Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner's Impression

[suzy89222]

they eat dogs in some areas. more than you would think too. so sick.

[Zeestein]

suzy,

you mom eats dog. dogs eat your mom. holy man

[garcia1000]

Hey OP a few more questions!
Do you know if there are any poker games in China? Did you play in any?

How much power do provincial or municipal government authorities have compared with central government?

What are the living standards for urban poor (bottom 30-40% of urban households)? Do they have white goods (fridge, TV, microwave)

How much did the pork scarcity affect people?

Is price inflation for staples a serious concern?

How many people know about the stock market? What's the opinion on capital controls liberalization (dudes being able to buy HK shares through Tianjin?)

Thanks!

[lucksack]

wtf is sick about eating dogs? when compared to smarter animals like pigs.

[imitation]

I have eaten dog in China on numerous times, I find it very nice, if anyone has any questions about some other stuff like playing poker, living or studying there I can answer but just pm me.

[Sciolist]

[ QUOTE ]
wtf is sick about eating dogs? when compared to smarter animals like pigs.

[/ QUOTE ]
The problem is that we selectively bred dogs for looking cute/being loyal/being useful in some way (hunting, searching for truffles etc). We selectively bred pigs for better tasting/more meat. Therefore, we have a creature that we can relate to better vs. one we cannot, so we naturally don't want people eating dogs.

I don't have a problem with it on an intellectual level, but it's bad on an emotional level and that's what ultimately tells us what to do.

[suzy89222]

[ QUOTE ]
wtf is sick about eating dogs? when compared to smarter animals like pigs.

[/ QUOTE ]

i think eating pigs is bad too.

[suzy89222]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/ar..._of_50000_dogs/

is this ok too? can you imagine walking your dog and someone comes and beats your dog with a baseball bat? i also read in another article how they buried most of them alive.

[daveT]

China seems to have a smeared image. I imagine a lot of it is exaggerated. But the problems stem from the shear size and number of people.

Is it possible to fix the country's problems without exerting extremity?

How do you think the government is doing right now? Do you believe that the people will eventually find their own freedoms without intervention?

I am led to understand that economically, the problem stems from a mix of communism and capitalism. Do you believe that Communism is going away?

What do you mean, exactly, when you say that Mao had good intentions?

That's all for now, but I have plenty more questions.

Olympics 2008: Are you going?

[Zeestein]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey OP a few more questions!
Do you know if there are any poker games in China? Did you play in any?

How much power do provincial or municipal government authorities have compared with central government?

What are the living standards for urban poor (bottom 30-40% of urban households)? Do they have white goods (fridge, TV, microwave)

How much did the pork scarcity affect people?

Is price inflation for staples a serious concern?

How many people know about the stock market? What's the opinion on capital controls liberalization (dudes being able to buy HK shares through Tianjin?)

Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

1. I wish, sigh.

2. Beijing issues the policy directive, but often municipal branch just ignores those edicts. Corruption and cronyism is a huge problem despite high profile cases of guilty guys being executed. It is impossible for Beijing to track the thousands of branches of local government without public whistleblowing from neighbouring provinces, and there often just ins't the incentive for neighbouring province leaders to do so.

3. yes, but think 2nd hand 15" TVs and small delapidated fridges. There are households without whitegoods. You don't get the feeling that everyone is out to hustle everyone else though, people truck along just fine.

4. poorer households don't really have meat in any great volume anyway. Seafoods is ridiculous cheap. Live prawns are like US$1.5/pound. As a % of income, raw staple prices aren't that big a deal.

5. everyone knows about the stock market, and want to be in it. It doesn't really follow the rules, the market rose sharply after the last 2 interest rate hikes. Everyone wants in.