Will this be located in the independent sovereign nation of Taiwan so as to have the benefit of freedom of thought, religion, the rule of law, and private property?
Of course not.
Since when freedom worth money?
YC China and Qi Lu
91–100 of 360 posts
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#92Looking forward to YC North Korea
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China. Plenty of my laowai colleagues only knew a few words and got along just fine in a tier one Beijing, which admittedly is a bit behind Shanghai and Shenzhen. The only thing that really drove us out was the pollution (a huge problem in Beijing that is supposedly finally getting better). Given the US visa policy, as bad as it is, still attracts far more many foreigners…
> Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China Basic question: what do you do in China for browsing, emails and maps? I suppose Google doesn't work there and all the local services would be in Mandarin, no? When I travel I use Google search, emails, maps extensively but I have no clue what would I do in China. Also FB and Twitter also likely won't be accessible. So how do I even keep touch with folks outside Ch…
For a long while shadowsocks/shadowsocksr (the latter being more actively developed) has been preferred way to bypass the GFW although what works is constantly changing. This was an interesting write up passed a couple years ago where a dev tries out various methods for bypass on a China trip: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewal...
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has nothing to do with nationalism. The PRC is a dictatorship that currently has millions of people in concentration camps undergoing reeducation, suppresses freedom of expression for its citizens, and crushes minority cultures.
Dismissing or condemning an entire country like you did, besides being unsubstantive, certainly qualifies as nationalistic flamebait in the sense that we use the term here. Please don't post like this to HN.
I have nothing against the people of China but the PRC government and Chinese business is so intertwined that I don't think it's possible to do business with China and not interact or enable the PRC in any way.
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Chinese government is not the Chinese people I don't think the Chinese people approve of many of the things their government does. Though censorship makes dissent harder to "prove"
A lot of americans don't approve of many things the government does but we don't call them a dictatorship oppressing the people. Plenty of western countries are involved in censorship on a smaller scale but that's not considered evil and suppressing the true views of the public. One easy example being mega projects, here in the west we seem to wax poetic constantly about returning to the good old days where a nation…
> but we don't call them a dictatorship oppressing the people.
That's because there's an actual definition of dictatorship. China is a dictatorship, the US is not.
> Plenty of western countries are involved in censorship on a smaller scale but that's not considered evil and suppressing the true views of the public.
Yes it is.
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China. Plenty of my laowai colleagues only knew a few words and got along just fine in a tier one Beijing, which admittedly is a bit behind Shanghai and Shenzhen. The only thing that really drove us out was the pollution (a huge problem in Beijing that is supposedly finally getting better). Given the US visa policy, as bad as it is, still attracts far more many foreigners…
> Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China Basic question: what do you do in China for browsing, emails and maps? I suppose Google doesn't work there and all the local services would be in Mandarin, no? When I travel I use Google search, emails, maps extensively but I have no clue what would I do in China. Also FB and Twitter also likely won't be accessible. So how do I even keep touch with folks outside Ch…
Many foreigners have VPNs, but many do not. They aren't the easiest thing to set up, and they often close shop a few weeks after you pay a yearly subscription fee.
Email: I use outlook.com, but I shut my gmail account long before gmail was blocked. I'm weird.
maps: Apple Maps on an iphone works well enough. Not sure if gmaps on Android works or not. Many Google services still work even if a few are blocked.
Browsing: many websites work in China, but I also had full internet access at work for when I needed it, so Facebooking family was easy enough, I just didn't use it at night when I was at home...I didn't miss it.
Its definitely isolating, but not incredibly so. If you are addicted to social media, this can even help you become unaddicted, weird therapy for sure :)
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dismissing or condemning an entire country like you did, besides being unsubstantive, certainly qualifies as nationalistic flamebait in the sense that we use the term here. Please don't post like this to HN.
I have nothing against the people of China but the PRC government and Chinese business is so intertwined that I don't think it's possible to do business with China and not interact or enable the PRC in any way.
The trouble with this is that when people bring grandiose or generic rhetoric, the only place the discussion can go is into flamewar, as others get even more grandiose and generic (or personal).
You're not adding any information when you post like this. It's just a strong opinion with a strong feeling attached. When someone else with the opposite opinion comes along and blasts their opposite feeling, no interesting information will be exchanged. Therefore it's off topic for thoughtful conversation, which is what we're trying for here.
An HN thread thrives on curiosity and specifics, withers on the gruel of grandiosity, and fries under scorching rhetoric.
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China. Plenty of my laowai colleagues only knew a few words and got along just fine in a tier one Beijing, which admittedly is a bit behind Shanghai and Shenzhen. The only thing that really drove us out was the pollution (a huge problem in Beijing that is supposedly finally getting better). Given the US visa policy, as bad as it is, still attracts far more many foreigners…
> Mandarin isn't strictly necessary to live in China Basic question: what do you do in China for browsing, emails and maps? I suppose Google doesn't work there and all the local services would be in Mandarin, no? When I travel I use Google search, emails, maps extensively but I have no clue what would I do in China. Also FB and Twitter also likely won't be accessible. So how do I even keep touch with folks outside Ch…
I'm moving to China in a week for graduate school and have been asking myself many of these questions :)
In past trips to China, VPN services--specially Express VPN--allowed me to easily bypass the Great Firewall. That unlocks Twitter, FB, Google services, etc.
That being said, many services don't have a great experience in China. For example, Google Maps doesn't offer public transit or driving instructions. In these cases, using the chinese-based app (Du Maps) is just far better.
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#99Looking forward to YC South East Asia or YC Asia. Don't forget us.
I don't think it'll happen. If you're from New York or Canada or Europe etc, the advice is "Come to SV for the incubator, start an American company, and run it from back home in the long run if you don't/can't move here."
That doesn't work so well for China because of capital controls and because the Chinese business environment is so hostile to foreign companies.
Re: YC China and Qi Lu
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dismissing or condemning an entire country like you did, besides being unsubstantive, certainly qualifies as nationalistic flamebait in the sense that we use the term here. Please don't post like this to HN.
The comment may be referencing this post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17737942
The root comment didn't reference that or anything else.
The problem with bringing such links into arguments like this is that no one does so for reasons of intellectual interest. For example, in this case, people aren't actually interested in the plight of the Uighurs. Rather, it's convenient ammunition for justifying pre-existing political and national feelings. Such a move is not part of thoughtful conversation at all; it's just ideology and tribal loyalty, which explains why the discussions are so utterly repetitive—and therefore off topic for HN.