^ This. If China has regulated environmental concerns and policies then you can damn well bet manufacturing will soon come back to the US. Cheap labor is where the US benefits. Of course, King Cheetah knew this I hope!
we can choose to be like helpful fungi on planet earth.. but right now we behave like parasitic fungi
The ring wing Loathes the EPA, but this is why the US doesn't have those problems in those Extremes...
It's not really the water they use in your drinks it's the ice -- they aren't treating all that water.
Yeah, that sucks balls. I once drank a glass full from tap water thinking a swank 1 million dollar Beijing apartment would have some filtration system, abd the hosts had this "oh ****" look on their faces. Didn't catch the plague or grow a tail, but still...
Having said all that, Shanghai is one of the most vibrant and optimistic cities I've seen. It's highly similar to San Francisco but magnified three to four times (population is more than 20x SF). Tremendous growth with seemingly unlimited capital, it's a cosmopolitan wonder. Like other big financial cities, there's an underbelly with an unseen under class, but it's a place that seems marked by history and merits a visit...despite the pollution
Think I'd rather live in Bangkok. Personally I think Shanghai expatriates are too white collar. If I were to ever base myself anywhere in Asia, it'd probably be Thailand.
It is still a massive toilet of over population with a complete lack of hygiene. I have literally seen Chinese drop a deuce in the middle of the road. Really an unpleasant country. When I travel there it isn't for pleasure. India and China both need a massive enema.
Hate to burst your bubble, but China has an entire ministry, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, which regulates many of the same areas our Environmental Protection Agency regulates. It isn't the lack of regulation that differentiates pollution problems from theirs.
Have much experience there? I'm planning a Vietnam/Thailand/Cambodia/wherever else trip in a few months....
Then you've probably gone the the wrong places. Shanghai is still a great place to vacation. Good shopping, pretty buildings, nice restaurants, and a ton to do. I usually stay around the bund unless visiting family, then chill in xin tian di to wind down an evening. All I gotta say is it's swank metropolis that's buzzing with energy. It does have it's downer, especially given how much more expensive it's becoming. The weakening dollar also don't help the situation. Also pollution and having a lower economic opportunity (relative to the U.S.) with increased competition (much more people relative to the U.S.) and a corrupt business culture makes it unlikely that I will ever live there, but still a good place to vacation. Every nation will have it's good and bad. The U.S. have a lot more good than the bad, but don't tell me there aren't some stuff going down in fifth ward. To say that China is just a giant toilet is pretty messed up.
It is all a matter of opinion. Are there good parts about China? Sure, but not enough for me. Compared to the United States and Europe it is a massive hole in my experience. Someone else may find it to be Eden.
A country has crappy and good parts? Very insightful. Tell me more of your adventures and wisdom. How did buffalo testicles taste in Colorado? I heard it's a delicacy there.
Not buffalo, beef. They're called "calf fries" or "rocky mountain oysters", made from the, uh, leftovers of when you turn a bull calf into a steer. Peel the membrane off, soak in milk, season, roll in flour and fry. They're not bad at all if you can get over what you're eating, not my thing though. Kinda like sweetbreads, but not near as good. Quit killing all the sharks/tigers/rhinos/elephants/bears/etc... for "medicinal purposes", ok?
Damn those 9 million migrant workers blasting their furnace in the winter and driving their SUVs. Let's blame all our problems on the (im)migrants. Sound familiar? If that fails, you can also be like the Beijing government and tell the general populace that people should try to cook less fried foods because it's adding to the air pollution. LOL. Or if that fails, you can be like the official government newspaper and tell the general populace that the smog will neutralize guided missiles by making them blind. LOL, a funny government, these mainlanders have. It'd be hilarious if I were making this up and/or didn't have to live in Beijing. LOL. A 1 million dollar apartment in Beijing is decidedly middle class and not swanky. Sigh.
