Interesting article on China

Jstas

Wanted to share and hear some thoughts. Especially @cnh since he spent so much time there.

https://aeon.co/essays/what-chinese-corner-cutting-reveals-about-modernity

BlueMDPicker

Thanks for sharing, John. Wow - makes you wonder if the same craftsmanship standards apply to their military hardware?

Gatecrasher

I spent most of 2015 in China for work.

It was an awesome experience.

motorhead43026

It would probably be no different in the US if it weren't for those pesky regulations and standards.

Gatecrasher

Well I'll tell you one thing. They aren't exaggerating about the air pollution over there, especially during the winter when they are burning coal. The smog is so thick you can't see 10 feet ahead. Picture the foggiest morning here in America when the schools might be delayed except it's like that at noon in China.

Instead of snow days the Chinese have smog days where all the schools are closed and so are the highways.

When you see all the people wearing the surgical masks it isn't to protect them from the flu or anything. It's the smog.

China is finally starting to realize that they no longer have a choice but to join other nations in reducing pollution because it is an ecological catastrophe over there.

Take the United States in the late 60's before the EPA regulations when we were still burning leaded fuel and multiply that by ten and you have China.

Gatecrasher

Speak of the devil, this is what I was talking about right here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pollution-kills-more-than-1-7-million-children-a-year-who-reports/

mrbigbluelight

I read somewhere that the lifespan of a traffic cop in Shanghai (can't remember its modern name) is 45 years due to pollution.

It's very interesting to hear first hand, on the ground experiences of people.

Gatecrasher

There were good things about China too. The food was fantastic and the people were very friendly. They love Americans.

Other than the smog, the cities were very clean for the most part. You don't see trash thrown alongside the roads like we have here in America.

The Chinese love basketball. I watched a few CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) games and they were pretty-good. Like Japanese baseball, the Chinese basketball teams are each allowed to have one American player on them. Stephon Marbury is a superstar in the CBA. If you watch the games on TV they have Chinese beer commercials with Shaquille O'Neil in them speaking Chinese. Pretty-funny really.

If you go the upscale parts of the cities you will be amazed at how wealthy some Chinese people are. There were Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce car dealerships and some very upscale shops selling Armani suits and Rolex watches. I made the comment to some of the Chinese guys that work in our plant there that "There must be a lot of rich people in China" and they told me that they sell more luxury cars like Bentleys and the ones I mentioned above in China than anywhere else in the world. I was surprised by that. When you think of China one tends to think about rural poor people.

The majority of the Chinese people are poor by our standards but not all. Most of the Chinese from my company are highly-educated from the likes of MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, and other elite American universities. They have all spent a lot of time in America. They tell me that China is a lot like the United States in that about 98% of the wealth is concentrated in the upper 1% of the population. The difference between them and us though is China has 1.3 billion people which means that there are four times as many super-rich Chinese.

The US dollar goes a long way in China. For less than $100 per night you can stay at a 4 or 5-star hotel that would cost many times that anywhere else.

We first landed in Hong Kong and took a cab to Shanghai a few days later. One thing that was really weird was that in Hong Kong they drive on the left side of the road. Something they inherited from the British during their 99 year lease that lasted from 1898 to 1997. As we drove to the mainland we approached a huge security gate which looked like a turnpike toll with about 150 lanes (no exaggeration), and it was packed wall to wall with cars. After we passed through the security to mainland China we switched to driving on the right-hand side of the road like we do in the United States.

Here's a picture from my window at the Hilton in Shanghai. Talk about a BIG city. It makes most look small.



After we left Shanghai we went to Shenzhen which is an industrial city and is one of China's wealthiest cities.

Here are some pictures from an awesome resort I stayed at with a beachfront room for less than $100 per night. Less than half what a ho-hum room at a Holiday Inn Express would be here in America.















Another thing that was really awesome were the Chinese airlines. They reminded me of the United States in the 1960s and 70s. Even though the average Chinese person is smaller is size than Americans, their planes have tons of legroom. The airports are all brand-new and pristine. Another nice thing is that all of the stewardesses were hot young super-attractive babes! Just we used to have back in the good old days here. lol

There are some American fast-food restaurants in China but the overwhelming favorite of the Chinese is Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's considered a luxury. On a flight from Shanghai to Beijing I sat next to a young attractive Chinese school teacher who was returning from a teacher's conference. She spoke perfect English. We saw a guy eating some KFC on the plane that he got at the airport and she told me they call it (some Chinese name that I can't remember). When I asked her what the name meant she told me "heaven".

It was a good time and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again. I just found out that I may be doing just that in a few months. It's about a 12 hour flight from Atlanta to Hong Kong. Not too bad if you fly on a 747 in Business Class though.

The jet lag hits me worse on the trip back than it does going to China. It took me about two weeks to fully recover and sleep normal again. It also took a while to recover from the air pollution. It's hard on the nostrils. After you visit China you'll have a much greater appreciation of the EPA and the environmental laws we have here in America.

pitdogg2

Gatecrasher wrote: »

Speak of the devil, this is what I was talking about right here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pollution-kills-more-than-1-7-million-children-a-year-who-reports/

this say's it all right here from the article

"They’ve pursued a philosophy that it is more important to develop industry now and to deal with pollution later.”

motorhead43026

^^Not unlike our industrial revolution. There is certain political party that would like to make coal king again in the US, if it could.

BlueFox

After you visit China you'll have a much greater appreciation of the EPA and the environmental laws we have here in America

You mean 'used to have'.

tonyb

motorhead43026 wrote: »

^^Not unlike our industrial revolution. There is certain political party that would like to make coal king again in the US, if it could.

Not really, they just don't subscribe to throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.

Jstas

Please do not turn this into a political discussion.

I don't want it closed because people can't leave that stuff elsewhere.

mrloren

Jstas wrote: »

Please do not turn this into a political discussion.

I don't want it closed because people can't leave that stuff elsewhere.

AGREE!