I spent 30 years living as a liberal and like every liberal I hated China. I was this annoying “democracy tho” and “Uyghur tho” type. Now that I’m a communist I really wish to go to China as a tourist, maybe even live there for a while. As a liberal, I reposted a lot of BBC-level propaganda about China on facebook like 5 years ago. Is there any speech I can be punished for in China even though I don’t support this reposted stuff anymore? Did anyone here go to China after being a liberal?

  • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    381·
    3 months ago

    The upside is that China is a normal country with normal people in it. It’s not one big prison or monitoring hellscape or whatever nonsense liberals believe.

    The downside is that China is a normal country with normal people in it. Expect to find people just living their lives and hanging out. Expect to find diverse political opinions, most of which center around a vaguely leftish nationalism. You don’t need to be worried about acting incorrectly unless you start physical fights or something.

  • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
    301·
    3 months ago

    Bro/broette/br-non-bronary, I was the same a few years ago, and I’m in China right now and have had the time of my life. Learn more Chinese than you think you need. I did 6 months of daily practice and I struggle greatly talking to people.

      • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
        20·
        3 months ago

        The visa requirements were vastly loosened like a week after I got mine, I hear it is pretty easy these days, but you still have to either go to a consulate or pay a service to go for you.

        Money, I can’t help with, but paying for things here I use my western card with Alipay. I’d recommend having some cash for places that don’t take western cards, or trying to set up WeChat pay, but I never got around to it.

        I say skip Duolingo, and use HelloChinese, the biggest thing I struggle with is hearing what people say, especially when they have an accent that doesn’t match what Duolingo has. HelloChinese has live actors for their speech, and that seems to help a lot. There’s other apps and things, but I’m not too familiar with most of them.

        I’m honestly planning on getting a private tutor when I go back home to really drill my listening and talking skills, because as it is I’m basically mute even though I can read pretty well I think for how long I’ve been practicing.

        • cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml
          8·
          3 months ago

          Do you have any service recommendations, or what to expect? Or how much money the service would cost?

          When you say consulate, do you mean like embassy? There are unfortunately no embassies in Texas, and I’m very concerned that I could be tracked or harassed by the U.S. government for mailing a Chinese embassy.

          • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
            11·
            3 months ago

            Consulate is like embassy yeah. There’s only like 6 in the US, and each region is assigned to one. For me, I had to go to Chicago’s, as it was the nearest to me and the one I’m assigned to. You have to go to the one you’re assigned, regardless if another is closer. I didn’t use the service, I went in person, but I saw many of the people who did work for the service. I looked into it, and it was about $500 I think, you have to give them your passport and paperwork, they’ll go to the consulate, get your visa, which takes like 3 days, and then return to you with your passport with the Visa inside.

            For the picture, you need it to match specific specifications. I had my aunt take a picture of me against a white background with no shadowing on my face or behind me, and then used an online tool to adjust the dimensions, resolution, and center my head to exactly match their specifications. I saw a guy next to me get denied with his Walgreens photo, so I really recommend the online tool rather than relying on paying someone for the photo.

            You don’t have to mail the consulate, but even if you did, you shouldn’t worry. Thousands of Americans go to China and live in China every year. Unless you’re actively working with the Party in some way, I don’t think any of us are nearly important enough for the US government to give two shits about. I already get harassed by the USA gov for being brown in public though, so maybe I’m not the best judge of that kinda thing.

  • showmustgo [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    182·
    3 months ago

    Is there any speech I can be punished for in China even though I don’t support this reposted stuff anymore?

    Did anyone here go to China after being a liberal?

    after

    I’ve got some terrible news for you LIB

    The CCP will lock you up the minute you step foot off the plane. They don’t have freeze-peach like we do here. Keep to the democratic side of the world, kid. Go to Japan or SK where the Freedom Index ™️ isn’t in the dumpster and you can still tell your friends you spent some time in the Orient.

    • showmustgo [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      202·
      3 months ago

      Okay I may have memed a little hard for the comradeship com. seriously though for all intents and purposes, China is just a country that has dumbasses like me travel to it all the time. A country with the:

      • oldest civilization in the world

      • biggest cities in the world

      • most advanced technology in the world

      • best intranational transit system in the world

      • best food in the world

      Simply put it would be a mistake to deprive yourself of experiencing such an incredible place

  • cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml
    171·
    3 months ago

    As long as you’re not associated with a terrorist group like ETIM you’ll be fine. China cares first and foremost that you follow their laws while you’re in China. The US and UK are much more paranoid about background checks of your online activity, it’s them you should be worried about if you ever want to go there, they may even outright hack and scan your phone when you go through security if you’re from a country they don’t like or just look “suspicious”, and we all know what counts as “looking suspicious”…