The China Thread

An American pro traveler went to China for the first time a couple of weeks ago and landed in Chengdu. As expected, he said the communication was the worst he's ever had in his life and that he's been in other places where there is no English and things were not this difficult. It also took him 4½ hours to go from the airport to his hotel. It's because of problems like that I never wanted to travel much in China.

On the plus side in a BIG way, the city was clean, safe and quiet because all the cars are electric. It's apparently true, but really a shock to me to imagine anywhere in China with people being quiet. I assume that in addition to the EV's, there must be some serious noise regulation enforcement. It's a big improvement.

Interesting note about his taxi is that it only charged him 10 RMB, which was probably just the flag drop. It really looked like the taxi driver charged him the minimum because the communication was so difficult and he was doubting if the driver took him to the correct hotel and asking him if he knew were he was going, but the American found out later that Google Maps is unreliable in China. Lol, welcome to 2009.

 
The duality of the Chang needs deeper learning. On the one side their inferiority complex makes the Chinese quite literally fork over their parents life savings to gain a residence permit in the West and get out of that sinkhole. Moreover they routinely hide their Mainlander heritage to save the embarrassment and to not lose face, instead pretending to be Taiwanese, Hong Konger or Japanese. Yet on the other hand Chinese love to go to foreign places and wave their commie flag as if it's some sort of propaganda victory and proof of CHINA STRONK.

There are tons of videos of this practice in developed nations, especially Japan is a frequent victim. Per usual Japanese city dwellers feel annoyed, yet don't create a scene and just pretend the nouveau riche rice pickers don't exist. Same happens in South Korea, the US, Canada, Australia, etc. However, sometimes the Chang and his flag travel to more primitive and simple places, like Mongolia or Pakistan. That's when it gets interesting. Locals over there really don't appreciate that type of antics, and they don't have much to lose anyway.

Proof is in the pudding below. Word of advice: stop dorking around with you knock off McDonald's flag, stop provoking locals, and stop making everything political by parroting stale and easily debunked CCP lies that were drummed into your subconscious from kindergarten age. Follow these three rules and you will be fine.





 


Silver at $90+ in the Shanghai market, $75 at COMEX in NY.

Also - a multi-million dollar inventory being laid out and sold on a city sidewalk like a bunch of vegetables, without any serious protection... Imagine this being done in any city in W. Europe or N. America...
 
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LaAguilaNegra said:
The duality of the Chang needs deeper learning. On the one side their inferiority complex makes the Chinese quite literally fork over their parents life savings to gain a residence permit in the West and get out of that sinkhole.
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This info is outdated, the value proposition for the Chinese middle or upper class to emigrate to N. America or W. Europe is getting less attractive every year. It makes no sense for an expat from Shanghai or Beijing to buy real estate in the inflated markets of CA, Vancouver or Sydney while their home markets and currency is severely undervalued. Not to mention the types of expenses they will have with healthcare or education in the West.



It might still be a good value proposition for the bottom tier in China to emigrate though, especially if they can tap into the western social welfare package for mass immigration, though Chinese immigrants tend to be more industrious than the average immigrant.

For retirees as well, they would be better off moving to China especially if they are of Chinese or Asian descent.
 
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Cooper said:
This info is outdated, the value proposition for the Chinese middle or upper class to emigrate to N. America or W. Europe is getting less attractive every year. It makes no sense for an expat from Shanghai or Beijing to buy real estate in the inflated markets of CA, Vancouver or Sydney while their home markets and currency is severely undervalued.
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Exhibit A:

 
Cooper said:


Silver at $90+ in the Shanghai market, $75 at COMEX in NY.

Also - a multi-million dollar inventory being laid out and sold on a city sidewalk like a bunch of vegetables, without any serious protection... Imagine this being done in any city in W. Europe or N. America...
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Only an absolute moron would sell a precious metal by spreading it across the floor in the open.
I doubt this photo is accurate.
 
Caduceus said:
Only an absolute moron would sell a precious metal by spreading it across the floor in the open.
I doubt this photo is accurate.
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It's real, and it's spectacular, to quote that 90s Jewish comedy show.... The scene is right outside the main metal market mall in Shenzhen. The silver supply coming in is just being turned over by the merchants before it even gets into their stores in that building.

The scene above is shown and described at the 6min mark in this video:



Several big banks in the US are being held in a short squeeze on silver as demand for physical silver has soared between heavy industrial use, central banks in China, Russia and other countries buying, and now individual savers getting into a buying frenzy.

It's a battle between JP Morgan and Chinese aunties, wild times.
 
Cooper said:
It's real, and it's spectacular, to quote that 90s Jewish comedy show.... The scene is right outside the main metal market mall in Shenzhen. The silver supply coming in is just being turned over by the merchants before it even gets into their stores in that building.

The scene above is shown and described at the 6min mark in this video:

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LOL...the video you posted as "evidence" talks about how a lot of the silver sold in China is fake.,
 
Caduceus said:
LOL...the video you posted as "evidence" talks about how a lot of the silver sold in China is fake.,
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"A lot" is most likely under 1%, and with online sales, because if you're in the bullion business with a brick and mortar setup and sell a product that is fake, you are toast.

That video was from an anti-China channel, they have to work that bit in.
 
Cooper said:
"A lot" is most likely under 1%, and with online sales, because if you're in the bullion business with a brick and mortar setup and sell a product that is fake, you are toast.

That video was from an anti-China channel, they have to work that bit in.
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Anti-China - a term used by the CCPEE worshiping wumaos for anything other than China-glorifying.
 
Selling silver bars off the pavement like they were knock-off Guçcî bags does raise eyebrows.

I'm sure a reputable precious metals seller would never risk their reputation by debasing their bars, but likewise they wouldn't sell on the pavement.

This is being presented as if the reason for curbside vending is the market is so hot, but there's another obvious implication.
 
Very good video from a girl in China for eating out. She shows the details of what's going on, including prices. The comments in the thread are repetitive, but informative.

Naturally I am suspicious of the quality of the food, but that aside she paid 23元 ($3.50) for a drink at a different place, then 60元 ($8.50) for her solo hot pot meal. There are some pros and cons to the whole experience of ordering with QR codes and sitting alone bugman style, but the setup had a lot of nice touches that she explained.

These prices are in line with my experiences there 10 years ago and are that low because of how little they pay the staff. I think much less than half of Chinese city residents could afford to eat at this price level (85元 / $12) because they're working in restaurants with low pay.

Look closely at this woman in order to understand the bigger picture of eating out in China. She doesn't like to cook at home, so she's obviously single and in her late 20's, so she's a sheng nu or old maid to be unmarried at that age

Her skin is typically in very bad shape, especially her lips. This is from the problems in China with the air, water and food. I knew a girl just like this who looked as bad: skin, hair, posture and voice. She went to California for two months and when she came back I could not recognize her, including her voice, because the improvements were all so profound.

 
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Read_Lives_of_Saints said:
Very good video from a girl in China for eating out. She shows the details of what's going on, including prices. The comments in the thread are repetitive, but informative.

Naturally I am suspicious of the quality of the food, but that aside she paid 23元 ($3.50) for a drink at a different place, then 60元 ($8.50) for her solo hot pot meal. There are some pros and cons to the whole experience of ordering with QR codes and sitting alone bugman style, but the setup had a lot of nice touches that she explained.

These prices are in line with my experiences there 10 years ago and are that low because of how little they pay the staff. I think much less than half of Chinese city residents could afford to eat at this price level (85元 / $12) because they're working in restaurants with low pay.

Look closely at this woman in order to understand the bigger picture of eating out in China. She doesn't like to cook at home, so she's obviously single and in her late 20's, so she's a sheng nu or old maid to be unmarried at that age

Her skin is typically in very bad shape, especially her lips. This is from the problems in China with the air, water and food. I knew a girl just like this who looked as bad: skin, hair, posture and voice. She went to California for two months and when she came back I could not recognize her, including her voice, because the improvements were all so profound.

Click to expand...



The experience of solo QR eating with the isolated stall, conveyor belt and minimal interaction with staff is pretty much imported from Japan, the land of overworked introverts. It's funny how that has also crept in in many western cities, mostly in newer Japanese restaurants, those places are popular with young introverts and solo diners.

Eating out is cheap in China because all costs are low, not just labor, COGS or food already is pretty cheap at the retail level, wholesale must be incredibly cheap. Commercial rent is very cheap as well for the average eatery and places in malls, as is their utility bill.

I'm a pretty discriminating eater, and am still puzzled by your assessment of the quality of food in China. Even if you don't love Chinese food, you can get things like a roast duck or BBQ pork that any meat lover can really appreciate.
 
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