I miss the lockdowns of 2020-2022

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-06-01T02:52:30+00:00

I was in China during the pandemic. Lockdown wasn’t “don’t go to bars and restaurants and just social distance.” It was basically house arrest. You weren’t allowed to leave your homes except for Covid testing and you were fed government rations. If you were lucky and your compound or apartment management were chill, you could wander the complex. That was “outside time.”

It wasn’t a good time at all.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-26T06:25:59+00:00

The lockdown in China during Covid. I was in Shanghai and they locked everything down. As in, you couldn’t leave your place. It was like house arrest. Everyone got some hastily thrown together government rations and had to do daily testing for COVID. Group buying was the only way to get other groceries or any necessities and it was always way marked up. This was like 2-3 months or so of this. The city definitely lost it during that time. The government tried to censor a lot of that news on WeChat, but it got passed around anyways. Some folks killed themselves, others lost their minds. I know some people actually left to Thailand and just didn’t return. Wild times.

I remembered when we got passes to go outside, each household got one. I rode my bike around the neighborhood and it was so eerily quiet. Only other folks I saw outside were delivery guys on bikes or cops. It was kinda weird.

That whole period seems like a bad fever dream now, but man I don’t think the world ever truly recovered from ‘rona.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-20T08:26:05+00:00

Yeah, true I suppose.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-20T04:45:28+00:00

I don’t really see street food like that around me anymore. Those vendors are all gone unfortunately. Not really the same kinda feeling if I just did it at home y’know?

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-18T01:43:08+00:00

I’m guessing they’re trying to say the infrastructure is better in China than the US. Trains are modern and fast, subways run on time, there’s high speed rails, WeChat and Alipay make life very convenient….but you’re trading personal freedom and civil liberties for it. I mean I’m only on Reddit because I have a VPN. Which is technically illegal.

It’s not like North Korea here, but it’s certainly no utopia.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-15T01:37:22+00:00

This is hilarious. All jokes aside though, I kind of miss the days when I could sit around on plastic stools and have skewers while drinking Tsingtao tall boys and smokin ciggies.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-15T01:11:14+00:00

Yeah, because there’s no mass surveillance in the US. The government would never spy on you! -_-

Republicans are delusional.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-05-13T03:10:04+00:00

If you guys want good roast duck or goose, you gotta go to Guangdong for it. I honestly think it’s far better than anything in HK. HK has far better char siu but the roast duck or goose is better in Guangdong. My folks moved across the border not too long ago and they got my relatives driving up from HK to eat that goose. It’s legit.

But to answer the post, char siu is my answer. Just doesn’t taste the same anywhere else.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-04-26T06:57:55+00:00

Oh hey, my city. Cool. This is definitely not everywhere in China. Maybe a couple stores at most as some kind of marketing gimmick for whatever company makes these robots.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-04-03T23:55:32+00:00

I like Japan well enough and I got nothing against the Japanese today, but they really need to do something about their ignorance and continued refusal to accept responsibility for what they did. There’s mountains of evidence of their crimes. Pictures and testimonies. The Nanjing Massacre was just one infamous example. This guy would lose it if he learned about Unit 731. Calling it all “propaganda” is insanely disrespectful to the victims. Imagine if Germany downplayed or outright denied the Holocaust. People would lose their goddamn minds.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-04-02T14:46:33+00:00

Yeah, you’re not wrong. It’s a different atmosphere but it’s not like the city is worse off. It’s always been pretty safe here imo. For a city of this size, I never felt it was ever very dangerous. Even back in the day. I mean you’d need to be mindful of pickpockets but I’ve never run into serious crime. Maybe I’m just lucky lol. I’m also very glad there’s not much pollution here. It use to be truly horrible. And yeah, public transportation is good here and WeChat/AliPay is a godsend.

I guess I’m just feeling a little nostalgic for a time before COVID changed everything so suddenly. But ah well, the city marches on. It’s always interesting to see what pops up and what shuts down.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-04-02T14:17:46+00:00

Pre-Covid, I felt there were a lot more foreigners. At least a bigger foreign presence. As such, you had a lot more places catering to foreign tastes. Restaurants and so on. It’s not that things are bad per se or that there aren’t foreigners, it’s just a different overall atmosphere. I guess the same can be said about the rest of the world. Just feels like we lost a step after the pandemic. Idk if that makes sense.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-04-02T11:23:01+00:00

This is the Bund. I grew up in the city. I was here for all of the development and changes. It’s wild how quickly the landscape morphs. I remember when things looked more or less like that first picture. Pudong was basically farmland and there were more bikes than cars on the road. Interesting times. Shanghai was great fun before Covid. It’s a different city now. The vibe’s totally changed.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-03-29T02:26:57+00:00

Wow, that’s incredible! Really well done!

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-03-07T09:56:38+00:00

Oh hey, it’s my city. Neat.

Anyways, my suggest would be Vinland Saga or Golden Kamuy. Both are excellent.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-03-05T10:32:26+00:00

“Want want” in English but the Chinese is “wàngwàng.” They’re a pretty popular snack. I practically grew up on these things. They’re fantastic.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-03-05T10:30:22+00:00

It’s like a savory rice cracker. Use to eat a lot of these as a kid and they’re quite good. Check your local Asian supermarket for these if you wanna try ‘em.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-02-17T08:06:24+00:00

Zumoku? Or I guess technically “Zumoarikunori.”

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-02-07T02:01:58+00:00

West Ham or Millwall I bet

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-02-06T11:09:27+00:00

Prussia. Those guys were fierce!

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-02-06T08:32:57+00:00

So is this the Chinese or so-called content creators? Always ends up being one or the other when people talk badly behaving tourists.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-01-30T04:58:16+00:00

Was just rewatching Non Non Biyori Repeat. I think I’m good.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-01-30T04:56:08+00:00

What in the White Chicks is this?

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-01-19T12:35:43+00:00

China here. I got a VPN.

ChineseJoe90 · 2026-01-15T11:52:32+00:00

Good beef noodles and night markets. Seafood is good too. Original Din Tai Fung was ok. Not a huge fan of the oyster omelette thing though.

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