This great post would be a lot funnier (and it’s already very funny) if its implications weren’t so sad. It’s a classic, a totally must-read, as are the comments (as always).
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A peculiar hybrid of personal journal, dilettantish punditry, pseudo-philosophy and much more, from an Accidental Expat who has made his way from Hong Kong to Beijing to Taipei and finally back to Beijing for reasons that are still not entirely clear to him…
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1
By Sojourner
I dunno …
Am i the only one who thinks TalkTalkChina is one of the most vastly overrated blogs in cyberspace?
June 15, 2006 @ 4:16 am | Comment
2
By richard
I enjoy them. It captures the love-hate relationship so many expats feel toward their host country. Maybe it’s a one-trick pony, but since the posts are so beautifully written and the situations they describe are so close to the hearts of their readers, i think they’ll be around for a long time to come.
June 15, 2006 @ 4:50 am | Comment
3
By The Admiral
I also enjoy the blog. Not every post is a “classic” but as long as they keep trying, I’ll keeping reading.
@Sojourner – Your name seems familiar, I think I saw it on a shaghai forum a couple of years ago?
June 15, 2006 @ 7:42 am | Comment
4
By Dan
@Sojourner: I hear that. TTC isn’t the sort of place that some people want to visit everyday. Now, “vastly overrated” is a bit harsh since, as The Duck said, we are a one-trick pony. You’ve got to cut us some slack. We focus on a very small niche and we really try to not do anything else. We don’t pretend to be anything more than what you see but, if we’re going to be rated then I’d rather be over instead of under.
@Richard: Thanks for reading! Like you say, it’s sad but funny because it’s true.
June 15, 2006 @ 9:48 am | Comment
5
By Tan
After reading so much ranting about unfriendly Chinese people,chaotic Chinese streets, failed Chinese education, bureaucratic rules and police…..among others,you would almost forget those of you, which means all of you, who are bitching about China are in fact taking all the advantages as the result this system which attracted you and still acctract you to come here in the first place. Chinese people as a part of this system have no other alternative nor comparison but behave as the system created (not to mention no way of complaining). And all this complaining would make you think Americans or Brits or whatever people don’t have their own problems, is that true? You be the judge.
I have also to point out Americans are not doing much(if ANY) better in terms of street friendliness, respecting for others or even(surprise,surprise) educating their young people about……you name it…..
I don’t think I have to point out(as you know well) that you are being treated MUCH MUCH better in China, than a Chinese are being treated in your own countries.
As an Asian student in the US right now, if you tell me that Americans are friendly toword foreigners, you are flat-out somking!! Who are you talking about? I would say ,the group of people who gave me the fingers in your face (accompanying with F*CK YOU!!!or GO BACK!!) for no reason, or the ones who SHOUT insulting words whenever they happen to drive you by on the streets, or maybe you were talking about those people who tried to run me over when it’s “my turn” to cross the road, or, or the policewomen who gave me the look that say: “GO BACK TO WHEREVER THE FUCK YOU CAME FROM!!!!!” when I as victim need to get a police report……. honestly, I can go on and on, but I think I’ve already made my point!
So much for unfriendly Chinese .
June 15, 2006 @ 2:03 pm | Comment
6
By The Admiral
@Tan – Yea, you’re right. Shanghai is pretty brutal. Maybe you should move back to your hometown.
June 15, 2006 @ 7:38 pm | Comment
7
By richard
Oh no, another Fen Qing discover TPD. (He’s also in the forum, complaining against American racism toward the Chinese.)
June 15, 2006 @ 8:42 pm | Comment
8
By Tan
“Oh no, another Fen Qing discover TPD. (He’s also in the forum, complaining against American racism toward the Chinese.)
Posted by: richard at June 15, 2006 08:42 PM”
Yeah, and what’s wrong with telling the truth. I don’t have a right to comment in your forum? If that’s what you are saying. Sorry,I didn’t know this is a racist forum.
Now I see your true “color”.
Maybe you should put a warning sign on your blog, like: Chinese and dog are not allowed to comment on this forum/blog. You will get what you want.
June 15, 2006 @ 10:10 pm | Comment
9
By richard
Darling, you have every right to post in the forum and comment here. I didn’t censor you, did I? I just spotted this trend of your making grandiose claims against us American racists, made in classic fen qing style. If the shoe fits….
So defensive. So quick to assume I am a racist. So insecure and so helpless in the clutches of your inferiority complex, a security blanket that you can never let go of. Did you ever consider that someone can criticize China without being a racist? I criticize my own president; does that make me a caucasian-hating racist?
June 15, 2006 @ 11:08 pm | Comment
10
By Ivan
A policewoman gave Tan “a look?” Damn, some guys get all the luck.
Hey, did she handcuff you too? 😉
June 16, 2006 @ 12:13 am | Comment
11
By Sojourner
“@Sojourner – Your name seems familiar, I think I saw it on a shaghai forum a couple of years ago?”
Nope, Admiral, it wasn’t me.
June 16, 2006 @ 1:46 am | Comment
12
By Sojourner
Come on, lads, cut Tan some slack. Just because he complains about experiencing racism in the USA, doesn’t automatically make him a fan qing.
Nor his comments about the snide comments about Chinese people on this site. Look, we all make them on occasion, including me.
When he starts justifying the behaviour of the Beijing government, then he may deserve the sobriquet.
June 16, 2006 @ 2:04 am | Comment
13
By richard
Sojourner, I try to cut people oodles of slack. Go back and look at his first comment in this thread – it’s rehashed in the forum as well. I’ll agree, he may not be a fen qing, but look at that anger in his reply, even repeating the No Dogs or Chinese myth and applying it to my blog. Not very reasonable.
June 16, 2006 @ 2:40 am | Comment
14
By Tan
to richard:
I “was” angry with you in my second post, I don’t think you are being too fair with your analogy, by comparing my genunine comment with this “fen qing” guy , I thought I was, and still am being true to myself.
Your comment:
“(He’s also in the forum, complaining against American racism toward the Chinese.)”
Well, I’m not hiding from that, did I? Did I use a different nickname? A “handle”? Did I attack ANYONE?
I say what I think. It’s a forum, for buddist sack. What do you expect me to say?
It’s you who are too quick to assume I’m just another
Chinese ass-licker. Can you find anything racist in my comment?
I don’t know what do you mean by “rehashed in the forum” I stumbled upon your forum from a link on you blog for the first time , I registered at once and made a comment and left, that’s all, my first comment on the forum ever, I didn’t even browse.
I don’t want to say anything more except I’m honest and genuine, and I think it’s pretty self-evident to me.Although you assume otherwise.
June 16, 2006 @ 3:15 pm | Comment
15
By richard
Tan, I never said you attacked anyone or used a fake name. You do seem very, very angry. Go ahead and comment, forget about this, I’ll cut you slack. Calm down.
June 16, 2006 @ 6:39 pm | Comment
16
By DD
@Sojourner: yeah, you’re probably right. we are over-rated. really, we’re just a bunch of people complaining – nothing more, nothing less. we certainly don’t deserve any recognition for that.
i did quite like your comment back in February on http://www.talktalkchina.com/index.php/2006/02/24/the-real-hong-kong-shuffle/. come back, give us a second chance. your anger pleased me.
June 19, 2006 @ 12:59 am | Comment