Anybody Know About China?

[Comrade J]

Just a stab in the dark here, I know we have a few Chinese members and perhaps also some people here have been to China or know it well, but I suspect this thread might just die.

But anyways, I am looking to go there, to either Chengdu, Chongqing, Hunan or Xinjiang. Is anyone from or has anyone been to any of these places and can recommend one above the other? I'm looking for cheap living costs, lively cultural city and nearby beautiful scenery and maybe some historical sites of interest.

Thanks if anyone can help me.

[Nox]

Yeah I know about China, it's a country in Asia right?

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

I hope you aren't going for the socialism though, you'd be badly disappointed.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Chengdu is a very interesting place. Its the capital of Sichuan, a prosperous province. The province and city are known for its hot spicy cooking.If you like that you will enjoy Sichuan hot pot. By the university area there are zillions of small cool restaurants on the river bank. In the summer time middle aged people do ball room style dancing on rooftops and parking lots. Chengdu is a good place to see old architecture and traditional Chinese culture. One of my favorite places. Sichuan is also known thoughout China for pretty girls, for whatever that's worth.

Not too far from Chengdu you can climb My Emei,, Emeishan, "Flower Mountain" which is one of the several sacred Buddhist mountains thoughout China.Its not a hard climb and can provide a fascinating experience.

Sinjiang is a huge area. Most of it is grassland or semi-desert. Its the location of ancient Silk Route cities. The capital, Urumqi, is half Han and half Uryghur. A bit further out you can visit Tulapan, a Muslim Uyghur city. The culture is much different from the Han areas of the PRC. Sinjiang is utterly fascinating (at least for me) but takes several days by train from the rest of China.

I haven't been to Chonqing. From the impression I got today it is mostly the same bland sterile high rises as in other modernised Chinese cities. It is economically booming though. the history is fascinating-it was the capital of the wartime KMT regime.

Hunan-also famous for hot spicey cooking. Mao is from here.Traditionally railroad employees came from Hunan, not sure why. The people here are very friendly but otherwise I don't remember much about this province.


Traditionally the best guide book is Lonely Planet. They have very detailed run downs of almost everywhere in China.Get the current edition and read though it a few times before you go.
Not much remains of socialism in China, except for hammer and sickle emblems on police stations and local CPC buildings. You will come across "Stalin gothic" style monuments with names like, "A Tribute To The Blood Sealed Friendship of The Sino-Soviet Peoples

If you go to China, try to resist the temptation to spend all your time in the foreigner hangouts.My last time in China I've been to Internet cafes filled with American backpackers who would spend all all day updating their Facebook profiles to tell their friends what a great time they were having in China, when all they did there was update their Facebook profiles.


If you are interested in China from a leftist and/or labor perspective

http://www.chinaworker.info/

http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/

(This is from a liberal perspective but still a wealth of useful info)

[Comrade J]

I hope you aren't going for the socialism though, you'd be badly disappointed.

Haha, am I fuck!

And Lenina Rosenweg, thanks a lot for all the info! This thread did pay off after all. I am going to teach there and have options open to me about which city to go to.

[hatzel]

A friend of mine moved to and studies in Chengdu. Still seems happy with everything there after...three years, if my memory serves me well. Just in case that adds some kind of anecdotal approval to complement Lenina's somewhat more in-depth post...

[Sendo]

China is a place that must be seen to be believed. It's far different than say South Korea or Japan. You can see interesting leftovers from the Cold War as you would in Russia. Large architectural projects, mega apartments, hybrid walled-village worker apartment complexes. The historical sites dwarf most things you will ever see. You can see photos of the Forbidden City, but photos don't do justice. One stone tile on the floor that looks like it's 15 cm across is more like 150 cm across. Food was great, too.

I really regret not making my China trip a much longer one. I would have loved to bummed around the place and took trains to Xi'an and Chengdu.

Great place for unique souvenirs, too. I was expecting crappy, Wal-Mart style, "Made in China" crap in every big box store in the capitalist West, but was surprised to find some unique little things to get as souvenirs. I hate myself for forgetting my bag of them at the airport. Clothing and books and reproduction posters.

[Comrade J]

Yeah I know about China, it's a country in Asia right?

Really, somebody thanked this post...? :huh:

[Comrade J]

Done a little research on Chongqing, seeing as that seems to be the one people know very little about. This short 2-part feature from the BBC is really interesting, about how the Chinese government is turning it into a 'megacity'.

Part 1 -
O8BVivw3TzI

[Sendo]

Done a little research on Chongqing, seeing as that seems to be the one people know very little about. This short 2-part feature from the BBC is really interesting, about how the Chinese government is turning it into a 'megacity'.

Part 1 -
O8BVivw3TzI

Isn't this place nicknamed the oven of China or something for its urban heat effect and hot humid climate? I think it's also the most polluted city, too.

[gorillafuck]

no, what's china?

[GoddessCleoLover]

The infamous factory that manufactures Apple products and super-exploits its workers to the point of suicide is located near Chongqqing.

[Comrade J]

Yeah I have to say it isn't at the top of my list, but the video is very interesting imo. John Simpson, for all his faults working for an organisation like the BBC, is a very good foreign correspondent who has reported from so many warzones with simple factual information and - at least from my memory - not a great deal of bias. And his father was an anarchist.