I have been posting on some of the politics forums, and enjoyed interacting with some people from the Mainland, who had their own opinions about Taiwan and China. I wonder if any of you know some good online forums - in English - where I could get into similar discussions with people from the PRC.
What, you haven’t noticed all the pro-communist sycophants in the political fora here on our very own site?
I believe the People’s Daily has a popular forum for discussion in English. I don’t know how representative it is, since it’s very “international” rather than truly PRC Chinese.
Other than that… I really don’t know where to point you. Obviously, a forum with a heavy concentration of Chinese people will talk about Chinese issues in Chinese, just as forums heavy with Americans will discuss issues in English.
You might follow along on Roland’s blog site: zonaeuropa.com/. Roland is based in HK, blogs in English, and spent much of his life in Britain. He links to other English blog sites where there will often be PRC Chinese readers.
I don’t mind bantering with pro-communist sycophants, nationalist patriots, xenophobic Han-state warriors etc on a forum, for my own edification, if they are sincere and eloquent. I don’t even mind if they are doing so as part of their job. I was exchanging views with one Chinese guy on a thread, who was quite intelligent and well-informed, but he got a bit personal and insulting so I thought it might be interesting to see what else was out there. I know most forums will be in Chinese, but there must be a few in English somewhere. I would love to hear what Chinese students think about political issues.
And why would Chinese students use English to communicate among themselves?
Showing off…
Chinese students might use English to exchange views with other students or interested persons worldwide. They might be participating in English language forums that deal with China. (like Forumosa)They might do it to practise their English. Then again, what I am looking for might not exist. But it probably does…I hope.
Fifteen minutes ago I was reading a “talkback” thread commenting on one of the articles at dailyrotten.com – about an Alaskan man who got caught raping dogs in the woods. Much discussion centered around how ugly he was. A poster named David Dou said:
Hmmm…but none of the Chinese here on f.com are interested in discussion things among ourselves. We seem to be more interested in debating with foreigners who are more aquainted with events in Taiwan than the average foreigner (we’re pretty sure they can find the place on a map at least). To enlighten them to the err of their ways.
You’re going to have to become more literate in Chinese to find a place to troll as the token foreign guy.
I’ve tried to join some threads on Youtube, but it always ended up in a sophomoric shit-slinging match.
I’d like find some forums like that as well.
[quote=“circleback”]I’ve tried to join some threads on Youtube, but it always ended up in a sophomoric shit-slinging match.
I’d like find some forums like that as well.[/quote]
Well, here’s the People’s Daily forum I previously mentioned:
bbs1.people.com.cn/boardList.do? … boardId=45
You can also try here. Very high information content, but not too much traffic.
china-defense.com/forum/index.php?
If you have minimal Chinese fluency, you can register an account on any number of overseas forums and post your questions in English. There are plenty of English speakers who can respond to you, if they choose.
mitbbs.com/bbsdoc/ChinaNews.html
Here’s something else to consider:
globalvoicesonline.org/2008/ … east-asia/
Why the vastly different reactions to the Olympic torch in Europe, and in southeast Asia? Lots of English-speaking ethnic Chinese throughout southeast Asia, and some of their thoughts (as well as non-ethnic Chinese) are in the above blogs.
I look forward to China continuing to improve its relations with ASEAN nations.
I used to think baiting the China Nats was fun - I mean you don’t need a licence and there are no seasonal restrictions. But then someone pointed me at a Chinese-language site and it quite shocked me. Even the most bitter schoolkids in Northern Ireland back in the Troubles didn’t come out with some of the stuff they were saying. To be fair, I think there is just a machine the CCP uses to fill the boards with hatred and vitriol, and then delete it all when the time comes. Chinese people I have come into contact with over here just aren’t that full of hatred. They haven’t got the energy. Like everyone else, they are trying to get on with making some hard currency before the whip comes down. Some are clearly nuts. There are also those for whom their only possession in life is that they are Chinese. It’s often fun to make up a country and ask them if they think it should be independent from China. I have had an entire debate about whether Kelintesitan should become independent. My interlocuter sounded like he would fight to the death to keep this fictional country Chinese. I also always maintain that Tibet is part of British India, which of course it is. That winds them up no end until you show them a map.
I used to think baiting the China Nats was fun - I mean you don’t need a licence and there are no seasonal restrictions. But then someone pointed me at a Chinese-language site and it quite shocked me. Even the most bitter schoolkids in Northern Ireland back in the Troubles didn’t come out with some of the stuff they were saying. To be fair, I think there is just a machine the CCP uses to fill the boards with hatred and vitriol, and then delete it all when the time comes. Chinese people I have come into contact with over here just aren’t that full of hatred. They haven’t got the energy. Like everyone else, they are trying to get on with making some hard currency before the whip comes down. Some are clearly nuts. There are also those for whom their only possession in life is that they are Chinese. It’s often fun to make up a country and ask them if they think it should be independent from China. I have had an entire debate about whether Kelintesitan should become independent. My interlocuter sounded like he would fight to the death to keep this fictional country Chinese. I also always maintain that Tibet is part of British India, which of course it is. That winds them up no end until you show them a map.[/quote]
:roflmao: :bravo:
generally speaking, in most countries at least 1% of the people will be outright xenophobic, nationalistic, racist, one-eyed thoughtless cunts. the problem with China is that it’s got so many people, so there are a very large number of outright cunts there: at least 15 million, just proportionally, which is nearly as many people as live in this whole country. of course ther are undoubtedly a large number of very nice people living there too, but we don’t get to hear much from them. and many of the best and brightest have gone abroad.
the other problem is their government and its policies, but that’s for another thread.
just talk with anyone on your MSN with a (L) China thing… that will be enough…
Based on what you have said, I think we should bait the Chinese nationalists relentlessly. Then, the young college nats will be truly confirmed in their competitive mindset. And, the older greyheads will be able to say, “I tried to reason with the laowei, but in the end, there was no way. They are just different.”
Yes, let’s piss off the Chinese right now! They will never be our friends right? So who gives a shit?
[quote=“cctang”]I believe the People’s Daily has a popular forum for discussion in English. I don’t know how representative it is, since it’s very “international” rather than truly PRC Chinese.[/quote] Yeah, right… I stumbled across that a year or two ago and was reading through it. It was a bunch of propaganda by what were fairly obviously the same people posting pretty much the same garbage over and over again using different screen names… I actually tried to register but it was rejected numerous times… Perhaps it is different now but I never bothered looking again…
A very typical skype exchange with a Chinese:
Them: Where are you living?
Me : In Taipei
Them: Welcome to China.
Me: sayonara
There are quite a lot of groups on Facebook where PRC people participate. The ones I’ve seen generally have a mix of postings in English and Chinese. There will be more and more Chinese and other languages on Facebook now that they have launched multiple choices of interface language. Unfortunately the forum structure on Facebook is inferior to what we are used to on Forumosa, Taiwan Ho! etc., e.g. there is no search function and threads can’t be moved or merged.