HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ ngcc_hk

I changed mine at 2008 as well when the system showed off its ugliness. No way to deal with local corruption, these talk about how a foreigner can free ride a system may be great for one. And unlike old days in Soviet Union you American can seem to integrate into it. But that it is a totalitarian state. The elite those rich communists you do not see has power you have no way to control.

Now the axe is to of the New York like Hong Kong my home town, I feel all these are just trick.

And this guy do this comparison like USA should covert to china. Even advocate wechat pay without concern that everything you do is now in the government hand. One day if you said something they do not like, your kid will suffer and there is no appeal.

Such a strange video. But poison one can drink like all those food he can eat. One day when the axe come good luck.

⬐ xster

To be fair, I think the story of laowhy86 and serpentza is also one of consent manufacturing not by censorship but by incentives (a bit like journalists in corporate media implicitly knowing that they can kiss their promotions goodbye if they're anti-war).

They had really grassroot organic videos about their lives as expats and had extremely valid criticisms of China's policies and circumstances (such as him investing in property and realizing that all the amenities then become unmaintained because the developers finish a project and move on). They were thoughtful and nuanced.

But then at some point in the last few years, they realized that their full on China-bashing videos had way stronger YouTube responses and more monetization. At this point, their content just went Access Hollywood in organic quality where they would try to get into confrontational situation to generate negativity.

I don't think they're malicious, but they also know that their weekly China's going down the drain videos are keeping the lights on.

(I also don't doubt that the Chinese government 'invited him to have tea' and made him make positive videos or leave China. Nothing I said makes that acceptable. But it doesn't change the original point)

⬐ toomuchtodo

Based on the economic and social data coming out of China, it really does seem like China is going down the drain though (shoddy skyscrapers collapsing, massive economic slowdown, visas not being renewed out of retaliation, biometrics used for ethnic cleansing [which was covered by NPR], Americans being detained with frivolous cause).

This strikes me as an unfair characterization of those YouTubers. I’ve followed them for a while and have quite a different impression.

Today’s video from Laowhy86 is a good short summation of his time in China, and how his perspective has shifted over time while living there and running a business, marrying a Chinese woman, starting a family, etc:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ed4ryYokLzU

⬐ zhhkthrow

No, I think it's a completely fair assessment. In fact, it probably doesn't even go far enough in terms of criticism. These two expats are notorious in the non-expat world for perpetuating unsubstantiated stereotypes and myths about China for the sake of views. They know there's an audience for it and they've adjusted their content accordingly. Somehow, they've managed to convince a vast number of people that they are experts on the subject matter despite all evidence to the contrary. If you listen to what they say you'll end up with a very distorted view of reality.

As the parent commenter said, there are plenty of higher quality Youtubers and vloggers who do a much better job at describing what life is really like for expats living in China. In general, the more reliable and accurate sources are the people who don't make their living from producing clickbait videos.

⬐ _iyig

You’ve offered a very general critique. In contrast, the video I linked mentions many specific events and incidents which informed the speaker’s impression of China. Give that you’re making vague assertions on a throwaway account, and given that I’ve followed these YouTubers for years and corroborated the kinds of things they’ve said with friends who visit China or are Chinese, I’m not inclined to agree with you.

If you believe there are “higher-quality” China YouTubers with a different view, don’t just allude to them, please share links.

⬐ eznoonze

>If you believe there are “higher-quality” China YouTubers with a different view, don’t just allude to them, please share links.

I hope they don't say "Nathan Rich". ;-)

⬐ dirtyid

I found Laowhy86 slightly more genuine. I have not viewed their videos in a while, maybe I got an unfair representation seeing their content at the height of clickbait YouTube titles and expats flunking out of China. Regardless, per my comment below, these are youtubers who optimize(d?) content that often distorts reality (as another user describes) and should not form the basis of understanding and discussions on China. But for many lay users, they are. The Chinese perspective from an expat lens will be vastly different from the Chinese perspective from a Chinese lens etc. I'll go through his summation video after work, someone else linked to his wife's channel. I'll be upfront and say regardless of how my opinion changes of them as people, I still don't believe they should be dominant sources for informing views China. There aren't any dominant sources just like 2 vlogs shouldn't form your opinion on US.