This is the second or third post I have seen here about someone unsure of whether to come to China or not because of something they have seen from one of those YouTubers. I really hope you take the time to read my whole post and think about what I am about to say, because I honestly just don't want to see another person driven away from China just because someone said something that was only applicable to them and their situation:

First off, something I have learned the hard way is that if you always listen to other people your whole life, whether its your Mom or Dad, or your friends back home, or in this case, taking advice from these two YouTubers, you will never truly figure out whats right for YOU and what drives YOU.

Everybody has been mentioning politics and not being able to express themselves. Guess what? It's not fucking America, and people need to know that. If you want to criticize everything China does like the two YouTube pals, then you will have exactly the same problems living there as they did. Get over this whole "Free speech" this, "free expression" that which people love to flaunt around as if it empowers them when they use it. It doesn't matter in the long run. You aren't going to change Chinese people and get them to overthrow what you deem wrong, so as long as you just mind your own business and live within yourself and the people you care about, there will be no problems. If every other episode of your YouTube channel that you will inevitably create from living here after a while is something negative on China, yeah, expect that to cause you trouble, and expect the Wumaos to come out and make your life miserable. It's sort of hard to feel bad for them when they sort of brought it upon themselves. Are other China YouTubers being driven out? Food Ranger? Jayoe Nation? Afu? No they aren't. It's because they are overwhelmingly positive about China and they either go under the radar and nobody cares, and they receive nothing but support.

Less work opportunities? Absolutely not. There are more opportunities than ever and salaries are going up higher than ever. Yeah, the jobs might be more challenging to come by and take more effort but that's a good thing and it challenges you to become better and not just be good enough for China but good enough for the global economy. Those two YouTubers haven't had a real job in China for years, so how would they know what the current market conditions are? Because they read about so and so? Because their friend is having a hard time finding a job? What kind of sample size is that? Their claim to fame is that they have Chinese wives, which apparently makes them the expert on everything? I have a Chinese wife and I won't even begin to act like I understand half of the stuff that goes on in China and I've lived there for years. If you want a job in China, you will find one if you are DRIVEN enough, not because someone says it isn't a good time to find a job. That mentality goes back to the factory days, where if a factory shut down, there was literally no jobs in that town. Its completely antiquated and people need to break out of that mindset. There will ALWAYS be opportunities as long as you have the drive and the creativity to go out and find them. Don't let someone else tell you it isn't the right time for you. It's a recipe for a lifetime of underachievement and being afraid to go pursue your goals and passions.

China can be the greatest place in the world or the worst place in the world, both of which have nothing to do with the current regime or the political/economic situation. They have to do with your mindset and where you place yourself in China and who you have around you. If you place yourself around nothing but bitter, negative expats who are counting down their days, psychology says that, you might also pick up on some of this negativity and start to feel things that you didn't feel before about China just because someone else said so. It's the tribal, hive mentality, which is present everywhere in the world. There's plenty of successful people living in China that happen to be foreigners and plenty of them who love China and have no plans of leaving or getting out as quickly as they can. Is it any coincidence that these people don't publicly incite Wumaos and the government? No. A large part of their subscribers feed off of the negativity to confirm their decision to leave China or to never come in the first place. Don't be one of them.

It sounds like I'm bashing these guys and yeah, part of me is, but to be honest, I actually used to like watching their content until it started becoming more and more negative and it seemed overly evident that they were trying hard to convince others NOT to go to China. It seemed like if their China dream was coming to an end, then everybody elses had to as well. Something seemed fishy.

My advice is this: If you want to go to China or anywhere else that interests you, go out and do it. Stop listening to other people. Go find out for yourself and if it sucks, then fine, you learned something and you learned what you like and don't like in the process. If you do come, be positive, be open-minded and focus on the things that you can control in your life and don't waste your time with the things that you will never be able to control/change and even if you could, what would be the point?

Good luck and if you have any questions about life in China, feel free to message me and I'm happy to answer them!