I get so much conflicting information about China, some say it's a dictatorship, a creepy dystopian surveillance state. Other times I hear it's a lovely, friendly country with a great quality of life.
I admit, I'm a lazy :LIB: and I don't know much about China. So I have a few questions:
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Is China a democracy? I know it's single-party ruled, but can they choose their leaders within the communist party?
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What is the work culture like for the average person? Are people overworked and underpaid, like I've read in western media, or is that all projection?
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Is the average person happy? How are disadvantaged people treated?
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What's privacy like there? As bad as the west, better or worse?
It would be cool to get some answers from someone who has actually lived in China, if any of you have. I'm pretty sure we have a couple of Chinese users?
P.S. Pls don't gulag me for being taking so long to learn more about world politics I am terrible at being a leftist :anarcho-bottom: :left-unity-4:
I visited China half a decade ago and it was amazing. Only saw southern China but had a hell of a time, and even got to ride in one of their bullet trains. Construction everywhere. Like insane amounts. Generally upbeat mood. If you're white, anywhere outside the Tier 1 cities people will just come up to you and take pictures/talk to practice their English. Incredibly safe, everybody was ridiculously friendly. My favorite parts were just chilling at parks watching the amazing amount of activity and having chats with folks about their lives, which seem overwhelming pretty good. Everybody I talked to was more than willing to criticize government policies, but was overall supportive of a clearly competent government. Working on my Chinese now and maybe I'll live there someday—feels like one of the only places on Earth left where people actually think their life is going to be better in 10 years.