"We need something—anything, really—to set our sights on the future, push ourselves towards the making of the new, rather than drowning in the dreariness of the present."
beautiful and timely article! lived in China for many years and wanted to gatekeep it so much, but at the same time wanted to tell everyone in the west how amazing China actually is... till I realized I could never convey how incredibly complex the reality is and how my experience as a foreigner would never compare to that of the locals. now I'm scared for when the internet discourse turns on China —because it will. Luckily, I don't think it'll affect them much.
Love the orientalism chic concept. Multiple dull men in my life are very taken with the “very Chinese time in my life” thing and now I finally understand why.
This article is self-aggrandizing if based on reality. If you go to China, you see very few foreigners visiting and living there, in sharp contrast to the pre-Covid era. It’s also in sharp contrast to Japan and Vietnam, where you see foreigners everywhere.
What you are describing is a small corner of the Internet where some Chinaboos live. It does exist and it’s small.
China does, however, takes up a huge chunk of negative media attention in the west, primarily due to its increasing influence in the world.
just edited it to be no "major international war." that's what i meant but thanks for pointing that out. obviously things like pearl harbor have happened but the point still stands that there haven't been large-scale foreign invasions in the U.S. the way there have been w/ China and other Asian countries
"We need something—anything, really—to set our sights on the future, push ourselves towards the making of the new, rather than drowning in the dreariness of the present."
Loved that line.
Thank you Radaradarada... have you declared your daily affirmation of Chinese-ness today?
beautiful and timely article! lived in China for many years and wanted to gatekeep it so much, but at the same time wanted to tell everyone in the west how amazing China actually is... till I realized I could never convey how incredibly complex the reality is and how my experience as a foreigner would never compare to that of the locals. now I'm scared for when the internet discourse turns on China —because it will. Luckily, I don't think it'll affect them much.
Well, these things always are cyclical
Amazing article - side note where was the china hype when i was in primary school? I would have ruled the playground
Hahahah the geopolitics was different then!
Love the orientalism chic concept. Multiple dull men in my life are very taken with the “very Chinese time in my life” thing and now I finally understand why.
My friend texted me recently that “white men being obsessed with China are the white men who used to be obsessed with Japan”
This article is self-aggrandizing if based on reality. If you go to China, you see very few foreigners visiting and living there, in sharp contrast to the pre-Covid era. It’s also in sharp contrast to Japan and Vietnam, where you see foreigners everywhere.
What you are describing is a small corner of the Internet where some Chinaboos live. It does exist and it’s small.
China does, however, takes up a huge chunk of negative media attention in the west, primarily due to its increasing influence in the world.
I know it’s not the point of the article, but it feels like you can’t ignore the US civil war (1861 - 65) when talking about “major wars.”
just edited it to be no "major international war." that's what i meant but thanks for pointing that out. obviously things like pearl harbor have happened but the point still stands that there haven't been large-scale foreign invasions in the U.S. the way there have been w/ China and other Asian countries