[Wow, time flies. I’m still recovering from jetlag, so update times might be very weird in the coming days. But I’m doing my best to keep on top of things. If there’s any context you feel like you’re missing, or anything you’ve always wanted to know about China, feel free to submit your questions here, and I’ll answer them as best as I can! The Singer compilation is coming soon, as soon as I get enough sleep to do a final round of editing! Thank you guys for all of your support!]
One theme I've gotten out of reading here is how China seems like a low trust society.
There are so many posts about scams and problems. A government official may have stolen some funds, or screwed over a person in some rural district. A person's boss or teacher is awful or abusive. A bank or company is blatantly trying to steal from someone. Even in this update, there is the 'Never sign a blank piece of paper' and 'Missing 130K' which both seem like low-trust society problems.
This feels so different from a Western/rich perspective. For the most I part feel like government officials are well intentioned, businesses are not trying to scam me, and I can trust people I don't know. Is this just a consequence of being a middle income country rather than a rich one? Is it a consequence of the CCP and their style of governance? What do you think explains the constant barrage of posts whose moral is 'The world is out to get you - you have to protect yourself from greedy or corrupt government officials, businesses, etc?'
A few questions on my mind! No need to answer everything.
In grad school, about 40% of my classmates were international Chinese students, and despite my best efforts, I befriended exactly zero in two years. This was at a STEM program in New York about 5 years ago, but I've heard similar anecdotes from others. Are international Chinese students intentionally closed off to interactions with foreigners? Or do they arrive open-minded and wall themselves off after bad experiences? What's happening here?
Do you think the cachet of studying abroad has changed in the last 5 years?
Is the average Chinese person as virulently anti-Japanese as some of these posts suggest?
What's the contemporary attitude about the low birthrate in China among young people?
Is Taiwan a common tourist destination from Mainland China?
I've seen several of your posts mentioning watermelons as something very desirable. Are watermelons expensive in China? Are fruits in general expensive like in Japan?
One theme I've gotten out of reading here is how China seems like a low trust society.
There are so many posts about scams and problems. A government official may have stolen some funds, or screwed over a person in some rural district. A person's boss or teacher is awful or abusive. A bank or company is blatantly trying to steal from someone. Even in this update, there is the 'Never sign a blank piece of paper' and 'Missing 130K' which both seem like low-trust society problems.
This feels so different from a Western/rich perspective. For the most I part feel like government officials are well intentioned, businesses are not trying to scam me, and I can trust people I don't know. Is this just a consequence of being a middle income country rather than a rich one? Is it a consequence of the CCP and their style of governance? What do you think explains the constant barrage of posts whose moral is 'The world is out to get you - you have to protect yourself from greedy or corrupt government officials, businesses, etc?'
A few questions on my mind! No need to answer everything.
In grad school, about 40% of my classmates were international Chinese students, and despite my best efforts, I befriended exactly zero in two years. This was at a STEM program in New York about 5 years ago, but I've heard similar anecdotes from others. Are international Chinese students intentionally closed off to interactions with foreigners? Or do they arrive open-minded and wall themselves off after bad experiences? What's happening here?
Do you think the cachet of studying abroad has changed in the last 5 years?
Is the average Chinese person as virulently anti-Japanese as some of these posts suggest?
What's the contemporary attitude about the low birthrate in China among young people?
Is Taiwan a common tourist destination from Mainland China?
I've seen several of your posts mentioning watermelons as something very desirable. Are watermelons expensive in China? Are fruits in general expensive like in Japan?
How does it seem the us election is being spun in China? Especially after the debate, did the state push a bunch of clips of Biden looking senile?