To clarify, I don’t believe in the surface level propaganda thrown in China’s way about “1984 dystopian society,” “Mao killed 60 million people,” “Xinjiang concentration camps” or things like that.

I’m curious about a few negative factors of China that have become widespread knowledge over the past decade or so by even the politically literate audience, and I want to learn how accurate these things are, how prevalent they are in today’s society in China, and how much it would impact the day to day life of someone living in China.

  1. Quality control, I have read stories about Chinese factories producing guns, steel, industrial goods, consumer goods, food products, far below acceptable or safe standards, leading to construction/infrastructure failure and severe health complications. There are also claims that smaller restaurants in China today still sometimes use very low quality ingredients that can result in serious health issues. How much of an issue is this?

  2. Population issue. The Chinese population trend is going in a unfavorable direction right now, and there are reports of young people not wanting to have children because of cultural and cost reasons. How much of an issue is this, and will China end up like Korea and Japan in another decade or two?

  3. Unemployment, it is a fact right now that Chinese people have a 20% unemployment issue due to an abundance of university graduates without sufficient jobs to match this supply. And this has caused internal competition to swell to unreasonable standards leading some people to straight up give up on their careers and become full time neets. Are there any positive trends or actions to resolve this issue?

  4. Education. The education system sounds terrifying in China right now, children as young as elementary schoolers having to sleep only 6 hours a night to finish their homework from school and tutoring services. I have also read that after the government banned tutoring of core classroom subjects, illegal tutoring services have become a thing. I would laugh at how this would be the most asian issue ever if I wasn’t so horrified by the situation. Is there any government effort to resolve this right now?

  5. Nepotism. From what I have heard and read, using connections to obtain positions and resources in China is still very common. How bad is this, and are there any reforms or policies tackling it?

  6. Mannerisms and emotional intelligence of the average person. There are frequent complaints about Chinese people being horrible tourists, being extremely rude, having the emotional maturity of a donut until at least the age of 30, and also taking advantage of anything free to disgusting levels (I have personally seen old Chinese ladies take out a container and fill it with ketchup from a restaurant where the condiments are self served). I understand the reasoning behind this, China in it’s current iteration is a relatively new country, and the education received by different generations varies massively in quality, with only really Gen Z on average obtaining a level of education that is on par with western populations. I just want to ask how bad this is in day to day life, and if it is tolerable.

Thanks for reading my somewhat long post, I’d appreciate any response, you don’t have to respond to all of my points, any point would be fine. I want to have a positive impression of China but these points are really bugging me right now.

  • sotimely@lemmygrad.ml
    1·
    7 months ago

    it may be more productive to make seperate posts on these matters. many people have shared factual and nuanced, sensitive approaches to these topics. unfortunately all i have are my vibes based on what ive heard or seen.

    1. many locals trust foreign brands more. unknown local brands are often thought to be risky. but i dont see a real danger, i mean, people dont seem to be dying or whatever. i dont see lab test results of random products either but if those exist it would add to this topic. also the limited scandals over the years, if anything, led to crackdowns and more safety.

    2. no idea about those untrustworthy demographic scare mongerers. I think a lot of old people mainly care about becoming a grandparent. that is a big thing. however most families seem to stick to 1 kid, wealthier ones may have more these days.

    3. workers think there is a ”situation”, layoffs and finding new jobs is thought to be hard lately. no idea if this is based in reality. a lot of businesses are turning over, closing, a lot of empty stores around the city, these past years.

    4. my ”feels” is that competition is due to zhongkao and gaokao, where there is no ”good enough” and every point matters. this leads to at least some people not letting their kids sleep properly, micromanaging their eating, doing everything for the kids so they can focus on studying. of course this doesnt apply to everyone and i cant say how big this trend is, but it seems big to me. people say if you get into a good university (caused by good gaokao), you do not really have to do anything then, and you will graduate and get a good job. if you go to a lesser school, you get lesser jobs. so cramming and overstudying are a practical way to try to ”win” in an incentive structure like that, i think.

    also, rightly or wrongly, a lot of money is spent on private, legal or illegal tutoring. often by their school teachers secretly, apparently. also by expensive foreign teachers. some hope to study abroad someday, but others hope to just hedge their bets and try to give their kids an edge by doing lots of different private classes.

    1. nepotism. i can’t speak to nepotism, but there still are people and companies that seem to have magical abilities when it comes to getting things approved and not getting cracked down upon. it is out there. i cant quantify it. not my expertise. some laws everybody breaks, so when they get enforced on you, it often has a direct cause i e. someone specifically wanted you to pay. but that is a perception that others will have different experiences of. of course.

    2. of the average person. generalizations are dangerously unfair, and also we tend to notice the people who stand out, not the average. i will say that some children are not raised in a developmentally appropriate way. like, having their teeth brushed, butt wiped for them, food shoved in their mouth for them as they walk around or worse, watch addictive phonr apps. many kids do not decide what to do in terms of their homework. their job is to copy it down, their parents must see it and take it out for them and make them do it. this plus lack of free time and sleep could create a 20 year old or 25 year old even that is baffling to your sensibilities, whilst others could chalk it up to cultural differences, lack of the education of the grandparents (who often dominate their adult children and the raising of the grandchildren), exceptions not everybody etc.

    there is also something like, not the bystander effect. something else. when someone is unusually annoying or loud or rude in public, usually i see people just try to ignore it or move away quietly. the person gets no pushback or feedback. so that one exception, never learns. and they tend to get noticed more by foreign eyes than all the polite people that blend into the background. there is very little fear of being chastized in public by anyone, so this allows some individuals’ behaviors to drift quite far. just a pet theory.

    i hope this is fair. probably not.