In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race
Yes, I have, although my experience is mostly limited to Beijing with a bit of time spent elsewhere. Housing is at least as expensive (relative to wages) as it is in a typical western city, despite there being graveyards of unfinished apartment blocks everywhere just outside the 5th ring road. This isn’t getting into the brutal working hours and mediocre wages, lack of free healthcare, etc etc. It isn’t really any better than the US (not that the US are good, they’re just bad in somewhat different ways)
It’s hard even for people in China to discuss this amongst themselves, so that’s understandable. I do recommend visiting though - it’s still a beautiful country, and the people are far friendlier and more welcoming than I had expected (I thought they’d be very reserved)
Yes, I have, although my experience is mostly limited to Beijing with a bit of time spent elsewhere. Housing is at least as expensive (relative to wages) as it is in a typical western city, despite there being graveyards of unfinished apartment blocks everywhere just outside the 5th ring road. This isn’t getting into the brutal working hours and mediocre wages, lack of free healthcare, etc etc. It isn’t really any better than the US (not that the US are good, they’re just bad in somewhat different ways)
Oh and I somehow failed to mention Evergrande! This is a far better example than any of my anecdotal data: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_property_sector_crisis_(2020–present)
Thanks for sharing, it’s great to hear different perspectives on these things as it feels like they aren’t so often discussed by normal people.
It’s hard even for people in China to discuss this amongst themselves, so that’s understandable. I do recommend visiting though - it’s still a beautiful country, and the people are far friendlier and more welcoming than I had expected (I thought they’d be very reserved)