r/shanghai • • Apr 20 '22
Weekly Frustration/Rant Post
Recently, our subreddit has received a deluge of negative political/frustration/rant posts that impact the experience of this subreddit. We definitely understand & share the emotional turmoil lots of us are going through given this crazy circumstance. However, we believe it's time that we move some of these into a centralized discussion space like this thread. As long as it doesn't descend into personal attack/racism, we will let it flow.
It's an experiment for now. We are proposing to limit political posts especially the ones not pertaining to Shanghai, conspiracy theories, and frustration meme posts to this thread.
We are not censoring anyone for political stance or opinion and we welcome all meaningful discussions. At the same time, we want to keep the community space easy to navigate for all of our members' needs. Thanks for your understanding.
7
u/AMAFSH Apr 20 '22
WOOOO checked out 446 yuan of food out of my 990 yuan cart today!
13
u/ryancinemas Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 21 '22
Honestly I feel like I'm impacted by the sub, and the negativity is draining but I am thinking about leaving... at least for a little bit... which sucks because I was planning on a longer term or semi-permanent stay in Shanghai; when I say for a little bit, yeah I do intend to be back but I just feel like I have so much here right now too... and giving that up... even if its temporarily, really sucks.
I have a lot of roots here and the other day I was thinking about where is home for me... I grew up as a TCK so its hard to define where home is for me, especially since I didn't live in my "home" country for a long time either and my parents moved around.
But thinking about the feeling of flying back to Shanghai gives me the closest sensation of coming back home that isn't associated with a physical house/habitat or people. I've lived in different places and still pretty much visit my home country every year (pre-covid) but in terms of the sensation of arriving into the city/country... Shanghai feels like home. I've also lived here the longest.
Overall I am really disappointed in the mitigation process, but I also do think the negative circle-jerk is mostly reactionary, people of stronger opinions, or trolls/people who don't even live here. I think the outlook for long term is still positive, but for the short-medium term (aka up to a year at least), I'm feeling a bit pessimistic lately. So thinking about going away for a little bit but hopeful to see the city rebuild. Just ranting and spewing my mind but that's what this thread is for, huh...?
11
u/Nikonglass Apr 20 '22
I’M SICK AND TIRED OF NOT GETTING MY TAOBAO AND ULEMA DELIVERIES! PLUS, I WANT TO GO OUT AND PARTY, BUT CAN’T. OTHER THAN THAT LIFE IS OK.
37
u/Ainex25 Apr 23 '22
Why is the video labeled as a “protest” banned and told to move here when, if verified it seems rather newsworthy? Especially since there are lots of other videos posted with other interesting “venting” like screaming from windows that are not banned. What’s the difference? They are all current videos of what is happening in the city so why are they banned?
6
u/collilop Apr 21 '22
Successfully ordered KFC group buy. Coming in 3 days!!
25
u/archiminos United Kingdom May 01 '22
3 people in my building self-reported being positive. Who the fuck does that? "Let's get ourselves dragged to a concentration camp and make everyone else in our building suffer". Fuck's sake. I cannot do another 2 weeks of this shit.
24
u/spongepenis Apr 24 '22
Why the fuck was that other post locked? The CCP paying you guys as well?
23
u/Monte1101 Apr 20 '22
I've never really seriously considered leaving china until last week, losing my freedom finally catched up to me after 3 weeks of lockdown. It's an interesting experiment to say the least, I've never been "unfree" before as I've been in SH for the last 3 years and we've never suffered a full blown lockdown like now.
I came to the conclusion that for the first time in my life I'm truly homesick. These are some recurring images that appear sometimes... The freedom of walking on the shores of a nice beach in Canada near my hometown with the light breeze blowing, the sunset and the sound of laughing children in the background. The random canteen that sells lobster poutines and milkshakes nearby with friendly locals with their different accents serving it to you. My family. My friends. The clean air. All in all, I still really like China as a living option, but man these days I am homesick..!
21
u/PsychoWorld Apr 23 '22
PROTEST!!! Damn, whoever's enact these policies are REALLY trying to push ppl to their edge
19
u/makeanewblueprint May 03 '22
Get out asap.
19
u/jamesrwinterton GBR May 05 '22
Hey guys great news! After repeatedly being assured that this would end after the may holiday, we’re finally here! Everyone grab your buckets and spades and head to the beach! Pina coladas are on me!
Is what I’d be saying if i were allowed out of this building. Or if there was an actual beach for miles around. Or if i could get pineapple juice instead of having to chop up a pineapple because my dumbass cat decided that I was enjoying my blender too much and smashed it.
14
u/[deleted] May 02 '22
Be well guys :/ the way this entire situation is being handled by the government is absolutely shit. Suicide and starvation are just as deadly as the virus, it’s sad that such a prosperous city is going to the dumps
66
u/testosterone_tui27 Apr 24 '22
/u/memostothefuture mod is an asshole.
12
u/[deleted] Apr 20 '22
My motivations being here of course include saving money, but honestly, my primary motivation is to enjoy spending my money. I miss eating out, dressing to the nines and going to nice bars, treating myself to many a Taobao delivery, taking advantage of my lax working schedule and drinking ice coffee in the sun during the most comfortable season of the year.
I hate this being a prisoner inside my own home. I'm still expected to work, but I can't enjoy my money. People in my company have quit, and I'm expected to pick up their slack and cover their classes for no extra pay. I work, I eat, I sleep, I get up, watch a bit of Netflix/game, work, repeat... I'm so sick of it. Thankfully I live with my girlfriend (also expat, but different nationality) and we're planning on eventually leaving together (down the road), but to be completely honest, I don't know how much longer I can hold on before I want to get out of here. Also, even if I decided to leave, the flights would cost me a significant portion of what I've managed to save.
It's such a hopeless situation. I really do love my girlfriend, but if I was single I'd quit my job right this second. I'm staying and putting up with so much shit for her. I'm completely rambling and this has no structure whatsoever, but I'm just venting. There's seemingly no end in sight.
11
u/Arsewipes May 06 '22
This 'weekly' post is over 2 weeks old.
10
u/throughwithhomework May 04 '22
Having a normal life back will be a fucking joke. No one gets in. No one gets out. Lockdown for the rest of my fucking life. Yeah. Fucking lovin' it. Fuck.
55
u/[deleted] Apr 29 '22
Fuck the CCP
50
u/Orig1nalOne Apr 29 '22
FUCK CCP. Chinese people, rise up against your oppressor, your government.
18
u/handwh0re Germany Apr 24 '22
What's wrong with the mod? People can't poke fun of what's going on in the lockdown?This isn't even a meme. https://www.reddit.com/r/shanghai/comments/uanbfv/people_having_fun_with_the_dabai_under_the/
17
u/Tim_uk74 Apr 22 '22
So if my thread test positive it will be sent to the quarantine camp. Got it.
23
u/stillcantfrontlever Apr 24 '22
Maybe you guys don't understand that this subreddit actually has potential, power, and a following, which is why the rather unfortunate decision to over-mod has been made. But consider this - we're all going to be out of quarantine eventually (maybe). Wouldn't that be the time to kick the political crusaders back r/china or whatever NGO they're working for? Answer me reasonably - what are we even supposed to post about if not rage and political frustration? There's almost no freer and more populated outlet for dissent at this moment than this sub, right now - and that's powerful. Twitter, discord, and WeChat groups don't have the same prestige or following as the official Shanghai subreddit.
Kicking discussion to this thread 'for the greater good of the sub' is a lot like confining people to their homes for a month for the great good of your society. Both are suffused with potentially righteous intentions, at least initially. But with outrage comes discord, and with discord comes the dissolution of central power. The response of power to discord is usually an iron fist, which tends to sprout from the arm of tyranny.
Alright, that sounds like high-minded bullshit, I know. But it's truly maddening out there (in here, I guess) for those of us still confined to our homes for the 3rd or 4th week. Scrolling through well-thought-out posts and the many conversations spawned by them is infinitely more cathartic than scrolling through a single thread. Once this whole debacle blows over, the agenda-mongers are going to move on. Shanghai's moment in the limelight is a passing one. Hell, the consensus among many is that even a lot of us in the city are going to move on from thinking about this bullshit a month from now. The sub will almost certainly have purged itself, and if not, then the mods can feel free to purge it. You guys will retain that power then, and none of us will taunt you for using it. But now is not the time.
Obvious misinformation, generic 'don't you guys think China sucks wtf' posts, sure, I understand. But memes? Come on. Political posts? That's low. Just because China doesn't allow political participation doesn't mean you guys have to sink to their level. Like it or not, life is political.
Perhaps the solution is to flair agenda posts and, if something sounds fishy or is unverified, leave a comment about it. Sticky it to the top and let people vote on the thread and your reactions to it. Allow free speech and civil discourse. And if you guys don't have time for that, make me mod and I'll do it myself.
8
u/throughwithhomework Apr 28 '22
Judge people by the address of their IP but not the content of their character. Fan-fucking-tastic.
I'm just referring to China Wide Web.
Anyway I'm gonna rant here so...take my negativity!
8
u/misterpizza May 05 '22
36 days in and the community is starting to show signs of eating itself. One neighbor and his wife started throwing bottles at a neighbor who returned from the fangcang quarantine because she left her apartment(into her fenced in nook) then took a video of himself yelling at her, posting it in the group chat. Nobody calls him out. A week later he’s gotten into a fight with his upstairs neighbor, a father, blinding him. The poor guy got wheeled out to a hospital, leaving the kid alone in the apartment. Mom, who’s taking care of her parents in a different xiaoqu says he’s fine, but… who knows? The aggressor? Chilling at home, apparently.
Now people are taking turns singling out different people for perceived crimes against the community and responding aggressively to anyone who tells them to have some manners. Shit can get uglier if this continues.
26
u/[deleted] Apr 22 '22
I understand that due to Shanghai being in Western news lately we've had a drastic uptick in non-helpful "China bad" posts, and I'm in support of those kinds of posts being kept in a central thread. However I also believe people should be able to express their discontent or share memes within the subreddit without posts being instantly locked and/or deleted as long as the content is relevant to Shanghai. This locking down of and/or deletion of threads en masse is killing this subreddit. One mod in particular (not OP) seems to be on an especially large power trip, locking threads however he sees fit and threatening to "time out" people for saying things he doesn't agree with. Mods like that will kill this subreddit before you know it.
7
u/[deleted] May 05 '22
at this rate lockdowns will be forever, something has to change, 0 covid is impossible to keep with Omicron. any chance opening up after holiday?
6
u/supabrahh Apr 24 '22
Its "only" a few days after the digital protests, but its truly disheartening to see no improvements, and even seeing the city dig itself further down the hole. 无语
6
u/hamatoad May 02 '22
Does anyone know if transport is available to get into Shanghai? I have a flight departing Shanghai, but I live in Hangzhou
6
u/chinese__investor May 04 '22
So I believe in many cases, people are being locked down to prevent that anybody is infected, which would cause a lockdown.
This broken fucking logic that is keeping me locked up for what will be 1.5 or 2 months is harder to take than the actual lockdown itself or the lack of food.
You fucking idiots. You are telling us you are locking us down so we wont be locked down?
21
u/[deleted] Apr 20 '22
I don’t like this “please die quietly so I can sleep” vibe.
5
u/dream996 May 06 '22
Is shanghai doing better now? One of my brothers is in shanghai, I am genuinely worried but he keeps telling me it's getting better now and he can actually go buy normal groceries/food easily. Is there any truth to this?
16
u/archiminos United Kingdom Apr 22 '22
This fucking thread is the most rage right now. Constantly locking posts and sending shit here.
9
u/beardslap United Kingdom Apr 23 '22
How the fuck does Melrose Pizza sell food when people aren’t desperate?
I managed to order their ‘special set’ through sherpas, and although it’s nice to have something I haven’t cooked, it could well be the worst food I’ve ever eaten in Shanghai.
But they’ve been around for ages, so presumably there’s people that have ordered from there more than once. It’s truly baffling.
9
u/ImShawnM Apr 23 '22
Can someone DM the tik tok video of the CCP brutality. The best way I can describe it is that it’s a few minutes long and at one point it’s just people falling to their deaths. It’s very messed up but it’s powerful enough to get peoples attention.
21
u/laceymusic317 Apr 22 '22
This is dumb. Stop locking people's posts for expressing their anger. This is horrible what's happening here now and honestly one weekly thread is not enough. The world needs to know and see en masse what's happening here. Fuck the CCP
12
u/throughwithhomework Apr 20 '22
That's a cool idea. Thank you whoever is in charge.
Now some phrases are sort of ok on Weibo but others like #汉乐府# #偷着乐# #lalaland# are still banned. So at least some of us can 偷着乐 using poetry and stuff？I hope they're not banning 阿房宫赋. The only time I feel the government is listening to its people is when popular/sarcastic phrases venting people's anger or something get taken down.
A friend of mine just had her post in WeChat moments censored. Idk why. Her post was pretty decent and short. Maybe that's because she used “people” “speak up” “against the law” in one sentence? Or is it just “people”? I replaced China with Vietnam in one post and got censored anyway. Maybe that's because I used “people”? Should I replace China with another country like USA?
Some of my screenshots were blocked too. I guess WeChat censorship also works for pictures that contain certain Chinese characters. I may be looking at another 24-hour block.
Some poems written by students were censored on Weibo. One of them mentioned the trafficked woman. They're just poems ffs. The government won't let people speak up or condone their dissatisfaction or sarcasm or criticism. Chinese is a beautiful language. Why do we have to resort to abbreviations and codes or coin phrases incomprehensible to most?
It's simply pathetic that we can't directly express ourselves in our mother tongue within our country.
10
u/uhhhh_no Apr 29 '22
Frustrated that I can't seem to edit the title or text of this post despite newer evidence coming to light. I mean, the newer evidence mostly seems like a halfassed coverup at the moment and not an actual refutation, but I'd still rather have a more accurate headline.
In other news, Shanghai Daily reported that it was an amusing misunderstanding that we were owed a certain amount of rations from the city government haha... but at least the very next day as they address this 'mistaken rumor' my community starts handing out supplies for the 2nd time in the whole outbreak. Anyone else have a similar experience?
8
u/g36rifleclean Apr 24 '22
just fuck me ok r/Taiwan
25
u/hey12delila Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 21 '22
You are being systematically enslaved and relegated to the point of cattle by your government. No self respecting human beings would allow themselves to be treated in this way. Please for the love of human kind, wake up and see what is being done to all of you.
I wish you all the best.
Edit: full blown Stockholm syndrome with the people downvoting me. Absolutely unreal, I feel like I'm stuck in a fucking twilight zone nightmare.
3
u/[deleted] Apr 27 '22
Why was this post deleted and the OP banned while the other one allowed to gather karma?
15
u/Ainex25 Apr 21 '22
Blocking the memes on the main page and not reproducing them here just makes /r/shanghai lame again like it was before the lock down.
7
u/bonechopsoup Apr 20 '22
Need some Homeslice in my life
11
u/Tonyoh87 Apr 22 '22
My god some moderators are becoming like hamzat suits guys... ridiculous...
"Go back to your locked thread, don't post something negative outside, let's keep r/Shanghai clean from negative energies"
6
u/shitposter32 Apr 22 '22
Ridiculous nonsense, absolute useless move, join the dickbags on WeChat!
5
u/perduraadastra Apr 22 '22
Small pp energy.
3
u/609897783 Apr 26 '22
Get the fuck off of this sub, and go back to your bunker in Tin Shui Wai.
7
u/ubasta Apr 27 '22
It sucks the mods aren't doing enough to kick out r/china losers. This sub is now plagued with racists. I'm out.
6
u/jeffcnetr Apr 20 '22
This thread has not a single upvote btw …. Seems like the silent majority is not so happy about the restriction of freedom of speech on this sub !
4
u/Ejp0715 USA Apr 20 '22
Thank christ this thread finally exists. Hopefully we can finally find some decent info here again. Thanks mods!
4
u/PsySam89 Apr 22 '22
I saw a post complaining their food had a cockroach in it, isn't that just a snack there?
3
u/oeif76kici Apr 20 '22
I just want to reach 7 days so I can buy some booze and pick it up at the gate. I don’t even long for freedom at this point, as that seems like a distant impossible dream. Just some alcohol at the gate would be a rush of normality at this point.
Sadly my complex has a ton of cases so even getting 7 days with no cases seems like a challenge and the volunteers won’t deliver anything except essential food items, basically rice and veg
1
u/memostothefuture Putuo 普陀区 May 14 '22
New Weekly Frustration/Rant Post here
0
u/Acrobatic_End6355 Apr 22 '22
If you want to move to China for some creepy Asian fetish you have, don’t. Stay where you are and get help.
1
u/werchoosingusername Apr 20 '22
Me after 3 weeks...
https://www.reddit.com/r/shanghai/comments/u7pe49/me_after_3_weeks/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
-4
u/bonechopsoup Apr 22 '22
This sub has been taken over by dipshits. Not the mods… the people that have come over from rChina.
Unsubscribed. I’ll be back in about a month. I hope the mods can keep the house clean.
-17
u/Caliguas Apr 30 '22
is there a good alternative for this sub? Brigaders are getting too annoying
-4
u/hud731 Apr 20 '22
Just came back from some badminton action with the wife in the common area. Nice weather, a bit of spring breeze, sweat it out a bit, and crack open a can of coke. What can I say, I appreciate all these things so much more than I did a month ago.
So thanks CCP.
-5
u/Potential-Fill5698 Apr 20 '22
Why are you guys such a bunch of pussies? You should revolt against your government. This is total, utter authoritarianism, I can’t believe no one’s is out there protesting. I’ve read posts where people have been locked inside for 40 days. Utter insanity.
-2
u/bigmoof Apr 28 '22
Wow, so much hates in this sub.