chenGOD

this is truly nightmarish to me. I cannot deal Have you considered the lobster?

From a Dutch agency: https://taleninstituut.nl/en/the-hardest-languages-in-the-world-to-learn/ 1. Mandarin. Maybe you’re a linguistic genius? Go do your work, the internet will still be here when you return. Lol. Sorry if I seem snippy, I’m in the middle of an exam for a new position at work and am a little sleep deprived.

It’s hard to live in an expat bubble in China, especially a white one. Services are not aimed at resident foreigners (tourists are a different story), and the number of resident foreigners in China is minuscule (around a million people). The largest number of foreign residents are South Koreans, then Americans (of which I suspect many are American-born Chinese), then Japanese. Despite that, I still maintain that speaking Mandarin well is difficult, not something for the two year cowboy teachers. Where did your friends live? I’ve only been to Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Well HK and Taiwan as well but they’re very different.

Anyone who thinks the colundi-related material is all samey-like should go listen to Starlight 1-3 and then come listen to MS 1-6

“Black people are voting more conservatively” Black people: “87% of us voted Democrat.” Also, we’re 3 months into Biden’s term. It’s a little early to be able to tell if minorities are better or worse off under his administrations’ policies.

No, my friend is Michael Spavor. Luckily he hasn’t been sentenced to death, yet. He was however, tried in a court with no public access, not even diplomats. We don’t know the verdict yet, as that will come later. However, given China’s conviction rate of over 99%, I’d say that things don’t look good for him... Edit: to clarify - I don’t know if he’ll get the death penalty, as he’s been charged with “national security” offences, as opposed to anything to do with drugs. As well, I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that Michael Kovrig, another Canadian who had lived and worked in China for a long time as an analyst with Crisis Group, also remains imprisoned, with little recourse to legal counsel. His trial occurred under similar conditions, with no verdict as yet. Both he and my friend have been imprisoned since December 2018, with few visitation rights, under completely inhumane conditions. Given how the last Canadians accused of espionage in China fared (who were not being held for the purposes of hostage diplomacy), I get genuinely angry when I think of my friend being held there, and so do not bring him into conversations about China easily, as it tends to cloud my thinking.

Or sentenced to death for dealing drugs as part of some weird political game.

This just in, China is still not communist. The guy liked China, and now he doesn't - it's simply a different perspective. I'm sorry he's not eager to kiss fascist boots.

The number of alcoholics who run successful YouTube channels is probably not high. The vast majority of burnouts I knew in South Korea lasted a couple of years on average. 10 was rare. Speaking Mandarin well is difficult, perhaps not more than reading it, but the intonations in Mandarin as well as the dialects do make things difficult. At least with reading it, it's quite consistent. Also, the number of immigrants I knew in South Korea who couldn't speak the language beyond the basics (despite being far easier to read) after 5 years or more in country, was frankly shocking. Did you live in China? Where?

The people of the second variety are never organized enough to run YouTube channels, and usually don’t stick around for 10 years. Also I knew plenty of people in East Asia who worked in “respectable” industry and were complete fuck ups. And I think it’s important to note that one guy speaks fluent Mandarin, while the other doesn’t. But sure, then discount YouTube videos in both cases and look at the documents.

Sweeping generalizations are sweeping generalizations. Well done. Do you know anyone personally who went to China?

Sure but the guy lived in China for 10 years, traveled around a lot, and came back with a different opinion than the first-blush falling in love with the country. As someone who's done something similar (South Korea), my opinion of the country did change over time, not quite as negatively as his, but those first few years where you're young and everything is shiny and new really paint a false picture. And no offense, but you really can't compare public transportation in China to public transportation in the US/Canada, even in cities. It's one of the things China does well (like other East Asian countries). The shiny department stores and stuff - we'll see how long they last. South Korea had a raft of issues where developers cut costs resulting in department stores collapsing and other shit. Give it a few more years in China and you'll likely see the same thing with some of the less well-known bigger developments. There's another video about some old British fuck who visited Xinjiang 5 times, and says it as if it's a surprise, implying that westerners aren't allowed to visit. Like of course you are, but there are places you aren't allowed to go. I've been to North Korea, twice! There's lots there I wasn't allowed to see. And people who have been there way more times experience the same treatment. I've also been to China, and there is a lot to like, and I met some really great people (including a bartender who was from Xinjiang, I chatted to her quite a bit, this was back in 2008 I think, and she had some interesting things to say about China, not all bad of course, but the economic neglect that Xinjiang suffered was pretty brutal). Also the last time I was in China, in 2015, the air in Beijing was so bad for the whole 3 days I was there it was like smoking constantly.

More on the documents leaked about Xinjiang: https://xjdp.aspi.org.au/explainers/the-leaked-documents/ https://www.dw.com/en/exclusive-chinas-systematic-tracking-arrests-of-uighurs-exposed-in-new-xinjiang-leak/a-52397824

A different perspective from a guy who lived in China for a long time: And another:

Send them here and tell them your username. They’ll quickly realize what a mistake they made and never bother you again. Then you can rejoin your brethren here, where no vibin is done (nor indeed permitted). Problem solved. p.s. I’m selling this advice as an nft.

Ask them to send you bitcoin to confirm you’ve set up a wallet correctly.

https://mikeparadinas.bandcamp.com/album/housewerk-vol-2-deep-clean So much for being fiscally responsible..

They’ve been moving to proof of stake for about 5 years now. I think you're right about that part. without crypto, no NFT's I mean with that, it’s just scammers using available tools. Crypto currencies are still useless though.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-03-16/nfts-artists-report-their-work-is-being-stolen-and-sold/13249408

this whole article was disgusting to read, as is basically anything relating to the realities of NFTs. "I'm an idiot with too much money and deserve to have it all taken from me".

Lol forgot the date....

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdj79/peoples-expensive-nfts-keep-vanishing-this-is-why Bwah hahaha

Man the verge really doesn't take april fool's pranks well.

Yes, and the option was exactly that. Paying foreign countries to build them nuclear power plants. Canada built two for them which were up and running in 2002. I think the contract was signed in the early 1990s. China could have easily accessed loans from the world bank or IMF in the 80’s, or even earlier from the USSR to develop nuclear capacity. Maybe. Time will tell, but they continue to build more coal plants than the rest of the world.

No, it’s because China, despite having the advantage of industrializing after others, continued to use coal to fuel their industrialization when they could have been using nuclear and then more renewables. But coal is cheap... Considering the material you’ve posted in this thread, this is gross and insulting. Im on my phone and don’t feel like putting too much into this, but let’s take some quotes from Xi’s major speeches (from Xinhua, which is a state-run media outlet, so you shouldn’t have any issues with me using them). Xi on democracy: The reality: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/china-approves-overhaul-of-hong-kongs-political-system-reports Xi on the environment: The reality: https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/chinas-new-coal-power-plant-capacity-in-2020-more-than-3-times-rest-of-worlds-study Etc.