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Q: How do you see China changing as it steadily integrates with the western world?
Living in most major western cities you experience a great mixture of varied cultures. London in particular boasts a variety, from white rastas to black cockneys, Swedes with Greek accents, Pakistani punks, you name it; a veritable mixed bag of cultures, and all displaying cultural characteristics which, in terms of their respective native origins, would otherwise be considered very much out of the norm.
I've always welcomed this as I believe the positive attributes introduced with the mixing of cultures outweigh the negative. So how do you envision China and Chinese culture developing and changing in response to the growing influx of western influences? In what ways for the better and in what ways for the worse?
I reckon that under Xi's time China is closing, not opening. Nothing much about the outside is reported here without it having a pro-Chinese bent, whether or not it's real.
Zhongguo hen hao. Weiguo bu hao.
mArtiAn:
I don't read, watch or pay any kind of attention to Chinese media, I'm sure it would taint me with a bad taste in my mouth.
I lived in North London for about 4 years, and I loved it. I used to head down to Soho on a Sunday, buy the newspapers and just enjoy the atmosphere as I sat in a pub supping a pint of Spitfire. Without a doubt, London must be the most multi cultural city on Earth.
Now I live in Guangzhou, and although the city has changed massively over the past 10 years, It will never rival a place like London in terms of multi-culturism.
Sure, there are a lot more people from all over the world in GZ, but none of us can put roots down. Without a doubt, the influx of foreigners has made GZ a better place. Anyone just needs to ask the Chinese who flock to the Turkish, Indian, Vietnamese etc restaurants. They love it.
Good changes: The more cultures mix and meet, the better the world becomes.
Bad Changes: Can't think of any.
This is why the Government desperately needs to change it's immigration policy. All we get is news articles in China Daily every few months... blah blah blah, green cards... blah blah blah. But nothing ever changes. Same the same news article rolled out every few months with a few tweeks.
I don't know what the Government are scared about. It's not as if a few million foreigners living here will destroy Chinese culture. The Chinese could not even destroy Chinese culture themselves. And they had a serious go at it.
Chinese culture is deep rooted. It's in their bones. A few million of us foreigners will not destroy or dilute it.
Ha ha. Just had another thought on this. Hey, let us in. Let us open our restaurants, our businesses, and let us help provide the living environment so many Chinese are so keen to emigrate to. Sounds sensible to me 
.
ScotsAlan:
I was in Ponders End. Enfield. I worked in Old Harlow.
I love fishing. In particular, Coarse fishing. The Lee navigation was my real home for 4 years. But by the time I left in 99, it was being turned over to carp. It started at Enfield lock, worked it's way down. Silver fish, Roach. That's me.
I still fish in China, but I can never recapture the magic of hard winter days on the lee navigation.
mArtiAn:
I went to college in Enfield, never was a fisherman though, not since having to pull half a fish's face off removing a hook when I was a kid. That was it for me. Like the thought of sitting by a river drinking beer though. One of my brothers is a fisherman. He told me one time he was out at some place, plenty of other fishermen around, and a swan wandered over near his float. He was afraid it might dip its head in for the worm so he loaded up his slingshot with a stone and shot it, aiming to scare the bird away. Hit it square in the head. He was mortified. The rest of the guys didn't speak to him much after that.
royceH:
Your brother shot a swan? What kind of sicko is he! That's probably the only time that's ever happened.
china HAS BEEN integrated with the western world for a very, very, very long time...go visit one of your local chinatowns...that is one of the big lies being told about the chinese and china. There's no brand new day. china isn't suddenly "entering" the western world, nor the human race. Reality is that mao couldn't change that, nor can ping.
..Same old, same old.
china's problem is rejecting integration...which is more an indicator of hoarding...which I would argue is the tendency that has plagued chinese integration throughout the world's history.
I reckon that under Xi's time China is closing, not opening. Nothing much about the outside is reported here without it having a pro-Chinese bent, whether or not it's real.
Zhongguo hen hao. Weiguo bu hao.
mArtiAn:
I don't read, watch or pay any kind of attention to Chinese media, I'm sure it would taint me with a bad taste in my mouth.
