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Q: I hate to get all hadley here but let's all say something nice about China.
I like to travel when there aren't too many people, I like talking with (certain) students who I don't always agree with but show me a different point of view and I like meeting (certain) expats who have interesting stories to tell about their experience in China.
If you are able to shut out all the nasty things in China then it isn't a bad place to be. But then again, there's plenty to shut out. Sometimes, you just want to get up and get out. After a while, whatever ugly things you see doesn't bother you anymore, the spitting, the rushing to get in first place, the elbowing on trains, unwashed bodies, urinating where one stands, the works. You just move along as if nothing happens. Not all the locals are that bad, some turn out to be very nice people once you get to know them. If you've been here for more than 2 years then you would have gotten used to the noise. For me, it's just a distraction now.
Scandinavian:
I'll just call louischans bluff here. I don't actually believe there is anything nice in what he writes. He doesn't mention ONE single positive.
"Not all locals are that bad...." what the hell kind of view on people is that to put in a "positive thread"". By far most Chinese people are nice kind people, like everywhere else in the world. They are just normal people, and normal people are generally nice. The Chinese people suck hard because of their society. They spit because of lack of care, they drive like idiots because nothing is enforced... not because they are bad people.
louischuahm:
Hahaha....nice one Scan! Once you shut out the nasty things, it becomes positive. One has to remain positive to survive here. So in saying that "if you shut out the nasty things" one strives to be positive. Now, isn't that positive thinking? Over to you, Scan!
Scandinavian:
sorry louis. Can't be positive right now, just had the MILs food for lunch and had to resort to eating food from the emergency stash (imported milk and oatmeal) and now I am sitting and thinking what to do about the trash as I really don't want to hurt the flea infested wild cats that live outside, who will get way too much salt and shit from what is left of a fish (which is I guess 85%)
In more seriousness. I would not say I envy others ability for shutting out negatives as I find it somewhat deceitful to one self, but I can certainly see the positive in that it works for others like you.... Someone has to deal with the crap. Somewhere in steaming pile of negativity is a brilliant idea, waiting to be mined out of the stink, to better the world.
Many of the people truly are very kind. Mongolian BBQ. Ride a bike to work. Save a ton of money. Close to Thailand. Can trade the western equity markets overnight - no interference with work. Starbuck's. Oh sorry. Guess I'm done.
icnif77:
I wanted to get you job in EU
. No, I didn't! See thread 'anybody worked in EU' for more. I mention your handle, too
. See my post (on the bottom), which start with Q: Have you ever been selected among 40 candidates?' LOL
bill8899:
you might work in Italy? Seriously? I cannot work in the EU. I have the wrong passport.
If you teach in Italy I will die of envy! If I could, I would work in Italy forever and never leave. Dang.
Good luck Icky!
Give me your bike! LMAO
icnif77:
I didn't even unpack-it! It's still in the box.
Here, I need vespa with girl,
I mean girl in mini&highelers with vespa (current fashion in my city). 'I can see your undies' pick-up-line thingy…. My bike was made and assembled in US. Watch when Italians see that. Colnago, phiiihh…However, I fancy Cervelo…. since long time ago…LOL
- Just act like you belong and you can enter nearly anywhere.
- Amazing urban exploring in some areas.
- Dystopian post-apocaliptic set up without paying for a ticket.
- Still cheap... kind of.
- I can buy any piece of electronic crap I want and sellers will even let me use their soldering irons. If only I had the knowledge to build a robot I'd be the happiest person.
Finally... After reading a few threads I was starting to wonder what everyone was still doing here 
What about the people, the food, the culture and the language? And the weather has been pretty good this week (in Beijing).
RiriRiri:
I'm sure you have a top ten list somewhere that you could show us. Right? Just a hunch.
Scandinavian:
it only takes 5 chopsticks, some string and a small saw to build a fork
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/13/why-you-sho...
Panda cubs at a China zoo. Triplets! (EPA)
(1) The common day-to-day people are mostly very kind and welcoming IME.
(2) Chinese Muslim restaurants (the Hui kind, I don't mean the XJ kind), must be some of the best food in Asia for westerns.
(3) Good public transportation (except when pig-headed cars get in the way), and subsidized long distance rail. Sometimes in traffic jams the bus driver can use any lane anywhere on the road to get ahead while other cars can't do that.
(4) Taxi drivers, the normal ones you catch around town are almost always dignified and fun to talk with.
(5) Cheap good German beer. Seriously the local import supermarket has tasty beer for $2-3 USD for a 500mL can, it's not even available at my home supermarket (but OTOH they have good microbrews back home)
(6) Certain funny little things you can get away with just for being a whitey. Like a special line at the train station.
(7) ***** ****. Haha one of those secrets that you only find about once in China, telling it would give it away.
1. Despite their lack of manners the common people that you meet on a daily basis are usually very friendly and won't ever try to harm you.
2. Even with a language teaching job you instantly access to middle class benefits and have a massive purchasing power.
3. Urban Chinese girls are truly hot and easy, the younger generation (post-90) is very open to things like casual sex and relationships with foreigners.
4. Most places have been built in the past 20 years, thus infrastructures are usually very new and modern.
5. By plane Guangdong where I live is just a few hours away from Southeast Asian tropical paradises.
6. You can find everything in China as most of the consumer products are manufactured here.
7. The Chinese government don't bother me at all, unlike back home where each political party want to tell people how they should live and think.
8. As a foreigner you get some unwritten benefits, you can get away from most troubles by repeating "tingbudong" for e.g.
I think I love how easy it is to get great quality green tea! Never quite had high quality green tea in the U.S. Also I love pomegranates, which sorta' command a high price in the U.S.
Also, it's funny how most posts here mention women. Haha, well I guess I gotta agree with that too.
