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Q: Isn't China the most interesting country in the world?
Mucho upvotes please
Day to day life can certainly be interesting with so many people around, lively street markets, and cool cheap places to get a bite to eat and a beer. There are lots of hidden gems that no one knows about.
But the culture couldn't be further from interesting. How much money do you make a month? Let me see your shoes. Which model of the Iphone do you have? Do you have a house? How many square meters is it? You don't have a house. Why not? How much was your car? Our neighbor's car is 200,000 rmb. How much was that shirt? What brand belt to do you have? Excessive materialism is really boring.
kikikillercat:
you have to remember for hundreds of years, they had nothing, everyone had the same stuff and made the same amount of money. If you in the states and you were a teacher, public office, etc., everyone asks and everyone knows how much money you make because its a public job.
dongbeiren:
@Kiki yes, it's true that capitalism is kind of a novelty in China which can help explain the excess materialism. It makes sense but it's still annoying and boring to be around 24/7. And the fact that public salaries are public knowledge in America does not mean that people obsess over them the way they do in China. I actually interned in a government office one summer and looked up the salaries of the people in the office out of curiosity. I wasn't like "Oh wow my boss makes 60 grand a year and wears these shoes". There's a difference between being aware of a fact and having an entire world view based on it.
It would be if almost everywhere was not the same. The same high rises, the same transport, the same temples, the same beer, the same security gates, the same uniforms. the same red platic chairs, the same flip flop shoes, the same noodles....
The only difference seems to be that some places are less grey than other. So yeah... China is a land of fifty shades of grey.
Sorry.... BCD 
royceH:
There are so many different kinds of noodles in Xinjiang that you are advised to come here and try them. So many.
If not for the noodles here I would be gooonnnne....
China is interesting.
I kind of like it here.
the materialism that is so widespread, I just do not see in my family. Yes they strive to make money, yes they want more money and more houses and more more more.
BUT
I came here with no house and no car and I married.
Mom (73), mother-in-law, says to me .....not everybody can be "rich". happy is sort of important too.
so we struggle and survive and enjoy each other, me and my dear wife.
the getting rich dream by marrying a foreigner, I have quashed ... we are not all fred astaire or rock hudson or elvis presley.
and it is taking time to teach the wife about some pretty simple things.. like cleanliness ( real clean - not just water mopping the traveled way) .. hot water for the dishes (I installed the tap, use it). no my clothes do not need to be washed daily... they wear out a lot quicker from what she does to them than what I do to them.
I did come here expecting the late 50's, early 60's and that is what I got.... with a smartphone thrown in.
wechat and your dinner pic to the whole family .. who gives a s*it.
just thinking.... I like China, and I like the way of life ...BUT
the restricted access to other stuff is a pain in the ass
back home, I can and often did get Chinese food (szechuan or cantonese anyways) ..delightful. .... but back home the next day I could have a burger, or a taco, or a greek salad or spaghetti or some samosa.... whatever the hell I wanted, without going way out of my way. phone call or a mile away.
not a BCD .. little contemplation maybe .... big city, versus my city... but , nah.. small town, way better IMHO. just have to plan for them dream foods and go get them ..it can be done.
kikikillercat:
fly to Bangkok,, i have seen stores there that will blow your mind...better than anything in Europe or the USA.
yeah China is very limited in western food.............but there are 100's of chinese dishes and the price.........so cheap
i love peking duck and so cheap in china compared to the west and sooo tasty
I'm trying to figure out what interesting means when it comes to a country. I'm guessing it's that newbie first-year stage. yeah, China was interesting at first, but I got that feeling from all my travels. guess that's why I try to travel and spent money and gave up other opportunities to do it.
3 of the most interesting (I prefer the descriptive term fascinating) places I've seen:
Cuba - (Isla de la Juventud) early 90's
Tikal
Philippines (Camiguin)
outside of the big cities a lot of China is like one hundred years ago in the 'old west', the markets with the live animals etc... no police on every corner...heck I havent been pulled over by a Highway patrol or speeding ticked since i have been here..........he he
I ride electric scooter and motorcycles and have seen countless interesting things and people, traditional clothing and housing...too much to mention....
and not once have I been told to 'get off my land' or 'what are you doing here' ! frequently invited to eat and a tour of there land/house. just the opposite happens in the states.
Interesting? Yes, China is the result of a unique social experiment. Mao has always tried to change human nature while he was in power. He somehow succeeded in making a people devoid of empathy and extremely hedonistic. It was an interesting experiment on a large scale, but the results are disappointing and I hope to never see it anywhere else.
Exciting? At thd beginning, then what seemed weird becomes the norm.
Is China a good place to live in? Some exclusive areas in big cities are livable, 99% of the country is a wasteland or concrete mess.
yes China is quite interesting.
one thing that I just do not get .. of course about money
does that security guard really make 13-1500RMB per month?
him and the thousands and thousands, even millions of others in "low paying" jobs...how do they survive? . where does he/she live, does he have a family?
what does he/she eat? why is he so smiley? are there rats in his and his kids bed?
I just can not get it through my thick head that money does not make the world go 'round.
kikikillercat:
yes,,,thats all they make and they are accustomed to this amount of money...
You can buy rice noodles with gravy and a little meat for 4 kuai, eggs are cheap etc...
rent is cheap...most pay 500 kuai or less for rent. and many have an apartment given to them by the government
jetfire9000:
Money only makes the world go around where there are materialist components present. Modernization has definitely implanted a greater sense of materialism in china, but that doesn't go to say that it has reached everybody. Specifically the old security guys you speak of, who are happy so long as they can get by and ascribe to their more traditional notions of happiness - probably family or something. They get by on low salaries because they don't have as many needs as others do. Something as simple as buying bottled water wouldn't even fit in their idea of what constitutes a necessity.
Sorry guys I was pretty drunk when I asked this. What a rubbish question. Think I was expecting non serious answers or something. I ll restrain my moronic questions in future
"Interesting" can be in good or bad way. The experience makes difference.
