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Sto caricando le informazioni... High Tech and Hot Pot: Revealing Encounters Inside the Real China (edizione 2020)di Stephan Orth (Autore), Brent Hirose (Narratore), Jesse Inocalla (Narratore), Greystone Books (Publisher)
Informazioni sull'operaHigh Tech and Hot Pot: Revealing Encounters Inside the Real China di Stephan Orth
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![]() Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. ![]() Orth had to lie in order to take this trip across the country, telling the Chinese Consulate that he had no intention of writing a book about China, that he was just visiting a friend and would see just two cities. He knew that if he admitted to his plans for a book, to meeting strangers all across the country and to informing the official about an app that allowed foreigners to sleep in Chinese homes and see ways of life the government hid from the outside world, he would be denied entry. His journey was one of constant juxtapositions, going from modern metropolises to villages that seemed unchanged for a century. One of his app hosts turned out to be a tv host who drove Orth to a poor village in order to exploit him for her show, another turned out to be fascinated by Nazis, and another was a married policewoman who had a brief fling with the author. He also secretly interviewed probably the last person the Chinese government would want a foreign writer to meet, a government official who is also a Uyghur, the ethnic group who is currently enslaved in reeducation camps. Along the way he met many regular people who just wanted to meet a tall European. The "tech" part of the title figures prominently in his travels as he was shocked by the level of surveillance the citizens live under, with pretty much their every move being monitored through street cameras and online monitoring of their phones and computers. One of his hosts pays for their dinner with a phone app called Sesame Credit, which is connected to Alibaba. Orth explains that the app holds all her financial records, which is translated into a point system that follows the customer throughout her life and that the government has access to it. Having high points can get you a line jump when seeing a doctor or a better response in online dating. Orth's friend knows her every move online is being watched, she's had proof and it creeps her out. "The development of Sesame Credit, and other such apps, will soon enable an almost complete surveillance of the population... Here you can lose points by failing to pay you debts on time, for example, or driving through red traffic lights of visiting online porn sites. Conversely, those who pay rent punctually, save a child or report a crime are rewarded with points. It is almost as if somebody is sitting somewhere judging every living moment, then rating it with: good, medium or bad...A number of cities are already running pilot schemes where even political opinions are incorporated into the ratings. "It's all about what you have posted online and how your friends respond," says Simone. "...if a friend of mine criticizes the government on Weibo, it will also affect my points in the future. It's crazy that such plans haven't caused an international outcry, isn't it?" It gives an extensive look at the wide variety of people living across China, and while some of the people he met had remained in their hometown, many he met had lived abroad and returned, out of a sense of duty to their family or the hope they could improve lives, but what they had in common was a knowledge that their government had too much control of their lives. German author, Stephan Orth takes the reader along as he couchsurfs through China for twelve weeks in 2019. Orth travels independently by arranging places to stay through the internet and accepting what seem to be any slightly intriguing offer to sleep in a stranger's couch, bed, or apartment (including sharing a bed with a stranger). Concise and descriptive language conveys a variety of people and places in the large country as the reader travels vicariously. As an introverted reader, I am stunned by Orth's exposure to others, especially when his host's quarters are cramped. I am left wondering what boundaries the author kept for himself. The intimate view of others is the reward for his perseverance. ![]() “...In China, however, change is accepted as a natural state you must adapt to; life is a continuous construction site, and “arriving” is not envisaged.” Survival strategy for eating dog. Beijing Pinkland! The difficulties in being a persistent freethinking radical woman artist in China and how to slip past the censors. “The police check every exhibition, but they don’t see everything.” she says and laughs.” ![]() nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Travel.
Nonfiction.
Humor (Nonfiction.)
HTML: An award-winning writer reveals a changing China??one conversation and adventure at a time. When Stephan Orth lands in China, he knows it's his last visit, having lied about his job as a journalist to get into the country. So, he makes the most of it, couch-surfing with locals instead of hitting the nearest hotel. Starting in Macau??a former Portuguese colony and now gambler's paradise??Orth takes on the world's biggest casino. Next, he visits Shenzen, where more than 200 million sidewalk cameras monitor citizens who win and lose points on Sesame Credit, an app that sends data to Alibaba??and to the government. As his adventure continues, Orth encounters a bewildering mix of new tech and old traditions. Over a steaming bowl of hot pot, he learns ancient chopstick etiquette from a policewoman who later demos the facial recognition app she could use to detain him. He eats dog meat as a guest of honor one day??and finds himself censored on live TV the next. He even seriously considers joining an outlawed sect. Self-deprecatingly funny, compassionate, and observant, High Tech and Hot Pot is a formidable addition to a well-loved series, and offers a timely travelogue of an enigmatic country poised to become the world's next s Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Già recensito in anteprima su LibraryThingIl libro di Stephan Orth High Tech and Hot Pot Revealing Encounters and Escapades Inside the Real China è stato disponibile in LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Discussioni correntiNessuno
![]() GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)951.06History and Geography Asia China and region History 21st CenturyClassificazione LCVotoMedia:![]()
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Most of the book isn't about that stuff, though - the author goes a bunch of places, meets a bunch of locals, and does a bunch of tourist stuff without a lot of problems, except for some stuff in Xinjiang that the government unsurprisingly doesn't want anyone (foreign or not) to do. I am definitely jealous of some of the food adventures he went on - I live in the United States, where you have to look relatively hard to find Chinese food that isn't the "B4, M1" stuff the author talks about. I did have goose intestines one time at a place somewhere around Milpitas, California, though.
Also, I'm not sure if there was supposed to be a closing chapter or epilogue or something that wasn't included in my preview copy, but the book ends rather abruptly after talking about Xinjiang. Ultimately this is a travel book and I assume any such epilogue would have been about leaving China, but it still seemed a bit terse.
Speaking of Xinjiang, the Chinese government is definitely committing genocide there, albeit through cultural obliteration more than physical mass murder. The author points out some of the issues there and his conversation with "Alim" is very interesting, but he understandably doesn't have a ton of details about what's going on there. I recommend that if anybody wants further information about this specific topic, they read Darren Byler's "In The Camps" (https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/in-the-camps/). (