there's something about china.
a parallel universe, a prologue to ancient history that has not been wiped clean1, a pattern of trends on a different timetable.
i went to china every summer in high school, and each time it felt like traveling to the future.
wechat qr codes, food delivery on bikes, tiktok, years before they were brought to the US. the US makes fun of china for copying, but its them who doesn't trip over copyright laws, file lawsuits that have no answers, jump through loop after loop and glorify the spirit of private money and 'moving fast and breaking things' to innovate.
in the US all i hear are the stories of how china is lacking, how the US is more stable, how we have free speech, and how we can speak our mind about the government, and that in every way, we are better.
the politics could be in full flames against china, we could be in a full out ai cold war, news driving us close to insanity, but it just didn't match up to how it felt while there. sitting by the lake i…