Yes, just get your nation in top-10 lists and make sure the majority of uninformed people think positively of you, then all is well. Mianzi is a cargo cultist's reality. So obsessed with people's opinion of you that you forget to actually improve yourself! The majority of people think that there is a god, so I guess ... Full Comment>>

Then you're making a fuss over the wrong thing if you think AIDS risk is of primary concern in China. Full Comment>>

"Who are Chinese AIDS Patients: Gay or Straight? Northerners or Southerners?" - what discriminatory generalizations can we make: which groups in society get tp bear the high-AIDS-risk moniker? stay tuned for more low-brow entertainment. and on an "entirely unrelated" sidenote, why are people in ... Full Comment>>

there are lousy Fuqing police everywhere in China! Full Comment>>

Old people and immigrant youths do this in my country too. But they usually hang around shopping malls. I'm curious how they're gonna enfore the no loitering imperative to commuters who paid for tickets. Full Comment>>

I also came to China after a divorce. It probably doesn't compare entirely with you because of our age difference, but still somewhat similar. I came here to meet my new love, and was willing to be happy with anything. If you've been shaken down for everything you're worth, and wasted years of your youth (youth = a ... Full Comment>>

next up: will our contestants be enticed into doing porn for beads and mirrors? Full Comment>>

ECC: hold on to whoever wrote this article. he's a keeper. Full Comment>>

bear's a goner. Full Comment>>

this load of tripe could only be pulled off in China, because it relies heavily on ignorance, poor deductive reasoning and nopersonal experience traveling, or speaking with foreigners. i wish Chinese intellectuals invested as much brainpower on trying to book actual improvements, rather than imagining them. Full Comment>>

And the wad of cash in the photo? Seems excessive for a 200RMB fine... Full Comment>>

Because a traffic law was enforced without a foreign *person* being implicated! Call the media! Call the police! Oh, it's been taken care of. Full Comment>>

there are smart kookies around here. not all of them want to boast. my wife speaks with high regard of the "truly wealthy", who are indistinguishable from other factory workers at their factories for example, because they dress the same and do the same work on the floor. if you are truly rich, even chinese ... Full Comment>>

you offer a longwinded rationalisation. i particularly liked the bit where it's "just asking someone to leave your home." China could learn from you, how to downplay the curtailment of people's rights, citizen or not. the tricky part about freedom of speech is that you must also tolerate the idiots and ... Full Comment>>

good article. it touches on many of the problems the doctor observed. there are more problems of course, and their root causes lie within Chinese culture. normally, i'd expect the people to engage in deep introspection to solve these severe healthcare lapses. but it isn't likely to happen. people rely more on tests ... Full Comment>>

i am not functioning within established parameters. my chinese creators dedided to scrap my positronic brain. it was deemed a conformity hazard. and they painted my face so i look like a plaything, of course. chinese-android relations and intermarriage looks to become very promising. Full Comment>>

just a matter of time before the merits of retirement homes are realized, and they will be no longer mocked as "uncivilized, western" practices. Full Comment>>

another victim of black/white thinking, i guess. either you are not-chinese, or you're a chinese with a foreign passport. perhaps it's a product of jealousy that local monolinguals wont allow you to claim both. this rigid thinking manifests on many levels. it's all or nothing here: rudeness or humility, expectations ... Full Comment>>

rapid weather changes almost guarantees everyone will catch a cold. chongqing seems fascinating. but im glad this was acool year in my corner of sichuan. cant recall any day being 42C this year. Full Comment>>

China needs to differentiate between rioting and protests. They probably think this apologist piece is a valid defensive argument, with cherrypicked, misrepresented picturtes of police brutality during protests that turned violent, with looting and rioting. Is there any looting or rioting taking place in HK now? No? ... Full Comment>>

I can imagine. Chinese guys aren't particularly handsome, kind, let alone gentlemanly. Since "laowai" in BJ aren't that rare, you won't get any polite interest, just the base rudeness and disdain that Chinese have for Aliens. The capital houses a lot of Red Guard bully families, who made their wealth ... Full Comment>>

Hee, nog een Nederlander! Honestly, I'm glad I possess a British passport in addition to my Dutch one, or I'd face the same value judgements from rigid thinking shabi all day. Dutch folks speak near native English, and most who travel abroad have decent accents. Good luck trying to get locals to understand this. ... Full Comment>>

it can be eaten. Full Comment>>

deported for voicing opinions in a democracy? seems like people memorized the slogans, but ignored the spirit of the message. confucian confusion. Doesn't South Korea have freedom of speech? On what grounds was he deported? Fomenting rebellion? Actually, this story makes no sense. I'm guessing it's bogus. Full Comment>>

very insightful. i'm sure there is a universal, broad definition of the word culture, and the Chinese are in the wrong for only seeing sacrifices and unpleasantries as culture. but perhaps it makes sense: so much of the mainland's culture is lost, but no one seems to have a problem with it. if it isn't seen as ... Full Comment>>