Ahahaha! China is not the Soviet Union. It's a capitalist society like almost anywhere else, and I'm positive that being rich in China rocks (apart from the air pollution).
And China is far worse than the former Soviet Union because they have more money and more control. Being lower class in China is far worse than in former states of the soviet union.
The thing is that China is a home for a lot of people and is too polluted and crowded because of wealth distribution. If people do not care about the environment, intellectual property and a countless of other things then being rich and filthy rich are too different things.
A wealthy man can walk the streets of european/american cities without worrying too much about its health or not having a space for himself without guards. Do not forget that european / us cities are dwarves compared to Asia in general.
The movie Elysium is a good picture (maybe too exaggerated but hey) of people being wealthy in China.
Yes you can have a good life in a golden cage but it's still a cage.
Second just because you live in Hong Kong or Shenzhen it does not mean you know anything about China. Especially these 2 do not reflect anything at all about China. And that is fine that might be the reason why have you chosen them and not the other places in China.
Third. You do not seem to speak the Chinese language.
Fourth. Just because you have a positive prejudice towards China does not mean you are right.
Fifth. If you would know something about authoritarian regimes and especially China or NK you would know that hiding and punishing beggars is a common practice to save face.
Sixth. Please educate me how country of 1.3bn has a lot less beggars and violent crimes than US a country of 320m.
Seventh. If you have never lived in a communist country you surely can't be aware of propaganda and hiding of crimes. Ask some chinese friends of yours how hiding crimes, especially the violent ones goes in China. How it was in every communist state. You will be surprised.
Eighth. I understand you like China/Chinese more than Americans but do not close your eyes before the crimes of these regimes I am begging you. For all of those that died and suffered in gulags
Ninth. I recommend you to visit countryside and especially the northern region if you have the balls.
Yes you do not see a gun violence in China because guns are banned and are only in possession of military and triads. The most violent crimes are carried by the poorest using knives,shovels or anything they can use. And that is not being reported by anybody. Or do you really believe in country of 1.5bn that it is impossible to hide these crimes ?
In China if you are a white foreigner you can freely walk around drunk because if you go missing it is not that easy to hide the truth from the public.
Guns are US problem hey have you heard of 2nd most brutal shooting ? That happened in Korea a country where even a licensed hunters have to put their weapons in safes in police stations.
The worst mafia in China is its government. I know you do not care about any of these because you live in a relatively rich region but only if you would see millions of poor souls working in China then you would finally understand.
Rich and big cities are not CHINA! They are mostly a relict of past western influence.
There are tons of people (not necessarily rich) prefer living in China than in America. They just care about different things.
As a Chinese citizen living in San Francisco right now, I would say the overall living quality in America is no where near as good as in China. If not for the prosperous software industry here, there is no reason to stay in America at all.
China has its problems but America has its own too. The same goes both for the society and the government. I do feel a lot safer walking down the streets in China, and air pollution has never been a big issue. What you see on news headlines are not what you see everyday.
And air pollution is not problem in China ? Are you kidding me ? Just ask my any korean in Seoul how air pollution from China is not a problem. And THAT IS SEOUL that's being hit by chinese air pollution.
The pollution in chinese cities is too big to not consider it an issue.
Comparing to that I'm bothered a lot more here about the prevalence of guns, drugs, high crime rates, the unfairness in education (how many ivy league students come from poor families?), ridiculously expensive medical system, so many bullshit in the law, government wasting so much money while getting almost nothing done... I'd happily trade air pollution with solution to any of these problems. Sometimes it's just funny to see how Americans could be okay to accept all of that really well, some may not even realize these are all appalling problems, while they still give such a big fuss about air pollution in China.