Sinocidal was formed out of TTC’s rather rabid commenter/fanbase and as such gave all of TTC’s vocal co-complainers a place to vent.

It took me a while to warm up to it, but it produced some gems (I still think Chou Chou is one of the best humour writers this blogsphere has seen).

However, I think they hit the same wall as TTC did after a year or year and a half… you just run out of things to complain about – and then it just gets cruel for the sake of being “that blog”.

As for the “real life” complainers, we’ve all met them, and most of us have been them. It’s par for the course and all part of the China Experience I think.

It really does make you wonder about other expat circles. Do the expats in Thailand complain about misadventures with bargirls that turn out to be nothing of the sort? Folks in Brazil that have just HAD IT with topless beaches and football? Banished souls in India that just can’t stand the cow sanctuary?

I’m curious to know.

I’m admittedly biased, but it does feel that China’s got a damn active expat blogsphere though.

Sure it goes both ways, but I still think when you are going to a less developed place (compared to where you come from), you have a higher chance of complaining about things. It is human nature. When you are used to having certain things and all of sudden you don’t have them anymore or they are drastically different, you complain.

Matthew,

I second. It seems that a lot of western expats indulge themselves in ranting about China (I wonder if western expats do the same in other countries too?) to a point that I think the majority of them do (speaking from my personal experience). There are different kinds of people within the expat community in China though:

(1) Those who came here reluctantly (those who were sent by their headquarters) tend to rant the most. I guess they probably can’t leave China just like that, they are kind of stuck here. They almost hate everything about China, the weather, the food, the language, the people, the culture. They simply can’t stand the difference. The minute they receive the memo to send them home, they will pack their bags and get the hell out of here, shouting “Hallelujah!”

(2) The second group are those who might have come here willingly on their own seeking opportunities. They came here because they believed this is where the money is. Some of them are doing well, some of them are not. Either way they are in China solely for the money (and experience and skills which might land them better jobs back home). A lot of them, if not most, can’t stand China just like the first group for pretty much the same reasons. Yet they allow themselves to keep suffering. When they see better opportunities somewhere else, they will be more than happy to leave China. Expect to see them in India, Russia and Brazil soon.

(3) The last group of people, they came to China because they were genuinely interested in China, its culture, history, art etc. A lot of them married Chinese. This group of people are the most open-minded, liberal (hope this won’t offend anybody) people who understand and appreciate difference and diversity. They too complain about certain things in China and they are the ones who are most passionate about the so-called “plight of the Chinese people”. Many of them adore China for various reasons, however they don’t like the Chinese government.

I say the first group accounts for maybe 50% of the expat population in China, the second group is about 40% and the third group is about 10%.

Mostly agree, but I don’t think it has to do with people moving from a developed to an undeveloped country per se. I’d bet that among all the Chinese living in America there are more than a few ranter types- as you said, it’s only natural.

I remember walking through the Harvard campus years ago and coming across a man from Sarajevo, who first described his experiences as a refugee and then launching into a tirade about how much he hated being in America and especially at Harvard. It definitely goes both ways.

While the online ranters might just be searching for an outlet in their blog, the way they talk about China is too similar to the all-rant-all-the-time expats for me to really enjoy their posts.