We usually post praise and we know we've been saying over and over "Anecdotes, anecdotes!" but this angry email was too good to not share. We left it in its original, glorious form: long winded and devoid of punctuation.
Dear China Dirt,
I must take exception to your comments. It is a basic tennant of logical debate to refrain from generalizations and vast wafting statements of fact with little of no referring or deference to saidfactual source.While there are some dead beats in China and all over the world forthat matter, your summation that all foreigners here are useless isin fact naive and telling of your own insecurities that you vicariously live out in denial while attacking others.
In the past China was a hardship post and jobs here reserved for the career expat worker, in recent times, the shift has moved from one of localization to that of younger self made foreign workers. As suchthe quantity of non Chinese speaking sleazy Shunyi expat men are reducing, so are the local losers who also don't speak or write Chinese and offer little sans teaching.
There was a saying back in HK called FILTH. Failed in London, Try Hong Kong. And while that is a common enough trait in any colonial empire, it is not to be mistaken for China and the difficulties here.The men that you dish dirt on - 25-35 years old, are far more equipped than you could ever hope to meet back home or in China 5 years ago for that fact. They are self made men, successfull at whatthey do, entrepreneurial, bi-lingual and full of potential bothacutal and yet to be realized. They come here because theenvironment is fertile enough for them to spread their seed and watch it grow (keep your thoughts above the gutter her Darling). The career english teacher hippy and the career Shunyi expat may well fit into your definition, but the rest of us don't. And do not lump the others in with the "Ex-Pat" label. They often are not expats but posted here for 1-2 years.
An expat is someonewho has migrated here and lives here indefinately with real roots,residential investments and spousal visa's and not work visa's and/or temporary business visa's. Again, self made men. Entrepreneurs. Wedidn't settle for the institutionlaisaton or "Truman Show Monotony"of home, so don't assume that we settle for your character assassinations or bile breathing beguiled remarks to other grumpy self loathers either. Go find a spaniard voter after a train bomb ifyou need that sort of self defeatism to perk you up.I have lived in China since 1999.
I have been married for 2 years, I hold degrees in Computer Science and Accounting, as well as a HSK certificate. I spend my time working, making money, playing squash and rugby and playing with my wife and puppy and helping my sister in law attend university here in Beijing from her small village inwestern Xinjiang. There are a lot of men like myself, most older,some younger (I am 30 this year). And we are quite capable of living back in our own countries and making lots of money there too and being responsible members of civic society. So why do we stay?
Well unlike you bitter, finger pointing women who have hang ups on Chinaand men here and are still "working for the man" we are off being ourown bosses and not salary whores and earning more and living life more here than back home. Anyway, if you don't like it? Piss off. China is not for everyone. Certainly least generalist nay sayers with chips on their shoulders,axes to grind who are living their lives here the same as they wouldback home - to some guidebook of life expectations. That is why you will not succeed in private business, love and China. You are too myopic, too bitter and too un suited for life in a place like this. There is no demographic for people like you.
You may not be an english teacher or a man married to a broken english speaking local. Yet as evidinced by your regaling of pub trawls and misadventures,you are not living in the same strata that successfull people here do- otherwise you would not have the opinions that you do. Justbecause you are a foreinger does not place you above others. Andjust because you are not an english teacher, that also does not placeyou above other foreigners. You really have little comprehension ofjust how disconnected you are from the real expat and successful Sinophile scene.You are all a dime a dozen. People like you come and go. I have seen it many a time in the past 8 years. You will amount to nothing and you will leave no mark on China or anything of significance thatis attributed to your ingenuity, hard work and creative approach tothis vast fertile land. Life is too short for people like you, enjoy your solace in myopic bigotry spawned hate my darling.
Your blog is being forwarded around through the sporting and China Entrepreneur mailing lists. You have offended and marginalised a lot of honest men here with this divisive racially and socially subjective discourse that your call a blog. How about you state your constructs more clearly with an apology to the rest of us while you are at it?
It is being laughed at and LBH t-shirt discussions and a national LBH t-short wearing drink-a-thon festival is already in the embryonic stages.
If you can't get what your want, either learn what it is that you are messing up, or build a bridge and get over it. Who cares if a bunch of lame arse frat boy wannabe's arse it up around town on a weekend. Good for them. Who are you to judge them and their attitudes. Who are you to complain about it and frame it as a indictment of foreign men formulating their behaviour through the prism of China? People are arseholes, the world is full of them - just don't be one of them.
You think it is bad now. You should speak to my ex-girlfried who I am still mates with on her experiences back in 1997 - why I came to China. And if you haven't been in China longer than 5 years you will have no persective to judge the differences in BJ compared to other cities and how this city has changed so much and how life is different for all, foreigners included. A little bit of research and anecdotal comparisons of 2007 vs 2002 may open up your eyes to the real cause of your apparent LBH trend.
I'll give you a little hint, use the explosion of Wudaokou urban in fill post Solutions bar era and Sanlitun post Qi Lin Da Sha makeover as metaphors for the changing city and demographic.........then think Russia in 1991.
You are a "Tourist" in the Fight Club sense of the word and because of that, you have placed yourself directly in line with these people. That is why you find them to exist everywhere. Try stepping out of your little "me too" bubble of China and experience the full buffet before commenting further.
RF
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20 comments:
amen
Ha, ha, ha! That is a good letter! Much better than the boring Peking Man's or Mitch's comments.
The guy does have a point.
But he did take you blog a little too literally or seriously, didn't he, ha, ha?!
And yet his letter is a pleasure to read. Despite his lack of punctuation, he is a lot more literate and articulate than most foreigners I've come across here in Asia, too (excepting, of course, the purveyors of popular blogs like The Peking Duck, The View from Taiwan, etc.). I definitely laud his passion for China and his energetic involvment in the place.
Either all of you in the China Dirt Admin are doing a really great job or a really sucky job on this blog to evince such a brilliant, but antangonistic response!
This salary whore did get big laugh from little man with puppy. China dirt made my day!
dude needs to lighten up and maybe "play with" his wife more...If it wasn't so long, I'd almost think he was just being sarcastic. I've been in China a lot longer than him and while things have changed, I don't think they've gotten any better as there have been more foreigners and thus more creeps.
Maybe this guys lives in some gated expat community utopia beyond all the ring roads and stays there. But if he and his wife were to ever venture into the city and any "expat" haunt in BJ, he would surely experience some of what you gals discuss here.
As a guy, I enjoy reading your blog and can see former classmates, "friends", and colleagues in your descriptions (and probably have more than a few stories that could be added). The expat community in Beijing is very small, go out enough and you'll start running into the same people (sometimes less due to coincidence and more because of stalking as per one of the previous posts), if you're going to limit dating to the expat community, its very hard to find the right mate, especially in one like Beijing where, unlike Shanghai or HK, you can get by being a slacker, even if you hold a "real" job.
Haha.
First of all, I'm pretty sure he was drunk. Which is funny.
Secondly, that letter takes a really harsh turn about 2/3 into it. He begins with mere admonishments, but then he really gets going. He went and got himself all worked up!
The letter writer is a boob who probably hangs out with Da Shan. Definitely a younger expat executive who spends way to much time in his ivory tower and no doubt travels out of china every chance he gets, thus China really never gets under his skin thanks to a generous helping of vacation days and travel from his company.
His letter also betrays a certain insecurity that this website has found a hole in his armor without trying. My guess is that when that writer does go out, he is one of those really obnoxious creeps stuffing money into the halter top/skirt top of the expat bar or KTV waitress while getting pissed on XO and smoking cigars. Then he goes to church on sunday to show that his family values are fully intact.
He can be successful back home? Perhaps in the past, but with all of his China Ivory Tower attitude, when and if he moves back he is going to irritate alot of people with his condescending lecturing about "his china experience".
Hi. It's "The Boring" Peking Man here.
It should be funny, contrasting actually good emotive writing (the letter writer) with the ever-childish and shrill China Dirt, but actually it's just sad.
Although he lets himself get carried away, the letter writer scores plenty of high-quality points.
China Dirt's response? I'll quote:
"HAHAHAHA"
Oh the humanity.
Thoth harris said that my comments were boring, suggesting that they were written to amuse. I post not for your entertainment, thoth. Rather I want to see if I cannot be the least bit helpful to women who are very clearly damaged, suffering, and expressing themselves in ways that will only lead to greater levels of self-hatred and personal degradation.
That I would be attacked merely for openly hoping that these women might love themselves enough not to spew venom at men that only exist in the sad and twisted depths of their depressed minds, is only evidence of how rooted this self-hatred has become.
Mitch I think it's your pompous writing style that pisses people off, not so much the actual content.
These sensitive ex-pat guy emails are great! But please, sensitive ex-pat guys, make them a bit shorter and grammarific!
At the very least, his passionate yet quasi-articulate writing has exhibited a little bit more than mediocrity and below-average intelligence.
And why people lately have been obsessed with "career" success and what is the point of making not-so-meaningful comparisons in various aspects and almost-groundless accusation on-line? The whole thing is out of practicality and rationality.
Internet indeed has served as an instrumentality for some to vent and rant.
Proof right there that everything on this blog is WRONG! Not only are expat men nice and cuddly, they are also extremely altruistic. This RF character takes the time from his busy schedule of playing rugby with his wife and puppy and "helping" his sister-in-law to reeducate you. You should feel honoured.
Honestly, rugby? I feel like I shouldn't criticize this - I mean, it's not like I'm 100% assimilated into Chinese life, and I like rugby, too but... Is there actually any activity in the world that says "I reject China" more than rugby? I'm not saying that you have to do everything like the Chinese do, or give up all your western hobbies, but... rugby?
'RF' either wrote this post whilst he was drunk or - what is more likely - it was written by China dirt. The post does make some valid points though... especially regarding how China Dirt simply needs to stop whingeing. To quote "People are arseholes, the world is full of them" - get over it!
Did RF realize it's ego-inflating men like him who makes the dating pool smaller? or is he just a total loony?
Well then, I guess it's a good thing he's already taken. Anyway, I think someone needs spelling and grammar check... I highly recommend Firefox :)
Interesting website, for not only its articles but also the vastly spliting comments. It used to entertain me so much from my work, and now puts grin on my face when I, a Shanghaiese girl, study in the Big Apple.
Bottom line is, as acknowledged by lots of comments here already, the easy life China has to offer to westerners, in terms of money, dining, nightlife, romance, sex..., is attempting, if not eye-opening, to most of the westerners who used to lead their fair share of disciplined life back in their hometown. It's not that much about being a white guy, but being ordinary human being, that is not very well programmed to resist temptation, especially when there is no checks, no balances. Given the chance, I doubt whether the majority of white girl, asian guy and asian girls would be able to resist such. The world is a combination of "ordinary" people and "extra ordinary" people, the latter of which does sustain the good or bad that come to their face, who are sarcastically called by the majority "Saints".
The world would be boring with only "ordinary men" who go wild, loud, nasty. Same were there not a Saint for a change. So, Saints pls do not act superior to the "ordinary", and "ordinary" pls refrain from your laughter.
good one
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