By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Is anything about China getting better? Like what?
Yeah, we all love to vent about how China is messed up and what is wrong with it... and granted there is quite a bit... is anything about China getting better?
For those that have been here for quite a few years have you noticed ANYTHING about China that looks like they are on the right track?
I will start out the list... while these aren't exactly LEAPS and BOUNDS... they are small differences I have noticed:
1 - More and more cars are actually slowing down or stopping on red lights and waiting.
2 - A little bit less people stare and whisper about foreigners compared to the past.
3 - This could be because most Chinese know about different countries and have even traveled to them, themselves (or have a random family member living there)
4 - Corruption is being shaken up a bit with all a lot of officials being outed and returned to China if they took off. This is a step in the right direction.
5 - Chinese (mostly young smart ones) are developing their own personalities and individualism much more than when I first got here.
6 - Some provinces and cities are getting very insecure of their pollution levels and are adding a lot more greenery within the city as opposed to concrete jungles
7 - Foreign foods and items that were once impossible to get eight years ago are now very easy
----
That's my list.
Garbo:
I remember in the 90s the only place in Beijing to get cheese was the friendship store.
diverdude1:
Garbo- u r about the only person I've ever heard on here (or pretty much anywhere else) mention the Friendship Store idea that used to go around in Mr. Marx countries.
here is a little trivia question/answer for u....
Answer: I actually visited the one in Moskva in the 70's.
Question: Have u ever met anyone who has been to a 'Friendship Store'.
Robk:
My friend used to buy a huge like a 20 pound block of Cheese... every time he went to Beijing...
Hahaha...
Xi's anti-corruption campaign is probably good for something. Stricter visa requirements is probably good for weeding out the worse expats. I've noticed there's more international beer choices in the supermarkets. Other than that I haven't been in China long enough to notice any other changes.
Yup, all of Jiang Zemin's and some of Hu Jing Tao's cronies are being picked off while Xi's buddies are inviolate.
The Internet is becoming sino-centric and so are the visa regulations.
China appears to be closing again, and Mr. Nationalist (who adores Mao's principles) is arming police to the teeth to fend off "terrorist" attacks (funny how none of the "terrorists" who committed attacks publicly announced their success like every other fanatics in the world - must be "terrorism with Chinese characteristics.")
Not to jibe RobK, but more and more cars are being held up in traffic and cannot gun-through intersections like before. More and more people are "being hit" and demanding compensation too. You want to see civility? The primary/middle school next to my place is akin to a Grand Prix pit-stop.
More young people are developing their own personalities because they don't give a rat's ass about anyone else (including their own families). Games, shopping, and instant gratification is the order of the day.
And, most cynical of all (as is expected of me), greenery is added because many children have survived falls from high rises so it makes good "insurance" to have trees and shrubberies around buildings.
Happy New Year.
coineineagh:
I'm skeptical of most 'terrorist' activities worldwide not simply being false flag operations, and often after attacks, certain groups are quick to claim they did it, only to be disproven soon after. But the funny part of China's Xinjiang terrorism stories, is that none of it can be found in Wikipedia or other outside reference sources. The attacks make international news, China blames certain factions to its own audience. But then: nobody cares to update the worldwide consensus on the matter. If USA blames a certain faction, then all the world falls in line and it becomes public knowledge (and even if disproven, the stories prevail). When China does the same, the stories stay inside the Chinese intranet. Think of it what you will - it just gives me a chuckle.
Re Rob's list;
1) Cameras at lights, not at pedestrian crossing = stop and no stop.
2) Not where I live.
3) They don't have any clues about other countries. The % who've travelled in a non-shopping frenzy tour is miniscule.
4) Corruption crackdown is all smoke and mirrors. If one isn't in the club then look out! Corruption is part of the fabric of Chinese life. It's called guanxi.
5) The personality the young people are developing is gimme gimme gimme....
6) Yes. But the greenery is supplied by the mayor's brother at 3 times the cost.
7) Not where I live.
Sometimes I think there's less spitting and then I take more notice and realise there isn't. Filthy bastards.
Robk:
LoL... yeah, I am sure if you look behind the smoke and mirrors then the reason for ALMOST everything boils down to one source.
Money.
royceH:
Yes Rob. Fk money. But I think 'face' is the driver. And my opinion of that is 'how pathetic!'
DrMonkey:
I think some things got worse however. For me, pollution, had to go indoor to run. Internet is more crippled. I see Xi's face floating in a blue sky before the movie start in the cinema, it wasn't like that, and there are things congruent to that happening in the same time. The country is closing itself little by little.
royceH:
Dr M... I agree with you.. In fact, I have written about it.
And nothing is happening to change my prognostication. Rather, it's being reinforced.
Guangzhou city has improved massively since I first visited in 2005.
More blue skys days here than I have ever seen in GZ.
If it hasn't gotten better since 1949, I don't see it getting better anytime soon.
No, but countless things got worse:
Do you want to buy a nice home in China? You got to pay 4 times what you would in my country for a similar size, sky high price for a much lower quality, poor construction standards, cheap materials with probably sea sand used in the concrete, this is China.
Do you want to eat safe food? Better buy imported food that cost 50% more than it would anywhere else in the world because retailers are not stupid and know that this is the only safe food in China, middle class Chinese and foreigners are willing to pay that price. Otherwise you can eat local food, grown on soils contaminated with cadmium and all sorts of heavy metals or industrial grade chemicals, it might not make you sick now but on the long term... Mainland Chinese above 35~40 look very unhealthy for the most, they cough and sneeze all the time, they are always sick, wonder why? Pollution and local food that's polluted, Chinese born and living overseas even in poorer countries are not that sick, even though they eat the same Chinese style dishes, not with ingredients from Mainland China however, you have been warned.
Young men in China are the most xenophobic, racist, self-centered and coward I have ever seen, it used to be different, today they will plant their claws into any foreigner showing a sign of weakness, especially foreigners in a relationship with Chinese ladies. The rarest resource in China is not land, it's not fresh water or breathable air, it's women, there are 40 million men out here who can't ever hope to find a bride, they are angry, especially against foreigners dating Chinese women, and they do not hesitate anymore to show their anger, attacks on foreign males (always 5 VS 1 of course, don't expect courage from Chinese men) for no other reason than him being with a Chinese female are increasing rapidly, the more true in first tier cities, keep going to the gym people.
Other things that have gotten worse, pollution, traffic, blind nationalism and racialism from locals, censorship, internet limitations, ...
Strawberry66:
Hahaha.A lot of anger.I assume your girlfriend is not Chinese?
The only genuine improvement that I have experienced since arriving in China is rail travel. The high speed rail links have made a significant difference.
At a local level, living in Qingdao has become more convenient since the construction of the road bridge and tunnel between the main city and the Economic & Development Zone. It will be better still on completion of the subway system in the main city.
Bucking the trend of being negative about everything Chinese (at least where I am):
Government appear to be doing something for the environment, by having substantially more fully or dual electric vehicles. Both for hire by the general public (at only 20RMB/hour!) and also buses - very quiet, very smooth. (however, they seriously need to do something about the factories piling out tons of chemicals into the air...).
It's a lot easier to get imported foods into the supermarkets. Granted, it usually needs to be a 'specialty' supermarket, but there are more of those around than before as well! And the range and quality of those is increasing... This is not something that just the foreigners are enjoying, but also the locals - this will have a flow-on effect, as locals won't be so complacent as the years roll by, to have only what's offered to them by the local supermarkets. A small example - most LianHua/Century supermarkets I walk into have NZ butter in them, or Hershey's/Dove Chocolate, L'Oreal & other hair products, etc
Hygiene standards are increasing. Maybe not tremendously, but spitting on buses is rare, and does get other locals offended.
Also where I am, more international flights from my local airport. This is good, because it will mean more international influence - which is really what this country needs!
The people are becoming less ignorant! And about a great many things. Percentages are still small, but it's happening. I don't know about you guys, but basically every mainlander I speak to has a VPN - so they have access to news and information about and from the rest of the world.
Given the increase in a middle/upper-middle class, the economy has grown nicely, and demands for better deals are being sought. While this is mostly obvious in the T1/2 cities, there will be a flow-on effect as more wealth will slowly trickle to other cities. In Zhejiang province, where Hangzhou is the capital, smaller cities like Wenzhou and Yiwu have become quite rich in the last few years. Also, Ningbo has Nottingham university - which will make for changes to local education (and, again, standards and attitudes).
Although ppl here bitch about medical care here, it is becoming MUCH better! Many more OS doctors, or OS trained doctors. Even to the point that the doctors, nurses and admin have a much higher chance of speaking a language other than Chinese, have access to medicines that we're used to back home (albeit, some restricted moreso than back home - but that's standard anywhere).
Also, while also bitch about Apple, LV, NBA, etc etc being so glorified, remember that those products have an associated idea with them... those with Apple and LV don't piss and shit anywhere they want. It might be a small adjustment, but it will change people's ways of being.
There is a lot of positives going on here, and it will keep happening (maybe not fast, and yes, there will be negative developments as well, but it's not all bad!).
BUT... if you wanted to really bash, the question should have been "
Is anything about China getting better - that WASN'T from foreign influence?
DrMonkey:
Electric vehicles do nothing about pollution, they are as clean as your power plant is. Since more than 70% of China's electricity come from coal, those electric vehicles are coal powered, and with not a great efficiency (losses from battery storage, from electricity distribution, from AC/DC conversion...)
Shining_brow:
Well, DrM, this is true! However, it's an attempt to do something.
Many people seem to have a very bleak view of the future. I see it somewhat more positively... albeit perhaps a bit further down the track, after things have gotten worse. One aspect will be power sources. It will get worse before it gets better, but I do believe we'll always have blue skies above, and no coal-powered electricity!
On the right track....... That's not arrogant at all is is?
Nothing! the country is just closing itself, thanks Xi!!!
At least I see some improvement in the younger crowd. I went to visit a student's home town, and when I was there, a group of employees from Siemens said they wanted to take my picture as part of some assignment given from their manager. The student scolded them as how that's not cool, and I'm not a tourist attraction, or some sideshow freak. She did this without me asking, just knowing that it was wrong.
Another time, I went with some other students to a restaurant. Some kids (high school age, maybe) called out, "Hello, laowai!" and laughed when they saw me. One of my students (well, former student at the time) got pissed and told the kids how being racist is a bad thing. Even got them to apologize... I was mucho impressed.
I see a better understanding in general, even if much of the older generation is kinda a loss (not all though, just those who have drank too much of the CCP Flavor-aid).
