For the last few hours i have troubleshooting problems trying to figure out what the fuck is going wrong with the net connection here. Finally after smacking my head against a brick wall for ages i recalled a similar problem i had about a year ago and tracked it down to a DNS issue, finally fixed i can cruise the net again. I switched to Google's DNS rather than use Chinas. For anyone that has a problem connecting in China in the future the addresses are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Nice and simple.
Alright now for the tirade....
WARNING: If you are easily
offended, or like to think that your opinion is more valid than someone
elses, and that you have the right to shout them down, then you should
probably stop reading NOW!!! I am open to discussion about my opinions. I
am not open to a onesided teenage tirade, so anyone thinking of posting
or hurling abuse at me better wake the fuck up.
Anyway
nerd shit aside, China has finally defeated me. I have finally come to
the firm resounding conclusion that this country sucks dogs balls. Yes i
have had a bit of fun here, but fun is something that you have to work
solidly at in China, it feels like a lvl grind out of WoW. Joy is
fleeting, add to this the racist population of this country, and things
start to get out of hand. I have lost track of the amount of times i
have had to listen to racial abuse right to my face, and these dumb
fuckers think i don't understand them because they are speaking in
Mandarin. They don't realise i'm just too polite to reach accross the
counter and beat the living shit out of them in front of everyone else.
On the whole the country itself is dissapointing and even a tad on the
boring side. I expect to get milked for money when i travel as a
tourist, i even expect some racial prejudice, what i do not expect is a
population that seems to be hurling it's collective inferiority
complexes at me. If i could take this trip back i would. It would save
me a lot of wasted time and money, but in many ways i guess it's a
learning experience. I know that not everyone that comes to China feels
this way, maybe they believe they are having a spiritual journey or some
such toff, travelling through monuments of ancient history. I call BS.
This
countries history as the world knows it nowadays, is a carefully
crafted deceit, and any remnant of realism seems to have been destroyed
and remanufactured out plastic and false wood veneer. Possibly England
or any of the countless invaders are responsible, but in truth what
matters is the fact that it is not there. It is gone or perhaps never
existed. Travelling China i have not gotten an impression of history or
culture. The impression i am left with is that this is a country that
represents the future. And that future is bleak. Consumerism is rampant,
people work for peanuts while the rich buy shiny new phones.
Overpopulation is causing people to live on top of each other, no clean
water and failing sewers, crops dwindling and the ever present smog of
industrial progress gathers like a funeral shroud. Into this chaos
people aren't getting the education or medical attention that they
deserve. All this time you as a westerner, are being ridden like a limping donkey, as everybody tries to flog for every penny you have. And when you can't cough up any more, they hurl abuse at you for not buying that bottle of water that you know was 5 times the usual asking price. Because you are a filthy gwailoh you should pay, they deserve your money more than you do, even if you worked for it and they didn't. This sounds harsh, and in truth it is, but the real problem about this treatment, is that it is not the poor that do this. You could understand that, and if you were a descent person you would probably pay. No these deeds are perpetrated by people with shiny watches and flashing golden false teeth, new clothes and expensive shoes, walking with the crinkling sounds of pockets full of precious Yuan and ripping off their fellow chinese at the same time. Most of the time, trawling a tourist site in China is like swimming shark infested waters with a gaping wound and there is no respite.
You can stop, pull out your camera admire some fleeting moment of beauty, and the next second someone is screaming in your ear, yelling at you to buy something, some shit they thrust deliberately in front of the barrel of your camera as your finger depresses the shoot button. Ruining the shot, and the moment of peace and awe, you are left with 2 choices, give in and buy that shit you didn't want or be a rude prick and tell them to go away. There is no middle ground, trying to be nice will mean that they may cling to you for upto 15 mins and they will attract attention, and before you know it like seagulls to a chip, you are fleeing with your tail between your legs. Beaten and robbed of any dignity, the money in your wallet decreasing by the minute.
After all this there has been some joy. There are things that i am glad i have seen, there are things i think everybody should see, and there are things that i think everybody should be aware. I will not say don't go to China. In some ways it is worth seeing, just be aware that seeing China comes at a price, and having fun, really enjoying it will be something you will have to work at.
