The China Thread

[Admiral Yi]

A profound object lesson in the need for property rights. 

[Monoriu]

Common occurance.

What a country!

The problem is there is no official land ownership in China.  It is still a communist country.  So all land belongs to "the people".  So it is just a matter of "changing land use" if it is decided that a certain plot of land should be developed into luxury houses, instead of being farmed 

[Sheilbh]

I think I read this year's breaking records for labour disputes too.

[Jacob]

I think I read this year's breaking records for labour disputes too.

Yeah, the economic engine is slowing down a bit. There's bound to be an increase in tension.

[garbon]

In important Chinese news:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/lovesick-chinese-woman--26--dumped-by-boyfriend-spends-entire-week-in-kfc-131549197.html

Lovesick Chinese woman, 26, dumped by boyfriend spends entire week in KFC

Depressed Tan Shen, 26, from Chengdu, in China's southwest Sichuan Province, decided she needed some fried comfort food to get over her ex.

A lovesick Chinese woman dumped by her boyfriend spent an entire week in a KFC eating chicken wings.

Depressed Tan Shen, 26, from Chengdu, in China's southwest Sichuan Province, decided she needed some fried comfort food to get over her ex.

She stopped off at a KFC near a train station by her home, but ended up staying for a whole week because she 'needed time to think'.

Tan even phoned in sick to work to stay at the KFC, with her break-up clearly hitting her very hard.

She said: 'I was walking around feeling miserable and decided to stop off at the KFC at the train station.

'I hadn't planned on staying there long, I just wanted some chicken wings.

'But once I got in there and started eating I decided I needed time to think.

'I didn't want to go back to my apartment because it was full of memories of him. So I stayed.'

After a few days employees at the chicken shop began to get concerned.

Worker Jiang Li Lung, 22, said: 'We work in shifts here and the restaurant is open 24 hours a day, so we get a lot of people coming through.

'At first no one really noticed her.

'But after a few days I began thinking she looked really familiar.

'Then I realised we had been serving her for the past three days and that she hadn't actually left.

'When we asked her if she was ok, she said she was and just needed time to think.

'And then asked for another box of chicken wings with extra large fries.'

He said the woman wasn't doing anyone any harm so they let her stay.

He added: 'She was after all a paying customer, even if a bit of an odd one.'

After a week Shen decided she'd had enough when local media turned up and decided to write about her.

'I decided the best thing to do would be to leave the city and go back to my parents.

'I had already told work I was off sick, so phoned them and said I was leaving.

'And I was getting sick of the taste of chicken so there was no point in staying there anymore.'

She then boarded the next train to her parents' home in Quingdao city in east China's Shandong Province and left.

Waitress Jiang Li Lung said: 'I guess we kind of miss her. It certainly made work more interesting.'

[Josquius]

That's not the ending I heard

When the news got out on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter), that there was a single woman in the KFC, the place was inundated by hordes of CV and payslip waving single men.

One of the men, Liu Peng said "Its rare that we get this opportunity to meet a single woman. She is a little past proper marriageable age but I'm 31 now and have been single since I was in middle school, so I can't really be picky"

Another eager suitor, who chose to remain anonymous said "According to my favourite TV show, 'Friends', the week after a girl has been dumped is the easiest time to get her to marry you. It seems I was not the only one to realise this however"

As a result of the influx of men and the gifts they gave her, Tan Shen is now said to have upgraded to her city's branch of Burger King."

[Sheilbh]

A friend of mine who's originally Chinese just came back from three weeks in China (and Vietnam) with her man. She was saying that though Google was entirely shut down, weirdly, the BBC app was still updating about Hong Kong.

Apparently lots of people knew something was happening, because they're used to getting round the Great Firewall. But even her well-off, well connected relatives were asking her and her boyfriend about it because they were more up to date and generally English language sources were more trusted than Chinese.

[Tonitrus]

We're losing our edge in the West. 

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/woman-goes-sex-tour-plans-sleep-men-every-city-visits-photos/815685/

[garbon]

We're losing our edge in the West. 

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/woman-goes-sex-tour-plans-sleep-men-every-city-visits-photos/815685/

Well good luck to her. Exchanging sex for a place to stay sounds a tad dangerous.

[CountDeMoney]

Exchanging sex for a place to stay sounds a tad dangerous.

Marriage has worked for centuries.

[Monoriu]

This feels more like a self-advertisement for marriage rather than a real travel plan.  "Hey look I am pretty and I am willing to date whoever is rich enough."

[garbon]

Exchanging sex for a place to stay sounds a tad dangerous.

Marriage has worked for centuries.

Well 1) I'd say that has proven a pretty fraught institution for women andt 2) I don't think marriage to one person can be so easily compared to X number of men in X number of cities - particularly when you explicitly state that it is an even exchange. Unfortunately there might be some man who thinks he should get "his fair share."

[CountDeMoney]

I didn't say it was a good idea.  Or her trip, for that matter.

[MadImmortalMan]

Well 1) I'd say that has proven a pretty fraught institution for women

How so?

[Valmy]

If it is so fraught for women why do you support Lesbians being able to marry?