I can say I am I am not here to put the Chinese down at all. I ask question to see what people say so I can compare it to what I have observed and been through. It is a shame when some people criticise just for the sake of criticism as it shows and reinforces that foreigners are just whingers in the eyes of the Chinese. I have found that the Chinese people actually think question something is complaining about it. So if we aren't harsh and are more positive with our questions and answers, then they might understand that we are just trying to learn something about China.

i can only speak for myself i post because i want to see if what i see is common, i want a better understanding of what i see, also i want to hear other peoples opinions about things. because i only keep chinese friends while in china so i miss intelligent political debate. i will never keep foreign friends while in china because i cant stand them. i always seem to run into arrogant loud mouth morons. and this is a great places to vent. no one wants to end up like that foreigner on the gz subway.

(note they did not say where he was from or the guy that killed that young girl while drunk driving, but they broke down where the foreigners were from who were injured on the metro crash in shanghai )

There is no question that some people use baited questions for a certain response.
I think sometimes it is OK to ask a question you know the answer to just so you can see if other people agree or disagree. I also think there is a difference between venting about things that annoy us, and bashing China. I doubt most people would stay here if they really hated it that much. I think locals are too sensitive sometimes.

But let me ask this question....why do the frivolous and baited questions always get the most response when legitimate questions barely get hits? And it's not just expats posting these kinds of questions....locals are guilty too.

I bitch a lot on this site, but here it China I don't get a chance to bitch a lot IRL. Workplace harmony, extremely sensitive nationalists, all the other foreigners I know have only been here a few months and are wide-eyed with amazement, etc. I actually really love living in China, but as other people have pointed out, this place can be really good for venting.

Haters gonna hate.

Expats here are stuck in a culture that you must have an implosive personality. The whole idea of keeping face while getting anything done means you can't let your emotions show when dealing with someone/something that lacks all common sense and basic logic. So because of this, we have to bottle up all the feelings we have on such issues and then find a place to vent later. If we don't... well we've all heard stories of laowai freaking out, chaos being created, cops being involved, etc.

So people use this site to not only understand China but to vent about issue they do understand, but still have to deal with. They can either just flat out rant about the bs they are dealing with, or they can ask loaded questions. With the questions, then there are three possible answers that they are looking for to easy the bottled up pressure.
1. Answers from people with similar experiences (misery loves company) and it's nice to know you're not alone
2. Answers from people with worst experiences (wow my day sucked, but compared to his; mine was a walk in the park)
3. Answers from people who can rationally and logically defend the other side (but this is a fine line, if not defended correctly then it can appear as an insult/ stupid closed minded post to the questioner).

Yes, I think this site is great to discuss things that bother us. Like DaBen said, you don't want to bottle it up and later freak out. Foreigners aren't the only ones to do this. You've heard of Chinese who freaked out and stabbed children or what have you. Actually, last night there was some student freaking out, screaming into his phone and stuff. He ran into me and I fell and sprained my wrist. Please write all your problems on here, don't be like that.

I become a racist in this website!
I know China is not good in a lot ways, just like I know my niece is not so pretty... But if u tell me that my niece is ugly, what do u expect me to react?

I believe there r more nice people that mean one...
And I am not mean, racist is not even close to my character...

this is very naturally people come here to talk about some negative things here,. most people have no interesting with positive issues. me either

I think DaBen hit it on the nose here. I have been in China for almost 6 years now and truthfully, I personally have to find an avenue to vent. That's not to say I am always upset with the environment here, I tolerate and accept what I can but there is a boiling point where one must let it out. Thankfully, this site partially serves that purpose for me. Having said that, I do get some very useful stuff on here and it is comforting to know that there are others out there with similar views on this place.

Venting is a normal, even healthy psychological response to the pressures of living in a foreign country.  We just need to be mindful that our rants are being read by the locals. 

I think people get some useful information here because people around here is really nice and warm-hearted. Maybe some people criticize here are people who simply want  to find a solution to adapting to a new environment, or they just need to leave without hesitation.

With the paid army of chinese people on western websites spinning their BS and insulting everyone, why the hell should I care?

I treat these posts as "Public Service Announcements"!
The Chinese are big on those, so we should do as they do!

Umm, Woody, you just criticized your own posted question.   

And, are you new to the internet or something?

I take the criticism of China with a pinch of salt. Many people on here have said multiple times that they actually love China but they just came here to vent sometimes.