What is your view on China?

Surface impressions, most of which are possibly untrue or out of date:

Not a wealthy country because of huge population, but maintaining with an average-to-poor standard of living... government intolerant of religion and social change, willing to practise human rights abuses to suppress same...greatest influence in UN is by stonewalling what they don't support.

Again, I don't know what is true or current in the above, but it's what pops into mind. What I do know for sure, is that it's a country with an ancient and rich history, and many of the discoveries of chinese medicine and herbal lore are only now becoming widely known and accepted in the US.
Avatar, will you please sum up the impressions given in this thread with your own observations at some point? I'd like to know your first-hand take on things in comparison to how others see them.

[WillowIX]

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by WillowIX: 1 bilion people and terrifying abortion laws... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Avatar: Hi WillowIX, but can you clarify this please? I am not aware of any different abortion laws than here in Britain. I mean many people think China is awful place from information they got 5 or 10 years ago. but remember China changes rapidly everyday.

Well, I do hope they have changed! They do have a population problem in China so you can (could?) only have one child per family without a special authorization. If you have a second "illegal" child that would be killed by a poisonous injection at birth before he/she takes his/hers first breath... As a doctor I kinda disagree with that treatment...

[Djinn Raffo]

Ancient...one of the oldest civilizations on the earth.
San Guo Yan Yi comes to mind right away. I love that book.

A land that has endured many different dynasties.

The logistics to govern a country with over one billion people (India and China) are mind boggling. And from what i know i would say they have done and are doing very well, but of course work is always to be done.

And soon enough they will be Going To The Moon

[ 08-22-2002, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

[Sir Goulum]

Overpopulated and somewhat corrupted with communism

[Lifetime]

Larry you'd be surprised that much of the really good Chinese food issint in China. For the most part much of the food you'll eat in China is pretty shite unless you're in the bigger cities like Shanghai, then your chances of finding a decent place are higher. As compared to Hong Kong (yes I KNOW its a part of China..grr), where the average quality of food is a lot higher, or possibly Japan.

First thing that comes to mind when I think of China? What a hole. Thats one place I wouldnt want to be. Having Chinese culture and language and tradition forced upon me since birth gave me a general loathing of anything Chinese. Not that the Chinese people aren't good people. I just dislike the culture, the mentality, the whole patriarchial society kinda thing. I really really really hate Chinese tradition, and superstition, and the whole mindset that many traditional Chinese have. In some ways that mindset is even more backward than a lot of the still developing countries in the world. Now I'm just trying to show that I'm not ragging on Chinese people, just the society in general, so no offence intended to anyone.

Originally posted by Lifetime: For the most part much of the food you'll eat in China is pretty shite unless you're in the bigger cities like Shanghai, then your chances of finding a decent place are higher. As compared to Hong Kong (yes I KNOW its a part of China..grr), where the average quality of food is a lot higher, or possibly Japan.

Like the people who live in ordinary neighborhoods can't cook or the quality of the food available is crap?
There are plenty of shite little restaurants here in rural Texas but for the most part, the people I know personally can all cook quite well!
I would understand (well, not really lol) if it was an availability issue with quality ingredients but China is pretty mainland...in Hawaii, it was to be expected unless you were buying seafood.

[AliCat]

My views on China have been influenced by what I've heard on the news, by the classes I've taken in Chinese history and religion, and by a Chinese family that my family was very close to as I was growing up. I've generally been fascinated with the history and art and geography and people of China for a very, very long time (and I adore the food I've had). One of my biggest dreams for a long time is to go photograph China, the length and breadth and humanity and all. So, part of me loves China.

I do not care for the government and what the government has done. Granted, the way society was shaped by Confucianism and the various dynasties truly left it a country much more "programmed" and ready for communism than any other country, in my humble opinion. On the other hand, I think it's particularly that style of government that has led to the human rights atrocities in China, Tibet, and other Chinese-ruled regions.

Of course, I could be talking out my you-know-what here; I only studied Chinese history until 1850!! (that's when the course went up to).

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

When I think of China I thing of a perfect example of how comunism dosnt work. I also think of Bruce Lee and Animal style kung-fu.

[/)eathKiller]

I see people in staw hats using scythes in wheat feilds and rich countryside with lots of nice natural parts to it, and I see busy Hong-Kong, beautifull in it's complexity and expressions of human nature, but then I see a hammer and a scicle, and my opinion is mostly turned to sorrow for the country's political status... then I just zoom out and see it more of a hidden treasure trove of Ledgend and information, cutt off from the world's eyes... Kind of like the ancient bits of Egypt, like the rooms under the Sphynx which the egyptian government won't let anyone touch, except it's most of an entire country... I see progress, but I also see a binding to the ways of the past... sort of a mixture... A completley differint feeling from Taiwan, Korea (south), and Japan... it's something of a mixture with a communist seal slapped on it... :/ I feel the same about China as I do Cuba... And I live in Cuba, so it musn't be that bad a place to visit [img]tongue.gif[/img]

^_^;

[Sazerac]

Interesting query, since I'm doing a webpage on Chinese Wizards and Magic right now (to add to my domain Wizardrealm...something I've been thinking of doing for a long time). A lot of scientific and cultural breakthroughs came from China and the Far East, all through time...but there was a lot of sorrow and bloodshed as well. I guess it's kind of like any other culture; a lot of good, some bad, and folk just trying to make sense of Life and what it has to offer.

Cheers,
-Sazerac