My China Kanfa.....China on My Mind

( The previous post I wrote seems to have struck a nerve within some of the laowai community in China.  Probably the last two posts, actually.   As such, I wrote this post the day after I wrote the previous one....but I felt my mind wasn't write so I simply put in queue for a later date.  In hindsight I think I should've simply released it right away....here it is.) "I think you have too much time on your hands, and too many worries.  surprised you spend so much time angry and ranting about things, trying to sound like an expert. The only experts on China are the Chinese. Sorry I ready your blog, maybe one of the few that have." There seem to be a very small coterie of laowai within China that seem to think they’ve communed with the Chinese, and are of ONE with the 汉人。   Fine by me.  Knock yourself out.   If you think China is your soul mate, well then please do commence with your kumbaya moment.  You see them every day posting a...

Maybe I’m just tired of reading about it.  Hearing about it.   How fantastic China’s High Speed Railway is.   Which is without question true.  I’ve ridden it.  I like it, I love it.   And the Chinese love it, too. I have come across NO ONE that does not like China’s HSR.  Below is a quick comparison I read on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.   It is the culmination of many instances I’ve come across that do nothing but properly extoll the quality, comfort and overall convenience of this latest Chinese display of infrastructure and technological achievement.  And as you have guessed, it has angered many a laowai.  “Why can’t we do this?” “Why aren’t we doing this?” In short, it has confirmed a secret fear held by many uninformed laowai that perhaps now, China has finally blown past The West.  And you can’t really blame them for thinking that.  Not at all.  Not for one second, actually....

Splash of cold water time. Reality check. For me and you. Especially for me. China has debt, folks.  A fucking lot of it.  More than America has.  And so what. However… As long as China’s people cannot freely exchange their currency, then all of their savings/cash/money is nothing but a big ass bank just sitting there waiting to be drawn upon from Big Brother at a moment’s notice, if need be. So sorry folks.  Until that time comes the Chinese will simply have to take all their begotten gains and put them in real estate.  In China.  Sure some folks with the foresight to move their money abroad will somehow someway continue to trickle out to LA or NYC or Seattle to buy an overpriced condo the Chinese themselves consider dirt cheap, but so what? But for the love of God, how much higher can the price of real estate in China go?  Just think about it for a moment?  If you are a Chinese citizen and your 700 sq foot ...