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top 200 commentsshow 500

[–]paulgaryotis 165 points166 points ago*

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My dad had a Chinese coworker that lived in the United States for about ten years. When he went back to China, he couldn't find his house. True story. He had a general idea but he didn't recognize anything around the area.

edit: Ninja edit

edit edit: Oh yeah, he eventually found his house.

[–]Bueno_Colitas 41 points42 points ago

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Then what?

[–]tbeau1 67 points68 points ago

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Then he found it...

[–]PandaBearShenyu 107 points108 points ago

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Then he found his house.

[–]mrzack 21 points22 points ago

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it got turned into a starbucks.

[–]Jooey_K 2 points3 points ago

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Wrong, it got turned into a Chinese restaurant while he was living with Marshall.

[–]I_PACE_RATS 1 point2 points ago

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Yeah... I'm thinking this story won't be swooped up by a film studio.

[–]gojirra 18 points19 points ago

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He died.

[–]Truesday 6 points7 points ago

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And he lived happily ever after...The End.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Still looking...

[–]kmoz 3 points4 points ago

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That happened to me when we lived in SE china in like 1988. 10 years later our house went from being in the suburbs with large yards to in the middle of a massive city.

[–]nargrist 2 points3 points ago

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understable if you look at the buildings in the front, none them are the same, they even took down that church. your dads coworker could have been glad that his house was still existing.

[–]theXarf 301 points302 points ago

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And in 2027.

[–]NorthernK20 82 points83 points ago

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I never asked for this.

[–]lech13 42 points43 points ago

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Midgar.

[–]Pinhedd 11 points12 points ago

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after seeing this photo, that doesn't seem so far fetched

[–]milk2stronk 53 points54 points ago

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Honestly can't wait

[–]FrankManic 10 points11 points ago

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Deus Ex, along with most of the Cyberpunk genre, posits a dystopian future where megacorporations supersede governments and the life of the individual is measured only in how much profit the corporation can extract from it. It's a world where gengineered viruses are deployed to control dissidents body and soul and where concepts like 'freedom' and 'civil rights' are historical footnotes.

[–]rarkai 6 points7 points ago

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That sounds about where we are headed.

[–]Scipion 1 point2 points ago

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Someones been reading Snow Crash.

[–]Nyaos 2 points3 points ago

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Assuming you're living on the top, not the bottom.

[–]PaidAdvertiser 25 points26 points ago

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That place looks like you would have to go to school for 8 years and work 60 hour weeks just to afford a small apartment that isn't surrounded by organ harvesters. Count me out of that scenario. I am sure the people who own those buildings would be pretty happy about it though.

[–]czhang706 18 points19 points ago

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You could always work for an augment company doing shady work, get hurt in the line of duty, and get free augments to continue doing shady work.

[–]leif777 15 points16 points ago

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I thought it was going to be Blade Runner

[–]Copperhe4d 38 points39 points ago

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That's L.A. in 2019

[–]cptspiffy 25 points26 points ago

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Man they better get started on those things, they only have 8 years left to build 'em.

[–]Demotic 15 points16 points ago

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PUHHLLLEEAAASEEE. Fucking city of LA (or most big cities in the US for that matter) is going backwards if anything. Crumbling highways and shit infrastructure.

[–]modalert 2 points3 points ago

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That's why Blade Runner had flying cars.

[–]Bernie_Roscoe 1 point2 points ago

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I agree, California is fairly bankrupt.

Most big cities in the US though? I'm quite skeptical.

[–]FrankManic 1 point2 points ago

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I don't think the LA of Blade Runner was being offered as a way forward. The world is dying, the only animals are synthetic reproductions, and the weather shifts between acid fog, acid rain, and just acid.

[–]TheDeadGuy 1 point2 points ago

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The US has terrible infrastructure, yet no one ever talks about reforming it or how it's costing so much.

[–]Ze_Carioca 1 point2 points ago*

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I wouldnt say terrible. It has good infrastructure, but the infrastructure needs repairs and maintenance, which nobody wants to pay for.

The only infrastructure it lacks is high speed rail.

[–]NeoSniper 1 point2 points ago

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Instant Vangelis in my head... thanks.

[–]WcJessen 1 point2 points ago

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That kind of reminds me of the starting area in Final Fantasy 7.

[–]mdrabz 1 point2 points ago

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Came here to post Deus Ex reference. Already top comment. I'm out.

[–]cnxyz 1 point2 points ago

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And in 3000.

[–]hoblod 3 points4 points ago

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is this even possible

[–]Onyxpanda 29 points30 points ago

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I bet if you showed someone who lived in the past some of the technology we have today, he/she would ask the same question.

[–]architech 17 points18 points ago

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i look at my iphone sometimes and think that.

[–]fancy-chips 1 point2 points ago

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seriously. remember those mini-portable televisions? That shit seemed so cool back when I was young.

[–]WileyE 23 points24 points ago

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You say, over your fancy internet machine that instantly connects your thoughts with billions of other people around the globe.

[–]Fenris_uy 3 points4 points ago

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Yes, you just need to disregard the opinions of the people living under that giant roof.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Yes it is. Specially with the amount of money China is getting currently from US demand.

[–]amaefm 1 point2 points ago

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Yes it is. Specially with the amount of money China is getting currently from shitty US trade policies.

[–]Buraktionman 133 points134 points ago

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They made it a lot darker.

[–]jceez 83 points84 points ago

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I heard they don't have night time in China.

[–]CryoEnix 110 points111 points ago

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It mostly comes at night.

Mostly

[–]We_Are_Not_Amused 18 points19 points ago

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I hear it only happens once a day.

[–]farkdog 13 points14 points ago

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I mostly come at night, too. Mostly.

[–]Overby 1 point2 points ago

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The buildings are made out of clouds and light.

[–]nooneastern 70 points71 points ago

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this makes me want to play Sim City

[–]pipechang 7 points8 points ago

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A truly marveouls game, still play it today.

[–]Philipp 1 point2 points ago

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They should update it to make it easier for today's casual players, though.

"Architect Achievement! You just dropped a building onto the map."

[–]TalkingBackAgain 13 points14 points ago

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Some guy who got sent to prison in 1998 and came out this year went back home and said "What the fuck is this place?"

[–]howdareyou 14 points15 points ago

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Sent to prison for only 14 years... in China? HAHA sure.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 2 points3 points ago

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A man with connections? Uncle Wei reached a critical position within the party hierarchy and it allowed him to grease the right palm?

[–]moneyeagle 32 points33 points ago

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I was there 2 years ago. Amazing city!!! Never shopped or partied cheaper anywhere!!! I realy recommend it as a holiday spot

[–]vindicated19[S] 37 points38 points ago*

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Yeah I went to China last summer and had an amazing time. The Great Wall and Forbidden City are absolutely breathtaking - I've traveled through Europe and nothing compares in sheer size IMO.

Shanghai was surprisingly clean and had a very efficient metro. Shopping on Nanjing Street was pretty awesome, too.

I think China has made huge leaps forward and a lot of people really don't give them credit for it. If you ignore what the media feeds you and really take a look at China, it's amazing what's happening.

[–]Phantoom 19 points20 points ago

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How easy is it to get around, for English only jerks like me?

[–]vindicated19[S] 22 points23 points ago*

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There's a lot of foreign tourists in China during the summer so in the hot spots (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an) you shouldn't have much of a problem.

I met up with a few backpackers from Germany, Australia, and Canada and we split a van to go to the great wall. The only thing that would suck about not knowing Chinese is getting ripped off at all the markets - though it's still cheap overall.

[–]my_shits_together 4 points5 points ago

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as long as you know your numbers you can certainly get by in the markets. You will still get ripped off, but not as bad.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points ago

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There's a whole haggling culture thing going on at the shops, and they especially try to prey on foreigners. My friend went down there and got into shouting matches with a bunch of vendors, walked away and found the shopkeeper approaching him saying "okay, okay fine 20 yuan no lower!!" (they tried to charge him 100 yuan for something that clearly wasn't worth it)

[–]mkdz 10 points11 points ago

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Anything that is a tourist destination will have English translation signs. Now the translation quality of those signs is not guaranteed. If you go to the smaller more local areas, everything probably will be in Chinese.

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points ago

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[–]chickpea23 1 point2 points ago

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Ha, my wife (brazilian) makes that mistake all the time: stolen vs. robbed. The distinction does not exist in many languages. In portuguese: robar. Eu fui robado (I was robbed), alguem robou minha carteira (someone stole my wallet). Both cases you use "robar".

[–]AnEnglishGentleman 1 point2 points ago

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Easy enough, there's enough English spoken in the big cities for you to manage. You do get into some hilarious situations where neither party can understand each other though, and you have to resort to primitive gesticulating.

[–]captainAwesomePants 1 point2 points ago

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I was in Hong Kong a while ago, and I was astounded at how easy it was to get around, at least in the major tourist areas. You could certainly end up in a restaurant where nobody spoke any English, mind you, but that was more of an exception to the rule.

[–]kinggimped 1 point2 points ago

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Easy, but you'll be limited to the more touristy places.

Street signs and subway stations here in Shanghai are all signposted in English, so it's a doddle to get around... but you will be missing out on part of the 'China experience' if you don't venture out into the more local areas. Taxi drivers very rarely speak more than a couple of words of English, and if you're buying shoddy gifts from markets you should probably learn the Chinese 1-10 hand signals if you're going to haggle effectively (though you can just do it with a calculator if you're boring).

However, given how large Shanghai is, you won't be short of places to go or things to see. I highly recommend the 100th floor observatory in the WFC (aka the Bottle Opener), the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum, and the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (it's so terrible, it goes all the way around and becomes awesome again). In fact, you can do all of those in half a day, and there's still plenty more.

It's a really great city. I love living here.

[–]aletoledo 4 points5 points ago

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The Great Wall and Forbidden City are absolutely breathtaking

I've heard the exact opposite about the great wall.

[–]vindicated19[S] 59 points60 points ago*

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That's the tricky part. From Beijing, you can access the wall from multiple places.

90% of tourists go to Badaling Great Wall - a rather flat section FILLED with tourists during the summer.

I did a little research and went with a few backpackers to Mutianyu Great Wall - it was 2 hours away but so worth it. We were practically ALONE on our stretch of the wall and it was high up in the mountains. You could see the wall stretch for miles and it looked like a scene from an old Chinese epic... I could imagine the Mongolians bracing the walls thousands of years ago.

It's all about how you do it, man.

EDIT: Just to give you an idea, here's a picture I took last summer

[–]Donkeytonk 10 points11 points ago

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What many people don't seem to understand is the wall is mor than 10k long split up into loads of sections.

Every year they have a massive beach party at the end of the great wall where it meets the sea. This summer I even got to DJ with Fat Boy Slim at the great wall.

[–]systmshk 1 point2 points ago

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You hear that Reddit? We DJ with FatBoy Slim up in this sub.

[–]BakedPotatoTattoo 10 points11 points ago

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Holy shit! Youve sold me now, ive been looking for a reason to go to China. I saved your comment for reference!

[–]nemomty 2 points3 points ago

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The Mitianyu section also has lift chairs and a toboggan you can choose to come back down. (you have to pay additional fees but well worth it)

Wickedly Awesome Toboggan Video

[–]hacktivision 2 points3 points ago

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Badaling is the great mall of china.

[–]alpha69 2 points3 points ago

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Was just there a month ago. Mutianyu is really not that much further than Badaling but is so much better! We had large sections of the Wall to ourselves. Some pics in my flickr stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/21545532@N03/

[–]squirtis 6 points7 points ago

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damn, i want to go there and just smoke a big doobie.

[–]BlazeUp 4 points5 points ago

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I did smoke some hash in Beijing I bought from a Nigerian dealer. Looking back at it, there are very strict laws against drugs, I wouldn't do it again.

[–]squirtis 2 points3 points ago

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haha yea. i'd be super careful. it wasn't so bad in the jungles of south america, but i'd take china at a different stride.

[–]Wargoul 2 points3 points ago

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[–]eelmcd 2 points3 points ago

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[–]Buraktionman 1 point2 points ago

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Breath-giving?

[–]Khatib 8 points9 points ago

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I think China has made huge leaps forward and a lot of people really don't give them credit for it. If you ignore what the media feeds you and really take a look at China, it's amazing what's happening.

They've made a lot of huge leaps forward if you ignore how much the lowest class citizens are getting seriously screwed over to make those leaps.

They are doing some truly amazing stuff with renewables with all the new building they're doing though. Only downside is they're doing some serious pollution spiking to get that building done. But SO much solar on rooftops and wind farms going up there. It's promising.

[–]TheSandman13 1 point2 points ago

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i went to the same places in china a couple years ago...except i went in winter...i froze my balls off, but it was still beautiful. the forbidden city looked absolutely incredible under a blanket of snow

[–]inc114 1 point2 points ago

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Yeah, ignore what the media feeds you, all of China is as fun as a western tourist's experience of it.

[–]x888x 1 point2 points ago*

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China has made huge leaps forward

HAHAHAHAHA... nice

EDIT: Was assuming play on "Great Leap Forward" the communist, centrally-planned improvement program responsible for tens of millions of deaths.

[–]zakool21 1 point2 points ago

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It's such a vibrant city, went just over a year ago. I can't say it was exactly cheap, since I was living in Korea at the time and had already traveled to Singapore and Malaysia, but Shanghai was certainly very nice and very lively.

[–]random314 1 point2 points ago

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I heard it changed faster than people can adapt. Meaning there are plenty of people who doesn't know how to act "city-proper" all over the city. Anyway this is what my friends from China told me about mega cities under fast development.

"city proper".... I really don't know how else to describe it in English, I suppose there is a distinct group of younger folks who are ultra modern, and a distinct group of older folks who are walking around w/o any large city mannerisms...

[–]gamblekat 60 points61 points ago

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This is what happens when you have an economy where 50% of GDP is based on the construction industry and a government with central control of financing pushing local administrators to develop at any cost. It looks great from the outside, but it creates huge problems in the long term.

A lot of the buildings and infrastructure China is building right now is drastically under-utilized - there are thousands of unoccupied apartments and empty high-speed rail lines that are priced far higher than the average Chinese person can afford. This stuff won't just sit there until China is wealthy enough to use it. Infrastructure depreciates. By the time prices drop and wealth increases to the point that people can utilize it, more money will have been sunk into financing and maintenance than will ever be recovered.

The situation in China right now is like a combination of 1980s Japan and 1920s America - vast industrial and infrastructural over-capacity, and an economy totally dependent on real-estate development. Brilliant as it looks from the outside right now, it isn't an organic situation at all. History shows that even countries (like 1920s America) that have the right preconditions for continued long-term growth will have to deal with severe corrections when they get into situations like this.

[–]VanillaLime 10 points11 points ago

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I think that you probably could have picked a better example for over-development in China: Shanghai, and especially the Pudong financial district downtown, are some of the best examples of huge initial investments in infrastructure and construction in an unoccupied area working out in the long run. From Wikipedia:

In 1993, the Chinese government decided to set up a Special Economic Zone in Chuansha, creating the Pudong New Area. The western tip of the Pudong district was designated as the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone and proposed to become the new financial hub of modern China. Several landmark buildings were constructed in Lujiazui to raise the image and awareness of the area. These include the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building, and the supertall Shanghai World Financial Center.

Now the GDP of just Pudong is greater that than of Slovenia.
While it is probably true that much of the new empty construction is unsustainable, one can never discount the mind-boggling of rural farmers who every year move into the cities and the willingness of the Chinese government to pour whatever it has to into the economy to prevent a collapse, and it has 3.2 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves to use.

[–]gamblekat 1 point2 points ago

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I used 1920s America because I wanted an example of over investment that had severe short-term consequences, even though in the long term the economy had plenty of room to grow.

People tend to treat China rhetorically as an either-or question: either China is a flash in the pan, or it's a brilliant example of a flawless managed economy. The reality is that neither can be true. It's entirely possible - in fact almost inevitable - that an industrializing China will experience significant economic corrections. The desire of the Chinese government to avoid them is actually more of a problem than a solution. They can guarantee that working-class Chinese are employed on building projects for the short term, but it comes at a cost: high inflation, unaffordable housing, and eventually insolvent banks and a growing share of GDP tied up in maintaining unnecessary infrastructure.

19th-century America isn't a bad analogy either. Huge amounts of money were spent in the latter half of the 1800s building railways. The rail network was ultimately very useful, but vastly more capacity was built out than the market could use, and most of the corporations and banks that paid for its construction went bust, creating the largest industrial depression in US history until the 1930s. (see Panic of 1893)

[–]blahball 2 points3 points ago

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a la Dubai

We've seen what happens.

[–]thielmann 385 points386 points ago

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Amazing how they accomplished that in only 10 years.

[–]melbournian 88 points89 points ago

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It took ten years to deactivate the cloaking field.

[–]GrandpasSwagJuice 29 points30 points ago

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nuclear launch detected.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]azgeogirl 63 points64 points ago

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Is this a meme/quote/reference I'm not getting? My math skills are telling me this is actually 20 years. =/

Could be I'm just retarded. Maybe.

[–]BHSPitMonkey 85 points86 points ago

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It's in reference to the trope about people still feeling like 1990 was about 10 years ago, when in reality that obviously isn't the case.

[–]alida-louise 1 point2 points ago

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Thank you. I was starting to seriously question the universe.

[–]PhilxBefore 131 points132 points ago

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I hate to break it to you dude, but you may just be retarded after all.

2010 - 1990 = 10

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]jacobs64 13 points14 points ago

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how did you just greentext?

[–]NarrowEnter 8 points9 points ago

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>mfw I see greentext

[–]Phei 15 points16 points ago

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>mfw you didn't post a face

http://i.imgur.com/a7cF8.jpg

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points ago

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4chan is leaking.

[–]Phei 6 points7 points ago

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>Implying implications

[–]Tacitus_ 2 points3 points ago

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So you've been browsing /r/pics and /r/funny?

[–]flinxsl 2 points3 points ago

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>mfw I have no face

[–]Iggyhopper 1 point2 points ago

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>i like green

[–]Katnipz 1 point2 points ago

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>Implying I won't tell you.

[–]jacobs64 1 point2 points ago

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[–]Foxtrot434 1 point2 points ago

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HOLY SHIT I'M 31!?

[–]TeethofBusey 21 points22 points ago

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Your math skills are fine and you are not retarded. People are just shocked that the 90s are no longer 10 years ago, and now it is a running gag (albiet a lame one) to keep saying that the 90s was just 10 years ago.

[–]bigroblee 25 points26 points ago

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I would like to see a similar shot of Detroit over the same time period.

[–]zerton 8 points9 points ago

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1929

Today

close enough?

[–]ajm86 14 points15 points ago

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Amazing in a "so much smog you can't even see the clouds" sort of way.

[–]abor 2 points3 points ago

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It's fun when you pick your nose at the end of the day and your boogers are black. :\

[–]mbairlol 1 point2 points ago

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I'm impressed that they got such a clear shot of the area. I visited in 2008 and the visibility was much lower for the entire time I was there.

[–]philosopherstoned 1 point2 points ago

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I was born in Shanghai and moved to the United States in 1994. I have been able to visit Shanghai once every one to two years since then. I wish I could tell my child self to document Shanghai's development over the years. However, my parents do tell me that even for them (having lived in Shanghai for over 30 years) the streets are unrecognizable now.

[–]WorkSucksiKnow2007 10 points11 points ago

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TIL that Shanghai loves the Bourne shell.

[–]OpenShut 8 points9 points ago

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My girlfriend is from Shanghai and grew up in the french quarter in the 80s. She never goes back cause the SH she grew up in doesn't exist anymore. Not even close.

[–]abbbe91 7 points8 points ago

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They ruined a perfect park!

[–]w1ll1amz 5 points6 points ago

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I wish I was around to see the world in 2200 (if it's still here).

[–]RsonW 1 point2 points ago

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The world's fine, it's the people that are fucked

[–]WilliamHTaft 15 points16 points ago

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Suck it greenspace!

[–]atxtonyc 8 points9 points ago

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Did anyone else notice that the angle and scale of the before and after shots are different? If you focus on the large buildings in the foreground on the first picture, they're still there in the second (for example, the church steeple clocktower thing on the right is in the center of the after shot). It doesn't look like any part of the river has been reclaimed, either.

[–]aletoledo 9 points10 points ago

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We should demand our money back.

[–]thedoja 3 points4 points ago

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It doesn't matter that the angle and scale are slightly different. The other side of the river is known as Pudong, and only 20 years ago there was practically nothing there but farmland. Now, one of the tallest buildings in the world is there along with a host of massive skyscrapers. It's kind of overwhelming to see in person, actually.

[–]WaveOFsilence 4 points5 points ago

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[–]Pookah 26 points27 points ago

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FYI - the 2010 picture is at high noon... It's just the pollution causing the darkness.

[–]i_wanted_to_say 6 points7 points ago

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Yes, "Absolutely Amazing" that you are able to see all those buildings in one picture in 2010... when I was there I had trouble getting pictures of the top of the tower when I was standing at the base due to all the smog.

[–]havocs 7 points8 points ago

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so... Shanghai Noon?

[–]teedotem 2 points3 points ago

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-Sorry but that's BS. Born and raised in SH and that's SH after dawn, around 7-8pm.

[–]yourbathroom 4 points5 points ago

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I really hope you are joking.

[–]diulei 3 points4 points ago

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Half-joke. Pollution in most Chinese cities is really, really bad due to the insane amount of construction/traffic/lax laws. As in, makes LA smog look OK. But this picture is definitely still at night / close to night.

[–]Pookah 4 points5 points ago

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You busted me... It's actually 1:05 pm, but noon sounded nicer.

[–]coastalbrad 3 points4 points ago

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I've been there, not sure he is?!?!? :-(

[–]jesticle 4 points5 points ago

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[–]easypeasy6 2 points3 points ago

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No clouds now just good ol smog.

[–]surfacinglurker 1 point2 points ago

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China knows how its done...

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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It's nice to see all that green replaced by skyscrapers.

[–]CafeSilver 7 points8 points ago*

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Reminds me of the then and now picture of Dubai.

[–]johnford13 30 points31 points ago

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Meanwhile, in Detroit...

[–]akatherder 40 points41 points ago

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If we're just looking at skylines, know what you're talking about first: http://www.doblevych.com/english/portfolio/photo/cities/detroit/

There are plenty of dead buildings (we've all seen the train station ad-nauseam) but it's really the neighborhoods around Detroit that are the shitty parts. There's plenty to do in downtown Detroit and you aren't taking your life into your hands. Downtown has been rebounding for a while now. They got rid of the ghetto mayor that was doing his best to kill the city.

[–]dunderwood 8 points9 points ago

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lol @ random blockbuster picture?

[–]KnifeyJames 13 points14 points ago

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Blockbuster = progress

[–]sgsteven19 3 points4 points ago

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I live in Detroit and that blockbuster totally sticks out as much amongst the surrounding area as it does in this gallery. I instantly recognized it.

[–]Davecachia 13 points14 points ago

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Abandoned highrises? Detroit is the ideal city to film zombie apoc films.

[–]danvasquez29 49 points50 points ago

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it's why they chose it for Transformers, because half the city already looked like giant robots had been fighting in it.

[–]Schadenfreudian_slip 9 points10 points ago

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I was in Detroit while they were filming, but didn't realize they were filming. I spent quite a while looking around going "Wow, this place is worse than I thought." ...then I asked a security guard "What Happened?" and she said it was a movie set.

I'm not sure what was more embarrassing, that I made the mistake or that Detroit's public-image is so low that I didn't think otherwise.

[–]illvm 1 point2 points ago

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Instead they're filming in Boston. It's weird walking down State and seeing wrecked and burned cars. I thought it was one hell of a pile up until I realized it was a movie set.

[–]luxury_yacht 2 points3 points ago

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Why does the photo from 1990 look like a drawing from 1900?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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This belongs in /r/cityporn.

[–]scottylechien 2 points3 points ago

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There was some really interesting building in the first picture (maybe historic) which no longer exist. I found that terrible, progress is right, but we should not forget past.

[–]devoutchristian 2 points3 points ago

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The tumor has grown and metastasized, not very nice for good ol' nature.

[–]BuckFettman 2 points3 points ago

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No other animal on Earth could do this. Maybe beavers. But not like this.

[–]the_knuckledragger 2 points3 points ago

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I was in Beijing in '89 and I remember bicycles far outnumbered cars in the street, street lanes accomodated for this. Now looking at Beijing I don't even recognize it.

[–]bumbumboogie 2 points3 points ago

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Since this picture was uploaded 12 hours ago, 6 new buildings have been completed

[–]I_CAPE_RATS 10 points11 points ago

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Your big box store dollars at work!

[–]lightninhopkins 4 points5 points ago

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It was much prettier in 1990. More parks.

[–]ThirstForSavings 1 point2 points ago

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I wanna pick up that building on the right by its handle.

[–]ari-mulagu 1 point2 points ago

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Rapid growth and modernization are not always good. The local ecosystem in the area has definitely taken a hit.

[–]1984comment 1 point2 points ago

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Any conformation, b/c I swear I have seen this set up before, but it said 1910 2010.

[–]tresser 1 point2 points ago

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[–]everycredit 1 point2 points ago

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Too bad old Shanghai got...Shanghai'd.

[–]Mororeflex 1 point2 points ago

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There was an article I read a couple of years ago about half the steel being used Shanghai failed quality tests. I couldn't find that article, but did find this

Always a price to rapid expansion.

[–]hoorayforblood 1 point2 points ago

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yeah it's pretty easy to build a city when you have all of the western hemisphere's money and a billion slaves to put it together for you.

[–]Geddingsworth 1 point2 points ago

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My reaction: Holy shit... I was alive for both of these pictures... I'm 20 years old!

[–]Retsoka 1 point2 points ago

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Compare that to Dubai

[–]lolmonger 1 point2 points ago

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Totally sustainable and not all vulnerable to speculative foreign investment variability, right? ?

[–]2LabsGuy 1 point2 points ago*

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Yet it takes us over 10 years to rebuild 2 skyscrapers...

[–]SenorCardgage 1 point2 points ago

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That's a real.....Shanghai Surprise.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Everything changed in the matter of two decades. Thought-provoking indeed.

[–]thewarpanda 1 point2 points ago

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At the world expo in Shanghai, the SAIC-GM Pavilion had this crazy "Shanghai in 2030" video.

Here's the super ninja recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vKAkdIDxjY&feature=related

Jump to around 3:35 for a city flyover.

EDIT: I did not record this.

[–]MadMonk67 1 point2 points ago

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Looking more and more like a Bladerunner set.

[–]non00b 1 point2 points ago

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...and all it took to attain this fabulous wealth was the export of the world's manufacturing jobs to countless underpaid slave-wage earners from the impoverished chinese countryside who will never be able to afford to live in any of these buildings.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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To be fair, they are mostly office buildings and nobody lives in them...

[–]LeeHyori 1 point2 points ago*

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This is the beauty and power of capitalism. Yet, people reject it. It is the only way in which to bring the masses out of poverty. (For those who will say "Yeah, but the PRC is communist!" No, this happened in Shanghai precisely because of liberal economic reforms and because of its status as a "special economic zone.")

I find Hong Kong (Special administrative/economic region) even more impressive aesthetically. (It has been the most capitalist economy on the planet for a very long time): http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/128/cache/hong-kong-city_12846_600x450.jpg

[–]funroll-loops 1 point2 points ago

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Shanghai - 2010

FTFY

[–]sirbruce 8 points9 points ago

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Capitalism wins again!

[–]scrochum 19 points20 points ago

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is it bad of me to say i prefer the 1990 version? more green spaces, no soulless skyscrapers, the architecture looks more refined instead of, again, soulless skyscrapers.

dont get me wrong, i love skyscrapers, especially new york and hong kong, but when i go home (cork, ireland) its so refreshing to see sky when you look up, old buildings that just fit in except for the elysian which just got plonked down.

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points ago

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Damn right , same even in Galway... definition of a sky scraper in Ireland is someone what cleans satellite dishes.

[–]yourslice 1 point2 points ago

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Upvote for Galway - a lovely place

[–]TexasShiv 68 points69 points ago

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Why do you think that skyscrapers are "soulless"?

I think they're beautiful creations, and a progression of architecture. The amount of time and design that goes into the building of some of those structures should not be deemed "soulless" by any means.

Both modern & old art forms have their places.

[–]virtyy 13 points14 points ago

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you racist bastard, skyscrapers do have souls, just like any other building. just because theyre tall doesnt mean they dont.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points ago*

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soulless skyscrapers.

Could not be a more fitting description of Shanghai, at least circa 2004 when I was there. Just hundreds of pure concrete buildings going straight up as far as you could see. No paint, no glass, no cosmetics of any kind, just pure fucking concrete. About 90% of the city was like this. There were some amazing beautiful and modern parts however. China in general is a lot more beautiful than I thought.

edit: Here's kinda what I saw every day. Sze Tsung Leong, Putuo District, Shanghai, 2005.

[–]thedoja 3 points4 points ago

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Ya, the skyscrapers in Puxi are rather bland, but I definitely wouldn't call the city soulless by any means.

[–]ericN 1 point2 points ago

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Indeed. Absolutely awful.

[–]admiral_snugglebutt 2 points3 points ago

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No more park... :(

[–]explodingplant 3 points4 points ago

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That wasn't a park, that was the poorer Chinese quarter Pudong before development, full of shacks. The development of a city means less green, yeah, but there are still lots of parks all over Shanghai.

[–]soothfast 1 point2 points ago

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Shacks = people's homes. No doubt the people who lived in them were "cleared" by the developers and left with bugger all.

[–]mGDivinO 3 points4 points ago

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Silly admiral_snugglebutt, Parks are Koreans. And they are still around. Just not in Shanghai as much as Korea.

[–]NuclearWookie 9 points10 points ago

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Capitalism: it works, bitches.

[–]PandaBearShenyu 18 points19 points ago

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*Mixed Economy.

[–]noseeme 10 points11 points ago

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That's right. China's market reforms are certainly capitalism, but the amount of state controlled enterprises makes the Chinese economy less "Capitalist" than the mixed economy in the United States. Almost every country uses a mixed economy, because, well, it does work, bitches.

[–]Ithinkthere4Ibooze 5 points6 points ago

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China's growth correlates almost .999999 with Deng's capitalist reforms. The legacy of socialist and state run entities is that of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. China's rise is attributable directly to----capitalism.

[–]Nyaos 6 points7 points ago

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We'll see in 10 years if China really did grow this fast naturally or they're going to burst in a massive bubble that will bring down the entire planet's economy.

[–]digggggggggg 4 points5 points ago

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2 words: external growth. It's all external growth. As industrialization, mechanization, and investment is taking hold in China, more hands are being freed up from agriculture, more jobs are being created, and more people are moving to cities.

This is similar to what Western Europe and the US witnessed a century ago, albeit at a slower rate.

In that sense, no, it's not really a bubble. But the present growth rate (an amazing 8-10% increase in GDP a year) is not sustainable either. Eventually they'll run out of people to hire, things to do, or markets for their products, which will cause growth to taper off.

[–]Ithinkthere4Ibooze 2 points3 points ago

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That and it's harder to generate 9% GDP growth off of a larger and larger base. Rule of 70 = at 10% GDP growth--China's economy will double in size every 7 years. They've been exploding at this rate for 10 years--meaning they're still growing 10% YOY on top of an economy that is double the size when the miracle began.

So much for all these idiots saying the "service based economy" was the next stage of the economic cycle.....they look like horses' asses now.

[–]ZeeHanzenShwanz 1 point2 points ago

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