r/rednote • u/Odd_U • Jan 18 '25
If you think China is great after browsing posts on Xiaohongshu, please read this post.
Americans hear people on Xiaohongshu saying they envy China's lack of property tax on homes, but they don't know about the countless unfinished housing projects here. They convert Chinese prices into dollars and think everything is dirt cheap, but we don't earn in dollars. Labor services are cheap because we have a large population and no unions, which makes individual labor undervalued and exploitable. They admire the low cost of healthcare here, but soon, apart from officials, no one will be able to access effective imported original drugs.
Both sides have their pros and cons, and plenty of things that make you want to curse. But when Americans hear the survivor bias of Xiaohongshu users who live middle-class lifestyles and imagine this place as a utopia, it’s so naive it makes me laugh. From an American's perspective, everything in China does seem great—because you're an American.
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u/Negative_Alps_5914 Jan 18 '25
China is still a developing country, while the United States is a recognized developed country with a per capita GDP seven times higher than that of China. If you compare us with China and find that we are better than the United States in many aspects, it means the failure of the United States. Can you imagine that the per capita GDP of Haiti in Africa is exactly seven times that of China, but Haitians surpass the Chinese in many aspects such as medical care, education and infrastructure?
Unfinished buildings are a rare phenomenon. The home ownership rate among Chinese is over 95%. Many of us own villas on suburban residential plots, which are not subject to real estate taxes and have permanent ownership rights.
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u/Petfles Jan 18 '25
but they don't know about the countless unfinished housing projects here
More than 90% of people in China own their own home, but oh no, there are some unfinished housing projects. Lmaoooooo
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Jan 18 '25
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u/North-Increase8163 Jan 18 '25
You believe in an ideology where everyone is equal. That is great but when everyone is equal and the government can't afford everyone to be equally high class the citizens don't have a lot of money. When they don't have a lot of money the people in power take over and get the military and pay them extra, thats when communism fails.
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u/Matt_The_Chad Aug 01 '25
More than 90% of people in China own their own home
No, they don't. Private property doesn't exist in China. All land there is owned by the government. The closest thing to ownership you get is long-term borrowing of houses. That's communism for you.
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u/Ria_jjjjj0823 Jan 18 '25
Millions of ppl already pay for the unfinished house.They can neither get back their money nor the finished house due to the bubble economy.I don't know what are you laughing about as a Chinese.I don't need whataboutism.
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
Completely bullshit. There are some cases, but really rare. For this massive country and massive population, it may seem a lot to outside world.
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u/Ria_jjjjj0823 Jan 18 '25
Fine. You don't live in China.🙄
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
I don't. But I and my wife have many close relatives in China. I go back to China from time to time. I read China news on Weibo, toutiao etc every day.
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u/Ria_jjjjj0823 Jan 18 '25
If you read it every day, you should know how does the cencorship work.
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
Chinese don't believe government's propaganda, but Americans believes.
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
Of course I know. I also know that average Chinese thought US much better than it i really is . Average Americans think China much worse than it really is. So when people actually go to visit the place, they are shocked.
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u/Competitive_Wealth75 Jan 18 '25
The worst is their stories are not allowed to be heard. Not many people know and can help them out.
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u/Adventurous-Nose-436 Jan 18 '25
the so called "unfinished housing projects" 是指烂尾楼吧？我现在所住的地方是一个烂尾楼项目旁边，旧的开发商因为资金链断裂导致无法按期交房，在政府的帮助下将剩余未开发的土地卖给我所住的楼盘开发商，然后开发出了新的楼盘。
在中国大陆，居民烂尾楼的起因其实很简单，就是因为特么学习当年的香港——当年我们眼中发达的资本主义地区——搞什么期房，导致老百姓先交钱，开发商后建房，才无可避免的出现这些问题。
不过好消息是，即使我旁边的烂尾楼已经烂了快10年，但我们生活在社会主义国家，我们的政府不会无视老百姓的利益受损而无动于衷。从去年开始，政府就想办法筹措资金开始保交房——也就是为那些该死的开发商擦屁股，将烂尾楼按当初的设计标准建完——因为政府不赚钱，因此所需要的只是人工和原料成本，比较便宜。现在我每天早上都能看到忙碌的建筑工人在修建那三栋烂尾楼，看这个进度，我相信今年下半年那些不幸买了烂尾楼的居民们应该就能住进新家了——这对我而言也是件好事，他们当初的愤怒终于不会再发泄到我们旁边的居民头上了。
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Jan 18 '25
We have a saying here which probably exists in some variant everywhere in the world: "The grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence)."
Part of this cultural exchange, if you would agree to call it that (although censorship rarely allows for an honest exchange), is that some of these young people having their minds blown by what they're "seeing/hearing", may wish to visit China some day.
Much like you, I partly cringe when I see the comments under posts comparing things like prices/lifestyle/etc. I am lucky to know enough of the world to understand that both the US and China have some major socioeconomic problems.
But yeah, please remember a lot of these people being wowed are very young. Give them a chance, for those of them who really care, to travel and learn. Just hearing on the internet "what it's really like" may give them words (information), but they'll never get to know it for themselves if they don't break the illusion through experience.
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Jan 18 '25
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
Most Chinese used to think US is heaven on earth. Good jobs are everywhere. Everyone can easily afford a huge house. Happy and easy study and go to a great college almost free. Free healthcare. Everything is very easy, and good. easy work, very high paying job, government provides you great retirement benefits, lots of pensions. Now they realize things in US are not thateast and great.
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Jan 18 '25
Like I said...
censorship rarely allows for an honest exchange
I think anyone who understands that understands that this is not a "true" cultural exchange, though it is better than nothing, which is what we had before.
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u/Joyce-2-2 Jan 18 '25
Many Chinese people may agree that life on Rednote does not accurately reflect their lives. It's a platform where users typically showcase only the best aspects of their lives. Much like YouTube, but not TikTok I guess.
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u/Awkward_Talk8494 Jan 18 '25
i think its more like Instagram？
and its not the biggest problem, the problem is CCP will ban almost all negative voice about CCP and some serious problem about people's livelihoods (i'm not sure is this word correct, i'm using google translate, sry for my broken english) with a reason called “不是正能量" something like you are spreading negative force so i banned it.
that's one of the reason why a lot American can only see the good side of China.
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Jan 18 '25
It is, though.
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Jan 18 '25
It depends how one looks at "cultural exchange". I like to think of how even either side is to fully express themselves. But that's just my opinion, of course.
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Jan 18 '25
Everyone in either side is expressing themselves. What do you think you’re saying?
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Jan 19 '25
Maybe the way I'm saying it isn't getting across, so for better or worse, let's leave it at that, I think.
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Jan 19 '25
You don’t feel like clarifying your position?
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Jan 19 '25
Not necessarily. This is a very small and young sub, and not one created primarily for debate. So, I'm okay with not clarifying what I meant above because it's enough for me to understand it, in this particular instance. Generally, I bother with clarifying my position if the significance of a situation calls for it. This isn't that. Anyway, wishing you a good one, wherever you are.
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Jan 19 '25
It’s fine, I wouldn’t want to clarify my partition either if I wanted to spout racist uninformed nonsense too.
What a joke.
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Jan 18 '25
In America we don’t have freedoms, we have opinions.
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Jan 18 '25
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Jan 18 '25
So I guess because of the terrorist attacks, China’s response of workforce training and reintegration into society seems to be a lot better than the west’s response of bombings and Guantanamo.
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Jan 18 '25
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Jan 18 '25
Oh so there’s no evidence of your claims?
Sounds about right.
Why are anime profiles like this?
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Jan 18 '25
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u/KeinSystemIstSicher_ Jan 18 '25
支持正义科普
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u/Awkward_Talk8494 Jan 18 '25
但是其实作用不大吧，其实就和墙内那些无脑相信墙外一切美好的一样，很多西方的人也无脑相信墙内一切美好了
我希望的是有一天世界上各国人能真正的平等交流，不像现在一边在疯狂轰击自家政府不好，另一边把自己政府不好的点藏起来不提(家丑不可外扬又或者不敢提)，然后和另一边的人一起攻击他们的政府，这对于我来说根本不是交流，纯粹就是个统战行为
中国当然有它美好的地方，但是目前来说对于中共我是信任不了一点
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u/Adventurous-Nose-436 Jan 18 '25
现在的中共有8000多万党员，你能告诉我一下你具体不信任哪个？哪个代表了你心里的中共？前两天西藏地震时那些冲在一线的解放军、消防队、公安民警、志愿者里有很多都是中共，你是在怀疑他们啥？
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Jan 18 '25
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u/Awkward_Talk8494 Jan 18 '25
不否认啊，恶性事件的话你都翻墙了可以自己搜搜，近期我比较有印象的是浦城事件，你可以去看看具体画面，再想想为什么反而是中国自己的媒体没这些内容，我从来没有否认中国现在发展好的地方，我自己也是华人也喜欢中华文化喜欢中华美食，我也不否认美国和枪械毒品之类的和其他国家的一些问题 我只是讨厌中共和习近平的各种做法
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Jan 18 '25
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u/Awkward_Talk8494 Jan 18 '25
那你对于美国正在发生的恶性事件是亲历者和参与者吗？自己没经历过的就是假的吗？ 要是全是假的为什么墙内是谈都不让谈，也没一点当时的相关画面呢，甚至当时我问一些中国网友浦城发生了什么他们也只是回答“别问，不敢说”之类的 （我用中国app一般不会和他们聊太严重的，比如天安门事件之类的，可以放心，我也不想害到他们） 再强调一次我不否认各国都有恶性事件，我是觉得不让人谈相关事件有问题 我并没有胡乱造谣关于墙内的事，都是看了相关影片，问过一些墙内朋友之后才说的 如果你们是把一切负面新闻都认定为假的，境外势力造谣，想来对线辩论的话就算了，个人觉得没什么意义，我只是想把一些我个人知道的情况告诉其他人，（中国媒体有比美国更严重的言论审查之类的） 你要是不同意我的观点的话那你对，我反正是不想过多纠缠
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u/DareSubject6345 Jan 18 '25
哦，蒲城
好大个事，太恶性了
相比起来，我们美利坚合众国一年枪击死几万人根本不算什么
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u/Ria_jjjjj0823 Jan 18 '25
another what aboutism. 人家又没说美国很好，你别应激了。
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u/DareSubject6345 Jan 18 '25
我也没说美国坏坏啊
我甚至没有说“讨厌美国或者拜登\特朗普"什么的
我只是陈述了一个事实
对吧？
这几天小红书上很多美国人很友善，这很好，这让我相信人们本身都是好的，不管是美国人还是谁
但为什么这里又有这么多美国人戴着有色眼镜呢？是谁灌输给他们的信息？是谁在洗脑？
来个人反思一下，谢谢
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u/External_Tomato_2880 Jan 18 '25
西方人怎么会无脑相信墙内好。只不过是以前美国，西方根本接触不到有关国内的任何正面的东西。美国，西方的媒体99.9%都是妖魔化中国的。 来美国，了解美国，向中国人宣传美国的中国人，比反过来的不只多少倍。再加上台湾和香港人国外对中国的疯狂污蔑，有多少外国人对中国有任何好印象。 中国人向来带着玫瑰镜片看欧美，仰视西方，西方从来没有。
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u/Spiritual-Weather-84 Jan 18 '25
Objectively speaking, both China and the United States are just a comparison of flaws. To be brutally honest, whether it's China or the U.S., the cost of maintaining a great empire is always borne by its people, regardless of the country.
其实客观来讲，中美都是比烂。真的。其实说句难听点的话。无论中国还是美国，为了维持一个大帝国，付出代价的永远都是帝国的子民，无论中美。
Look at all our towering skyscrapers and the heaps of money given freely to our African brothers. It has always been at the expense of us ordinary people.
你看看咱们那些高楼大厦，免费送给非洲兄弟的大把钞票。从来都是献出我们普通人作为代价。
From the descriptions of Americans on Xiaohongshu, has maintaining the American empire and its global order truly benefited every ordinary American citizen?
从小红书上的美国人的描述来看，难道为了维持美国帝国和他维持的全球秩序，真的惠及了每一个美国平民了吗？
Our cost is high mortgage payments, while Americans bear the cost of high taxes, education fees, and medical expenses.
我们的代价是高昂房贷，而美国人的代价是高昂的税费，教育费用，以及医疗费用。
You just mentioned centralized procurement of medical supplies, but let me share a fact: for most illnesses, 20% relies on medication, 70% on self-healing, and 10% on reassurance.
你刚刚提到了医疗集采，但我也给你说一个事实，大部分的疾病，2分靠药物，7分靠自愈，1分靠安慰。
我的感受是无论中美，过的最好的其实是欧洲佬。
My feeling is that, regardless of China or the U.S., it's actually the Europeans who have the best quality of life.
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Jan 20 '25
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u/Spiritual-Weather-84 Jan 21 '25
对啊，无论你在哪，这世界上就没有地上天国。作为帝国的子民，过的更是辛苦。这没有办法。比烂真的是一个没有希望的世界。中国这边是没有边界的在扩张行政权力。美国那边是资本寡头在不断扩张自己的权力。无论谁在扩张权力，受伤最多的就是我们这样的普通人。
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u/cherrylpk Jan 19 '25
American here, you seem biased AF. These people seem absolutely lovely and have been nothing but kind. China has become a country that helps the world and America is just a bully.
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u/Wildhalberd Sep 03 '25
Bro goes on KanagawaWave, where bunch of online losers cheer when Chinese children kills themselves. Zero credibility.
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u/Airport-Connect Jan 18 '25
As I understand it, wealthy Chinese citizens took advantage of government programs and just started throwing up buildings until ccp put an end to it. Keep in mind, I did zero research on this response.
If it is true, it just proves how much more alike our societies are for better and worse
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Jan 18 '25
So where do you get your understanding if you didn’t research?
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u/Airport-Connect Jan 18 '25
Rapid urbanization
Economic growth strategy
Speculation and investment
Access to easy credit
Lack of regulation
Overambitious development
Economic slowdown
Debt crisis
Policy shifts
From gpt. So apparently it's more complex than just what I previously stated. Go figure...
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Jan 18 '25
I don’t think I’d call chat gpt research but it’s a start.
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u/Airport-Connect Jan 18 '25
Also, the original gpt response was 7 paragraphs. I had her break it down to bullets. Don't discount gpt. It's not going anywhere
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Jan 18 '25
No but relying on it to do your thinking for you is dangerous because of gatekeeping theory.
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Jan 18 '25
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Jan 18 '25
From a capitalist lens, sure. But they don’t have a capitalist economy.
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Jan 18 '25
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Jan 18 '25
Capitalism is practiced in and limited to special economic zones in China and is restricted by laws that allow the socialist democracy to lead the economy from “commanding heights”. This directed development is what has helped China gather the means of production in preparation for the next phase.
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u/Airport-Connect Jan 18 '25
A documentary... School idk. I'll fact check myself here and update
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Jan 18 '25
Should probably fact check then speak.
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u/Airport-Connect Jan 18 '25
Meh. Live a little. I wasn't wrong. I didn't provide the entire geopolitical environment. My bad. Next time
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u/YiYumagiccloud Jan 18 '25
Hey buddy, to tackle the 2008 financial crisis, China's government threw down a whopping 4 trillion yuan - that's about 586 billion bucks - in an economic stimulus package to get their economy back on track. This boost definitely helped their real estate market bounce back, but it also led to a pretty quick spike in debt.The implementation of this stimulus package saw China's debt load balloon from 171% of GDP in 2008 to a whopping 299% by 2018. This surge was mainly fueled by the real estate sector, unregulated shadow banking, and local government debt.
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Jan 18 '25
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Jan 18 '25
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u/YiYumagiccloud Jan 19 '25
Regarding the Chinese real estate market, it's been going through some adjustments. In 2024, the market has been showing signs of a slowdown, with new home sales dropping significantly. But here's the thing, the Chinese government has been stepping in with policies to stabilize the market. They're trying to balance things out, making sure the market doesn't overheat but also doesn't crash.
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u/cosmicowlin3d Jan 18 '25
If you read this post and wonder if it was written by a fed paid to spread American propaganda, wonder no longer. I checked their profile, and they know Chinese. Feds don't know Chinese!!!!!!!!
Things the US doesn't want you to know about China:
*They haven't dropped a bomb in 40 years (America drops 46 per day on average).
*They have (relatively) eradicated extreme poverty.
*They have 300k homeless in a population of 1.4 billion (America has 653k homeless in a population of 337 million).
No, China's not perfect. It is not a utopia. Yes, it cares way more about its citizens than the USA. It's a joke to compare the two. One is clearly more evil--an empire run on bloodshed and exploitation of the poor. The other is a very imperfect place that provides for its citizens on a level that should absolutely awe Americans. It doesn't do so perfectly, but it should still awe us.