That's snarky and ignorant. I've lived in Shanghai for 10 years. The Internet blocking never effected my ability to deliver quality IT solutions to my customers.
I suppose having functional health care might make up for spotty connectivity.
Actually - could you email me? I'd like to get an idea of cost-of-living in different cities in China. I'm a technical translator (and do some sysadmin) and so continual connectivity is drop-dead necessary for my livelihood, but about a year or two from now I'd really like to go to China for a year or two to poke around and get to know it.
Tough choice. Somewhere in the 'hackers hobbies' threads someone details that he had to pay $100K out of pocket for medical expenses.
As for the connectivity, simply set up a VPN on a box that you alone own and use and I'm sure you'll be fine.
But, I guess you are back in the safety and security of the good ol' USA, so it ain't your problem anymore.
I think that may be very much debatable. No videos, no blogs, no web 2.0 could also mean less distractions to get real, technical work done.
As far as "quality" IT solutions go. Well, lets see here: I helped the Shanghai gov make an e-workflow solution for procurement. This cut down on costs and kickbacks a lot. I helped several Chinese banks become online banks. Some of my middleware code processes billions in transactions without breaking a sweat.
I'm sorry you don't feel safe and secure in China. I was at Home Depot last week with my son. About an hour after I left, a guy shot and killed another man on isle 13...same isle we were on. I never feared for the safety of my family in Shanghai.
--Ben F
The 'red scare' seems to be alive and well.
Lack of connectivity is a problem, but it is a technical problem. The suggestion that someone in China would go to jail or worse for asking a question is what got me irritated.
It's simply misinformation and fear mongering.
If you went all out against the government as a foreigner I still think they'd just run you out of the country, rather than jail you to avoid a diplomatic incident.
The people that are most at risk in China from the government are the dissidents that openly confront the government about various issues and the people that chip away at the powerbase from below.
Of course it is absolutely reprehensible that free speech is not protected and that there are so many corrupt officials there, but the problems are rather deep seated and for the most part it will be the Chinese people that will one day solve this.
Compared to the implosion of Russia and the abject poverty as well as the rise of the Mafia that you can directly trace back to the 'vlasti' in the former Soviet Union China is doing reasonably well, they could have done a lot worse.
They also could have done significantly better than they're doing today but for that to happen they first have to get rid of the old guard and they're not going to let go without a real fight.
The play the ruling class in China is making is one where they try to give the people just enough bread and games that they won't rise up against them in the longer term. It's a fine line they're riding and I think in the long run they'll lose. Time will tell.
Anybody that goes to China to live there from the West has my blessing, they're the people that are entrepreneurial at heart, seeking out new frontiers and gambling their fortune on it.