from @ZichenWanghere.

sad to report that they’ve brought this sfo bullshit to shanghai

you’re not gonna believe this

I’m not sure why, but the made-in-China stuff you can get on Amazon is always of the lowest Pinduoduo quality. I was looking for an electric bug swatter, which in America I’d cheap out on, but in China you can pay a 30% premium to get a significantly higher quality one.

Upper middle class Chinese families used to do shopping trips to Simon Outlets and Bicester Village. Quality was good despite the markup. Now the clothes that you can get from suburban outlets are utter garbage compared to well curated Taobao brands that charge 30% the price.

We’re likely well past the inflection point where the quality of consumer goods, adjusted for difference in purchasing powers, is far higher in Chinese cities than U.S. ones. Chinese manufacturing and design got better, yes, but things from U.S. brands have simply become worse.

The best fit is clearly Dongguan. Overshadowed by its better known tech neighbor (Shenzhen); industrial powerhouse (electronics manufacturing); large working class population with a recent history of radicalism (labor unrest); bad reputation (best known for prostitution).

RT @witchof0x20: the fact that "debian install media" is slang for estrogen in china will always stay with me.

@afrazhaowang @reboot_hq Link:

He Jiankui, disgraced in his own country after creating the first genetically edited babies, finds a new, welcoming audience across the Pacific. @afrazhaowang in @reboot_hq:

if i wanted to debate fascists i would casually bring up IQ on a saturday night in pac heights.

mehdi hasan didn’t go on “surrounded” he just showed up to an open-invite partiful in san francisco.

RT @policytensor: My view is that any and all lists of ‘How China did it’ must be wrong. None of them account for the sequencing of revolut….

RT @afrazhaowang: New piece out on @reboot_hq!. I’ve been low-key obsessed with @Jiankui_He — the Chinese “CRISPR baby” mad scientist who m….

RT @reboot_hq: you lowk just had to be there

RT @KaiserKuo: This thread of quotes from @adam_tooze from our recent podcast interview inspired me to write a short essay in the middle of….

RT @CurtExplores: Thanks. I'll let the train driver know.

RT @jkeatn: Issue 11: Church & State starts landing in inboxes July 14! . To get all of it in print, subscribe at the link below: $50 for 1….

RT @julialsteinberg: Wrote about @Cluely, @McKinsey and the scourge of Economic Nihilism for @palladiummag .