What are the things you think of when you hear the word "China"? (Or in other words: What are you first impressions of China?)

Very interesting history and culture, plastered over with bland authoritarian turbo-capitalism that disguises itself as communism.

winnie the pooh

Oh Bother

Uyghur people in concentration camps while tourists invade their homes

A ruthlessly effective technocracy that has achieved very impressive outcomes for their citizens¹ while also being a cultural / societal system I never want to live in. For some reason super obsessed with outside appearances.

1:

From 1995 to 2025:

GDP/c: 603 to 13973
Literacy rates: 77% to 96%
University graduates per year: 900K to 10M
Life expectancy: 33 to 77
Railway km: 54616 to 160000 (50000 high speed)
Urbanization rate: 29% to 67%

etc.

I like the idea that these were your first impressions of China, as in you stepped off a plane, had one look around and thought "Wow, this place seems like a ruthlessly effective technocracy that has achieved very impressive outcomes for its citizens but it's certainly a cultural-slash-societal system I never want to live in."
University graduates

You forgot the Gaokao that's 10x harder than the US SAT/ACT 💀

Massive cities with LED buildings, beautiful mountains with paved hiking trails all the way to the top and gondolas to get down, Long queues that are still orderly and move quickly, families eating large meals outside, friendly and very curious people.

I've spent a lot of time there. Compared to the west the cost of living is super cheap especially for all the options and amenities you get. Even in the hippest part of Chongqing I could rent an apartment 2x the size of my house for half the mortgage. If the US is headed towards a permanent authoritarian regime I would trade life here for over there. At least their dictator appreciates science and education.

I would trade life here for over there.

If you are white... maybe

Otherwise... it isn't that pleasant...

The internet has really fucked my brain, because the first thing that comes up in my head is an old meme of The Orange One (back when he hadn't been president yet, and so was funny instead of scary) saying "CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA CHINA" (sorry)

AFTER that -- Disney's Mulan, and all the orientalist aesthetics that come with it (sorry²)

And AFTER that -- Years of internet discourse trying to convince me that a growth in Chinese international power would be worse than the US holding that position alone, which I find EXTREMELY hard to believe as a third world citizen whose home nation has been fucked in the butthole by the Americans like seven different times in lived memory (NOT sorry)

Then AFTER that -- The stories told by my one friend who lived there for a few months. To be honest they made China seem like a pretty cool place to live in. Or at the very least, a fun experience as an exchange student.

And AFTER all that -- Bootleg video games. They are interesting!

Unfortunately, it's trump squinting his eyes, and saying "China!" with a pause and a scowl. Rent free in my brain.

Second thing I guess is some bullshit where they were cracking down on Ramadan in a news article.

Third I suppose is the rich history and cultural tradition.

Thiefs, low quality, dictatorship, murders, will probably try to fuck up my life in the future.

Dude that is the USA. They do have knife guys occasionally but nothing is as terrifying as being a US grade student with an active shooter warning on campus. Besides Japan I've never felt safer that over there.
- Do you folk have any other talking points than "but USA bad"? This question is not about USA, it's about fucking China.
  
  You sure nothing's as terrifying? I think being an Uyghur in a Chinese concentration camp might be even worse.

Authortarianism and censorship to the point where I can never return to my former homeland until that changes for the better. No worker's rights. Human rights issues in the north and west in areas that weren't part of China historically.

Possible conflict with Taiwan (if that happens than I'd be sent to the camps to die by orange cheeto, unless I leave).

1.4 billion people & had the One Child policy for the longest time.

Lots of enviornmental problems, air pollution (and apparently much of the country has really really hot heat indices in the summer, avg high of 40C and low of 30C already.... no thanks).

Really difficult language to learn (tried to learn it back when I was in school, couldn't really and basically forgot it all).

I think of China as a country that pretends to be communist while making cheap products that vary in quality. I also think of the nice people that live there though.

Absolutely fascinated by Chinese culture and mythology. I’m a cdrama fan especially costume and cultivation themes. I am currently taking a Mandarin course so I can read, write, and better understand the language. I hope to travel to China soon if the orange clown in the White House doesn’t ruin my plans. I even homebrewed a cultivation ttrpg based on Investiture of The Gods that my friends are playing through right now. They love it! For context I’m not an Asian person - just a neurodivergent person with a deep interest.

Edit: sorry didn’t recognize your lol username, you’ve probably seen me bloviate on my xianxia addiction before.

Technology city of Shenzhen, mountain range, great wall, Mulan, winnie the pooh, three kingdom, wuxia story, and mala peppercorn.

Ohh and it's my ancestral land.

My stance is kind of 50/50 with China.

For one, they're going to flame out even faster than America did. As time moves forward great powers last less and less time. America only held the crown for 80 years. Chinas got its own issues, especially with the population issues.

Yes, China has a laundry list of human rights abuses. We know all of them, I shouldn't have to list them here. China also is an aggressor country, harassing their neighbors and intimidating them for often no reason at all, and when there is a reason, it's territorial expansion. They steal IP, they steal identities and secrets (yes I know, stealing secrets is an everybody issue, and I'll get to that, but it's usually done with more class) and they gave our kids toys with lead in them. You could seriously go on for days on the bad stuff about China. The belt and road? Fuck, that's so, so bad... However

They're also leading in science and especially the environment. They've spent big money on their science, and it's paid off in spades for them and it's commendable from an international standpoint. No country on earth is fighting climate change harder than China. From advances in solar panels bringing the cost of clean energy down, and giving the ability to electrify places of the world that have never experienced it? That's pretty dope. Plus their electric car tech is blowing up so hard that it's actually kind of reasonable to tariff it, because they're so far ahead.

Now the gre(a)y, I'm an American. Half the shit that china does that's bad, was shit that we have been doing for generations. So yeah, china sucks shit. But does it suck more shit than America right now? I say no, but not by much, and mostly because a lot of the problems people try to put on China (i.e. pollution mostly) is because we facilitated that. If not them, it'd be our polluted air and water. And now, he wants to bring that manufacturing back here while deregulating pollutants AND enforcement. He saw 1990s Beijing and said "I want that for us". But basically, other than China's climate and science goals, were the same country. So the nod (barely) goes to China for being a more honorable or good country.

Wing Chun Kung Fu.

Rude, impolite and loud people. But not all Chinese people are like that. But the ones that are stand out the most.

Rude, impolite and loud people.

Bruh...

Did you meet a rich / middle-class tourist that acts entitled? Because like... that's not really the reality. Most ethnic Chinese people actually act very polite in front of other people (at least that's the case with my parents and relatives), since this is a "face" thing. Its behind closed doors that they start to drop the act and just be like: "Why are you so fat" (my mom literally said that to me lol). But like... Rude? In Public? 🤔
- Cut you in the line like you dont exist. Try to force their way in the queue. Shout to their friends right next to your ears. Bump their luggage in your knee/feet/ankle. Stop in the middle of the road or in front of the elevators. Clip nails in public transport. Burp and fart in restaurant without a word. Drop trash on the floor. Spit in the street... you name it, I've seen it all.
  
  And again, like all generalities, it doesn't make much sense. I know not all Chinese people are like that. Especially your mom lol.

a plate

Proper tea.

I'm into Taoism, so I think of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Chinese philosophy. I love their sense of humor, and humility. I often daydream of a different life, being raised a monk in the Himalayas. A place I like to imagine when mediating

Interesting mythology and past.
Technologically advancing.
Many ethical issues against people by the Government.
They are very into the illusion of being a paradise.
If you are a person not from there, it can be a potentially traumatizing experience, depending on what parts of the country you go to.

If you are a person not from there, it can be a potentially traumatizing experience, depending on what parts of the country you go to.

Actually, foreigners (white foreigner to be precise) such as Youtubers Serpentza and Laowhy86 managed to go around China and make videos critical of the CCP and they didn't end up in prison or anything. But if a Chinese person attempted the same thing, they'd probably get jailed. I feel like there a sort of "foreigner privilage" that basically the CCP doesn't want to get involved in a diplomatic incident, but is otherwise happy to punish their own citizens (since there wouldn't be any diplomatic incidents).
- I didn’t even mean trauma from the gov’t, which is a whole different level, but trauma from its own people. My wife traveled to China for work and it was not great for her.

The sets of fancy expensive-looking porcelain plates and cups my older relatives all had on display in a glass-fronted cabinet for use on some theoretical special occasion, but no occasion was ever actually special enough to allow anyone to use it.

Tofu Dreg.

Very rich culture, and the government.

Better than USA.

Not exactly.

Hukou issues -essentially a caste system. I was from a rural Hukou, I'm essentially "foreign" to the place I was born in (Guangzhou).

Job Competition -Too many people. It may or may not be a political issue, but its definitely a geographical one. 1.4 Billion people means its very difficult to get a job. That the reason why my parents, along with me and my older brother, immigrated to the US.

Food safety was a huge issue. At least pre-2025, the US had a much better enforcement of food safety policies.

A person of the majority racial group living in the US (non-hispanic white people), still have an easier life than a person of the majority racial group in PRC (Han-Chinese) living in China. Of course, the "benefit" of China is, most people are Han-Chinese so there is not much racial discrimination issues, but the Hukou is still a problem.

Emergency room care have to be pre-paid. Unlike the US, where the law requires hospitals to treat you in an emergency, in China you have to pre-pay before you receive care, even if its an emergency.

Things could change tho. If the US continues its fascism spiral, it could end up worse than China in the future.
- Exactly. We don't know what the USA is right now so the devil you know is always better.

A country and its flag. They sort of come up simultaneously in my head.

the food, cuisine. szechuan numbing peppercorn. shenzhen tech. hongkong dresses. wing chun. samo hung.

"do not pursue lu bu"

The first thing I think of is "propaganda" but you might not expect why. I grew up in the western world, hearing constantly that China was basically the epitome of evil. Their government is evil, their people are evil, the very land they walk on is evil, everything they've ever done has been evil. In history we only learned about their crises and the times they caused problems for the western world.

Unlike my peers, however, this made me curious. Why are you telling me so constantly that they must be evil? Can't there be good people there doing their best just like we are? And then things started getting weird in the western world. Then they got worrying. Then they started really taking their masks off and I realized "ohhhh you were projecting the whole time weren't you?"

I still don't know much about China. I don't know what your culture is really like, how the people actually treat each other. I don't know basically anything about you. I'd love to learn though, if you're willing to teach.

Their government is evil

I mean... its not entirely false. . I mean, the CCP through the one child policy did try to terminate me, since I was the second pregnancy that my mother had (she already gave birth to my older brother), so they did try to find my mother to force an abortion against her will. Then after I was born, I guess the since I already exist, its too difficult to justify killing someone who was already born, so they just let me live. My parents had to pay like somewhete like ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 (in Renminbi currency) in order for me to get legal documents, which was a lot of money at the time. So yea fuck the CCP.

But to put in in perspective, it isn't nearly as bad as North Korea, where they totally ban people from leaving.

their people are evil

Yea this is total BS. There's nothing in the DNA of ethnic Chinese that make us "evil".

Unlike my peers, however, this made me curious. Why are you telling me so constantly that they must be evil?

Like, don't think this is just a western thing.

Nationalism is a thing in every country.

In China, they teach people why Japan is evil and all Japanese people are monsters... and I'm like... "all of them?" 🤔

Then it got weirder when the US was also portrayed as evil... I mean, don't get me wrong, the US has done a lot of evil things. But its was also the US that aided China aginst the japanese invasion of China. Although controvertial, it was the US who nuked japan and that immediately stopped the war and save a lot of Chinese people.

So yea I get it, every country want to portray others as evil. Its not unique to the west.

But remember one thing:

Governments =/= The people whom they rule over

You can dislike a government without hating the people too

I still don’t know much about China. I don’t know what your culture is really like

I mean, tbh, I immigrated to the US as a kid, so I don't know much either.

I don’t know basically anything about you. I’d love to learn though, if you’re willing to teach.

I mean... do you have any specific questions to ask?
- Having two child rule is evil? Why? Rules makes a society, its your mom that try to break the rules? You know why they try to have 1 child policy right?
  
  Sure they can be evil, but 1 child rule isnt evil. Imagine if 1st world countries suddenly started getting 5-10 childs everyone, everyone taking sueside cus no jobs and heavy competition on school.

Such an enormous country. Old people doing tai chi in a park. Little kids earning red stars at school. Government trying to control the population too tightly, yet somehow also lacking basic safety regulations. Good food.

I always think about visiting due to the amazing natural and historical areas but simultaneously, how much I don't want to visit due to other issues.

Same with a lot of countries.

I yearn for the day when the world rid itself of all states, they are the source of evil.

People I don't know enough about.

That piano riff. You know the one.

Rice field to magalopolis in a generation. Absolutely wild speed of seismic change.

Edit: megalopolis

Dragon Kilns. I am addicted to their live porcelain opening channels lol.

Well, this post reminded to check the shipping on the electronic components and random shit I imported.