Declaration of Independence.
Our Constitution.
The poem on the Statue of Liberty and what the statue herself represents.
Our system of checks and balances and rule of law.

We sure as hell aren't perfect. But as anyone should know, it's not about being perfect, it's about being able to do the responsible things when things go wrong or when things change. To change with the will of the people, not the will of one or a few. Our founding leaders implored this and tried to weave it into the very fabric of our foundation when they could have so easily used their leadership positions for selfish gains.

But instead they thought of us, the common people, of everyone.

This, I find beautiful.

Thanks for posting this. I hope you consider posting a thread about it in P&N -- some people could do with reading it.

[Svnla]

OP, welcome to communist/state controlled countries.

We bitch and complain about the US but we will miss the good ole USA with all her flaws.

[brainhulk]

i like chinese products

Comparison shots of my car's hid headlights vs 3 cheap chinese fleshlights

f 1.7, 1/2 sec exp., iso 160

s2000:


skyray king + stl v2 x2

[pontifex]

Originally Posted by Pr0d1gy

If you posted that from a net connection in China it may be the last thing you ever post, too. Be careful, our rules do not apply there.

lol, was thinking the same thing myself.

no more snorgling