China flexing on the west. They must realize third world immigration and our disgusting way of raising children has made us weak enough to start flexing on us.
The China Thread
- Thread starter God's lonely asperger
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Why would Chinese tourists need VPNs in order to visit a Chinese province when there is, according to you, little censorship in China?If these 300 million tourists can figure it out then I'm sure you can put on your big boy pants, figure out how to use VPN...
300 million tourists just visited China's stunning Xinjiang region. There's a side they didn't see - Yahoo News Canada
China has repackaged Xinjiang into a tourist haven, touting "ethnic" experiences that activists say it's trying to erase.ca.news.yahoo.com
Your position doesn't make sense to me that there are simultaneously: little censorship, VPN's are illegal, but also easy to obtain and safe to use.
So 40 million to all of China in 2025, but 300 million to Xinjiang in 2024? There's something off here. Chinese cities with almost a billion residents in total have the capacity for 40 million visitors, but how could Xinjiang handle so many?
The issue was VPN's, which was somehow relevant to the dubious claim in the Yahoo article that 300 million Chinese tourists visited Xinjiang in 2024, which is over 20% of the entire population of the country going to one of its most remote and sparsely populated regions, the other being Tibet.
The American equivalent would be if in one year 80 million people visited Alaska. It sounds logistically improbable for either of these things to occur due to the needed hotel space and other reasons. Xinjiang has a population of 25 million with 40% being Han (it was less than 10% when I lived there), so how could they accommodate so many tourists, who would likely only be staying in Han provided accommodations? Can 15 million people provide the tourist infrastructure for 300 million to visit in one year, which is 820,000 tourists per day, many of whom are going to see the forests? Sounds like something is off here.
It's credible that there is tourism to Xinjiang, but this exaggerated claim and its lack of relevance to VPN's being needed is another deflection. It was in Xinjiang where the current Chinese control grid was established with forced installation of surveillance apps on phones and illegality of VPN's following the brutal crackdowns and police killings in response to riots there in the summer of 2009, when the entire province was completely locked down.
One of my students from Guangzhou was on a summer tour of China and got trapped in Xinjiang for months. She could not leave, use the internet, or make international calls, so she phoned me in Guangdong so that I could relay messages to her husband in Canada. For many years after that, Xinjiang was the focus of a large scale program of oppression against the local population that was carried out by the CCP official who had been in charge of the same thing in Tibet.
The police presence in Xinjiang cities mentioned in the Yahoo article began at this time and included countless checkpoints across the cities so that you had to pass through multiples just to go from home to the grocery store. It amounted to surveillance harassment that was especially targeted at Uyghurs, who received extra attention and scrutiny at these checkpoints.
This is very recent history and it's not easy to imagine that the foundations of surveillance harassment in Xinjiang, internet censorship and the long-standing practice of faking statistics has suddenly disappeared. Getting caught with a VPN in Xinjiang meant jail time and other restrictions, such as travel bans outward for you and your family, as well as refusal of incoming visas for family members living in neighboring countries.
Such offenses also meant increased scrutiny and harassment at all of the checkpoints that was documented back in the early 2010's by foreigners who lived in Xinjiang. The Uyghurs who ended up in the databases for extra scrutiny described their lives as miserable and, because of the harassment at the checkpoints, they didn't want to even step outside.
The oppression escalated in many ways leading up to the large-scale internments and re-education. I used to follow the youtube channel of an American in Xinjiang who left around 2014 because he could no longer reliably use the internet and also because of the oppressive measures being carried out. Here's what he said about Xinjiang when he left:
Travel Xinjiang: Far West China said:
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I've never stayed in an apartment in China without A/C and it doesn't fit with this being a new complex. Shots of the tower's center shaft show A/C units on the exterior of most of the other apartments and definitely has an effect on the rental price.
While I'm used to the heat in the southern USA, it's difficult for me to imagine a couple of Brits going through a Guangdong summer at 95°F/35°C without air conditioning. Chinese people only do it when they have to because of the expense.
The furnishings in this place are bare bones and the Brits don't like the beds, so the owner is probably trying for a low investment rental unit and thought the place could be let out without having to install A/C. Maybe they bought several units and are looking at an overall cost and trying to find tenants who can live without aircon?
It's odd and another example that you have to pay attention to these details when you see shiny adverts from China.
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The Hongqi bridge was recently completed in China. It's one of the world's highest bridges, and has been touted as an example of China's advancement and superiority.
www.highestbridges.com
It just collapsed.
Edit: When I searched for the Hongqi Bridge, I got a link for the Huajiang Canyon Bridge which was also recently completed and very high. I think this bridge got a lot of attention, and the Hongqi bridge was not as famous. It's still a cautionary tale of hubris.
Hongqi Bridge - HighestBridges.com
It just collapsed.
Edit: When I searched for the Hongqi Bridge, I got a link for the Huajiang Canyon Bridge which was also recently completed and very high. I think this bridge got a lot of attention, and the Hongqi bridge was not as famous. It's still a cautionary tale of hubris.
I don't post in this thread often and prefer to just read since both the pro-China and anti-China tend to give pretty detailed and well-argued posts for their position (outside of the "China is going to turn everyone into fertilizer" posts which I do take time to argue against since it it's so ridiculous and needs to be called out in the same way flat earth stuff needs to be called out) but I have to say seeing one of the biggest pro-Chinese posters who appears to be an ethnically Chinese himself (even though he doesn't seem to be from the mainland) completely deflect the question on how the Chinese government has such strong laws against VPN usage by saying "well plenty of people use it anyways" did raise a big pretty big eyebrow from me. He doesn't deny that the Chinese government does crack down on VPN restrictions but instead suggests people risk getting thrown into jail by using workarounds. Whether it's easy to use VPNs or not, the point that the China critics are pointing out is that the fact that people even have to use these workarounds is already a big stain on the manner in which the CPP are running things.
The fact that even such a law exists on the books is already bad enough but unlike say sodomy laws in some US states, this law does appear to be actively enforced and done so in such a heavy handed manner really doesn't inspire confidence in me that the world will be better off if China does become a superpower.
The fact that even such a law exists on the books is already bad enough but unlike say sodomy laws in some US states, this law does appear to be actively enforced and done so in such a heavy handed manner really doesn't inspire confidence in me that the world will be better off if China does become a superpower.
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There is a large indoor AC unit in the living room corner by the window. Those AC units in your picture above must be for the bedrooms, in the Brits' flat they have set up a large fan for their office and smaller fans for the bedrooms. With a big unit in the living room the temperature in the bedroom is not going to be too high, I would imagine if that were a problem they could easily get a dedicated AC unit for $100-$150 and split the cost with their landlord.
So A/C is definitely not a factor here, and certainly not the deal breaker you make it out to be. As well this is not an "advert", it's just a couple of British boomers being very happy about their setup and about living in China as expats. Their alternative in places like Tenerife would have had 5x the rent.
China already is a superpower, and the world will be better, but not for us, when they are the lone ruler. Unless you think a bunch of 80 and 90 IQ third worlders can compete with them. If you do, then you don't live in reality.
It's hard to tell how actively enforced that anti-VPN law is, the sources of the 2 or 3 anti-China CIK zealots being professional anti-China propaganda sites. It looks to me like something similar to crackdowns in the US on downloading bit torrent content, a crime that, in the books, can get you up to 5 years in jail and a $250k fine. A MN woman was found guilty of downloading 24 songs and fined $1.9 million for that:
Woman fined to tune of $1.9 million for illegal downloads - CNN.com
A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each -- a total of $1.9 million -- for 24 songs.
www.cnn.com
I don't blame the Chinese for banning Facebook, Insta, YT, Google etc as those are powerful social engineering and cultural subversion weapons, in addition to being a drain on their economy.
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The Hongqi bridge was recently completed in China. It's one of the world's highest bridges, and has been touted as an example of China's advancement and superiority.
Hongqi Bridge - HighestBridges.com
It just collapsed.
Edit: When I searched for the Hongqi Bridge, I got a link for the Huajiang Canyon Bridge which was also recently completed and very high. I think this bridge got a lot of attention, and the Hongqi bridge was not as famous. It's still a cautionary tale of hubris.
The community notes states that the collapse was due to a massive landslide:
Local authorities & news: Hongqi Bridge approach in Maerkang, Sichuan collapsed due to landslide from mountain slope failure—a natural disaster, not engineering failure. Police closed bridge day prior over cracks & terrain shifts; landslide caused collapse.
It's still a sign of engineering hubris in that the builders have underestimated the natural disaster potential in that site, but it's not like they've used shoddy materials or designs on that bridge.
I'm based in Hong Kong (HK is outside the GFW) and I do get access to Western Apps like Instagram and Facebook through my Sim Card when I use roaming so VPN is built in whenever I enter into the mainland. Obviously when I connect to wifi in Mainland, I won't have access to them.
What made me react that way is the photos of the crackdowns. Its clearly agitprop and I have never seen a VPN crackdown in my life in my 10 years of going back and forth. So I completely dismissed that post as unserious upon seeing that.
Since you're sincere here, tourist eSim Card with built-in VPN is a common thing. This is what I would recommend friends and family when they visit. None of them were ever sent to the gulags (lol).
Best China eSIM Guide: High-Speed 4G VPN eSIM | Trip.com
Get Cheap China eSIM with 4G high-speed VPN on Trip.com. This guide explains how to choose the right eSIM and how to use etc.
www.trip.com
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You got to love how "Nazis" turn into SJWs when it comes to China. "China is not letting a man love another man, a disgusting dictatorship".
You also got to love how boomer civnat Americans would make Hitler blush with their positions on the Chinese. Chinks are born-evil ant-people dead set on killing all whites using commie free market economics, I will never let these subhumans harm my fellow Americans: Vivek and Tyrone.
The only "truth" the Chinese need to access using a VPN is that muslims and blacks should never be allowed in. Their state enforced "racial harmony" is a major problem. The only thing American Universities are doing is turning these Chinese students gay. I'm struggling to understand what information the Chinese need access to.
You also got to love how boomer civnat Americans would make Hitler blush with their positions on the Chinese. Chinks are born-evil ant-people dead set on killing all whites using commie free market economics, I will never let these subhumans harm my fellow Americans: Vivek and Tyrone.
The only "truth" the Chinese need to access using a VPN is that muslims and blacks should never be allowed in. Their state enforced "racial harmony" is a major problem. The only thing American Universities are doing is turning these Chinese students gay. I'm struggling to understand what information the Chinese need access to.
I don't think anyone that has made the claims you do can really say anything about living in reality. I will gladly exit the funhouse mirror reality you exist in where China is conquering Ireland (even when they aren't bothering to conquer the 80 and 90 IQ societies around them - I notice that you haven't been able to muster any response to that besides "well they are just biding their time!") and instead will live the actual reality where people who do nothing but work 80 hours a week and listen to podcasts all day long aren't taken as examples to follow in life.
Sometimes I wonder if IIMT is such a big Sinophile is because he's spiritually Chinese himself. For all his talk about the western Faustian spirit and the creative dreamer qualities of westerners he seems to resemble a stereotypically Chinese striver type himself. Working 80+ hours a week non-stop for decades on end and having no interests or hobbies and no taste for any sort of art, music, culture, or any sort of creative pursuit resembles more the prototypical Chinese than any sort of Western/Northern European. He even exhibits the lack of creativity that is stereotypically associated with the Chinese where he can't come up with original thoughts himself but instead has to recycle what he hears on his podcasts.
Cool, all this energy for another person attack because by now that is all you have. I'll let you explain how the next most power society, after Whites are gone, will be stopped by people who can barely read.
My favorite is when it is convenient to forget about Per Capita when it comes to Pollution.
But uses Per Capita for Murder, Thief, HS Graduation, and every other metrics known to sociology.
Personal attacks are valid if there's a good reason to believe a person's perception of reality is so warped that he can't grasp what's going actually going on in the world and hence his pronouncements can't be trusted and also when we have evidence of this displayed by himself via his own writings. If a person has already been shown to be deluded about every day situations (thinking he has a white knight army of 40 20 year old women that will try to hug close him when he walks into Applebee's for his second job, thinking a mom making $150k a year can't fix her junker car, etc.) then why would anyone trust his judgements on grand, bigger scale global politics?
You seriously need to talk to a Sino Historian on that topic and report back mate. Otherwise Wutang will haunt you everywhere you go!
No, they are not. But it is okay, it only helps me in my messaging, thank you.
Wouldn't a site survey identify the possibility of land slides as a first priority, and take steps to stabilize the ground or mitigate the risk? The failure to do so successfully is shoddy work.
IShowSpeed had over 36 million viewers live streaming earlier this year when he was in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Changsha, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Chinese News even covered his visit while he was here.
He obviously wouldn't be able to do that without VPN - not to mention walking around with a whole crew publicly in China without getting arrested for a week.
That VPN Crackdown Agitprop video is an IQ test from our resident moron.
This guy already had a certain amount of celebrity status due to his reactions to the Negegege music video going viral so I'm not sure this is a good example to use if we're talking about the experience of the average person in China. It seemed like to me that the authorities deemed his visit would be a positive for China's image abroad. I'm assuming everything for his crew and himself had to be cleared with the state and that he was able to do things the average person whether Chinese or otherwise wouldn't be able to.