Are Americans welcome in China?
I'm American and I've been living in China for 6 years now. Living here is definitely a very different experience from visiting! You may not get the king treatment a cash-squirting turista often receives, but most people will be perfectly nice. For the most part, foreigners (including Americans) are pretty well accepted by the Chinese. Sure, there are a few racist/nationalist kooks just as there are in every other country, and there are the inevitable few who will see you as a walking income stream, but most Chinese are really OK folks. For the most part they are eager to be friendly and, if possible, talk to us. You'll get the usual abysmal Chinese public manners- staring, loud commentary about you as you walk down the street, etc.- but you won't find much actual hostility here. They definitely don't like the current American President- neither do I- but they don't hold it against the rest of us. A lot of the treatment you'll receive here reflects your own behavior. If you're nice, chances are they'll be nice back. If you are loud, rude, arrogant, pushy, condescending, disrespectful, overly suspicious, whiny, dishonest, violent, sexually indiscreet, or otherwise unpleasant, sooner or later you can expect to meet some unpleasantness in return. Pretty much like anywhere else. Many Chinese know little of the outside world except what they read in movies, and they're curious. Many more are desperately bored and easily diverted by anything even slightly out of the local ordinary. You'll often find yourself the center of attention, especially in smaller cities and the countryside. It's a bit overwhelming sometimes, but absolutely no malice is intended by this. Just smile and have fun with it. In general, China is one of the physically safest places on Earth. Your wallet and your camera might be in some peril, but your person has very little chance of being hurt. Just use your head- don't flash huge wads of money. Be careful in bar districts and crowded markets. Don't go 'round drunk and/or spoiling for trouble. Follow a little common sense and you'll likely never have a problem here. Regards, Raoul Raoul's China Saloon http://raoulschinasaloon.com
What causes American Chinese food to be so bad for you?
All American fast food is bad for you. It’s got way more sugar and fat than you would ever need in a single meal, and the human body did not evolve to eat in that manner. The quantities are also much larger and we're addicted because we're used to overeating and those quantities seem normal to us. Chinese restaurateurs have to make the food in a way that Americans will eat it or those restaurants will go out of business. Its simply driven by customer demand. My family ran a Chinese restaurant at one point and your typical American will only choose the worst foods on the menu like Orange Chicken and General Tsos. There's like a whole cup of sugar in those dishes and a ton of salt and msg. They even ask that you pick out the vegetables and will return the order if you miss a single stick of broccoli. And have you ever gone into an “authentic” Chinese restaurant and noticed that the Chinese people eating there are having nothing like what you are having? I don't know how many times I've been eating at an authentic place with American friends and I pick an authentic healthier dish. Everyone at the table says “YUCK how can you eat a plain plate of bok choy and mushrooms? It's so bland”. Unfortunately, restaurants are a business and they have to make money so they make what will satisfy the customer's pallet. The customer is always right. Even when they are not.
What caused the split between China and America, post WWII?
Fairly simple, China became communist.1949 - Chinese communists won the civil war at a time where America was becoming extremely anti-communist. This destroyed and good relations between the two countries as China immediately sided with the Soviets.China took a strong anti-Capitalism stance, whilst the US continued being aggressively anti-Communist. This clash of ideologies clipped relations in the immediate post-war era. Not only that, but being at war each other in Korea from 1951 (China's intervention) - 1953 stopped any chance of improving relations.After Stalin’s death in 1953, China became less pro-Soviet, especially after Khrushchev started de-Stalinisation in the late 50s. Mao saw this as an insult to his own style of leadership, so became more anti-Soviet.During the 70s, relations between China and the US improved, putting even more pressure on the USSR…The fact that the Chinese communists won the revolution at a time where the Red Scare was taking effect in the US is the main reason why post-WWII relations were so poor, coupled with the Korean War, which led China to become even more anti-American.Hope this helps.
Is China's rise America's fall?
I subscribe to the belief that the world of the early 21st century is far less zero-sum than the world of the early 20th. A century ago, economic output and wealth were defined far more by the ownership and acquisition of natural resources and physical output and this is often a winner-take-all proposition.A barrel of oil can only be burned once; two can't own the same piece of fertile farmland. When push came to shove these things usually ended up in the hands of the guy with the most guns. As a result, it was a far more brutal place and time, especially for the losers.Today, wealth and economic output are created primarily by unleashing human productivity and creativity as well as the continuous process of re-organizing an economy and allocating resources more efficiently. Much of the hard/boring work can be outsourced to machines and software. Wealthy economies generate the vast majority of GDP from services which means that the better society gets along, the better it works.In this game, the winners tend to be the ones that take a collaborative and partnership vs. adversarial approach. And because much of this type of wealth can be created or copied on a de-centralized basis, the gains are spread more equitably and even the relative losers are much better off in absolute terms.We live in a far less zero-sum world today and that is good news for everyone.This does not mean that countries and economies will avoid all conflict, or that natural resources do not matter anymore, but it certainly helps mitigate the more extreme elements of humanity's natural Machiavellian tendencies.That is why I do not think the rise of China necessarily equates to the fall of America. Both can co-exist and prosper together — and if so, the world as a whole will be much better off.
What caused imperialism in china?
In the 1700 and 1800's Europe was quite colonization mad. They raced worldwide, nations competing for claims to land. America was cut up in the 1600's, large chunks of the Continent sectioned off. THe Spanish had south America and the rest fought for the North. THese lands were occupied by the natives who stood n chance against gunpowder. But the US became independent, and the Monroe doctrine prevented any more colonization. They turned to Africa, cutting it up against masses of tribal warriors. Africa was soon massive patch's of red and blue as the British, French, Dutch, Belgians, Germans, Portuguese, Spanish and Italians claimerd it. THere was not one free country; except for Liberia which America guaranteed independence. So with this out of the way, they turned to Asia. Most of Asia was colonized. India was British, but wars were common still and the locals had gunpowder. The Pacific islands had been claimed in the 1500's. THere was only Japan and CHina. Japan was isolated so CHina was it. China had gunpowder, but Europe had better. With Imperialisim in their minds, China was cut up.
Are the Chinese/American tariffs causing China to expand more in other markets?
Absolutely!But that's not all. They are now working with the EU and Russia to avoid American control of international monetary transfers that have been nominated in US$’s and controlled by America. This is probably a way to make it impossible for the US to create embargos on any nation and as such the US loses it most powerful tool in controlling the world economy. They are doing this so they can still trade with Iran against Americas wishes. If it works l believe that many other nations and companies will use this mechanism to prevent the US controlling their trading decision. Another nail in Americas coffin.China are also eliminating tariffs for other nations and opening free markets with them. This move further erodes American exports as the US cannot compete with Chinese prices. It seems to me that America has taken a swift turn into a dead-end that could cripple their economy and set them back for a couple of decades at the very least and is allowing other countries, not just China, to speed past them.Trump probably expected China to fold long before now but they haven't and they won't. The Chinese are probably one of the smartest nations on the planet, they don't need to worry about their citizens forcing changes in direction, they are growing trade faster than any other nation, they have the largest GDP in the world, are making friends with countries rather than insulting them.I believe that Trump is making China stronger by causing all those ex-allies he insulted turn to look at China with new eyes and see China as a future friend rather then an enemy.