Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 391 posts

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#131

Post by throw4r3w45 »

martin-t wrote: post #39

> Our license plates started with “Gan-A,” the same as the provincial capital. We laughed at people from other cities like Jiayuguan (“Gan-B”) or Jiuquan (“Gan-F”). Even as kids, we joked, “We’re still number one.” Because our grandparents were the country’s elite and we lived in the “Nuclear City,” I always felt like I was living at the center of the world. Am I reading too much into this or does China have a cultur…

You are reading too much into this.

It would be like someone writing an article about growing up in a town with a winning sports team, joking with others about those living in towns with losing sports teams.

Imagine someone reading that and commenting, “…am I reading too much into this or does America have a culture of competition which involves mocking those you deem below you even for the most shallow reasons?”

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#132

Post by Aboutplants »

fcpguru wrote: post #68

Amazing, related story. I had a friend that always talked about growning up in 418 Pennsylvania. It began as a company town for a ceramics manufacturer in the 1920s. The factory specialized in heat resistant vessels. You know like kettles, pitchers, industrial teapots. Each stamped each with a model number tied to production lines. Line 418 was the most profitable. When the post office opened, the clerk assumed “418”…

Eighty Four, Pennsylvania is home to headquarters of 84 Lumber.

The name origination is however much less interesting but still entertaining

“Eighty Four was originally named Smithville. Due to postal confusion with another town of the same name, its name was changed to "Eighty Four" on July 28, 1884. The origin of the name is uncertain. It has been suggested that the town was named in honor of Grover Cleveland's 1884 election as President of the United States, but that occurred after the town was named. Another possibility is the town's mile marker on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Another is that the town was named after the year the town's post office was built, by a postmaster who "didn't have a whole lot of imagination."

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#133

Post by Aboutplants »

echelon wrote: post #100
fcpguru wrote: post #68

Amazing, related story. I had a friend that always talked about growning up in 418 Pennsylvania. It began as a company town for a ceramics manufacturer in the 1920s. The factory specialized in heat resistant vessels. You know like kettles, pitchers, industrial teapots. Each stamped each with a model number tied to production lines. Line 418 was the most profitable. When the post office opened, the clerk assumed “418”…

Atlanta is frequently referred to as "the 404" due to it being one of our area codes for calling. April 4th is an informal city holiday, "404 day". Lots of artists and companies make "404" branded stuff, and you generally see the number all over the city: https://mondaynightbrewing.com/beer/404-atlanta-lager/ https://sneakernews.com/2025/03/21/adidas-superstar-404-day-... https://x.com/kodakk6000/status/1775929898390…

412 is the area code for Pittsburgh and is all over the place with branding and slogans. Area codes in general are a common signifier within communities and the population. It’s always neat to see locals rep their area codes as advertisement or branding, I like it

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#134

Post by Eduard »

selfawareMammal wrote: post #101

What are the coordinates? Been looking for it around 100km west of jiayuguan but I can't seem to get it right

DMS: 40° 10′ 48.67″ N, 97° 16′ 36.49″ E

Decimal: 40.180185, 97.276804

Geo URI: geo:40.180185,97.276804

https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?language=en&params...

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#135

Post by Aboutplants »

Vincent_Yan404 wrote: post #80
Keyframe wrote: post #79

What's the deal with AI here in the comments?

You caught me! Yes, I am using AI to assist with the translation. My IELTS score is 7.5, but my writing band is 6.0. I write my thoughts and comments in Chinese first and then use AI to translate them. The entire article was also translated from my original Chinese manuscript.

Tip, I’d rather read slightly bad grammar due to simple translation than AI assisted interpretation of what you are wanting to say.call me old fashioned I guess

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#137

Post by SoftTalker »

Aboutplants wrote: post #133
echelon wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Atlanta is frequently referred to as "the 404" due to it being one of our area codes for calling. April 4th is an informal city holiday, "404 day". Lots of artists and companies make "404" branded stuff, and you generally see the number all over the city: https://mondaynightbrewing.com/beer/404-atlanta-lager/ https://sneakernews.com/2025/03/21/adidas-superstar-404-day-... https://x.com/kodakk6000/status/1775929898390…

412 is the area code for Pittsburgh and is all over the place with branding and slogans. Area codes in general are a common signifier within communities and the population. It’s always neat to see locals rep their area codes as advertisement or branding, I like it

Anachronistic though, as area codes don't really mean anything anymore in the era of mobile phones.

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#138

Post by AlotOfReading »

quakeguy wrote: post #123
Vincent_Yan404 wrote: post #2

Hi HN, OP here. I grew up in "Factory 404," a secret nuclear industrial city in the Gobi Desert that officially didn't exist on public maps. This is a memoir about my childhood there. It was a surreal place: we had elite scientists living next to laborers, a zoo in the middle of the desert, and distinct "communist" welfare, all hidden behind a classified code. This is Part 1 of the story. I'm happy to answer any ques…

Great article, thx for sharing it! What i want to know, where exactly is this city? I mean geographically, i even could not locate it on GMaps or the like?? I mean, i get it, thats the whole point isnt it? Still curious.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B013'48.0%22N+97%C2%...

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#139

Post by Aboutplants »

embedding-shape wrote: post #48
martin-t wrote: post #39

> Our license plates started with “Gan-A,” the same as the provincial capital. We laughed at people from other cities like Jiayuguan (“Gan-B”) or Jiuquan (“Gan-F”). Even as kids, we joked, “We’re still number one.” Because our grandparents were the country’s elite and we lived in the “Nuclear City,” I always felt like I was living at the center of the world. Am I reading too much into this or does China have a cultur…

Mocking those below you is almost a global phenomena that humans seems to have been doing almost forever, and still do, almost everywhere on the planet. Doesn't really strike me as something uniquely Chinese by any margins.

You can even take it a step farther because animals display the same type of behavior

Re: Growing up in “404 Not Found”: China's nuclear city in the Gobi Desert

#140

Post by mc32 »

Vincent_Yan404 wrote: post #78
glimshe wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with that, but I want to point out that this is one facet of hedonic adaptation. People will always complain about of what they don't have. For instance, most inmates in inhumane prisons would love to have the life you describe if they could enjoy some degree of freedom as a result.

This is where it gets psychologically complex. I’ve often thought that while happiness often comes from having a clear, defined place in a system, freedom is the terrifying opposite—it’s the absence of those boundaries. My feelings toward 404 are deeply conflicted. It was a cage, yet for a long time, I desperately wanted to go back. As I explore in Part 2, the most tragic part wasn't the strength of the cage, but its…

That sounds similar to what some ex-Soviets relate. The system was bad, but by and large had understandable rules that you could use to your advantage, if you had the right standing. Once that system collapsed, they were left to fend for themselves --so even though they had more freedom, they had less certainty in today and tomorrow. Like a 13 year old suddenly becoming an orphan.
Post reply on HN