Is there anything you like/appreciate about China?

[mucaari]

There are very nice landscapes in China. But I feel the surrounding infrastructure and atmosphere makes travelling often unpleasant. Like I went to Yunnan. And seriously a passport-check on the bus to go to some rocks? Everything is paved with paths almost as wide as a highway. Chinese flags around, music playing from speakers, vending machines... Like how to ruin a natural destination.

Same thing in Hangzhou, they have this very nice wetlands. Luckily was there during low season and bad weather. But same thing, tickets, turnstiles, security checks, artificial music in the nature and so on... Very nice nature but somewhat ruined by the infrastructure around it.

[nivek2046]

Some (mostly Japanese) believe that after the Mongol invasion of Song dynasty, the Chinese civilisation no longer exists.

https://translate.google.com/transla...25E8%25AB%2596

[Coolboy]

Some (mostly Japanese) believe that after the Mongol invasion of Song dynasty, the Chinese civilisation no longer exists.

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85...9C%8B%E8%AB%96

That is not a very credible theory I am afraid. The Ming Dynasty which overthrew the Mongols were 100% native Chinese rule. In fact, the Ming were adamant on erasing Mongol influence in Chinese culture and sought to look back at the golden era of the Tang Dynasty as a model to govern. The Qing dynasty were led by the Manchus, a tribe from what is today Northeastern China. To ensure Chinese acceptance of their "alien" rule, the Manchus sought to become more "Chinese" than the Chinese themselves in mastering Chinese culture, especially Confucianism.

Although one can point out that arguably, Japan has retained more elements of traditional Chinese culture than even China itself. Through transmission of Buddhism and Confucianism, Chinese culture spread to Japan, this was particularly evident during the Tang. A lot of historic Japanese architecture retain the Chinese Tang style, and there are architectural historians from China going over to Japan to view Tang-style Japanese buildings, like the Hōryū-ji (which has the world's oldest wooden building, over 1,300 years old):



And the Tōdai-ji:



But it is another argument entirely to say Chinese civilization no longer exist, that is patently not true.

[topworld]

Not a fan of the CCP clamping down on human rights but have to give credit where it is due:

1) I like how China has built high speed rail, road, tunnels, bridges, metro, connecting pretty much all areas in China. US hasn't built a good railroad network yet in 200 years that they could have, and UK hasn't even built a bridge to Ireland.

2) It is impressive (although abhorrent) that the CCP has managed to convince the world not to recognise Taiwan, corrupted the WHO, infiltrated the HKPF and HK gov, made dozens of big name western brands apologize for offending China, kidnapped people from Thailand/HK and get away with it, etc. I disagree with their politics but I'm blown away at the extent of their evildoings.

3) I like their 'just do it' attitude, very little bureaucracy, things just get done. Of course there are problems that come about this too, like health and safety concerns but they could build like 10 hospitals in the time it takes to build 1 hospital in the UK with the same number of workers.

[jobin]

I greatly enjoyed the food, the beers and the whores.
But some, too many, toilets were indeed shit. Many people pushy, rude, racist, and highly avaricious.
And dirty, OMG the countryside totally littered with rubbish. That's a great problem in such governments: inside your house, as you like. But outside your house the govt is responsible, so no individual cares.

[Coolboy]

I greatly enjoyed the food, the beers and the whores.
But some, too many, toilets were indeed shit. Many people pushy, rude, racist, and highly avaricious.
And dirty, OMG the countryside totally littered with rubbish. That's a great problem in such governments: inside your house, as you like. But outside your house the govt is responsible, so no individual cares.

Oh I'm pretty sure there are lots and lots of stuff to complain about China...but here I want to do something a little different and try to find things that I can appreciate about the country.

[Coolboy]

Original Post Deleted

Yes but why would I want to hear from them? They are not exactly credible sources. Only propaganda outlets can say anything good about China? That I disagree with, sorry. Its a lot more credible to hear from people who are otherwise not too enamoured with the CCP yet can also recognize good parts of Chinese society and culture.

[Morrison]

Old people work out together, especially in parks

[Coolboy]

Old people work out together, especially in parks

Now that you mentioned it, I can recall an amusing recollection the first time I went to Beiijing. I saw these bunch of people at the park doing tai chi. At the time I was new to China and wasn't familiar with tai chi, I asked the tour guide at the hotel lobby, why are these people dancing and doing it so slowly at the crack of dawn?! I was promptly corrected and informed they were doing tai chi, well, you learn something new every day:

[Eva C]

I lived and worked there for 7 years. The one thing that shines through the murk of CCP thought control and the many awful things you encounter there is the positivity of many people I met, particularly the poorer ones, who believed that they could work for a better life for themselves. The big sisters in particular impressed me with their doggedness to protect and better their family.
Jiuzhaigou is beautiful, inner Mongolia, the alps of Xinjiang, Yunnan and Qinghai and Guilin are all wonderful if you can ignore the masses on the main routes.
But the only thing I miss is the Shanghai sheng jian bao.