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[–] 150 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Yea but you’re still hungry for another car an hour later!

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    I have never understood this joke

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  • [–] 59 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    The thought is the simple carbs from rice, noodles, and high sugar sauces in a lot of takeout-style Chinese food gets digested quickly, so while one can eat that until they feel stuffed, the body will quickly break it down, and with the volume of fiber and protein in the meal being relatively low to the volume of starches and sugars, your stomach will soon be wanting more due to the low satiety provided. One could eat a smaller amount of, say, steak and broccoli, and remain fuller for much longer, due to the better nutritional balance and higher protein and fiber content which takes the body much longer to digest than starches and sugars.

    It is played as a joke since a large number of people experience this overeating, yet soon hungry again situation, and attribute it to the food, although probably not in a way of understanding they're eating a different kind of junk food than what they're used to. My understanding is all this stuff is westernized and not really reflective of what Chinese food actually is.

    This is also why people talk about Asians getting a "secret menu" at Asian restaurants. It's not as though Westerners are forbidden to order real Asian dishes, they're just a completely different taste profile than what a lot of Westerners are accustomed to, whether dishes be too spicy, too salty, or not sweet/saucy/cheesey/etc enough. One time I went fishing in the ocean and got way too many fish. I offered them to the guys in the Chinese takeout place attached to where I was working. They offered me some of what they made for themselves with it but gave me a heads up that I may not exactly enjoy it. I took a bite and it tasted sooooo salty, and I got surprised it still had the soft fish bones in it, and it wasn't bad but was not what my palette was ready for at the time and I could not finish it, meanwhile they were all grateful and fully enjoying it.

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  • [–] 34 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    That was one of the most typed out joke explanations I've ever seen online, I salute your patience.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    I try to keep things simple, but I also always want to give the most complete answer I can, so I end up being pretty long winded. If someone takes the time to ask a question, I assume they do want the full answer though. I always worry I'm beating things into the ground, but I really want people to know as much as they can. People are always free to tell me to shut my trap. 😄

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    Have you eaten Americanized "Chinese" food? I eat it every on every last Tuesday of the month. I order two meals for myself every time, because without fail, I will be hungry again within less than 2 hours. Yesterday (4/28/2026), I had a pint of General Tso's Chicken with a pint of beef lo mein. That's an entire quart of food. If I ate a quart of spag bol for my lunch, I'd be done for the night. I'd be asleep. But after my big ol' "Chinese" lunch, I was hungry ~90 minutes later, so I ate my pint of Szechuan Chicken and my pint of pork fried rice. Wonton soup was also involved. Yes, I added the fried noodles.

    And even after that, I got a large pizza (pepperoni, pineapple, and extra cheese) at 10:30pm, just to cover the late night munchies. I only ate 4 slices out of 8, so I had some left for breakfast today. The stuff we sell as "Chinese food" in the USA is not very filling.

    YMMV, I am a large man, and I am very active. I'm 6'4", I lift weights, and I run 6 miles a day. My TDEE is ~3800 calories. If you're one of those folks who only need 1200-1600 calories a day, a simple lunch from the "Chinese" spot would be a lot of food for you. My wife is small, and she can easily live off 1600-1800 calories a day. Our gf is tiny and lives off of 1200 calories a day most days. A "splurge" day for her is 1500-1600 calories.

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  • [–] 105 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    But then my cars would be in China, and that’s not much use.

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  • [–] 57 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (8 children)

    Income comparisons aside, what the fuck is this "journalism"???

    The average new car in the ‌U.S. in March had a list price of $51,456, according to Kelley Blue Book.

    In China, there are more than 200 battery-powered models, including hybrids, for sale at less than the equivalent of $25,000, according to DCar, an information and trading platform.

    Reuters compiled a list of the five best-selling electric vehicles in China that start under $12,000 using ​DCar data.

    Did they deliberately only look at the cheapest cars to compare to the average American car in order to get their headline? Like I could buy 10 shitboxes from the junkyard for the average price of a new car, but that doesn't mean much.

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  • [+] 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 25 points 4 months ago* (14 children)

    Wuling Hongguang

    omg it's so cute

    As much as I appreciate the charger "nose", that's a bad place to have it if you park close to the wall

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  • [–] 18 points 4 months ago

    As much as I appreciate the charger “nose”, that’s a bad place to have it if you park close to the wall

    Chances are because that's such a small car, there would be ample space to park away from a wall and still remain within a standard car footprint.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, this comparison is terrible they're purposefully putting an upper limit on price when comparing things. Not to mention that they aren't even looking at features and range of these cars.

    Someone below mentions the "Wuling Hongguang", the top selling car in China apparently. While it's cheap, its max speed is 62mph and it has a range around 75 miles. Like of course that's cheap, and could work in some situations, but that's not comparable to any car sold in the US.

    The more I read into things like this the more I realize that cars are just expensive. Sure China has a wider range of options, but when comparing apples to apples things look more similar than I'd expect.

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    [–] 52 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    I dont want 5 cars i want 1 car

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  • [–] 34 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Okay, but it's gonna cost five times as much.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    :( can I have a 5th of a car?

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    [–] 35 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (13 children)

    Because the government is subsiding those cars in a number of different ways; Attempt to control the global automotive and clean energy markets.

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  • [–] 56 points 4 months ago (4 children)
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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    And because wages are lower as well. Manpower costs more in America than China by quite a bit. The article doesn't scale prices to purchasing power. It's not 5x as much anymore probably, but it's a significant amount.

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    [–] 25 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    This is why we have trade protectionism - tariffs, "made in X" laws, etc. - to ensure capitalists can continue to generate maximized profits, rather than having to compete with Chinese-made cars.

    The oft-quoted argument is "well, we need to protect jobs" - well, tax the rich and subsidize it then, if those jobs are so important. Why should the working class pay the cost of protecting jobs (ensuring ongoing production for the benefit of the ruling class) in industries where capitalists continue to maximize profit?

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    [–] 18 points 4 months ago* (2 children)

    Step 1. Buy 5 cars in China

    Step 2. Rent them out to Chinese people

    Step 3. Profit

    Step 4. Buy yourself an American car with the proceeds

    Step 5. Can finally access entry level American labour

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    [–] 15 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    bad math.

    Average price does not reflect what people actually buy.

    Chinese cars abroad are not actually that cheap.

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    [–] 14 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    But can't you also buy 5 American cars for the average price of American car? Just buy used 🤷‍♂️

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    [–] 13 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    you could buy 2 us cars for the average price of a us car (2 of the cheapest us cars). seems that China still has cheaper cars, but this article is biased in the title and article for some reason

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    [–] 12 points 4 months ago

    And a brake job probably wont run you $1200...

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago

    China doing capitalism better than the US 🫡......America!.....Fuck yeah!! 😒

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Keep the car prices high, or its taxes and use the profits to fund public transportation?

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