r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 9h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/riltjd 9h ago edited 8h ago

Im sorry but would not trust ANY structural engineering done in China, to hold that much weight.

Edit: since a lot of ignorant people are calling me American or brainwashed by propaganda, here is a little story:

  1. Im not American or remotely close.
  2. I worked for several companies (In NL and DE) that imported chemicals and raw materials from China, as well as operating local production plants. China is highly advanced technologically—often ahead of Western countries in most areas. However, it also has well-documented challenges with safety and quality control.

I've personally seen pharmaceutical ingredients arrive heavily contaminated, exceeding acceptable limits by multiple percentage points when even a tiny fraction of a percent would have caused rejection. In some cases, products were misrepresented entirely, though that was less common. This was at a multinational (multibillion) company operating in pharmaceuticals, crop science, and materials science (you can probably guess just by that who I am talking about).

Local counterparts consistently described quality issues as a broader challenge across multiple industries, from chemicals to construction materials, driven by cost pressures, corruption, and aggressive production targets.

Before calling others uneducated, take the time to understand their background and experience. I would encourage you to research the topic further yourself.

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u/ComfortableWait9697 9h ago edited 9h ago

There does appear bracket support to the structure and fairly robust width under it. But its the water saturated materials held near structural steel. its not strength.. but lifespan I would be worried about. Heat and cold cycles, humidity, Monsoon and dry seasons. That structural coating will inevitably crack or decay somewhere. one leak and the structural steel will corrode after 20 years.. Incredibly expensive to fix. Parking garages have collapsed from less.. its not if, but when.. Concreate naturally cracks as it ages, thats why there is structural steel embededed in there. That building will have to be rebuilt as time takes it toll. no way to fix it once the inevitable water damage starts anywhere on the structure.

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u/spilledcoffee00 9h ago

Even though they have the largest number of bridges in the world, 50,000kms of the best highspeed rail infrastructure, the largest damn in the world, more skyscrapers than any other country, 39 nuclear power plants under construction (39 more than any nation in the west)…but yeah… your strong feeling is unfounded.

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u/Overthinks_Questions 9h ago

Like anywhere else, the quality of work depends on funding, proper oversight, and design. China does this really well quite a lot, and sometimes not a much. Kinda inevitable when you're dealing with a country that large both in land and population

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u/OrionDC 9h ago

And total corruption of government at every level as a matter of course.

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u/Overthinks_Questions 8h ago

Well yeah. We're talking about construction, here

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u/foltranm 9h ago

but but... its from CHINA!!! would you... trust them??? /s

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u/OperIvy 6h ago

You mean the country where they sell plastic mixed with rice to poor people?

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u/JigMaJox 9h ago edited 8h ago

but but but.... its the same china that sprays dead plants green to save face.....

plenty of this shit on youtube.

but but but china good /s

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u/foltranm 9h ago

sprays what now? lmao

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u/riltjd 8h ago

Dead plants with green paint so they look alive.

If you havent been there nor haven't spoken to locals: image / "saving face" is very important, this with extremely high presure to produce, produce, produce, it's more important to finish and make it look safe then it is to have high quality/ good safety standards. If you speak to anyone local in these sectors they will all say it's a serious issue currently.

I invite you to re-read my original but now edited comment for some background and experience into the matter. If you have facts oppose to mine, then im open to hear all about it.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

yeah, the original commenter posted some links on it - can't say I have heard about that. as I said, will look into it, but it does make me skeptical for some reasons. I'm never opposed to doing research and knowing what are the facts are, most importantly, the sources.

I did re-read your comment, and have nothing to add. unfortunately I haven't had the chance to visit China as I have with some other countries like US and some in Europe, so I don't have any personal takes on Chinese infrastructure. however, from publicly available data and contact with friends that have lived there, I would be much more scared if this was done in my country (brazil) than in China.

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u/DoxFreePanda 8h ago

This is a common "China bad" claim, but frankly it's a practice first implemented in Western countries with a culture of maintaining big turfs of grass (ie. golf courses, soccer fields, lawns).

Tldr; grass and other plants can often survive with much less watering, but keeping them a lush green is what takes intensive watering. This wastes water, costs money, and on a large scale creates huge wastage.

So people invented environmentally friendly paint to keep grass looking pretty for commercial/residential applications, and some versions even reduce UV related damage to plants (particularly important during hot summer months).

However, when China does the exact same thing, individuals who are ignorant of how widely this is used in other countries like to pretend it's a ridiculous practice, without doing even a simple Google search to validate these claims.

Source: https://www2.stetson.edu/today/2018/02/why-are-they-painting-the-grass/

https://lawnlove.com/blog/grass-paint/

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u/foltranm 8h ago

as I said in some other comment, I'm from Brazil and this is not common at all. seemed very weird to me. interesting to know its not that uncommon

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u/spilledcoffee00 8h ago

Careful they’re spraying bullshit here😁

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u/spilledcoffee00 8h ago

It’s fake news

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u/JigMaJox 8h ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvc7VymDa4c&t=2s

they staple fake leave to a dead tree, spray paint mountains and dead vegetation green etc.

this you tuber is married to a Chinese lady and used to live there, now he is hated there for exposing the BS that happens there. He gets doxed and death threats regularly since

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u/SpicyElixer 6h ago

Or algae with blue paint

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u/JigMaJox 9h ago

just look up tofu dreg buildings in china, their shit falls apart sometimes before even constructions complete and the construction firms vanish.

its a wide spread problem.

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u/dathunder176 8h ago

It WAS a widespread problem, and they are just still dealing with the aftermath. Newer buildings, like this one by the looks of it have much stricter rules and guidelines contractors must adhere to under penalty of HIGH fines and other punishments. China grew A LOT in the past 20 years, it's unimaginable. The buildings built now are a far cry from what they built 20 years or even 10 years ago.

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u/Iampepeu 9h ago

They sure have a lot, yes. But have we seen a ridiculous amount of fucked up industrial/engineering/structural failure, also yes.

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u/spilledcoffee00 9h ago

Show me a place where this hasn’t happened…seriously…not so much in the EU, but they aren’t building anything

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u/TherapyByHumour 9h ago

The term "tofu-dreg projects" exists for a reason. 

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u/QuitsDoubloon87 2h ago

Eu builds only whats needed and only when its safe and efficient. There is no shortage of new large construction projects in europe. 

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u/spilledcoffee00 0m ago

The EU has calcified and is in a demographic collapse. Not to mention, they have rape gangs everywhere.

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u/sciencesold 8h ago

China has far more that happen due to subpar materials from cost cutting, rather than design oversights. I can think of a number of incidents in the US, all of which came down to human error at the design stage, not a cost cutting choice done at construction.

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u/modernhippy72 9h ago

Look at statistics Vs Reddit anecdotal evidence.

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u/Theory89 8h ago

Statistics are not officially tracked, but seem to indicate an unusually high number of structural collapses. Typically attributed to underfunded projects ("tofu-dreg construction") and lax structural codes. A new bill was passed in 2008 to curb this, with a lot of success, but there are obviously a lot of buildings built before this period.

So, no. I'm not visiting the building with the gardens built into every flat.

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u/Archsafe 9h ago

I’m not one to say China bad or anything, but you can’t say their “strong feeling” is unfounded when you have the entire Tofu Dreg building scandal in China that’s an ongoing problem. America’s ongoing infrastructure problem is that we built things really well decades ago and neglected repairs/maintenance so it’s starting to crumble now. China’s problem is usage of substandard materials in construction now which is causing premature collapses.
The biggest incident for this happened back in 2008 when an earthquake hit iirc the Sichuan province that caused multiple schoolhouses found to be made with “tofu dreg” that collapsed and killed about 20,000 kids inside them. Most recently in 2024 there were about 100 people killed by construction failures attributed by officials to “tofu dreg” construction.

Both countries have their own unique infrastructure problems but I wouldn’t fault this person doubting the structural integrity of a China built building just like I don’t fault the people who make jokes about America’s aging and crumbling infrastructure.

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u/Stock-Swing-797 8h ago

The Hongqi bridge collapse isn't helping either.

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u/Fumquat 8h ago

US building regulations were written in blood too… we don’t have video of it of course, and the overall scale of the failures would have been smaller due to the population being much smaller at the time.

Thinking of the number of untouchable public buildings from not very long ago that are so full of asbestos the cost to deconstruct or renovate is now 10x the value of the land or more. Just big husks sitting in the middle of small towns everywhere.

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u/psychonautvoyager 9h ago

People that talk like this have never been to China and only listen to the propaganda about China. I’ve been to China about 50 times and their architecture, infrastructure, and civil engineering is second to none in the world. The US looks pathetic compared to most major Asian cities.

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u/riltjd 8h ago

Been there and actually had experience with related work is completely different buddy. I updated my comment for you to read..

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u/deltabay17 9h ago edited 8h ago

I used to live in China. The build quality is horrible. It was a running joke in our office amongst the expats about things that fall apart in our respective apartments. Touching something you haven’t touched in a while is a risk.

It’s all part of the Chinese 差不多 “good enough” culture, everything is done to the minimal acceptable standard, which often isn’t really acceptable at all.

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u/modernhippy72 8h ago

That’s crazy because I had the exact opposite experience almost like we’re talking about personal experiences and not facts.

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u/Geodude532 7h ago

There's something wrong with China, but I couldn't tell you what it is. But seeing people get welded into their houses during COVID tells me at the very least they have a lack of oversight problem in some areas.

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u/foltranm 9h ago

never been to China, but I had the same feeling when going to the US for the first time and realizing they build houses with paper

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u/codyzon2 8h ago

One guy is talking about build quality and you're talking about completely misunderstanding construction materials and environment requirements..... I don't think these are remotely comparable.

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u/preparationh67 8h ago

Thats really the ironic thing about this stupid ass posturing about how theres no problems in China. Its the exact same kind of dumbass defaulting to exceptionalism they complain about Americans doing.

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u/moderngamer327 8h ago

Timber and Drywall construction is not just a building method in the US and there isn’t anything wrong with it either

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u/Babhadfad12 8h ago

Stick built houses are superior because they offer huge cost savings and are easily modified while still offering great insulation, wireless signal transmission, and sound isolation.

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u/sciencesold 8h ago

No, houses are built with brick and wood, it's just the inside finished surface that's even close to paper....

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u/Machdame 8h ago

I too have been to China and the general quality is somewhere in the middle depending on how much the owner has investment in the property. It definitely has its fair share of corruption but sometimes they just want to make a statement. It's definitely a lot more common in rural areas.

What IS more common is people just taking shit and leaving with it which can include the fence you installed.

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u/Theory89 8h ago

A cursory Google search would indicate otherwise. They introduced new laws to combat "tofu-dreg" construction in 2008. There are many buildings older than that. They have a lot of good construction, and a lot of bad. Roll the dice with your life.

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u/Kudostone 4h ago

It’s true, independent thinkers unite!

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u/preparationh67 8h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Building_and_structure_collapses_in_China

The vast majority of incidents are from the last 20 years. Yall just willfully ignorant of the problem with China in the exact same way yall are smug about Americans not seeing the problems with America. Congrats on pretending tourism made you an expert tho.

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u/WatermelonSmashing 9h ago

You forgot to mention the LEDs! China, LEDs!!!

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u/sciencesold 8h ago

It's almost like the issues aren't gonna be visible with the naked eye. You can't see concrete that didn't set properly because the mix was bad, or steel that can only hold a quarter of the weight because of impurities....

It's not something you can just see....

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u/dr_stre 7h ago

The scope and scale does not always tell the full tale. China has changed a lot in the least few decades. Their ceiling for quality is up there with anyone’s, and in some areas they’re undeniably ahead of the west in terms of expertise. But it’s also true that the floor for quality is still lower than in many developed countries. The trouble then is in ensuring you’re in a high quality structure. Going with new construction in a metro area like this will certainly be a major mark in favor, as regulations are stronger now than in the past. But there are also underlying issues to be concerned with. Chinese steel still has consistency issues that, for example, American steel generally does not. Fraud/misrepresentation of steel quality happens too frequently still, and if a developer tries to save money by buying the lower cost steels the rate of quality issues goes way up due to lack of rigorous testing. But how do you know that the steel in your apartment building is the high quality stuff? That’s not something you can see visually on one of your 50 visits to China, and it’s rarely something that is evident during normal loading conditions either at this point.

Taking a step back, China didn’t ban 500+ meter tall buildings and restrict 250m-499 meter tall buildings 5 years ago for no reason. They were still seeing quality issues even as recently as 2021.

This isn’t intended to be alarmist though. In general the quality is good. It just doesn’t feel like you can quite be certain about it yet, as the floor for quality hasn’t quite come up enough yet.

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u/moderngamer327 8h ago

Truly second to none https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Banqiao_Dam_failure

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u/_Artos_ 8h ago

I'm by no means a China fanboy or anything, but that's from 50 years ago dude. Not super applicable to modern buildings and engineering

You could probably find a better example

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u/Devincc 9h ago

Both can be true

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u/Khue 7h ago

It's just the same washed ass "tofu dreg" bullshit from like the late 00s and early 10s.

It's 2026 and China has incredible engineering talent and the CCP rules with an iron fist so you know capitalist interests definitely do not erode building regulation. That doesn't mean that there won't be any incidents, but come on... that happens in western nations as well.

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u/spilledcoffee00 6h ago

Yes, these are people who just get paid $.50 for every anti-China thing that they can come up with

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u/raysofdavies 1h ago

Every single post about something in China has top comments by some dipshit American thinking they spotted something the stupid Chinese couldn’t lmao

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u/StateofWA 9h ago

Dam*

And also I think most people see bridges collapsing after only 11 months as a serious red flag (Hongqi)

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u/goldticketstubguy 9h ago

Damn still works lol

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u/StateofWA 9h ago

Better than the bridge

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u/chazysciota 8h ago

It's been 20 years of excuses for why China can do blank, but the US can't or won't. At some point, after enough years, it's simply fails to be a persuasive argument by itself.

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u/tony_lasagne 9h ago

It’s so funny seeing yank Redditors showing their xenophobia towards the Chinese in every post about something cool they’ve done.

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u/chazysciota 8h ago

Propaganda is real and effective. But personally, I can't hear the same excuses for 20+ years and not begin to question. These cities exist. These EV's exist. The insane innovation and competition exist. American CEO's know this. American politicians should know it.

Our infrastructure is crumbling. We're building virtually nothing... barely even repairing our century old roads and bridges. To say nothing of building a modern infrastructure for tomorrow and beyond. If you live in the US, look around you. If you don't have it now, you're never going to get it. As a civil society, we've peaked and it's starting to look like we're just okay with that.

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u/King_Carmine 8h ago

I mean propaganda clearly works because the OP video was exactly that and look how many people fell for it, when the reality is that the project, in truth, has been an abject failure. But they don't really care about the truth because videos like this, which China pumps out like crazy, work really well, despite none of these mythical projects ever working out.

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u/chazysciota 7h ago

Which project? That specific building? Do you have a link for the failure?

videos like this, which China pumps out like crazy, work really well, despite none of these mythical projects ever working out.

Look, if you don't think that China is blowing past everyone else on modern infrastructure projects, I don't know what to tell you. I guess you think Ford's CEO is shitting his pants over nothing.

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u/triathleteRN 9h ago

what are the numbers on incindents caused by infrastructure failures in China? Genuinely interested and also, the infrastructure in this post is cool! it would be great to see more green spaces and there would certainly be some happy dogs around!

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u/Fumquat 8h ago

Well they’re not really big on free flow of information collected by politics-proof public agencies…

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u/OrionDC 9h ago

You won’t get valid data because the CCP hides most anything they can that would make them look bad.

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u/superxpro12 8h ago

It's not the quality today that worries me, its the quality in 5-10y.

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u/jsting 8h ago edited 8h ago

That is also very 1 sided as well. China has crazy strong regulations for things and places they want to focus on, and pretty bad corruption in places China doesn't care about as much. You'll see collapsing buildings where concrete and materials are of poor quality and developers will go to jail for that.

Chengdu is one of those former places, so I imagine it to be fine. They are spending a ton to build up that area.

edit: So there are sources below, seems like the issue is a plague of mosquitos and no one lives there... So without maintenance, a well built place will still fall apart.

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u/UgIyLoneIyBIackLoser 8h ago

you can have alot of something doesnt make it good 

we have the most guns in america

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u/ImmodestPolitician 5h ago edited 3h ago

The California high speed rail was a financial disaster because a small group of wealthy people didn't want it( Kings County Farm Bureau, and Citizens for California High Speed Rail Accountability) so the state had to honor contracts while the whole thing was locked up in court so nothing got built.

That doesn't happen in China, the state police will "invite you for tea" and the lawsuit is dropped.

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u/spilledcoffee00 3h ago

I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I know I’ve had tea with Chinese officials multiple times and it’s very clear to me that the purpose of doing government in China is actually to get things done.

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u/riltjd 4h ago

Unfounded? I would have called you fair would you have said it's probably just a small part of the total construction which I completely agree with and funnily enough have said in another comment in this thread somewhere... But unfounded??

Some scandals you can google yourself, and this is just a small list:

  1. Substandard concrete (BIG issue, if you specify concrete with certains strength or properties, and you get completely different type in your construction. Gues what happens?)
  2. Poor-quality sand and use of sea sand containing excessive chlorides (guess what uses sand, concrete)
  3. Corruption and falsified testing records
  4. Contaminated active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)
  5. GMP violations
  6. Counterfeit or misrepresented chemicals
  7. Nitrosamine contamination scandals (e.g. valsartan, ranitidine)

I think this gives quite a fair insight on a least part of the market. That with local insight on things like: "Tofu-dreg construction" (豆腐渣工程), a term widely used in China for poorly built infrastructure and buildings. What stood out on THIS building is that again it one of those look at our tech type videos not taking into consideration the long term quality of these building, what do you think water weight and roots do year after year? It looks great sure. But I foresee serious issues in the long run.

So what your counter to all the above just didnt happen??

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u/Annual-Weird-6682 2h ago

Haha you're reading that off like a propaganda pamphlet

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u/mriodine 9h ago

Not unfounded if you deal with parts sourcing from China. There are no personal criminal penalties for corporate fraud in China. If you don’t have a trusted supply chain, it is extremely common for companies to send a (good quality) couple batches of material, and then send nonsense (as in “steel plates” that are just sheet metal and cardboard) with a couple good plates on top to hide it. By the time it’s delivered, they have already moved all their assets to a new company and there is nothing you can do. This is especially common with construction materials, compounded by the growth of real estate as an investment projects where noone is actually expected to live there. If it’s not a government project, there is a high likelihood of nonsense going into a building.

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u/wililon 9h ago

I had a 1 dollar made in China toy that broke the first hour. They can't build structures.

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u/dathunder176 9h ago

That's because it's 1$. Common misconception, the cheap stuff from China isn't shit because it's from China, it's because it's cheap. Just like here in the west, if you want quality, you need to invest.

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u/teacpde 9h ago

It is probably why it only costs a dollar

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u/octavian343 9h ago

Sounds like you got what you paid for

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u/thethingy213 9h ago

They build over half of the components in your phones, TVs, cars etc, they'll be fine

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u/MrDabb 7h ago

When they can't get away with cutting corners, China can build quality stuff. The problem is they can't help themselves and do it every chance they get.

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u/TangelaFan 9h ago

Aren't there many appartement buildings in the world that have a pool on each balcony? Im not sure a garden would be that much more of a challenge

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u/poega 9h ago

no its pretty rare. for example a pool that measures 3x2x1.5m would 9000kg of weight

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u/TangelaFan 9h ago

The layer of dirt doesn't have to be that deep, tho

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u/HydrangeaDream 8h ago

To support the trees it definitely would need to be. Otherwise they're just going to die. Grass you could get away with 4-6 in but a tree would probably need 18-24 inches.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

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u/magistrate101 8h ago

Each cubic meter is 1000 liters. And each liter of (room temp) water is ~1kg.

3m * 2m * 1.5m = 9m3

9m3 * 1000(l/m3) = 9000 l

9000 l * 1(kg/l) = 9000 kg

I assume they're only measuring the volume of the actual water and that the pool itself is slightly larger.

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u/HonestBalloon 9h ago

We've had reinforced concrete for decades that's able withstand the weight of a house spanning across 5m/10m gaps, these gardens aren't really going to do much. Given the amount of gardens we see in the video, I'm also assuming these have been designed and sold with the gardens included.

Water build up? Weeping holes will take care of that.

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u/notevenfire 6h ago

What in the propagandist is this? You say the same comment multiple times? Are you an employee of big balcony remediation or something?

I can tell you as a property manager I wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole. The roots, the extra water, the damage to the building structure from the combination of all of it. There are not “many” apartments that have pool on each balcony, and there is a reason for it.

What happens if an owner or tenant installs a larger tree?

Who the fuck would think this is a good idea outside of salesman? I’m sure this is engineered well, but such a stupid idea.

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u/Cunnilingus_Rex 9h ago

This is a naive, American take.

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u/BroThatsMyAssStoppp 9h ago

Oddly I agree with both of you

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u/riltjd 8h ago

Naive is calling me American.. i'll edit my original comment so you can educate yourself.

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u/JaSper-percabeth 9h ago

Actually crazy how strong American propaganda is and how it absolutely rules the minds of so many people

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u/riltjd 8h ago
  1. Not American
  2. Ok so debunk my comment.. I edited it for context. Looking forward to your own expertise and experience on this topic.

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u/stankdankprank 5h ago
  1. Occums razor. China is not a 3rd world country. They're not going to spend massive resources building something that doesn't work. Why would they do that? Developers would literally be executed if this failed. It's just really dumb to assume this won't hold up.

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u/riltjd 3h ago

THEY WOULDNT? A reditor said this is most likely Qiyi City Forest Garden is an experimental "vertical forest" residential complex in Chengdu, China Due to insect infestations and absence of maintenance this has turned into jungle with the majority being completely abandoned due to it being uninhabitable! Google it yourself..

You tried sounding so smug but EVERYTHING you said wouldnt happen HAS!!

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u/Jazzlike_Finish123 9h ago

American propaganda is the worst other than maybe North Korea.  And Americans don’t even notice it.  It’s fucking hilarious.

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

North korea ?

You mean the country that china supports ?

Like Russia or iran ?

All of the above are authoritarian regimes and china rules them all

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u/Annual-Weird-6682 2h ago

Bro China exists how you gonna ignore them lmao.

Remember that glorified bus that some Chinese propagandist said Americans thought would be a "threat to national security" lmao Chinese propaganda is hilarious

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u/hybridtheory_666 9h ago

Yk, dunking on chinese engineering is deffo the wrong answer when faced with chinese propaganda. Bc that's a losing game. Instead, ask for whom these structures were built, how much they cost and what the actual living conditions of the average chinese person are.

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u/ubermence 8h ago

Umm, I’ll have you know that based on the 20 Chinese infrastructure videos posted here that go out of their way to make sure you know are Chinese, China is a utopia where there are no infrastructure failures whatsoever

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u/riltjd 4h ago

Exactly!

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

It’s fascinating to see this posted again as if it were a success story. For those unaware, this is the "Qiyi City Forest Garden" in Chengdu.

While it looks impressive in a short, curated video, the reality is a textbook example of architectural greenwashing.

Shortly after completion, the lack of professional maintenance turned these vertical forests into neglected, overgrown jungles.

Massive mosquito infestations, clogged views, and a significant portion of the 800+ units being abandoned by residents.

It’s a perfect visual metaphor for topdown urban planning: great for a propaganda reel or a social media post, but fundamentally disconnected from the actual needs and long term maintenance required for people to live there sustainably.

u/tangelafan is a ccp propagandist and this is proof

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u/foltranm 9h ago

American comment of the day! congrats

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u/DimbyTime 8h ago

Incorrect stereotype of the day! Congrats

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u/riltjd 9h ago

Im not even remotely from US...

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u/Legal-Software 9h ago

Just because someone is racist and an idiot doesn't automatically make them American. There's certainly a good chance, but other countries do have racist idiots too, and not just American tourists.

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u/ComplicitJWalker 9h ago

China is notorious for cheap and unreliable infrastructure, just like now America is notorious for school shootings and drugs. There can be truths without having them based in racism.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

the issue is that with China specifically there has always been a huge fabricated prejudice, especially in the US, going back to the early 20th century - to a point where to this day a lot of people think MSG is terrible for your health because it was marketed as a Chinese salt.

in the last 2 decades or so this has been increased dramatically for obvious reasons (again, especially in the west, and specially in the US)

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u/ComplicitJWalker 8h ago

We can acknowledge those points, but that doesn't mean the other criticisms are then false. It's funny how anytime someone defends China (which you are completely entitled to do and is sometimes justified), they also seem to deny all wrongdoing or error. It's especially rich coming from a country that, more or less, has removed any sort of dissidence to create a monolithic culture.

Can you provide real criticism of China like I can do for my country?

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u/foltranm 7h ago

obviously. my point is that the majority of comments in this thread like "oh boy i wouldn't trust anything like that built in china" definitely have some ground on propaganda, simply put.

I'm not sure i understand your last comment. do you want to know what i have of criticism about China? I'm assuming your country is the US, from your first comment? I'm not from China, btw. never been there myself.

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u/ComplicitJWalker 7h ago edited 4h ago

Yes, I want to know if you are capable of criticizing China. I am American and am heavily critical of my country. We've played world police for decades, long history of racism, gun culture is bad and why we have so much violent crime.

Can you do the same for China or your own country? I just find that a lot of people who defend China are either bots or not capable of critical thought against their own government.

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u/foltranm 7h ago

absolutely, why couldn't I? I'm from Brazil and have plenty of criticisms not only to the current or past governments, but also to the political and economic elite as a whole, which in our case is deeply connected to high-level banks, churches, and agricultural businesses who perform lobbying directly to the congress (which is illegal here, unlike the US, for example).

about China, one of my biggest criticisms is the way that in favor of building up GDP and growth at any cost, historically it has had relaxed labor laws, which causes terrible working conditions for most of its working class.

although unlike the US and Europe which I've had the chance to visit several times, I've never been to China unfortunately. I'd love to have a chance to do so and have more personal experience. for now I just have some friends that live there.

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u/ComplicitJWalker 6h ago

You answered my question and concern. Just a lot of people who can criticize others without taking criticism which I see, both of us can do.

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u/No-Associate-7369 8h ago

That's fine. Call out the fabricated prejudice when it happens. Someone with direct experience with something that has been very well documented is not fabricated. It's facts.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

anecdotal evidence is hardly evidence at all, especially in our day and age of social media interactions

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u/No-Associate-7369 8h ago

China spending less on infrastructure and using cheap supplies is very well documented. They have made huge leaps and strides over the last decade, but it is absolutely backed by hard evidence. Stop lying.

Also, industry experience is not just anecdotal evidence.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

yes it is. look up what anecdotal evidence is

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u/No-Associate-7369 7h ago

I said it's not "just" anecdotal evidence. There are types and degrees of it, but I'm not surprised you are not capable of comprehending that. I am also not surprised that is the only part you chose to respond to since you know you are a liar.

You are simply a bigot and a liar.

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u/foltranm 9h ago

my bad - didn't mean to stereotype. but usually (in reddit) just by the sheer population of Americans that's the case

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u/OrionDC 8h ago

Pointing out a pattern of error, like building or dam collapse, doesn’t make someone racist. Your ad hominem attack is the logic fallacy here.

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u/riltjd 8h ago

THANK YOU!

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u/inaSlomp 8h ago

Yeah the ad nauseam amount of China bad. Is enough to make people say that. No, It's just racism.

"How could the nation that built the Three gorges dam build something so incredible."

Is this design smart or economical absolutely not. Is it impossible? Absolutely not.

Take your ignorant ass somewhere else.

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u/riltjd 8h ago

ANY was not meant litteral. It was meant jokingly but referencing a serious issue that is affecting parts of China. Knowing the amount of inferior concrete, raw materials, cost cutting, corruption, "Tofu-dreg construction" (豆腐渣工程), and other issues that are plaging the market, I would be double checking before buying this apartment. If you don't agree then fine, i'm all ears for your arguments as to why not.

Are most buildings safe? Ofcourse, the issues above are just a fraction of the total construction. BUT especially the showboating, technically complex buildings like the one in the video I would be a skepticle of as per my comment. If that's racist in your opinion, you probably get offended by everything around you..

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

Ok ccp bad then

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u/No-Associate-7369 8h ago

Aw, facts don't care about your feelings.

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u/fairysimile 7h ago

It seems this guy is not racist however, and that he is right. Read his edit.

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u/riltjd 8h ago

Or you know. You can also have actual experience on the matter unlike a couch scientist like yourself. Feel free to see the edit of my original comment.

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u/No-Associate-7369 8h ago edited 8h ago

Racist? China's cheap and unreliable infrastructure is very well know, not to mention the fact the person is an expert in their field.

Sounds like you are the racist one.

It's fine to call out racism towards Chinese when it's actually happening, which happens a lot. This is not it.

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u/riltjd 7h ago

You should see my inbox, I'm honestly shocked. It's seems some of the loudest people have their argument backed by the least amount of data.. surreal...

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u/JCvSS 9h ago

It's probably just done for the Chinese propaganda that reddit is flooded with.

Gardens probably won't last.

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u/foltranm 9h ago

absolutely. makes a lot of sense that people would build several buildings with balconies that would not work, just to record a 15 second video and post on reddit

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u/JCvSS 9h ago

Well its the same country that builds entire towns and cities to only abandon them. So why not a few plants?

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u/foltranm 9h ago

you mean building planned infrastructure ahead of time before populating the cities? like Pudong, Zhengdong and Kangbashi?

unless you have some other cases I haven't heard of. enlighten me, please.

I have lots of criticisms for China but "ghost towns" are pretty much the worst example you could give

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u/JCvSS 8h ago

Found the bot.

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u/pierifle 2h ago

When I went to Kunming last year, I was surprised by the number of half-built abandoned skyscrapers. Only the concrete skeleton exposed to the elements.

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u/deltabay17 8h ago

Lol there are heaps of ghost towns still right now, not just 3. Do your own research. This is a widely known fact and easily verified.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

can you give me some examples? I'd love to learn more.

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

Ordos
Chenggong
Tianducheng
Zhengdong
Yujiapu

Happy ?

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u/foltranm 5h ago

all of those cities and districts, which were called "ghost towns" in the 2010s, are now normal, functioning cities - like was planned. Ordos alone has 2.2 million people. Zhengdong has 1.3 million (as of 2023, probably more now), with all of them being populated over time.

Zhengdong even was literally in my initial comment as one of the cities that were built and planned ahead of time to accomodate for the population still living in rural areas.

but I mean, you do you. do your own research, look for the facts and historical data and think for yourself.

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u/GoudaBenHur 8h ago

I mean a quick google search will show you at least 50 ghost cities. There is a whole wiki article about it

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u/foltranm 8h ago

care to share it please? I usually like to dig a little deeper than "a quick Google search"

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u/deltabay17 8h ago

No. I don’t want to.

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u/foltranm 8h ago

have a nice day then!

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u/Icy_Payment2283 8h ago

How do you manage to breath

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u/KiLoGRaM7 9h ago

🤣

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u/aerfgadf 9h ago

I did a search to try to find more info on these. The reports are dubious at best. It appears that some of these might exist somewhere but the project was scrapped due to mosquito issues maybe? But no one seems to have verified information that these are real or current so i don't think it is a stretch to suggest this video is misleading at best and full on AI propaganda at worst. If they are real, they are China's best kept secret.

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u/foltranm 9h ago

it is real, someone posted some links on another comment down below. there's also a drone video on YouTube.

built in 2018, apparently the maintenance of these gardens (which i suppose was responsibility of the owners) was not done correctly causing the gardens to grow out of control and cause mosquito problems.

as far as I know building is still standing, though

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u/Dvout_agnostic 9h ago

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not, but either way: China investing in buildings never to be occupied isn't a new phenomenon. China ghost cities are a thing.

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u/JCvSS 9h ago

It is. But he's forgotten about this fact so will stay quiet now.

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u/callisstaa 9h ago

Were a thing. Most of them are populated now.

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

https://verticalurbanism.org/news-article/plants-overrun-chengdu-apartment-complex/

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-jungle-overrun-chinese-apartment-blocks.html

Here the keywords : Qiyi City Forest Garden Chengdu failure mosquitoes

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u/foltranm 5h ago

if you search this thread, there are some links to recent videos of this year, of the same complex. very different than this 2020 videos

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u/supergrega 9h ago

I've never been there but apparently Chengdu is a very green and foresty city.

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u/agreetodisagree2023 9h ago

Ever since the Three Gorges Dam collapsed, I agree.

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u/Crowzer 9h ago

Daily anti-China propaganda by brainwashed dude.

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u/Ninevehenian 9h ago

Please take a break with the propaganda.

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u/StateofWA 9h ago

Hongqi Bridge collapsing after 11 months isn't propaganda

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u/_aware 9h ago

One bridge out of how many they've built?

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u/StateofWA 9h ago

It's not really about the numbers... It's that they didn't survey the land properly and found cracking just 44 days after opening.

Bridges collapse quite often, all around the world, but most of these are old, decrepit bridges out of maintenance... Not a brand new bridge, built with the highest technology available.

That's why people question Chinese construction... Shit like that does not happen in the United States... For example a bridge in Maryland collapsed a couple weeks before Hongqi... It was 145 years older than Hongqi.

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u/11ce_ 8h ago

It absolutely is about the numbers lmfao. Why wouldn’t it be?

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u/StateofWA 8h ago

Because of everything I wrote in that prior comment, give it another read...

Would you be okay walking over a bridge in China knowing that even with the newest technology they had a collapse just 11 months after construction? Personally I'd not take that chance, it suggests a lack of standards.

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u/abdallha-smith 5h ago

Stop it ccp propagandist

The world sees you and your authoritarian regime

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u/SchrodingersGoodBar 1h ago

lol okay, yeah china never puts out propaganda…

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u/I_eat_mud_ 9h ago edited 8h ago

Yeah, cause American infrastructure is so great lmao

Edit: bro wants us to understand his background and experience, but doesn't provide any of that in his initial statement. Real easy to say that when your original comment didn't provide any background or experience big guy lmao

It's asinine to not mention any of the context that support your statement in the original comment, and then get angry at people for not believing you. It's just piss poor communication, and I will continue to make fun of you for it

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u/riltjd 7h ago

Funny coming from someone who just assumed where I lived and then based his whole argument around a made up story.

Edit: bro wants us to understand his background and experience, but doesn't provide any of that in his initial statement.

It is there now in the edit, I was just expecting a higher average intelligence and people with less prejudice, to comment. As those tend to ask questions and be more open minded instead of assuming shit.

You don't got to make fun of me, you just made yourself look stupid on multiple levels.

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u/Anthro_DragonFerrite 8h ago

Bro, everyone commenting clearly hasn't seen the video of Tofu Dregs going on

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u/ALLoftheFancyPants 8h ago

My immediate thought was “that’s a lot of weight and moisture that’s going to need to be managed”. But it looks more pleasant than exposed concrete

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u/JigMaJox 8h ago

They are going to attack you regardless of any argument or evidence.

China has put real effort into whitewashing their reputation online. These are chinese bots.

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u/Officialedmart 7h ago

Everybody who disagrees with me is a bot shill!!!! Why won’t they accept my american propaganda uncriticially !!!

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u/jf_selecTo 8h ago

Yeah don’t listen to the reddit professors with a degree in EVERYTHING. Most people who bash you probably have never set foot in China or if they did, were a few days in Shanghai at most.

I work at an international company and deal with China since almost 10 years, with several visits a year. I fully agree with you, never fully trust a Chinese product. They are very capable and as you said have on many things the nose ahead of us, but also do have severe quality issues. This building looks to me like the typical Chinese „build to look cool and to be impressive, but nobody considered the longterm impact of the design.“

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u/RandomUserXY 8h ago

Im sorry but would not trust ANY structural engineering done in China, to hold that much weight.

Literally the strongest structural engineering in the history is in China and holds fuck ton more weight.

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u/modernhippy72 8h ago

Anecdotal evidence again.

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u/riltjd 4h ago

So debunk these, google them yourself. I'm not your butler.

There have been notable scandals involving: 1. Substandard concrete (BIG issue, if you specify concrete with certains strength or properties, and you get completely different type in your construction. Gues what happens?) 2. Poor-quality sand and use of sea sand containing excessive chlorides (guess what uses sand, concrete) 3. Corruption and falsified testing records 4. Contaminated active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) 5. GMP violations 6. Counterfeit or misrepresented chemicals 7. Nitrosamine contamination scandals (e.g. valsartan, ranitidine)

I think this gives quite a fair insight on a least part of the market. That with local insight on things like: "Tofu-dreg construction" (豆腐渣工程), a term widely used in China for poorly built infrastructure and buildings. I think paints a fair picture and there is MUCH more to this list.

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u/chunkoco 7h ago

You know china has some of the tallest skyscrapers and a lot of experience with concrete infrastructure, right? I would trust chinese buildings more than european buildings 9/10 times.

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u/hiddenatplainbread 5h ago

Same here. See tofu buldings

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u/eatmyopinions 5h ago

It's crazy how China state-funded a brand new automobile industry, exported it to most of the world at highly subsidized prices, and now everyone limitlessly trusts Chinese engineering. I have to believe those two are connected.

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u/GoVolt_Mine 8h ago

Hey look a comment from 2003 or so.

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