(Part 2) Best products from r/China

After years of ad hoc and flaccid engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, the United States is finally back, and the effects are already being felt.

For far too long, a resurgent China was allowed to create facts on the ground and at sea which challenged the regional, rules-based order that had underpinned the international system since the end of World War II. Despite the Obama administration’s talk about a “pivot” and “rebalance” to Asia, Washington was largely disengaged from a region that, during the same period, had continued to gain in importance. Unopposed but by a handful of small states, China was able in 2013 to unilaterally declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, and later on to “occupy” almost all of the disputed South China Sea and militarize its presence there. By the time the world finally awakened, it was too late: a new status quo had been created at sea, one which even an international court ruling had been incapable of reversing.

The meek response with which Beijing had to contend understandably led its leadership to conclude that it could seize more without encountering too much resistance. Consequently, its military exercises and intrusive passages near and around Taiwan, through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, and in the West Pacific, became more frequent, and the platforms deployed more modern and muscular. Beyond the East and South China Sea, China intensified its presence in Africa and Europe, and began to make its presence more felt in parts of South Asia, as well as Central and Latin America—thus, immediately in the United States’ backyard. In several cases, Beijing used “debt trap” tactics to snare in smaller states, using debt forgiveness to acquire real estate. In some cases, Chinese interest also sparked fears of a possible dual, or military use for naval projects that were being financed—and sometimes built—by China.

At long last, the United States, without whose leadership a credible counter to Chinese expansionism will never be convincing, is recognizing the urgency of re-engagement, starting with the Asia/Indo-Pacific region, where the dislocating effects of Chinese influence are most immediately felt. This new role includes frequent freedom of navigation patrols (FONOPs) in the South China Sea, where it might be too late to reverse China’s military presence—unless the United States and regional allies are willing to chance a major armed conflict by attacking military structures built by the Chinese as part of what Adm. Harry Harris, former commander of the United States Pacific Command (PACOM), has described as a “coordinated, methodical and strategic” effort.Significantly, FONOPs have involved a number of U.S. allies, including France, the UK, Australia and Japan, which for the first time since World War II recently dispatched a submarine to the area . Even Taiwan, despite its difficult position in the international system, is now reportedly being offered a role in all this by partners which, not long ago, would never have considered taking such risks lest this anger Beijing.

In July, two U.S. Navy vessels transited the Taiwan Strait , the first such passage in a year. Recent reports indicate that the Department of Defense may be mooting further patrols in the Strait as a means to reaffirm U.S. rights to patrol international waters whenever and wherever it wants.

Passive global reactions to China’s unchecked expansionism were in some ways reminiscent of the manner in which European democracies—and a disengaged United States—dealt with Nazi Germany’s return to the Rhineland and Czechoslovakia’s Sudentenland. There was no Munich Agreement or euphoria after a summit between a Western head of state and his Chinese counterpart, à la Chamberlain, but Western democracies nevertheless had their share of appeasers in the mold of Lord Halifax (for more on this, see Ian Kershaw’s excellent book To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914–1949 ). This analogy is admittedly imperfect (as are all analogies), but I believe it nevertheless serves to illustrate how the inability of a group of democracies to stand up to a revisionist, authoritarian and expansionist regime can bring about a situation where a new normal is more threatening than early intervention.

As with the eve of World War II, the coalition of democracies had also convinced itself that their collective power was less formidable than that of the country (or combination of countries, if we include Italy and Japan) that sought to dismantle the system. With these things, the longer the coalition waits, the likelier it is that, at some point, the power imbalance will indeed be in the revisionist’s favor. Hitler sensed weakness then, and the result was a conflagration the likes of which the world had never seen before. Weakness in recent times has compelled a new challenger (China) to embark on similar adventurism (for all its ambitions of great power status, the Russian Federation remains at most a source of regional imbalance and very much the junior partner in the Sino-Russian axis of convenience, as Bobo Lo argues in his highly helpful new book A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia Relationship Means for the World ).

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Unfortunately, this design will have zero impact on PM2.5 pollution levels, which is what causes most of the long term health problems.

The data sheet for the suggested 3M Filtrete filters clearly states that they do not filter PM2.5 pollution. The MPR 2200 is designed to handle PM2.5 pollution, but it's only rated to remove 94% of particles per pass, compared to 99% for a proper HEPA filter. Additionally, this type of filter will have a high flow resistance, requiring a larger and noisier fan for a given air flow. So swapping to a properly rated filter is still going to result in a system that's only good for very small volumes.

A good air purifier needs three things: A way to accurately measure pollution levels, a HEPA filter capable of filtering 2.5µm particles, and a fan capable of recirculating sufficient air for the intended space.

A laser PM2.5 sensor costs $29. A HEPA+activated charcoal filter costs $95. A fan with sufficient static pressure to work with the filter and circulate enough air for a small room, with electronics, is about $76. There's probably $10 in a micro-controller and associated electronics to integrate the PM2.5 sensor with the fan, and then another $20-30 for a robust enclosure. So to build something that actually works will cost a minimum of about $220-230 USD.

To pay for assembly labour, and other overheads associated with manufacturing, certification, and support, a rule of thumb is to multiply the material costs by 2.5. Economies of scale can sometimes bring this down, but it's usually a good estimate. So to purchase a functional air purifier, you should expect to pay around $550 USD.

It shouldn't surprise anyone then that the ~900 RMB air purifiers produced by companies like Xiaomi "Leaves air unsafe for 86% of the time".

You can check out The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers, which I haven't read, but it looks like it's gotten good reviews. Here's an interview if you want to get a better idea about what it covers.

To really get a good understanding of China, you've got to delve into its history. While China has changed a great deal over time, things like Confucianism and Civil Service have long held a place in Chinese society. I recently read The Heritage of Chinese Civilization, which gives a very brief but good account of China's history.

There is a book about a Jewish man who works in China as a Peace Corps volunteer. I hear it has some pretty sub-par writing but he talks about being Jewish in China - "Kosher Chinese" http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0805091963

Funny antidote. I once had a Chinese guy who started ranking all of the world's people by how great they were.

1. Jews - Smart, great business people, good with money
   
2. Germans - Rational.. can't remember the other reasons
   
3. Chinese people
   
4. Americans
   
5. Japanese people
   
   Again, this was just one guy so it doesn't mean anything other than the fact that it is a little funny someone would even do this.

As a guy, here is what I actually think, judging from a psychological understanding of myself (a guy) as well as what I believe is the most comprehensive and realistic study of human sexuality in the world. Here is the study summary in the form of a lecture at Google.

• Male mammals, including humans, are wired to seek multiple sex partners.
  
  
• According to the above-mentioned study, males differ from females in that their sexual arousal and desire does not necessarily require any kind of emotional connection, although they may often have emotional connections as well as sexual relations. Contrast this, in which a girl asks random guys for sex, with this, in which a random guy asks girls for sex. The girl has a 50% success rate, and not all of the guys were hetereosexual. The guy asks 100 girls, and absolutely no girl chooses to have sex with a stranger. There is a biological basis for this: girls (generally, not always) need to form an emotional connection to enjoy sex, and guys (generally, not always) don't. The author of the abovementioned study gives an evolutionary psychology explanation for this.
  
  
• Assuming that you are an American female, there are significant differences between the United States and the rest of the world. Due to the huge influence of Protestantism in the United States, especially the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the 19th and 20th centuries, the mistress culture of the United States, as well as prostitution, has been largely eliminated. This is not the case for most countries in the world, including China. Mistress cultures and prostitution are common in most countries, not the exception to the rule. In most countries of the world, prostitution is either legal or extremely laxly enforced, and men will frequent them.
  
  
• If a male is in a committed relationship, it is possible that he may get sexually bored eventually, resulting in him attempting to have extra-marital sexual relations. Sometimes, wives will not have an equal amount of libido as the husband, resulting in the husband getting sexually frustrated.
  
  Given the following factors, I think that there is a very strong cultural, as well as biological basis for the infidelity of men in general, especially in a country with a strong mistress culture like China. Assume the worst and you will never be disappointed in your life.

You really, really need to learn a bit more about the conditions you discuss. On the rash assumption that you are not a troll I'll respond.

>A good remedy against Malaria is hot water.

Really? It's odd that no-one on the malarial regions that I have travelled through (SE Asia, India, South America, Yucatan and others) has discovered that and applied it. I'll stick to malarone, quinine and DEET to repel the mosquitos.

>Once I broke my ankle and I drank a lot of hot water, and the ankle healed almost immediately.

You're kidding.

>Type II diabetes can also be cured in some cases if you drink a lot of hot water,

I have had type 2 diabetes for over ten years. It is incurable. It can be managed with appropriate diet, aided by insulin or medications if necessary. I have also written a non-medical book on the subject.

It cannot be cured. In ten years of study of the subject I have never seen a research paper or even a news report claiming that hot water has any benefits whatever for type 2 diabetes apart from keeping my fingers clean for self-testing.

>and last week someone told me that Tuberculosis can sometimes be cured intaking an amount of 3 Litres of Hot Water/daily.

I love authoritative sources like "someone told me".

>The friend of a friend swears on hot water when having sinusitis.

But a "friend of a friend" is obviously much more credible than "someone told me".

>Not to mention that water is a good remedy against multiple sclerosis if intaken among the first 6 months of the development of the disease.

Actually, not to mention any of the statements you have made about the benefits of hot water would have been a very wise decision.

PS. OK people, I've been educated. I did say I replied on "On the rash assumption that you are not a troll". And it was a rash presumption :)

> There are absolutely no indicators that US hegemony is in decline. In fact, every indicator is that the US is more powerful today than ever. Only whiny types like Chomsky seriously suggest American power is fading in favor of China.

You're joking right? Like, that's sarcasm?

• This dude wrote a book about the decline of the US imperial power in the face of Iraq
  
• Fareed Zakaria wrote a book in detail describing the modern decline of US hegemony
  
• Jeffrey Garten wrote an article about the decline of US hegemony:
  Is American Decline Inevitable?
  World Policy Journal
  Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1987/1988) (pp. 151-174)
  
• Michael Cox wrote an article about "the failing american empire":
  Is the United States in Decline -- Again? An Essay
  International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-)
  Vol. 83, No. 4 (Jul., 2007) (pp. 643-653)
  
• Paul MacDonald and Joseph Parent wrote an article about possible retrenchment strategies to delay the inevitable american decline of hegemony:
  Graceful Decline? The Surprising Success of Great Power Retrenchment
  International Security
  Vol. 35, No. 4 (SPRING 2011) (pp. 7-44)
  
• Timothy McKeown wrote an article about the likely future decline of US policy in the wake of the Cold War - academics predicted an end to the American Empire even before it had begun:
  The Foreign Policy of a Declining Power
  International Organization
  Vol. 45, No. 2 (Spring, 1991) (pp. 257-279)
  
  Here are some more articles on the subject:
  
  
  
• This Time It’s Real: The End of Unipolarity and the Pax Americana
  Christopher Layne
  International Studies Quarterly (2012)
  Vol. 56, 203–213
  
• Hegemony, Liberalism and Global Order: What Space for Would-Be Great Powers?
  Andrew Hurrell
  International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs), Vol. 82, No. 1,
  Perspectives on Emerging Would-Be Great Powers (Jan., 2006), pp. 1-19
  
• After Pax Americana: Benign Power, Regional Integration, and the Sources of a StableMultipolarity
  Charles A. Kupchan
  International Security, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 40-79
  
• Hegemonic overreach vs. imperial overstretch
  Dennis Florig
  Review of International Studies (2010), 36, 1103–1119
  
  Some html friendly articles:
  
  
  
• A review of Mortal Splendor: The American Empire in Transition
  
• The Decline of US Helmed Global Hegemony: the Emergence of a More Equitable Pattern of International Relations?
  
• The Decline of U.S. Hegemony: Regaining International Consent
  
• Visions: America after Hegemony
  And here's a really good forum thread on the very subject of US hegemonic decline
  
  
  I just wrote my thesis on this subject, so I have some sources..
  The theme of all these articles varies, some are about the future, some are explanatory, but the overarching theme is that the US is definitely in decline. Academia is mostly over the hump debating whether or not the US is actually in decline, and is now focused on what we can do about it to make transitions smoother.
  China has been growing tremendously faster than any other state on the globe the past few decades. At this rate, China will overtake the US in terms of gross product by (most estimates) about halfway through the mid-21st century. The reality is that in many ways, there are more economic opportunities in China than the United States - that's why many expats like the ones in this subreddit are there. As /u/hittintheairplane pointed out, it's not so much that the US is declining from it's 1990 level of economic, political, and military power as much as all the other nations are catching up. Relatively the United States is losing power, and that's all power is, relativity to others. You take any international relations course and invariably the topics include the structure of the 21st century, most professors would describe it as a shift from unipolarity to bipolarity in that while China is growing the fastest, there is no real contender to overtake the US and replace our hegemony. Rather, we're more likely to see a state structure of power like this than the bipolar political forces of the Cold War or the unipolar political power the US has today.

I'd start reading more about China and checking out a lot of China blogs. China ranks pretty high on the list of countries that foreigners have trouble adapting to.

Here is a pretty good book about a guy who started a bar band as kind of a lark to play Blues music in China and ended up playing large music festivals: http://www.amazon.com/Big-China-Adventure-Reinventing-ebook/dp/B004HD61JA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341847716&sr=8-3&keywords=big+in+china

Is your idea feasible? It absolutely is for a lot of reasons others here have stated. You'll be a novelty and the Chinese have a strong curiosity for western culture. As others have said, it will probably go easier for you in some of the lesser known, yet still modern cities. Would avoid Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong as you will be one among many foreigners competing to do the same thing.

If you decide to go for it, you should check out Popup Chinese and Chinese Pod to get started on learning the language. Would recommend this over expensive yellow boxes. Also, get Pleco www.pleco.com for you tablet or smartphone. It is the absolute must have tool for learning Chinese.

Sounds adventurous. If you do it, I hope you come back to this subreddit and post a link to your blog, if you do one. Would love to see how it pans out.

Ok, so it's not completely ridiculous experience-wise, just unlikely. Eventually people have to make the step up to management (and by definition with no experience).

But your challenge will be - in Asia employers typically ask you to provide pay stubs to prove your previous salary and base offers on that. A huge step up is unlikely, I've had HR managers arguing that we could offer much lower salaries based on this. Personally I believe you should pay according to responsibilities and expectations, but this is not a common opinion.

But like I said, total package can include all sorts of performance based incentives... so 1 million could be 400k base plus a bunch of bonuses if you achieve some goals (that may not be well defined).

Also, recruiters like to include some losers in their candidate pool. The recruiter gets paid (15-30% of yearly salary) on a successful placement, not an employee who achieves their goals. So it's best to propose 3 people, one of whom is suitable, two of whom can be eliminated, and then the client makes an easy decision and the recruiter gets paid.

A very useful book for considering the USD $100k-$1M career track is this: http://www.amazon.com/Rites-Passage-100-000-ebook/dp/B00JMHR16I

This will educate you on the job market at these ranges and the role of the recruiter.

Well, this is more of a textbook than a regular book, but Patricia Ebrey's The Cambridge Illustrated History of China would be a pretty good place to start. I may be a little biased in choosing this book over some other one, since I have read a lot of Ebrey's works on the Song dynasty, and I really enjoyed reading them. The problem with stuffing thousands of years of history into one book (that is, one book that doesn't seem as long as history itself) is that too many things are generalised, but that can still be a good place to start. A textbook like this will help you learn which areas of Chinese history interest you more, and then you can delve ever deeper, learning about whatever aspects, or time periods, you choose.

Also, in case you have not already checked it out, why not stop by /r/chinesehistory? I'll link you to two older posts there where people were asking similar questions, as you may find some of the answers helpful:

Link 1, Link 2

The Origins of the Boxer Uprising is great!

The focus is narrow and it gets pretty close to your pre-1911 criteria, but it's a good read. I've read several books on this incident, but this is my favorite. Other books I've read have demonized Chinese culture somewhat or have romanticized Western colonial life in China. This books provides an interesting and clear-headed examination of the factors leading to the Boxer Uprising, and doesn't demonize Eastern or Western culture in the process. It can get a tad bit academic, but as long as you don't mind that, it's a fun book.

Your wife is brainwashed. Not in the informal sense when we don't agree with someone's opinion but in the actual sense of what the word. People in China are programmed to behave this way. They are literally brainwashed [1].

• Fact: The Chinese themselves say they brainwash. We use the word "brain washing" because the Chinese created this word and concept based on the original idea by Stalin which they expanded upon. 1 2 3
  
• Fact: Chinese themselves say they were brainwashed and didn't even know it 1 2 3
  
• Fact: The term brainwashing and thought control are accepted term in academic and psychology circles when referring to China's education system 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: China has a long history of thought control with its roots predating the communist party 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: Textbooks (and books or even TV shows) that that promote “Western values” are banned in China. 1 2 3 4 5 6
  
• Fact: The Chinese government calls this unity of thought and is intended to be planted in the minds of all citizens. 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: The Chinese Communist Party has pushed ideological education on students, requiring tedious lessons on Marx and Mao and canned lectures on the virtues of patriotism and loyalty. 1 2 3
  
• Fact: Children as young as six are taught to struggle for the cause of Communism 1 2 3
  
• Fact: All schools have a Communist Youth League (CYL) organizations for students with mandatory activities. 1
  
• Fact: This in turn reduces Chinese students capacity for critical thinking. 1 2 3 4 5
  
  Brainwashing (which actually is a direct translation from the Chinese word 洗脑) is very effective. I am always surprised at how much Chinese think they have free thought, yet when quizzed on the key points, universally their viewpoints (for example that Taiwan and Tibet belong to China, or that falun gong is a evil dangerous cult) line up almost exactly with the official viewpoints of the communist party. Which indeed is not surprising considering they are educated this way in a vacuum. Online you have the 50 cent party (who guides public opinion through online comments), internet censors (who have to learn the truth so they know what to censor), and flooding (deluging the citizen with a torrent of information – some accurate, some phoney, some biased – with the aim of making people overwhelmed). And in the offline world the analogy that their souls have been engineered has been used. You can't grow up in this environment without it having a profound effect on you.
  
  I have no doubt that many Chinese believe they are mostly free. And that is what makes what the party has done so impressive. It's almost as at some point the communist party ceases to exist as a stand alone entity and it just becomes one with the general population.
  
  Part 1 completed.
  
  Part 2 about media control and further indoctrination below:

You can set up your China phone for international roaming. An alternative would be to get a simple China phone for voice calls and then a phone with Google Fi set up on it for your data needs. There's no extra charge for being overseas (data + text - with all the communications apps, you shouldn't have to call anyone anyways)

https://fi.google.com/about/rates/

Yeah. Its always going to be more expensive shipping stuff from the US but that's the price you pay for living in a first world country. When you're getting ready to move back to the states, its better that you take the stuff that you care about with you. The boxes that China Post uses are cheap and I've had them fall apart shipping between cities within China and also fall apart shipping things back to the states. And the fact that the post office people put together the boxes for you means that you can't just encase the entire box in tape.

If I were you and I had a lot of stuff to bring, I'd just bring a third suitcase. That's 30-40 lbs of additional stuff that you can bring along, which will be a lot cheaper than shipping.

Either way, you should get a portable luggage scale so you can go right up to the weight limit:

i.e.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Luggage-Scale-Dunheger-Guide/dp/B00OF8YQJE/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1518402559&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=luggage+scale&psc=1

VPNs - it'll depend on the vendor. Some have one for all devices, some have multiple. You'll need to do some research into that though. There's plenty of information on this subreddit. I've already left the country for good so I don't know what works anymore.

Yeah. The amount of pollution changes all the time. You should get yourself an air purifier for your home when you get there. Your lungs and your health will thank you for it.

http://www.mi.com/en/air2/

Get a Chinese SIM card from China Mobile with whatever data plan you get for 100 RMB/month, and adjust it after the first couple months to suit your usage. You can use your same phone, but you have to know how to download .apks from Chinese app publishers directly instead of going through an app store if you don't get a Chinese phone. Everything is 4G+ here. VPNs are great if you install them before you leave; I use Express and Strong and hear good things about Proton.

Bring mosquito bits because long story, trust me.