China is a land where society changes every couple of months. You leave a town, and come back in six months and all the roads are different. New buildings are everywhere. The kids are using new slang, and new apps and everything is radically different. It’s kind of unnerving.
Foreigners come to China, and are amazed at how different it is compared to their expectations. Locals are totally immersed in the change and look outside China with wonder at how could anyone stand to live elsewhere where everything changes at a glacial pace. China is rushing head-first into the new year… yikes!
Here are just some microvideos taken around China by normal people. All of the videos were filmed and collected in January 2019. By watching the microvideos you might get a mere hint at what is going on at the “middle kingdom”. Enjoy.
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This first video is showing one of the many, many…many Chinese soap operas being filmed. The Chinese love these historical dramas, and really, who can blame them. It is sort of like the “Game of Thrones” on steroids. China is a nation with centuries of fighting, court intrigue, romances and horror. It’s no wonder that the soap operas are so popular.
What’s going on here? I wonder. Is she racing to save her loved one? Is she fleeing from the army that will destroy her village? Is she on the way to deliver the magic sword to the hero? Who knows?
Here is BlackPink which is a very popular group in China these days.
Over the last few years the C-Pop, K-Pop, J-Pop and T-Pop have all kind of merged into a kind of standardized popularity format, all sharing the same distribution platforms. The result has been an overall increase in the general exposure of this music across all walks of life. It is difficult to go shopping in a grocery store, check an application, or ride in a taxi without listing to popular music.
I don’t know where this was shot at. It could have just about been anywhere. My guess is Shenzhen.
OK. Here is one of the latest fads in China, the Bunny-hat.
Yupper for now up until right after CNY, many gals are sporting these funny (and cute) bunny eared hats. They are functional in that they keep your head warm, but they are fun as you can see in the video.
I write this post just before CNY. CNY stands for Chinese New Year, and it is a very special time.
Now, you should also realize that CNY is a time for friends and family to get together. For one month, basically all of February, it’s all drinking and singing and dancing with friends and family. The following video is typical of what just about everyone is doing in China these days…
Now, of course, this is China. China does not mess around.
There aren’t many laws. Certainly not like the USA, but what laws there are, you sure as heck better follow them. This is in everything. From not selling illegal drugs to parking your car illegally. Here we see just what happens when you park in a no-parking area.
You obey the law in China.
Now, here we look at the amusement parks.
With the huge population, China has amusement parks and recreational areas just about everywhere. Further, all the amusement parks are competing against each other for the most challenging rides and events. Here is one such ride.
I don’t know about youse guys, but this might make me hurl…
Now, of course, China is not the USA.
They have dealt with SJW types numerous times in the past and their progressive agenda of destruction of history, elimination of gender, and political correctness pretty much sent China back to the stone ages. The government has vowed never…ever to allow that to happen, and all the SJW types are immediately secured and imprisoned before they ever get a change to mess with the traditions of China.
That’s pretty much why you will still see attractive weather-girls on television, pretty girls in bathing suits selling cars in auto shows, and age and appearance requirements on job postings. Political correctness, progressive values, and similar distortions are prohibited in China. Even suggesting that there should be changes to 5000 years of tradition can get you thrown into prison and organ harvested.
Here we see a training exercise for stewards and stewardesses for a Chinese airline.
See any overweight gals? See anyone over thirty? See anyone with dark skin color? See any women with pink hair, shaven hair, tattoos, or nose rings? China does not tolerate disruptive behavior from mentally ill people.
One thing about China is that it is the world’s leader for manufacture, and is well on it’s way to being the innovator of the world. Today, most of the Japanese innovations originate out of the Chinese center of Shenzhen. As soon as there is some kind of innovation, typically it is the Chinese who will try to see if it will pass muster. Will the new idea sink or swim?
Well, we know that the shared GPS and APP enabled bicycles hit like a nuclear bomb and propagated throughout China. The problem was that the demand was too large, and the supporting infrastructure was so scant that the idea mostly collapsed except for some well thought out investment strategies. So yes, the shared bicycle industry is still “hot” in China, but it is not the crazy gold-rush that it was one year ago.
What about other innovations…?
All of these innovations and new buildings and investments in infrastructure come at a price. You have to make sure that they are maintained and not abused by some adolescents with time on their hands. You don’t want it to be abused, damaged or corrupted in any way. You have to make sure some illiterate grandmother from the “hills” won’t come and disassemble it and cart it off home to her house.
Now, that’s not to say that all the new ideas and innovations are useful or are marketable to the public. There are some really silly things being sold to the Chinese consumer. many of which would never be seen outside the country, for various reasons. Such as regulation, testing, and perhaps… need…
Give me a break, why don’t ya?
China has all sorts of police and staff used to make sure that all the new infrastructure isn’t abused.
They do not tolerate graffiti like it is tolerated in the West. They send out officers to make sure that the rules are followed. This differs from the United States where the police are used to enforce behavior and make sure that people obey the LAW. In China, the police are more like High School monitors who observe, and correct behavior without having to resort to arrests or drawing a firearm.
Here’s a typical police chick…
Let’s talk a little about work.
In the USA, corporations rake in enormous amounts of profits. They pay their employees a competitive wage and give them benefits. But many of the traditions of the past have been either eliminated or removed for the new progressive reality of a “cleaner and better” work environment.
For instance, you no longer can smoke in the offices, and all the free medial insurance is now replaced with subsidized health plans. The biggest difference between today’s progressive work environment and the traditional work environment is in terms of the end-of-the-year party and bonuses.
China being traditional, of course has lavish and full-on drinking parties for the employees. They also give their employees bonuses. These bonuses are handed to them in raw cold cash. Often they represent from one to six months salary in one lump sum. Just like it used to be common in the United States.
Ah… the “good old days”…
Of course, today, companies wouldn’t dare serve alcoholic drinks at a company party, nor would they consider bonuses. Amazon could give yearly bonuses equal to six months wages to every employee and the leadership would still be raking in millions of dollars every year. Won’t happen. American CEO’s are greedy son-of-a-bitches.
Here is a Chinese boss giving her workers astounding-sized bonuses…
And, here is a typical company party.
Of course everyone wants the company to succeed. In China they do not “reward” employees with paperclips and pens with inspirational phrases on it. Instead they provide them with wine food and song.
They provide them with good hard cash. In the picture the boss is giving the workers bundles of 100 RMB notes. That bundle is probably around 50,000 RMB. or roughly around $8,000 USD.
They provide them with meaningful rewards…
While China is a very traditional nation with traditional family roles, the work roles for both men and women are interchangeable. Women are often involved in the hard labor positions such as construction, and truck driving.
Of course, unlike the United States if you are in the role you must compete at it on an equal basis. If you want to be a fireman, not a fire-person, but are a woman and the requirement is for you to carry a 200 pound man down three flights of stairs in ten minutes, then you will have to meet that standard. The Chinese do not lower standards based on gender. Nor do they do so for personal hardship, or ancestry.
Here’s a truck driver fixing a tire…
There are many pastimes in China that are no longer popular in the United States.
The Chinese like to go out and eat together in groups. They like to sing and dance. They like to bowl, play golf and go skating. Here is a typical roller skating rink…
Here’s a girl fishing. Fishing is very popular in China. Come on! Wouldn’t you just love to be out there fishing…?
Of course, all the cities are much, much larger than the cities in the United States. They also tend to be quite modern, with many buildings younger than ten years.
The Chinese government has placed certain residential restrictions on all development in such a way that public spaces are mandated for just about everything. That is why you will find all the new parks and green areas in China. They take green areas and spaces very seriously in China. When was the last time you saw a park going up in the Untied States? When was the last time you saw the city or town government planing a tree? When was the last time you saw pedestrian areas being made?
Here is just a typical night scene in some nameless third-tier city in the Chinese hinderland…
And, of course, the Chinese love their pets.
Dogs and cats are treasured and treated like exalted members of the family. That MSM, and CNN narrative of eating dogs and cats is so old, and so painfully obsolete that it is a wonder that anyone still watches CNN. I mean, for Pete’s sake, just how far removed from reality can you get?
Here’s a typical example to give you some idea of how the critters are treated…
Oh, yes. Before I forget. People are people. They fall in love. They have babies and build up families. They work and tend to their families. They spend time with friends, and they build a life to the best of their ability. This is true in the Untied States and it is true in China.
In China, often the man has to work far away to earn money for his family. The wife will stay home. He will send her his entire pay check and she will disperse it to fund their familial requirements and give him a percentage back to live on. Then, once his job, project or work period is over, he will return home to his family. There, the wife would be waiting for him.
It’s sort of like this…
Finally, there are many people who say that China is a “hell hole” and that it is a Communist nightmare run by a tyrannical government. They use pictures from CNN, an article or two from the Guardian (UK), and hearsay, from some friends who might have visited China. To them, it is a terrible grey place of sadness and despair.
Believe what you want.
These are just some videos taken in January 2019 from all over China. You don’t have to believe your eyes. You can believe what ever you want. Last I heard, CNN was reporting that Trump is an actual Russian secret agent, and that he is going to be impeached because he stands in the way of how a “proper” government is run.
You are an adult. You can select what ever news you want to believe.
So, yes there are old and decrepit places in China. They are being preserved for historical purposes, else some Chinese businessman would tear them down and pave over them with some new high-rises. So, yes, you can still see these places. I find them charming. They are beautiful in their own way. I, for one, and happy that the Chinese government recognizes their importance.
Conclusion
These are just some micro-videos collected in January 2019. I have added some minor narratives to help the reader to better understand what is going on. I hope that in this little post, you the reader, can see what is going on in China for better or worse.
Posted on FR 1FEB19
This post was posted on Free Republic on 1FEB19. Of course, the vast bulk of comments on a post of this venue would be negative, and by people who wouldn’t even bother reading the post.
I mean, really… really how can you equate a response such as the nonsense about “chinese agitprop behind a fake identity” with cute bunny hats, end of year bonuses, and police seizing a car? What does this two dimensional label have to do with how Chinese soap operas are made?
Once you struggle, or better yet, ignore the disparaging remarks you can find some gold nuggets. Here’s some on a more positive note…
I recommend reading this and watching the video clips. I’ve had two long stays in China in recent years and what this blog is describing is a lot closer to what I experienced than most of what I read about China on FR.
The author doesn’t shy away from the fact that China has an authoritarian government and will harvest your organs if they are so inclined.
- Junk Silver
And…
Watch on youtube “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”!
..Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 169 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280. ....”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms
Its an excellent Chinese made film on youtube.
-Reily
And…
I spend a fair amount of time in China for business, and both versions are true. Vannrox's blog is one side, and many, many people in the first tier cities are able to live quite well. Many other people are denied much chance to advance because the government is still dominated by Maoists who are scared of the emerging middle class and hanging on to power by their fingernails. Not much different than Pelosi and Schumer, here.
China was essentially on the right path until Xi Jinping arrived - he has stopped the county's progress toward a true market economy and changes to the laws are going to make him very hard to remove. I'm not sure whether to formally label him a "bad guy" or not, but Chinese I speak to privately hate him and consider him a dictator, not a president.
- Mr. Jeeves
And…
I want one of those girls changing tires in a miniskirt..on her way home to make my sandwich..
- newnhdad
And…
Another interesting article from that blog about the growing oppression in the US compared to Chinese life:
https://metallicman.com/laoban4site/liberty-and-freedom-in-china/
stinkerpot65
And…
I love how they deal with illegally parked cars. Probably not too good for the car, but that’ll teach them to park illegally.
-YYZ-
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