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I came back to China after being in the US for 10 years and just want to chat about stuff
(lemmy.world)
Sooo... yeah! I don't really have IRL friends to chat about this so I figured I'd make this post. Didn't want this to be super consequential like hosting an AMA or anything since it's just me going back to where I was born but yeah
A few funny observations and maybe conversation starters:
- Everything I read in the US seems to talk about how China is simultaneously a futuristic paradise and an authoritarian hellscape... both seem fairly overblown. There are a lot of public transit and the food is amazing though
- The rumors are true, in China they really use Wechat for everything. Wechat is used for payment (almost no one uses credit cards or cash), booking tickets, ... and all of these are tied to your national ID and your face recognition. It's a bit terrifying
- There are sooooo many ads everywhere! Heck my parents' apartment building has an ad billboard right in the elevator, and this is apparently the norm. On the app store the Microsoft Edge browser literally got a 5-star rating and was praised for not running ads... it's that bad.
- My god the internet is atrocious compared to the US, and having to do half of the stuff I need to with a VPN doesn't really help. It's so bad that I was missing my Gentoo days of compiling packages from source...
- I thought there would be a ton of anime stuff, especially since I had the impression that Mihoyo games (the company that developed Genshin Impact, Honkai series, etc) is a topic of national pride... I think I have made a mistake. I have met three cosplayers just walking on the street so far though, so the culture definitely is there
- I like rhythm games and I'm delighted to find out there are maimai DX cabs everywhere, this thing is impossible to find in the US. Haven't found SDVX or IIDX cabs, or even CHUNITHM cabs though... Also China apparently has their own Pump It Up clone (not DDR, PIU) with four more outer arrows. Imagine the five PIU step keys and four more outside...
- Lemmy.world is somehow not blocked by the Chinese internet firewall. Not that I feel safe browsing Lemmy with the type of posts I make... On that topic, my own little web domain isn't blocked lmao I can still use SearXNG as usual
Oh boy on the point of Black Myth Wukong and Beijing's loss of culture...
I don't even know if ppl in China can play Black Myth Wukong without going to a specialty arcade due to the nature of its release, which IMO would feel so wrong for ppl who live here...
On the part of Beijing losing its culture, my parents decided to take me on an extended trip to Southern China, and I'm so surprised to find ancient Chinese temples and stuff here... Beijing tore all of those down... I guess Beijing is just miserable to live in now lol
One of the things my cousin asked for when she came over was a laptop, which she proceeded to install World of Warcraft on. When she got tired of a job, she just quit, because fuck 996. A lot of the younger generation just hole up at home and work occasionally.
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The other cities are still ok (for now). Whichever city my mom's family is in had street vendors that use QR codes, so there's at least some integration into "Modern China".