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Q: Anything here actually, genuinely blow your mind?
I know there's a bunch of stuff that's shocking, maybe appalling, certainly plenty of stuff that's annoying, but is there anything that truly leaves you so gob-smacked that you try to step into the mind of the person you're taking to, just so you can get a glimpse of what the world really looks like from their point of view? For me it's a simple thing, something i've only come across twice in 8 years, and that is country folk being introduced to blockbuster movies and struggling with whether it is reality or not. The first time was a student friend of about 23 who I was watching one of the Star Wars movies with, and he asked me earnestly whether it was real or not. We discussed it at length and it was quite clear that he truly did not know. The second time was my mother-in-law, and the movie was King Kong. She stood in the doorway for a few moments while Kong battled a dinosaur, and then said "This is not real, is it?" before looking at us closely for confirmation. Then she informed us that she'd 'seen these things that were not real before'. And these are not people I consider intellectually challenged or ignorant, ignorance is to ignore something that has otherwise been made known to a person. No, these two were simply unaware, both having lived incredibly sheltered lives, and were as a result living in a world of such infinite possibility that I was stuck trying to comprehend it. Blew my mind wider than a shot-gun blast to the head.
Interesting question. What blows my mind is that there's very few 'four alarm' fires here. I live just down the street from a fire station and I only hear the trucks off to an emergency once a fortnight. You figure with gas for cooking, a lot of oil, sleepy Chinese and a heck of a lot of wooden furniture and plastic there'd be infernos daily. Seen a few fires, read about a couple of big ones, but it still amazes me that there's not more. As a secondary head-scratcher...I can't believe that Guangzhou has a Lambroghini, Lotus and Ferrari dealerships. I mean, you can't drive them as they were meant to be driven and with the conditions of the roads that GZ has...whatta waste.
Scandinavian:
regarding the cars, it is mindboggeling that people dare take such automotive masterpieces to the streets here however one thing you can do if you live in GZ and have a supercar, you can drive a couple of ours to the south and take your car around a propper F1 track.
mArtiAn:
I thought China was a pretty good place to live in terms of avoiding fires, everything's stone and tiles. Gas is a worry though, I knew a kid whose mother died in the shower from a gas leak. I used to have to do all my smoking in the kitchen where the gas is kept. Always half expected to wake up in intensive care one night with a bald, burnt head a gas canister stuck up my arse.
wagon:
I don't see many fires, but I've seen numerous people with burns.
point is well taken, in fact im not sure if china has ever made a good science fiction film. they copy japanese ultraman pretty well.
one thing that blows my mind here, shandong province has the highest scores for the goakoa, but they dont have a top 10 university in the province.
if massachusetts had high SAT scores and no harvard, people would ask why, nobody here ever ask why and then they look at you angry if you criticize. not a criticism, just an observation.
another observation is how old the people live to, despite the bad water, air and soil, maybe because i see so many people, my perspective is wrong
mArtiAn:
I don't think they live to be that old, I think many just 'look' old. I knew a kid of about 22 with 50% of his hair already turned grey.
Scandinavian:
also, if you are 80 years old in China today, the first 50 years of your life would have been lived in a relatively clean environment, albeit with potential food shortages. Typically the environmental impact on your overall health is greatest if it is in the growing years. The cancer villages is a new phenomena and the effects are not yet fully seen. Also, any statistics on life expectancy would be void in a country where people are born in hiding due to the OCP, therefore will never make it into the statistics, or any statistics are doctored in the name of face.
The thing that still blows my mind is how superficial love and marriage can be to some Chinese. That is to say, how the Chinese have managed to reduce it to more or less a financial transaction that rapidly becomes affectionless for many. The thought that financial security can become more of a priority than true affection. This evening, I saw several young mothers outside my apartment building with their children. Not a guy in sight. It's almost as though they are seen as just a machine for creating a baby and doing the housework. I know that I shouldn't really be surprised in such a male chauvinistic society but I am genuinely still taken back by this mentality.
mArtiAn:
That's just a matter of economics, isn't it? Heard a story today about a 36 year old girl marrying a rich guy of 86. That's the way to do it, a few years of wrinkled old balls and she's home free.
angelina8:
It's astonishing how some of them can completely shut down their emotions. Marriage is all about money, power and face.
I've been driving in China for the last 2 years now (and dodging it Hulk-pogger-frogger style for a year prior to that), and it still blows my mind that I don't see WAAAAYYYYYY more accidents than I already do.
I know I read something a while back about how auto insurance companies consistently lose money every year in China....but still. The way they drive here, I would expect the roadways to just be lined continuously with those little memorials you see back home where people have perished in road accidents.
mArtiAn:
Yeh, roads are crazy, but then it occurred to me that at only 44 years of age i've probably been driving for longer than 95% of the population. My wife told me that as a kid she saw almost no cars around, and she's only 29. Everyone used to be on bicycles. Now everyone drives like they're still on bicycles. Wayyy too casual. Road etiquette is something that develops over time, and road savvy is passed down from father to son. Here they ain't had time to develop either. What gets me the most though is the, "I'm not looking, so you have to give way" approach that so many adopt in getting from A to B. It's quite deliberate.
icnif77:
@cooter: That's 'harmonizing' at it's best. How is that possible?
I am not driving anything in China, and I am 'enforcing (
)' Western traffic (pedestrian) rules. As a person, I am 'not scared easy', so I rarely back up and give right way to the car. When I am crossing the road, drivers all have look in their eyes like 'Wow.... look, UFO is landing!'.
......looking for wooden surface: 'knock, knock.......
I haven't been hit by anything moving on Chinese roads, yet......
wagon:
I'm boggled by the way they deal with accidents. Two people get out of their cars and argue in the middle of the street, blocking traffic. They continue to do this until a policeman comes to take photos, then the policeman will continue to block traffic while taking said pictures. What blows my mind is that two people think they are more important than the thousands of people they are impeding. Ahhh harmony.
Hugh.G.Rection:
wagon: Under Chinese law if you move your car from the scene of an accident your insurance is null and void and you could be prosecuted as well. That's why they don't move it, even the Police won't move it until an insurance agent arrives, unless someone is injured and the vehicles have to be moved to get the injured person / persons out.
Scandinavian:
Hugh that is not true, only if there is a disagreement as to who is at fault. If you have the classic rear-ending then it can only be the person in the car behind not keeping his distance. Chinese law actually dictates to move vehicles away, just like in the rest of the world, provided it is safe to do so, ie vehicles can still drive, which they alsways ca as these small fender benders rarely do more than scratch a bit of plastic.
Hugh.G.Rection:
Yes, Scandinavian, I agree, but the key point in your reply was "if there is disagreement", in my experience in China there is ALWAYS disagreement, someone may have fired an RPG at the rear of another car and they will still argue who is at fault.
How dumb,Chinese people really are,they are thick with a CAPITAL t
Yeah how someone can complain so much yet still have to stay here. Makes them seem kind of desperate don't you think? Just blows my mind!
Samsara:
Silva:
Wishing you were American, and spending most of your free time on an internet forum lying about it: THAT is desperate. If you are ashamed to admit you are Chinese, perhaps you should think about why.
ambivalentmace:
most foreigners could make more money on welfare or working at a fast food joint than working in china, but we stay here because in some small way we hope to make things better in the long run in china, if may be naive but every little bit helps, if we complain its to let out the frustrations of dealing with the impossible, what doesnt kill you, only makes you stronger, but we dont put our head in the sand and become a selfish pusillanimous. i dont know how to put this type of character and fortitude into a chinese mind or even get a person to understand it. not every relationship in life has to be a non zero sum gain.
it really blows my mind the lack of values and ethics of chinese. I still can,t understand why they do everything for money and they are so shelfish, they move just for getting their own benefit. I don,t understan why chinese don,t have a little humanity
I can't really recall anything negative blowing my mind but I was pretty blown away when I saw Yangshuo for the first time. For me, it was the first time in Asia and standing by the Li river seeing the green humpy hills in the background and the bamboo rafts on the river, was exactly how I imagined tropical Asia to look like. I really felt like I was in the most exotic, beautiful place at that moment. Will never forget it. (I know it sounds cheesy but...)
mArtiAn:
Yeh, God bless you mate, it is cheezy, Yangshou is about as far from real China as my cock is from Halle Berry's pussy. Totally agree with you though, my first experience in Yangshou was very VERY cool. Losing it's grace quite gradually now though.
