I agree with all that. However this Asian "family values" BS is propagated like a
type of cancer. It's just rubbish!

Yes, and No ! I understand what you are saying and part of me wants to agree with you. I was a young kid in 1960's Britain. It was a time when sex-before-marriage was frowned upon; Mum stayed home all day while Dad went to work, and you could choose to never lock your front door because no-one would ever come near your home without an invitation. Men who had tattoos were considered to be 'bad', and the local butcher would cut off your desired lump of meat with a cigarette in his mouth with 2 inches of ash holding on for dear life. Sound familiar?

China is 50 years behind the West, yet for me, when I go to see my butcher I EXPECT him to drop fag-ash on my pork chop; I LOVE buying my veggies from blankets laid out on the road, and arguing the toss over the price of lemons.

For those too young to remember what life was like in the 1960's, they only have to look at China as it is today. It's like going back in time to the distant past before prepacked 'food hygiene' became the thing of the 'norm' - yet no-one dies of food poisoning in China, despite the fag ash on their lump of pork.

Sure, it's got its drawbacks, but for me, it takes me back to a time in my life when everything was 'normal'. There was no PC and no bullshit. Just ordinary people trying to make an honest living the best way they can.

The 'plastic' family values will no doubt disappear over time as more and more young people rebel against 'traditional' culture.
No-one gets married in the West these days. I know many couples who have lived together for 25 years or more, raised kids, and now have grandkids, yet have never married. Perish the thought if a Chinese woman is seen entering the apartment of a single male - better print the wedding invites quick!
Sure, it's bollox and bullshit, but it's no different to 1960's Britain. Maybe you can help me to figure out why that when I'm in China, I miss Australia, yet when I'm in Australia, and subjected to all the PC bullshit; cops hiding in bushes waiting to catch me doing 1kph over the speed limit; being told I can't take 2 bottles of wine to the beach or smoke within 20metres of the airport exit, I can't wait to get back to China!

As far as the job goes, I've adopted the attitude that 'If you f*ck me, I f*ck back!'. I'm here for the $$ and nothing else. If someone won't pay me what I want, somebody else will - easy! I work bloody hard and I make damn good money doing so.

I'm quite prepared to accept the downside of life in China in return for the smiling faces I see every time I go to my veg-lady, my butcher, or my egg-man. F*ck it.....they need me more than I need them!