[First of all, lemme say, thanks for all the questions! I’m gonna do my best to answer all of them to the best of my knowledge! Keep in mind that I really enjoy comments, and if any weibo post is confusing or lacking context, feel free to ask! I’m happy to explain any time. Sometimes, I genuinely forget some super basic aspect of Chinese society is super bizarre to everyone else.]
Thanks for the reply! I knew some of the sites but not others, and not some facts about the ones I did (e.g. I knew Xiaohongshu was "Chinese Instagram", but not how it originated). I've always found the omni-app status of Wechat interesting, and wondered if it's an influence on Elon Musk's occasional insistence he wants to make Twitter an omni-app of the same kind.
The 50% failure rate is...eyebrow-raising, but I'm not alone in saying that. One thing I've heard is that absolute test pass marks tend to be higher in more marginalized provinces like Shandong, but possibly also that the *tests themselves* have harder questions. Is the part about the tests themselves being harder true, or is it a game of telephone from people's original complaints?
Hi hi I have a question for the next FAQ: Could you explain the differences/stereotypes associated with each major city or region of China? For example you mention that entrance exams are less competitive if you grow up in Xinjiang or Tibet - does that affect how Tibetan people are viewed in other parts of China?
If you've already written about it maybe I'll stumble upon it. I'm binging all of your posts right now
Oh wow that graduation quota system, and the "if you rent instead of owning, your kids can't go to public school" bit, are both very shocking and eye-opening for me, especially compared to the emphasis here in the US on raising high school graduation rates
I have a clarifying question - when you talk about "buying a house" do you exclusively mean detached single homes, or does owning your own apartment/condo unit count?
Thanks for the reply! I knew some of the sites but not others, and not some facts about the ones I did (e.g. I knew Xiaohongshu was "Chinese Instagram", but not how it originated). I've always found the omni-app status of Wechat interesting, and wondered if it's an influence on Elon Musk's occasional insistence he wants to make Twitter an omni-app of the same kind.
The 50% failure rate is...eyebrow-raising, but I'm not alone in saying that. One thing I've heard is that absolute test pass marks tend to be higher in more marginalized provinces like Shandong, but possibly also that the *tests themselves* have harder questions. Is the part about the tests themselves being harder true, or is it a game of telephone from people's original complaints?
Hi hi I have a question for the next FAQ: Could you explain the differences/stereotypes associated with each major city or region of China? For example you mention that entrance exams are less competitive if you grow up in Xinjiang or Tibet - does that affect how Tibetan people are viewed in other parts of China?
If you've already written about it maybe I'll stumble upon it. I'm binging all of your posts right now
Thanks for answering my question! This whole post has been super interesting - please do another FAQ every month.
Can't wait for your post about feminism in China!
This was amazing thanks so much
This is amazing, thanks! Would love to have the opportunity to ask you questions once a month.
> Only 50% of middle schoolers can graduate to go to high school. Only 50% of high schoolers can graduate to go to university.
wait, WHAT?? holy crap
This was incredibly insightful, thank you! Please make it a once a month thing if you can afford the time :)
Oh wow that graduation quota system, and the "if you rent instead of owning, your kids can't go to public school" bit, are both very shocking and eye-opening for me, especially compared to the emphasis here in the US on raising high school graduation rates
I have a clarifying question - when you talk about "buying a house" do you exclusively mean detached single homes, or does owning your own apartment/condo unit count?