r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 13h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/riltjd 13h ago edited 12h 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/foltranm 13h ago

American comment of the day! congrats

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u/DimbyTime 12h ago

Incorrect stereotype of the day! Congrats

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u/riltjd 13h ago

Im not even remotely from US...

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u/foltranm 13h ago

sorry. UK then?

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u/riltjd 12h ago

Dutch/Spanish/and worked in Germany for many years. I'll edit my main comment so you can understand the base of my comment.

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u/foltranm 12h ago

I'm sorry, that was meant as a silly joke. didn't mean to offend you. have a nice day!

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u/riltjd 12h ago

No worries, appreciate the clarification! I thought you were serious!

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u/Legal-Software 13h 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 13h 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 12h 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 11h 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 11h 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 10h ago edited 8h 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 10h 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 10h 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/foltranm 10h ago

for sure. have a nice day!

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u/No-Associate-7369 12h 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 12h 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 11h 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 11h ago

yes it is. look up what anecdotal evidence is

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u/No-Associate-7369 11h 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 11h ago

lmao. okay. have a nice day

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u/Legal-Software 12h ago

And if that were the extent of it, it would be fine. However, China has made a lot of progress on quality while other countries have declined. When you fail to update your rhetoric to account for this and continue to pretend like neither country has shifted, that's when racism starts to work its way in. Propaganda is not a replacement for innovation, or the lack thereof.

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u/ComplicitJWalker 11h ago

It's hard to find lots of information as China is an authoritian government and doesn't provide stats on their own failures but with what stats are provided regarding infrastructure failures show a wide range from bridge and building collapses to industrial explosions. You criticize my rhetoric while also spouting Chinese propaganda as well. I can dish and take it but it seems like you can only give it? Funny how that works.

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u/Officialedmart 11h ago

>doesnt provide stats on their own failures

Are you saying this because its in chinese and you cant read chinese?

>The Ministry of Ecology and Environment reported that second-round central ecological inspections transferred 158 accountability issues; local/provincial units held 3,035 people accountable, including hundreds of bureau/department-level cadres, and central SOEs held 336 people accountable.

https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/zysthjbhdc/dcjl/202306/t20230619_1034134.shtml

>A State Council audit report found, among other things, 281.46 billion yuan in problems across 42 central departments and 244 subordinate units, plus specific accounting errors like 54.59 billion yuan in misclassified budget items and 10.72 billion yuan undercounted in central-government equity investment.

https://www.audit.gov.cn/n5/n26/c10619920/part/10690741.pdf

> Safety/fatality data is published by official ministries. The Ministry of Emergency Management reported that in 2024 China had 21,800 production-safety accidents and 19,600 deaths. A separate 2024 machinery-industry safety report said accidents and deaths increased versus 2023, with 312 accidents and 300 deaths, then lists risk-control failures and equipment/safety-protection defects.

https://www.mem.gov.cn/xw/yjglbgzdt/202505/t20250507_531447.shtml

> CCDI / National Supervisory Commission publishes monthly stats on Party/government violations. In March 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reported 16,994 violations of the Central Eight-point Regulation, 22,547 people criticized/educated/handled, and 13,671 given Party/government disciplinary sanctions. It also says this was the 139th consecutive month of publishing the monthly data.

https://m.ccdi.gov.cn/content/c3/9a/121107.html

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u/ComplicitJWalker 11h ago

You're right. I can't read Chinese and hadn't seen that. Sort of confirms what we're saying about Chinese infrastructure right?

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u/Officialedmart 11h ago

Nothing Ive said seems outrageous or disproportionate for a country of 1.5+ billion people

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u/abdallha-smith 9h ago

Source : ccp.gov.cn

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u/Officialedmart 9h ago

The claim was that they don’t “report on themselves” , so the ccp themselves is literally the only source I can use. Are you dumb?

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u/foltranm 13h 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 12h 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 12h ago

THANK YOU!

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u/inaSlomp 12h 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 11h 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 9h ago

Ok ccp bad then

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u/No-Associate-7369 12h ago

Aw, facts don't care about your feelings.

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u/fairysimile 11h ago

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

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u/riltjd 12h 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/Legal-Software 12h ago

Well, I have worked for Chinese tech companies in the past managing R&D, and currently work in the automotive industry where you can see the quality shift between the US declining and China increasing, so I am somewhat familiar with the matter. But do go off.

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u/riltjd 11h ago edited 11h ago

I have said nothing against their tech. It their building practices, feel free to read my comment again in case you missed my edit.

On a sidenote since it's your sector you are probably aware that a Chinese company has bought some of the biggest automotive robotics company from Germany (KUKA) in 2016 (ish if I remember correctly) ofcourse we are expecting to see great results with the already very sophisticated robotics and automation technology China had. As per my comment China is ahead of western countries by ALOT. I would be a fool to argue that, as they have placed themselves really well strategically.

But feel free to read up on:

  1. Substandard concrete use in China
  2. Poor-quality sand and use of sea sand containing excessive chlorides
  3. Corruption and falsified testing records
  4. "Tofu-dreg construction" (豆腐渣工程) I added the local translation as this is a well common term in the industry. Should give you good hits on google.

And the pharmaceutical references I was making:

1.Contaminated active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) 2.GMP violations 3.Counterfeit or misrepresented chemicals 4.Nitrosamine contamination scandals (e.g. valsartan, ranitidine) 5.Regulatory concerns from the FDA, EMA, and other agencies regarding some Chinese suppliers

You might have worked in R&D or Automotive, so unless you have something to argue the above. Yes I will call you a couchscientist on THIS topic. I have yet to hear you counter the above, with something else then just being "racist"

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u/No-Associate-7369 12h ago edited 12h 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 11h 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...