[seanmcdirmid]

All expats fall into this trap eventually. There is so much crazy stuff going on, we fixate on it, since it is a situation that directly effects us.

If it wasn't for the pollution and food safety issues, china wouldn't be such a bad place to live, though.

[kitschshrine]

There are still other issues in China like

- censorship

- bad access to world internet

- corruption

- zenophobia/racism

- bad manners/behaviors from locals

- no weed

- food delicacies (mexican guacamole, european chocolate, real cheeseburger, etc)

[esturk]

What do you mean by no weed? Just like in many states where it is illegal, you just need to know people.

[ngoldbaum]

That may be true, but then you're taking a real risk of being thrown in a Chinese prison, maybe for years.

[seanmcdirmid]

Actually...my friend went to an organized rave in north Beijing, the authorities stopped the bus on the way back to the city, all Chinese were drug tested, the foreigners were just ignored for some reason.

I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but I've never heard of anyone getting even deported for drugs, let alone jailed. But remember Chinese laws are enforced selectively, so it is playing with fire.

[seanmcdirmid]

Weed grows along the great wall in Beijing. The raves around the wall are infamous.

[lazaroclapp]

I don't know about the rest of it, I suspect you might well be right, but having been born in Mexico, lived in the US for 5 years and traveled to China for 2 weeks, I can tell you that "lack of food delicacies" is a much bigger issue in the USA than in China from my point of view ;)