Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Proud of my people

One of my favorite genre of YouTube videos is car restoration. Channels like M539 Restorations and AutoAlex Cars, where the hosts buy used cars with many problems, then fix them up to be reliably running machines. And sometimes they throw in some tasteful modifications, too. It’s kind of like what I am doing why my Golf GTI that was purchased used. Suffice it to say, there were plenty wrong with it that needed fixing.

A term that's come up rather often in these car restoration videos is “Chinesium”. This references car parts purchased for cheap from China. Perhaps there’s some sort of defending-the-motherland in me; I’m taking the terms Chinesium rather negatively. Yes, there’s plenty cheap quality stuff from China, but in the year of our lord 2026, I hope the stereotype of disposable Chinese junk can be cast into the history books.

Think of the Apple iPhone. Arguably the most important consumer device this century. Where is it made? China. The iPhone certainly does not have a reputation for junk, now does it? Contrarily, it’s one of the most beautifully made products on the planet. Open one up and the inside is just as immaculate as the outside. All of it is put together by the hands of my people. At least until Chinese labor is no longer cost competitive compared to Southeast Asia, and Apple moves product out of the Middle Kingdom entirely.

In reality it simply boils down to supply and demand. There’s whole exhaust systems from China for $150 with questionable quality because customers are buying. Ask China to produce something nice, and the country can deliver with the best of them. The aforementioned iPhone is one example. Another is the slew of lithium battery powered products from the likes of Fanttik and Wolfbox. My Fanttik Slim V8 APEX portable vacuum gets used all the time.

Car parts from China isn’t an automatic negative. Plenty of well-respected brands contract out production there. The TDD magnetic paddles I installed on the GTI is fantastic, and bought on AliExpress. It’s all about having standards. When you ask for quality from China, you can and will get it.

To build a reputation

I think I’ve written on here before that sometimes it’s good to buy from AliExpress. The same item being sold on Amazon is often times more expensive, so why not buy from the source? And often times - because AliExpress seems so desperate for sales - there would be coupons and discounts to easily save even more. The only downside of course is shipping. You’re not getting two days of free with AliExpress. But we can all wait for a solid discount in this economy, can’t we?

Recently I bought a thing of knee sleeves on AliExpress. The item shipped from China in about a week and half. No problems there. However, on the AliExpress app, the order never advanced past the preparation stage. After a certain date, I was to actually get a refund. For an order I actually received.

Being the standup citizen that I am, I wanted to notify AliExpress that I got the item. For orders that actually shipped with tracking, there is a button on the app to do so. But since my knee sleeves never got past the initial processing, that same button isn’t available. I’m too introverted to get on a phone, so I did the non standup thing and left it alone. The refund hit my credit card at the date promised. In my defense, it was only $15 total. How much could it cost, Michael?

It seems AliExpress is hyper protective of its reputation. Even though it features largely disposable stuff made in China, it is very much not a scam. The company really wants to make sure items get to the final destination, and has implemented all sorts of incentives for people to trust it. There’s a cash coupon if an order is delayed beyond the promised timeframe. There’s free returns if an item arrives damaged. And of course, there’s an automatic refund for customers that never receive the product.

Word on the street is AliExpress take customer complaints of vendors very seriously, too. I may not buy often on that platform, but I’ve all the confidence when I do. Due apologies that I essentially stole an item!

Well, maybe not

I absolutely wouldn’t mind living in Guangzhou. What would I do for a living? Well, what would anyone do in China who speaks perfect English? I’d end up in the sector of the service industry that’s frequented by foreigners. A front desk person at a western branded hotel, perhaps. I reckon earning money should not be a problem.

The main problem is obviously the lack of citizenship. I mean, I had citizenship - I was born in Guangzhou. However, the Chinese government does not recognize dual citizenship. My Chinese nationality was forfeited soon as I became an American citizen. It seems the only American citizen who can be a Chinese national at the same time is Olympic gold medal skier Eileen Gu. And that is why I dislike her. Not because she “betrayed” the U.S. to ski under the five stars. But only because she’s got the dual citizenship that nobody else can have. Perversely unfair.

Oh well. For all its benefits - great food, complete safety, living under the great Chinese firewall is frustratingly difficult for someone like me who is used to American Internet. I cannot imagine life without access to YouTube - entirely blocked in China. Sure there are VPN apps, but their functionality relies entirely on the benefaction of the ruling communist party. If they decide one day to block them all, they can and will.

Kpop is also effectively banned in China, thanks to troubled relations between China and South Korea. As a massive purveyor of Korean music, that’s not going to work for me. It’s not about access to songs; that’s not the problem. The issue is the lack of concerts on the mainland. South Korean acts are currently banned from holding performances in China. Have you noticed that BTS - arguably the most popular boy band on the planet - is going on this massive world tour, and there isn’t a single Chinese city on this list? I’d be pretty pissed if I were a Chinese Kpop-head. I have to leave the country every single time I want to see my favorites perform.

Living in China would clash too much with my preferred forms of entertainment. I want my Hollywood movies unmutilated by censors. Would Grand Theft Auto 6 - if it ever releases - even be available in China?

Eyes up, buttercup

As I walk the not so mean streets of Guangzhou back home in China, I noticed many a building - public and private - being guarded by security. Not sure why that is actually needed because due to the massive video surveillance apparatus in China, nobody is stupid enough to commit physical crimes. But hey, who am I to get in the way of job creation, even if said jobs are kind of meaningless.

What does look wrong is that most of these security guards are staring at their phones! A clear indication that their jobs are of zero consequence. Any worthy criminal would easily pass on by without them noticing.

If I were leadership walking by I would immediately take these building security guards to task. Even if the whole charade is just for show, you still got to make it look convincing. The person responsible for safeguarding an area should absolutely be barred from doing anything but have constant awareness of their surroundings. You’d better know immediately if so much as bird lands on a second story window sill. Perhaps more importantly: you’re not getting paid to watch Douyin videos.

Imagine if the guards at Buckingham Palace - surely purely for ceremony, were staring at the phones, instead of standing at absolute attention. Right to the Australian penal colony, right away.

I would say the same for hired security at American malls. I’ve seen too many guards at our local Target store busy with their phones, rather than paying attention. This is not and should not be acceptable in any country on this planet.

Taking my air

Just a mere decade ago, I wouldn’t have imagined spending multiple weeks in Guangzhou, China. The air pollution back then was off the charts. Us San Franciscans damn sure take our clean air for granted. I can remember getting off the train at Guangzhou East Station in 2015 and immediately regretted coming back home. It was the dead of winter, too, so you can’t exactly pin it on the high humidity of summer. It’s as if the city was enclosed in constant second-hand smoke.

Fast forward a few years, and the air quality has completely changed for the better. Primarily this is due to switching from gas-powered transportation to fully electric. Seemingly overnight, the city’s buses were fully electric. Most passenger cars were electric, and so were the motorbikes and scooters. Word on the street is they’ve also built a new nuclear power plant at the outskirts of Guangzhou, too.

If a tourist like me can feel the difference, imagine what it’s doing for the local populace. Cleaning up the air can only have positive effect on the health span of citizens. Such radical transformation in such little time can only be done under benevolent dictatorial direction. The infrastructure spending to support a complete flip-over from petrol to electricity is no small feat for a city the size of Guangzhou. If this were any city in America, such grand designs would still be mired under constant committee review. Or outright rejected because of “my freedoms”.

Imagine how much cleaner our air can get if all of our motive transportation is electrically powered. It will happen someday, but definitely not as quickly as Chinese megacities have done.

I think sometimes westerners get stuck on viewing other forms of government with our own specific lens. The application of democracy is unfortunately not democratic. How many coups have there been in countries with democratically elected Presidents?

It’s easy to criticize the one-party system of China when viewed with a western lens. Our rugged individualism cannot stand to see agency stripped away from the singular common man. However, the reality on the ground in China reveals the government in power is doing the best it can for as much people as possible. Its methods can be argued for or against, but the results are evidently beneficial. Clean streets, great air quality, public amenities aplenty, and zero crime. Who wouldn’t want to live under such conditions?

Too many Chinas

In my many yearly travels back home to China, I’ve taken the route through Hong Kong. An arduous 15 hour plane ride from SFO to HKG, followed by another two hour train ride into mainland China back to Guangzhou. Factoring in commuting and wait times, it’s an easy 24 hours from closing the door to my home, to opening the door to the hotel. Why put myself through such pilgrimage year after year? The food. Cantonese cuisine is undefeated.

A slight pain-point when taking the transfer through Hong Kong is that you’re essentially crossing two borders. Hong Kong customs welcomes you in HKG, while China customs checks you again before you’re allowed to board the train. This is a logistical inconsistency that undermines the whole “One China” attitude. If it’s truly One China, then why the heck am I subjected to two sets of immigration checks? The Hong Kong one at the airport should more than suffice.

Then there’s restrictions on how frequent Chinese nationals can visit the Special Administrative Regions like Hong Kong and Macau. Restrictions that logically should not exist if it is truly one China. That would be like if I’m only allowed to visit Florida - as a Californian - for only a few weeks out of the year. Though that would be just fine because I’ve zero desire to visit Florida. Everybody knows the best Disney theme park is the one in Tokyo, Japan.

The One China policy is a mere political bluster; a power-play by the reigning communist regime. The party’s legitimacy is predicated on being recognized by the outside world as the de facto China. Anything that can threaten that legitimacy - however small - must be censored immediately. You think the Taiwanese national team really wants to compete in world sports under the “Chinese Taipei” banner?

Come to think of it, why allow athletes from Hong Kong and Macau compete under anything but China? One China, one national team, right? If anything, Taiwanese athletes, you guys come on over as well!

Hand-pulled salty chicken is worth the 15 hour flight.

WeChat pay the proper way

It’s well known that digital currency is super common in China. The foreigner trying to pay in paper cash money is the extreme outlier. Everybody else just tap-tap with their phones for absolutely everything. It’s like paying for everything with credit cards, but with no fees - you add money from your bank account, and with way more surveillance. As someone who has used WeChat Pay And AliPay extensively for many weeks over the years, the system is fabulously convenient.

Unless you are a foreign tourist. The two main payment platforms cannot be bound to foreign bank accounts. Nor can foreigners open local bank accounts without some sort of residency proof. Tourists’ only option is to bind their foreign credit cards, which works just fine with official merchant accounts. However, the small mom and pop shops typically carry personal WeChat Pay and AliPay accounts. Even some taxi drivers carry personal accounts. Those accounts cannot accept payment from foreign credit cards. It’s paper currency for you.

And while official law is merchants must accept cash, in practice it’s hugely inconvenient for the cash user. At pay-before-you-eat restaurants, you might be served after people who are paying with mobile. Not because of overt discrimination per se, but because the cashier has to dig up the tiller from the back. Because you might be the only cash transaction for the store for that entire day. Paying for taxi with cash? Don’t expect change in return. There’s a solid chance the driver won’t carry enough amount and variety of bills.

The ultimate flex as a foreigner is to have a local person transfer money to your account. Word on the street is many a hotel front desk person has done this. Foreigners give them cash, they transfer digital money from their WeChat or AliPay account. No restrictions, no messing around with foreign credit cards. This is how I’ve done it when I do my yearly travel to China, and it’s fantastic. A truly cash-less society is one I can get behind, because it’s cleaner, too. Currency bills are notoriously dirty. No thank you.