The China Thread

Cooper said:
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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I love all that, but over a period of years I saw that food & drink fraud, and low quality cookware leeching aluminum, was the norm there, and the effects of it on my own health were obvious, as well as it apparently affecting others.

When you get a bowl of thin slices of meat for hot pot, you have no idea of the origin and this is not theoretical. It comes from experience, a lot of which has been captured on video and is floating around. OG Chinese diners prefer fowl because the bones attest to it being less likely fake than other meats and is probably why KFC has become much more popular there than McDonald's.

There seems to be a consensus of awareness of the quality problems of Chinese food, just as there is of Indian food, and American food, all of which have their particular areas of concern. I've been following this for years and am probably a lot more aware and concerned about it than most people because food from all three of those groups have caused me trouble.

If you're not in the health field, nor you & your family affected, this could be under your radar, but it's still there and common knowledge with lots of references readily available.
 
Read_Lives_of_Saints said:
I love all that, but over a period of years I saw that food & drink fraud, and low quality cookware leeching aluminum, was the norm there, and the effects of it on my own health were obvious, as well as it apparently affecting others.

When you get a bowl of thin slices of meat for hot pot, you have no idea of the origin and this is not theoretical. It comes from experience, a lot of which has been captured on video and is floating around. OG Chinese diners prefer fowl because the bones attest to it being less likely fake than other meats and is probably why KFC has become much more popular there than McDonald's.
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KFC is also more popular than McDonalds in Japan, it is more a matter of fried chicken being closer to local Asian tastes than burgers.

A lot of the criticism of China and Chinese society tends to be based on features that are common across east Asia, like your post about the introverted dining experience, or the cultural insularity, or the brutally demanding school system. Those are all east Asian cultural characteristics.
 
Cooper said:
A lot of the criticism of China and Chinese society tends to be based on features that are common across east Asia, like your post about the introverted dining experience, or the cultural insularity, or the brutally demanding school system. Those are all east Asian cultural characteristics.
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You're probably right about KFC. That's a much better explanation for the primary reason for its popularity in China and Japan. BTW, my own experience with chicken in China is much, much better than in the USA, where I would say that what is commonly sold here has so much more detrimental effect than nutritious that it should be avoided entirely, whereas chicken, pigeon, duck and goose in China was always good and I actually miss it.

However, the criticism of China that fits into East Asian cultural characteristics is about intensity, extremity and frequency and not a misunderstanding of an overall baseline that exists in several different countries.
 
Cooper said:
Chopsticks are better for eating Asia food - sushi, noodles from a bowl, dumplings, Chinese chicken, beef or pork dishes where the pieces are cut and stir-fried etc.

Knife and fork are much better suited at normal food like steak, roast chicken, pork or lamb chops, fried eggs, pancakes,...
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Fork, knife, and spoon are better even for eating Chinese food.

There, I said it!
 
The following from an X post by Jan Jekielek

What just happened in Venezuela wasn’t just about Maduro. It was a major strategic blow to communist China, says @JMichaelWaller.

Just days before Maduro was removed, Beijing declared it would not give up an inch of its gains in Latin America. Then Trump went and took away one of the CCP’s most critical assets.

Venezuela wasn’t just an ally for the CCP—it was a “linchpin” in the CCP’s global military strategy, he says.

From Caracas, Beijing envisioned projecting naval power across both oceans:
• A blue-water PLA Navy
• A future Atlantic maritime presence
• A foothold in the Caribbean
• Potential leverage over the Panama Canal and U.S. shipping routes from Houston, Galveston, and the Mississippi River Delta to the rest of the world

Venezuela also sat at the heart of China’s Belt and Road strategy: dual-use ports, airports, and facilities designed so Chinese warships could dock anywhere on Earth.

Furthermore, Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world. Under sanctions, that oil couldn’t be sold on the open market—so China bought it at steep discounts, often paid in yuan or barter, not petrodollars.

Cheap, embargoed oil helped prop up Xi Jinping’s domestic and global agenda. Now that pipeline just collapsed.

 
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