r/China Sep 24 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Why is China still considered a developing country, instead of a developed country?

285 Upvotes

When I observe China through media, it seems to be just as developed as First world countries like South Korea or Japan, especially the big cities like Beijing or Shanghai. It is also an economic superpower. Yet, it is still considered a developing country - the same category as India, Nigeria etc. Why is this the case?

r/China Nov 22 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) If healthcare is free in China, why are medical bills such a common plot point in drama series? (at least the ones that are available in the US)

100 Upvotes

From what Google tells me, Chinese citizens get free healthcare. Also, if I'm understanding correctly, dramas are quite heavily regulated by the government? Pretty much any drama I've seen that involves getting medical care deals in some way with paying the bill/not being able to pay/having crippling medical debt/etc. So why are they allowed to make the healthcare system look so bad?

r/China Jun 13 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) How often are Chinese people taught that Koreans copy their culture?

172 Upvotes

I'm curious as I have heard this from multiple different Chinese people (from different generations too!). They'll usually say something like "I hate Korea because they always copy our culture! They said that hanfu, Chinese new year etc comes from Korea!".

This is flat out fake news, as I have spoken to literally hundreds of Korean people and not one of them has ever said that to me. However, plenty of Chinese people have told me that Kimchi, hanbok, Korean language etc all comes from China. They're doing exactly what they're accusing Koreans of doing, lmao

The funniest was when a Chinese girl had been telling me the usual BS about how Koreans steal Chinese culture, and said "I think they just don't have enough culture and aren't confident about their own culture". Later, I showed her a traditional Korean toy that I had been given by a Korean friend. She told me that she had no idea what it was when I showed her it, but when I said that it was a Korean toy, she corrected me and said "You mean Chinese". So despite not knowing what it was, she was adamant that it was actually from China.

I'm just curious about how often this propaganda is fed to people? I know it must come from douyin, TV news etc. But is it also taught in schools very often? My gf told me she was taught it, but I wonder how pervasive it is. I've probably heard the "Koreans steal Chinese culture" line be repeated to me more than any other propaganda.

r/China Jul 29 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Is there any name for this general region of China?

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180 Upvotes

r/China Feb 22 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Genuine question, why is there so much abuse material of cats in Chinese Social Media??

254 Upvotes

I know this might come off as rude, but I am more shocked and disgusted by the amount of abuse material posted on multiple Chinese Social media sites, videos mostly of people doing inhumane things specially towards cats. Noticed on QQ people are sharing video of a cat having its paws cut off with a scissor and this video is in circulation for weeks and the site wont take down the post. Why is stuff like this so normalised in China? Is there a cultural thing to have so much hatred towards animals? I am genuinely curious

r/China Oct 27 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What are some beneficial things Xi Jinping has done?

1 Upvotes

Growing up in the West, my countrymen have been taught that China is bad, corrupt, that communism and a one-party system is inherently evil due to the lack of true democracy.

Things like Tiananmen Square, the crackdowns in Hong Kong, the Uyghur monitoring and camps in the west, occupation of Tibet, creation of man-made islands in the South China Sea, overfishing with ghost fleets, naval bullying, sweatshops, outsourcing, etc all come to mind. Xi Jinping is basically called a monster and dictator. These are the things our country has repeatedly pointed towards when talking about China being bad. The media rarely reports anything good that goes on there.

But this cannot be the whole story. There’s got to be redeeming value in their President, and Chinese contributions to the world—we just never hear about it.

That said, does anybody know some of the beneficial things Xi Jinping has done for China? Or beneficial things China has done in the last decade? (Even if it’s only beneficial to them)

r/China Nov 20 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What is the musky smell that some Chinese families have?

36 Upvotes

What is the smell that some Chinese families have? I'm Chinese American myself and I am curious and want to get to the bottom of this. It's kind of a musky smell or maybe it's a cooking spice? It's definitely not laundry detergent because I went to my Chinese relative's house that had this smell but their laundry detergent was perfectly normal. And, it's not really present in China the mainland, not that I noticed, all the times I went there! But only with some Chinese families in North America. What is that smell? Thanks in advance for your insight! I asked my relatives and they didn't know what I was talking about. But my friend says they smell it on some Chinese people too and also are wondering where the smell comes from.

r/China Oct 29 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What do Chinese citizens think about the 2024 US presidential elections

54 Upvotes

Im not talking about the political or government interests but rather what normal Chinese think about the election.

Do they care? What do they think about the candidates? Who do they want to win? Who do they think will win?

Any insights are appreciated.

r/China Aug 22 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What is the name of the street this photo was taken in Chongqing?

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560 Upvotes

r/China Jul 06 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) How accurate are the videos I see online about life in China?

97 Upvotes

Hey all!

So I've been watching a lot of videos the last few days that are obviously trying their hardest to get a message out, and I'm curious if it's as bad in China as they're making it out to be, or if they're throwing in a big dose of bias somehow, for lack of a better term.

I'm not sure I'm allowed to name the channels here, and don't wanna break any rules, but I'm seeing all kinds of things that just make the country seem more third world than anything.

"Gutter oil" cooking with big pots of oil that looked like they're being pulled from a sewer, a woman ladeling leftover chili sauce out of a container in the trash to serve someone else, huge amounts of people pulling half eaten food from the trash.

Then there's all the videos of the big factories that used to make everything from car parts to smartphones sitting abandoned, and now hundreds of thousands of people are destitute cause their jobs left. Footage of people laying on the ground crying cause the ride share market is oversaturated and they all tried to make that their ticket to a paycheck, but there's no oft ordering rides.

I see police permission is required to pull money from the banks now, cause they don't have any left to give back if you wanna withdrawal, and banks are telling people to try and stick it out on their mortgages, even accepting half payments, instead of foreclosing immediately like they used to.

The vids show foreign capital is fleeing the country en masse.

There's other stuff I'm sure I forgot I wanted to about, but this is the gist of it.

I get these vids obviously show the parts they wanna show to get their own narrative out, but is it as bad as they're making it out?

I don't mean for the post to be inflammatory either, just curious how true anything is

EDIT: why is there always some stupid fuck that needs to downvote questions instead of just answering them? It's not like I stated any of this was fact...

r/China Oct 14 '23

问题 | General Question (Serious) My dad bought this in China 12 years ago. What is it exactly and is it safe to drink?

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416 Upvotes

r/China Oct 21 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What has been gifted to my child?

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200 Upvotes

A dear friend has gifted this for my newborn. I'm worried that they've gifted me something more expensive than I'm comfortable with. Please helpe in letting me know the amount of money they spent so I can reciprocate in future.

r/China Nov 21 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What is the LEAST interesting part/area of China?

31 Upvotes

Like, the most boring, nothing to see or do, not even necessarily rural, or aesthetically pleasing area/province, and or city? I'm essentially looking for the Ohio of China.

r/China Dec 05 '23

问题 | General Question (Serious) Why so many chineses immigrate?

143 Upvotes

China is big and some of their cities are very developped. So why i see so many chinese people immigrating around the world?

Is it just because they want to change country and start a new life?

Is it because of financial reasons?

Is it because they don't like their government?

Is there a specific reason?

(By the way, this is really out of curiosity, in case someone thinks my question is rude)

r/China 19d ago

问题 | General Question (Serious) Why do Chinese kids laugh/jest whenever there is something to do with sadness, death, dying, killing etc ?

59 Upvotes

When I was a teacher we would have something called fun Wednesday where we would show cool movies to kids as a reward for hard work. Iron giant Free birds Luca A bunch of other Pixar and Disney movies Anytime there is a sad scene, or scene that shows someone being hurt, or someone being sad or someone dying or being killed. Every single time the kids laugh, joke around and jest around as though the impact of the scene is lost to them. It’s so weird and kinda disheartening that this has happened every time over the years.

Why is that ? Back in the UK kids would react pretty normally to those scenes with actual emotion and sadness as the scenes entail.

So what’s going on ? The only answers I’ve gotten out the kids - teacher, it’s because the movie is funny and dying is funny.

r/China Oct 13 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) The recent huge shift of public opinion regarding Xinjiang

15 Upvotes

Hi, I am from Malaysia and ethically a Chinese, I studied in Taiwan for 5 years from 2016 to 2020 and have been to china as a tourist for more than 5 times and for business for the recent few trips. With that out of the way I kinda paid attention to the situation in XJ for the past few years and looking in as an outsider I read a lot of horror stories coming out from that area Genocide, Slavery, Rape, Sterilization,Torture the whole nine yards. Online there isnt much of a contest on the stories validity, basically the mainstream opinion is its all true and china is basically committing crime against humanity but I notice there is a huge shift in opinion regarding XJ in the other way all of the sudden probably due to what is happening in the middle east. So I ask you all what is your take on the situation?

r/China May 04 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) What is happening with Cats in china

86 Upvotes

Everyday here in Colombia we have this news about China's groups of people who torture and kill Cats for fun or money but, what is happening there?

Is as Bad as it seems? Your goverment is doing something?

r/China Aug 23 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Is this photo (Supposedly) taken in Chongqing real? I can see the Sheraton hotel in the background but I cannot see any hills on the map this close to the hotel to take a similar photo. Any ideas?

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384 Upvotes

r/China Sep 12 '23

问题 | General Question (Serious) Illegal for tourist to use VPN in China

222 Upvotes

Hello,

I have traveled to China many times before the pandemic and always used a VPN. I am wondering now, is it illegal to use a VPN and if you get caught what is the punishment? I don't know that I will need one and I am happy to comply with the law since I am only there for work for a few days but thought I would ask.

Thanks!

r/China Aug 07 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Does anyone know about this old Chinese money? Is it still valid?

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240 Upvotes

I found these while helping my friend clean the junk drawer out.

r/China Dec 29 '21

问题 | General Question (Serious) I was wondering, why is China filled with countries seeking Independence? Like Tibet or East Turkestan and stuff.

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361 Upvotes

r/China Nov 20 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) what’s with the insane amount of pet abuse on Chinese social media

118 Upvotes

Everywhere I go either Twitter, Instagram or TikTok a lot of obviously Chinese owned accounts posts videos of their pets which are extremely overfed and put in uncomfortable positions. And whenever it’s zoo related they’re kept in the worst of all enclosures.

r/China Jul 29 '23

问题 | General Question (Serious) Melatonin dosage here in China, is this 400mg normal? I only take 2-3mg/day

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284 Upvotes

So my doctor abroad recommended me 2-3mg of melatonin for my sleep/insomnia. I kinda ran out and went to nearest pharmacy. The ones they sell are dosages with this amount (400mg/tablet). All the melatonin they sell in the pharmacy have this dosage even with different brands. 400 mg seems way too high even just by googling the recommended dosage. Just asking is this just a translation error or am I reading this wrong?

r/China Apr 21 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Why doesn’t China implement single family home suburbia?

0 Upvotes

I’m 2nd gen Chinese Canadian and I want to move back to my ancestral homeland. But my issue is that lifestyle in China just seems very inconvenient and uncomfortable despite prosperous economy and living conditions. I don’t see why despite trillions of dollars and having the world’s largest economy + industrial base, China refuses to build single family home suburbia. Imagine the average Chinese family, living in a 2,500 sqft house with a 2 car garage + a decently sized back and front yards. Instead of living in concrete jungle apartment blocks that are pain in the ass to get in and out, plus the lack of space.

r/China Mar 09 '24

问题 | General Question (Serious) Can I ask how truthful are these Chinese channel on youtube?

76 Upvotes

So I see channels like China observer, China insider etc etc, from their point of view, China is in a very bad shape, like no one have jobs, not even government workers are getting paid etc, is it as bad as it sound? What is the real situation? What about places like HK?

I mean, it is truth that there are lots of Chinese illegals crossing the southern border in the US fleeing China tho and also lots of new Chinese people in the UK and Canada too.

NOT looking to bash China, I just want to know the truth instead simple getting comments from 'may be' clickbait videos.