I was in Shenzhen 2007-2008 and definitely experienced what he did at the beginning of his stay, which it looks to me is Shenzhen in a few parts, though 3 million inhabitants sounds a little off. It's well over 10 million and the big joke there was how ridiculous that is because people say it's double that. Anyway, I never experienced the more negative things he did but things have definitely changed. Some people I know who have stayed never stop talking about the police state feel at sudden moments and how many things are a facade. Places that look incredible look old fast and everything has the feel of prefabrication with no regard for being sustained-they just want it to look good when it's finished. This guy's take on things is pretty interesting because he has a good amount of time to digest everything. He is so set up knowing the language, though his ability to relay information to people there makes him a target for the police. I wonder if they like him using a VPN connection to bypass the website blocking?
His wife's take is also interesting-skip to 1:27 to avoid his VPN plug:
Comments
(Old Spike)
If they don't like it why do they live there?
(Old Spike)
from the sounds of this and his other videos, when he moved there it was great. stayed, put down roots, and only after that things started to go bad, hence why he changed his mind on china. he bought a house there and all, and it's never easy to just pick up and move to another country anyway, starting from scratch all over again.
eventually though yeah he did leave, moved to vietnam apparently.
(Old Spike)
I wonder why they moved to Vietnam instead of another city in China. From what I saw it's an incredibly diverse place. My guess is that he's scared of the internet monitors because he knows he's worn out his welcome, just like Winston. I'll be interested to know how his wife copes with life in Vietnam as a Chinese from Shenzhen once the shine wears off.
Only time I noticed OTT security was in Beijing as they were prepping for the anniversary. Staying 10mins walk from T. Square where the neighbourhood was on lockdown in the weekend meant I had to deal with a bunch of them but they're always pleasant & often smiled at my dumb tourist schtick. They had a couple of army guys at the main train station, airport & uptown metro in Beijing who watched me as I was trying to watch them without them noticing lol (they're fascinating in how stiff they are). In Shanghai they had police at the national museum doing security but they were really nice.
That said, I liked seeing an army dude with a semi-auto rifle in a little turret at the train station... thinking if a terry showed up he'd get glaxxed in his clavical. It's only a few years since they had terry attacks in China & they're locked in a trade/cold war with the largest sponsor of terries in the world so...
FYI there's a tonne of disinfo in this video eg. "motorbikes are banned", "banners of the leader on every corner". It's absolutely untrue as of 3 weeks ago in Shenzhen or any other place in China in the past month. I saw 1 banner in a month of travelling around there - Mao on the T Square mausoleum. And I saw motorbikes ... but mostly electric scooters. They drive on the pavement & nearly knock you over it's a bit scary when you're not used to it.
His comentary is hilarious. Transparently pandering to the ignorant China Bad crowd but hilarious nonetheless.
(Long Spike)
Wait, you just wrote that novel but had no time to comment on the forced organ donor video in China post like you said you would? 50 Cent Party people have to be embarrased of you being so weak on a site with relatively few hits. You must be pretty low on the 50 Cent Party totem pole.
(Old Spike)
Damn your reply. I wanted to delete everything but the first paragraph. Was just rambling.
I said I'd look into the final report of that China Tribunal when they release it & after I get back home. I'm still in Asia on holiday so don't want to bother with that kind of thing. Wait until I'm bored with life in NZ again, could be a few weeks. Full disclosure: I may not ever bother with that. It seems highly flawed & not really worth responding to.
(Long Spike)
Yeah, don't touch the subject. Total attack on the state. Follow your manual.
(Old Spike)
I talked about it when they released some info in June and have talked a little about it on your video but rather than over-analyse the summary, it's better to have the full report to see what they have, don't you think?
(Long Spike)
It's all likely a lie anyway. CCP would never do anything like that.
(Old Spike)
So how long have you been living in China now?
(Old Spike)
I just spent a month there & now am in another part of Asia.
Should be back in NZ in a couple weeks but I really dug China and want to learn the language. Probably would take 5-6 years I reckon.
(Long Spike)
Knowing the language well makes it a whole different experience. Good mount of time to target learning the language because you will do better most likely. I picked up a lot in less than 2 years but wish I could have spent more time concentrating on it-an obvious Laowai but stuck out as a foreigner being 6'4" anyway.
You could learn it in much less than 5 years depending on how much concentration you put in. I spent 3 frustrating months refusing to speak any english and it was hell but learned at an incredible rate.
Be sure to stop in Pattaya before you go back to NZ and ask the filthy local vixens about happiness.
(Old Spike)
One thing I liked was in the rural areas some of the little kids just stare at you like you're an alien.
I wanna learn to read it and speak it. Reading it is essential for a lot of the apps they have there.
Being there with someone who had friends & family there made a big difference.
btw, I just watched his wife's video. It's pretty sad that she's with a guy like him. Her father asked her why is she with a guy who makes a living from talking shit about their country & now he's whisking her off to Vietnam. It's just sad & feel bad for their daughter. The mother seems quite naive or similarly deceptive (never heard of FB before he showed it to her but she'd studied in Macao, wtf?). I look forward to seeing what she thinks of life in Vietnam.
(Long Spike)
It was the crazy home, work, family thing that made it a challenge to leave. He left.
(Old Spike)
So living in xenophobilandia is ok as long as one isn't the foreigner? Figures.