[mynameisnoone]

Pretty much the Saudi sphere of influence in a nutshell.

Parts of the maintained colonial vestiges within proper China are also equally absurd in splendor: marble from floor-to-ceiling, chandeliers as large as medium-sized aircraft, hedge mazes, indoor and outdoor sport shooting, and individual bungalows in the back by the lake filled with swans... and even the "cheap" rooms came with barber service and a "masseuse".

In many things, Americans don't realize how substandard or how (sometimes similarly) unequal their standard of living is relative to the rest of the world. I don't think most Americans have an accurate perspective because 2/3 don't even have a passport, and probably 70% of the only 1/3 who have one just have it to go to tourist traps like Tulum or Tahiti, or to be assholes in another country during Spring Break more-or-less the same as Miami Beach domestically who got tired of it.

If you want to see the world, get a backpack and ride trains across Europe, Asia, Russia, Africa, and all of the Americas too. Maybe join an international humanitarian NGO. Some people join the military, but that's a bad idea as per Smedley Butler.