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

[Bond18]

Zeestein,

OT but, what part of Melbourne? I moved down here (again) about 2 months ago. I also lived in China for 5 months at start of 2007.

Ever go down to Crown?

China questions now:

What city were you in?

Thoughts on Mao?

How economically and politically powerful do you believe China will be in the next 25 years?

[NoSoup4U]

[ QUOTE ]
How do I buy chinese stocks?

[/ QUOTE ]

You might consider FXI, which is an ETF based on the Xinhua China 25 index. There are also some very good mutual funds that focus exclusively on China. MCHFX is probably the best of the lot of them.

[garcia1000]

How bad is the pollution in China in the areas you visited?
What places did you stay in, were they hotels or whatever? What was the pricing like for your lodgings?
Could you give us a general indication of prices for common staples?
What language did you speak whilst you were there?
What television channels did you see most people watching (apart from CCTV)?

[aitchie]

I visited china and was struck by the apparent high regard they still hold Chairman Mao in - It seemed like everyone had been brainwashed.
- Do they really still revere him or is this just a facade?
- Are people aware of some of the darker sides of his regime?
- Was he a better leader than most in the west would believe?

Also why do people spit so much?
How many instant cup noodles are eaten each year? (They were awesome)

[cianosheehan]

A friend of mine has hinted at opening a bar in Shanghai in the new year and asked me to go over and help him. How awesome would this be (if it happened)?

[Zeestein]

[ QUOTE ]
Zeestein,

OT but, what part of Melbourne? I moved down here (again) about 2 months ago. I also lived in China for 5 months at start of 2007.

Ever go down to Crown?

China questions now:

What city were you in?

Thoughts on Mao?

How economically and politically powerful do you believe China will be in the next 25 years?

[/ QUOTE ]

1. I used to go to Crown all the time when I first started playing, then I got good @ t3h unlimited betting 6 or shorter online Hold-Them pokerz, and felt really really angry about the rake I've paid in relation to my bankroll. Now not so much, also I ran the worst in my life, literally 000's:1 when I dropped like 10k in the 5-10 game like ages ago. I lost like a 80%, 96%, 92% and 96% and a few flips for 150bb+ each time, then just regular not making draws etc. Not my biggest loss, but def closest to suicide watch!

If you're this young guy that for some reason wears sharp sportjacket/suits with dress pants and has/had an Asian gf, I definitely remember you (I used to be good friends with you gf's ex).

2. I was in Fuzhou. My grandparents are basically loaded in Chinese terms, I lived with them mostly.

3. Chairman Mao is an ideologue. You can easily equate his disregard or willful ignorance of the human cost of his social programs with many other historical figures, Stalin, Kissinger, Rumfield, Cheney, Dubya, the other Bush. The difference is that Mao kinda had the capacity and did f' up the industralization and modernization of a nation of a billion people, and directly contributed to the deaths of millions. He had good intentions though.

4. Oh man, everyone in the West think China is on the verge of like busting a cap in the rest of the world. The ruling Communist Party have a ton more stuff to sort out before that ever happens. Imagine the challenges that national infrastructure face when 500 million reolcoate from rural farming villages in the centre and western China to coastal industralized cities on the Eastern seaboard. Imagine the potential instability of the stock market bubble popping loudly (it's clearly a bubble) when more and more of China's middle-class are investing their liquid fortune into the stock market. Imagine rising inequality, only there's going to be 600-700 disenchanted and disenfranised urban and rural poor. Imagine a housing

[Zeestein]

[ QUOTE ]
How bad is the pollution in China in the areas you visited?
What places did you stay in, were they hotels or whatever? What was the pricing like for your lodgings?
Could you give us a general indication of prices for common staples?
What language did you speak whilst you were there?
What television channels did you see most people watching (apart from CCTV)?

[/ QUOTE ]

1. I been to Shanghai, HK, Guangdong, Xiamen, Fuzhou. I'll disregard the tourist-Mountains. The air up there are fine. From best to worst is probably Xiamen, Fuzhou, HK, Guangdong and then Shanghai. I swear I need a breathing mask just to walk around in Shanghai. There simply cannot be cars for every household in a nation with hundreds of millions of the middle-class. There is no enforcement on basically any level of world-class legislative enviromental schemes either.

2. Like I said earlier, I stayed with my grandparents mostly who lived in this country villa in a compound complete with security gates. I did stay in a hotel for a couple of nights, and was propositioned within like 20 seconds for massage/hookerage by some chick. I think its cos she loves me. The price was 80 RMB/night (~US$11) for a double bed, with TV and bathroom.

3. Put it this way, if I wanted to eat 3 decent meals for US$2, I could. I could just as easily spend like US$20 for a crappy steak in trendier more western places too. There is a definite two-tier economy. Chinese food are generally way cheaper/better value than western stuff.

4. I'm functionally fluent in Mandarin, and the local dialect. The former is more widely used.

5. Dunno, I only watched TV for sports ala sawker. Me and my sister bought a ton of cheapass DVDs. My grandpa watch TV serials and TV galas (Oct 1st - 7th was China's celebration of the installation of Communist rule, and there was a bunch of these gala things on). Strangely there are also some realtiy TV in dubbed Chinese like Project Runway.

[Zeestein]

[ QUOTE ]
A friend of mine has hinted at opening a bar in Shanghai in the new year and asked me to go over and help him. How awesome would this be (if it happened)?

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming you're a single young white guy, I would dare say you would get to have lots of sex if you wanted to with lithe smooth-skined small-chested Chinese girls. The language will be a problem though, but regular hos are vv cheap.

The pay would be pretty crap when thought in US real terms, but stuff is also tons cheaper.

Assuming you're not going to be upset that China is actualy not like the US at all (!!!), I'd give it like 8 on the Awesome-O-Meter!

[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