I've read the Telegraph article before but not the NY Times one. I've heard of figures anywhere between 8 to 15 per cent of the Chinese population suffering some type of more severe form of mental illness.

I feel this "saving face" nonsense has a lot to do with driving people in China crazy. Personally I've come across many people in China, especially women who are/were seriously fucked in the head.

Foreigners in China will also notice that other laowai start to go insane after two years or so. I even felt at times that China was a giant lunatic asylum.

Even if only five per cent of China's population was mentally ill that would be 75 million people who are possibly a danger to themselves and others.

It would explain the high number of stabbings in China that occur for no apparent reason or little reason ( no motive ) or for very trivial reasons.

It could also explain the shocking behavior and even violence that occurs when Chinese people travel abroad.

I've heard Chinese people say the most idiotic and illogical things. One guy at an English Corner told me that Chinese bodies are "constructed differently" to other races.

Others who told me there are no gays or lesbians or prostitutes in China. A woman who told me she wanted to jump of the balcony of her level 31 apartment in Nanning.

Another idiot who told me he enjoys listening to washing machines. Women with no jobs, no prospects and no money who want to have a mixed baby with a foreigner ( they talk about this as if they will buy a puppy at the pet store )

This is the sort of stupidity and alarming thing you come across on a daily basis in China. And some people think this is a "society of the future", WTF!