This comment is so frustrating 😅 one of the only concrete statements you make about Chinese policy is "i cant imagine them handing out free food to anybody". Literally political criticism based on vibes.

but we don’t have the 996 mentality here by a long shot

When I was in China I have memories of my mom taking me to her workplace when I was a kid (I think because nobody was at home, grandma was supposed to be watching us but I can't remember why she wasn't available for some reason), she worked in some electronic store doing sales.

I remember play some (probably bootleg) games on a portable DVD player and like you put this disc in it then you connect a controller and voila... you play video games on it...

I remember feeling so lonely just by myself in this sort of mall-like place with a lot of people walking by, while mom worked, barely had time to check on me... so I just played games alone by myself... I mean I don't remember it vividly as in every detail, I was still like either like preschool/kindergarden age or 1st/2nd grade, but I remember the general vibe around there. I had an older brother but he wasn't there so idk whete the hell he was. I remember the direction to my mom's workplace (by now, I've forgotten it, but I used to just have a sense of direction)

But yea mom was so busy, dad had trouble finding a stable job, constantly job-seeking.

"Childcare" is just finding relatives, usually the kid's grandparents, according to my mom, it's said that my paternal grandparents, US permanent residents, refused to watch over us even during their short visit from the US.

Mom worked overtime a lot. Like I remember sometimes just being at home and mom and dad come home so late.

My aparment had this weird child-proof lock thingy that my parents could just lock in from the outside in case no adults was home since they didn't want their kids to go wandering outside. (firehazard lol, jeez dad wtf)

ERs accept everyone, but all they can do is basic treatment of acute conditions.

Not sure how they are as of right now, but in China, for a long time, they'd require you to pay before getting ER treatment

Medical debt is incredibly hard to collect on too.

In China, they can go after family members...

Americans just don’t understand how good they have it

Lol I remember my family didn't have internet until we left China...

I lived in a very slum-looking area of Guangzhou right next to the 白云山 (Baiyun mountain). I asked recently about the internet thing and my dad said they were just starting to install internet like very late, like around 2010 around when we left, my dad said it was expensive... so for us, we never got internet in China

Never got to experience the "golden age of internet" that most of y'all talk about... cuz I didn't even get an internet at all.

Parents didn't really use internet until like 2014 and smartphones became ubiquitious and then soon afterwards they installed Wechat. That's like the only thing they use lol.

There's a lot of like worker safety stuff that China just doesn't have, also no independent unions and strike-action was uncommon and almost unheard of until we got to the US and then hear about strikes on the news so often it's kinda a culture shock.

Food safety was so... meh...

Mom mom used to warn me about the food safety thing all the time, stories about people smuggling in milk formula from Hong Kong because there was so much fake milk in mainland. My mom didn't trust the milk and she said she just breastfed me. Water needs to be boiled... When I found out that Americans just drank from the tap, that was sort of a culture shock.

So after I found out about that, I often drink from the tap cuz I'm often thirsty and didn't wanna waste time boiling water, also didn'r like warm water... I mean why not, we're in the US after all (as long as "Flint, Michigan" doesn't happen its gonna be fine), my parents still have the habit of boiling water... I feel like they're just wasting electricity lol...

The only thing I liked was the subways in Guangzhou had the platform safety doors... I remember when I first arrived in NYC, I often have fears about just falling into the tracks, cuz the lack of doors... but yea that's like the safety doors only thing I really missed

Most poorer people work two or three jobs because they can’t get full time jobs with healthcare or benefits. Which means they work 40+ hours every week regardless because it’s all they can do to survive.