Evrim Kanbur
@WhileTravelling • 39,317 subscribers
📍Shanghai 14 years and counting. Teaching at Shanghai Jiaotong University EBA, Alibaba & Taobao. AI, Robotics, Neuroscience and Behavioral Economics.
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Are you watching the Chinese New Year Gala? The Robot Kungfu show is mind blowing!!! They just executed a coordinated martial arts routine with spatial precision, rhythm control, and dynamic balance adjustments in real time. Kung fu, one of China’s most iconic traditional art forms , performed by machines built with cutting-edge AI control systems, advanced actuators, and high-speed feedback loops. Ancient discipline meets algorithmic precision. Last year, humanoid robots stepped onto the Spring Festival Gala stage for the first time. This year, they held synchronized kung fu stances with balance that would humble half of us after leg day. And they did it live!!! On the most-watched television event on the planet. The progress in just one year is magical. That’s what we call China speed. What makes it even sweeter is where this happened. I love how the progress is integrated in culture. In celebration. In a Lunar New Year gala watched by hundreds of millions. It’s music to my ears. The robots didn’t look like they were “trying” anymore. They looked like they belonged. Their joint articulation was smoother. Their formation timing tighter. Their balance recovery almost elegant. Their choreography is expressive. That’s what happens when AI models improve, control systems get smarter, hardware stabilizes, and iteration cycles compress. One year in robotics today is not the same as one year ten years ago. It’s compounding. If this is what 12 months looks like, imagine 36. The Chinese New Year Robot Kungfu Gala is just futuristic. It was quite the statement! The future is getting better very, very fast. It was so beautiful to watch. What do you think?
Evrim Kanbur1,550,020 次观看 • 3 个月前
Şok edici bir sabah yürüyüşü oldu. Ayağımın tozuyla gelip hemen sahile indim, uzaktan denizde bir sürü kafa gördüm. heralde yerel spor kulübü sabah yüzmeye çıkmış diye düşündüm. Yaklaştıkça gördüm ki durum bambaşka😳 Neredeyse 40 kişilik, 20’li yaşlarda, tamamen erkek, Ortadoğulu, sırt çantalı bir grup… Saat sabah 7 gibi metrobüsten inip Avcılar Denizköşkler Aile Plajı’na gelmişler. Burası küçük bir aile plajı. Nasıl ki birçok mekana damsız girilmez, burada da kural gereği böyle kalabalık erkek gruplarının olması beklenmiyor. Çevredeki insanlar “şikayet ettik, polis hals gelmedi” diyordu. Tesadüfen yürüyen Avcılar Kaymakamı’na durumu anlattık, telefonu çıkarıp birilerini arayarak yürüyüşüne devam etti. Sahil güvenlikle konuştuk, gruba sadece “ses yapmayın” uyarısı yapıldı. Polis yarım saat sonra geldi. Tüm pasaportları kontrol etti, hepsi Iraklı turistmiş. Kıyafetlerini giyip yürüyerek uzaklaştılar. Dünyanın neresinde olursa olsun, özellikle kaçak göçmen sorununun olduğu yerlerde böyle kalabalık bir yabancı erkek grubuna polis anında gelip pasaport kontrolü yapar ve gerekirse üst araması da yapar. Üstelik peşlerine polis de koyarlar. Sonuçta durum milli güvenlik ve halk huzurunu sağlamakla ilgili. Kaldı ki sırf erkeklerden oluşan ve yaşları birbirine yakın genç ve kalabalık bir gruba Avrupa’da ya da Çin’de denk gelmedim. Siz gördünüz mü? Kendi ülkemde görünce şaşırdım. Semt sakinleri de tedirgin olmuştu. Ayrıca burası turistik bir yer değil. Bebek, Kadıköy, Taksim gibi yerler varken bu kadar erken saatte neden buraya geldiler? Hem de göze çarpacak kadar küçük bir plaja? Burası tankerlerin sahile çok yakın olduğu bir plaj. Bu yeri nereden öğrendiler? Belki de turistlerin yeni gözdesi olacak belli mi olur…
Evrim Kanbur2,262,024 次观看 • 10 个月前
IShowSpeed’i hala ciddiye almayanlar var. Siz varın almayın ama bu çocuğun etkisi, diplomatik pasaporttan daha kuvvetli. Sadece eğlendiriyor sanıyorsanız, vizyonsuzlukta seviye atlamışsınız demektir. Adam, Amerika’nın Çin hakkında 800 milyon dolar dökerek yıllarca yaydığı algı operasyonunu tek bir yayınla tuzla buz etti. Üstüne Çinliler öyle bir misafirperverlik, öyle bir planlama gösterdi ki adamı resmen ülkenin onur konuğu gibi gezdirdiler. Cyber şehirler, uçan arabalar, su üstünde giden araçlar, katlanabilir telefonlar, metroda tünelde bile kesilmeyen 5G, hızlı trenler, gökdelenler… Adamın gözleri faltaşı gibi açıldı. Parasıyla aldığı katlanabilir Çin marka telefonunu her yerde gururla gösteriyor. Sonuçta 41 milyon kişinin Çin’e bakışı bir yayında değişti. Bu yayınların etkisini fark eden Çin yönetimi ne yaptı? Jet hızıyla 144 saat vizesiz giriş uygulamasını genişletti. Ardından ne oldu? İnsanlar akın akın Çin’e gitmeye başladı. Yeni bir kavram doğdu: “IShowSpeed rotası”. Gidenler kendi yayınlarını açtı, gerçekleri paylaşmaya başladı. Yıllardır Çin’e çamur atan kanalların izlenmeleri düştü, gelirleri çakıldı. Başladılar Youtube’u suçlamaya. Neymiş? “Algılarımız niye eskisi kadar parlatılmıyor?” E canım benim… Gerçekler böyle bir şey işte. Bir kişinin etkisiyle bir ülkenin kültürü, turizmi, teknolojisi, halkıyla ilgili algısı değişti. ISpeedShow’un yayınları “kelebek etkisi” yarattı. Türkiye’de bu fırsatı kaçırdık... 1. Galata Kulesi’nde İngilizce Bilmeyen Görevliler… T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Galata Kulesi’ni devraldınız ama oraya yerleştirdiğiniz görevliler İngilizce bilmiyor. Çocuk en temel tarihi bilgiye ulaşamıyor, kule hakkında bilgi istiyor, görevli gözünün içine baka baka sırıtıyor. Şaka mı bu? İBB daha iyisini yapardı. Mirasımızı turistlere anlatabilecek, maaşını hak edecek kişileri koyardı. Bu liyakatsizlik, bu sorumsuzluk kelimenin tam anlamıyla utanç verici. Şanghay’da banka güvenlik görevlileri bile size yardım edecek kişiler meşgulse size gelir ve “May I help you?” diye sorar. Turistik bir alandaki görevli ise “I don’t know” deyip sırıtıyor. Yazık, gerçekten yazık. Turistik alanlarda çalışan güvenlik görevlisi temel seviyede de olsa İngilizce konuşmalıdır. 2. ISpeedShow’un Rehberi İngilizce bilmiyor ? ISpeedShow’un rehberi, yani Türk Elon Musk, İngilizce bilmiyor, çocuğa eşlik ediyor ama İngilizce konuşamıyor. Sonra ne oluyor? Tüm dünya, “Türk rehber İngilizce bilmiyor” diye dalga geçiyor. Çin’de Trump taklidi yapan adamla ISpeedShow karşılaşıyor, adam şakır şakır İngilizce döktürüyor. Bizde ise… boş ekran. 2025 Türkiye’sinde hala durum bu. 3. Dondurma Şovunda Rezillik Sürekli yapılan o zorla dondurma şovu sizin zannettiğinizin aksine herkese keyif vermiyor. Çocuk daha önce gitmiş zaten oraya. İkinci seferde ne sevdiğini sormamışlar bile. Oyun istemiyorum diye defalarca söylüyor ama satıcı İngilizce bilmiyor üstüne bir de IShowSpeed’in ağzına peçete tıkıyor🤦♀️ Bir de bunu “Türk misafirperverliği” diye pazarlıyorlar. Sizin ağzınıza tıksalar, güler misiniz gerçekten? Pes. 4. Korku Evi ve Hayvanat Bahçesi: İstanbul’un Tanıtım Kılavuzu Bu mu? Bu vizyonsuzluğun zirvesi. IShowSpeed’i hayvanat bahçesine ve korku evine götürmek. Şehirde yapacak onca şey varken, çocuğu hayvanat bahçesine götürüyorlar. Yetmiyor çocuğu maymun ısırıyor. Yayını izleyenler İstanbul’da maymunların yaşadığını zannediyor. İstesen bu kadar olmaz. Dünyanın en eski şehirlerinden biri, kültür, tarih, sanat, teknoloji… Hiçbiri yok! Neden? Çünkü “bi şeyler yapalım da zaman geçsin, gülsün eğlenelim” kafası hakim. Planlama sıfır. Vizyon sıfır. 5. Türk Hamamındaki görüntüler… 🤦♀️ 6. Sürekli takılan yayın, internet sorunu! 😫 Bu ülkenin imajına yapışmış en büyük kötülüklerden biri CİDDİYETSİZLİK. “Aman canım abartma”cılar, “Biz İngilizce değil, o Türkçe öğrensin”ciler, Ne vizyon var ne strateji. Sosyal medyada ne oldum delisi olanlarla ülke tanıtımının sonucu… Sadece bugünü düşünen, “eğlenelim yeter” diyen zihniyetin sonunda gelinen nokta bu.
Evrim Kanbur1,714,271 次观看 • 11 个月前
Turkey just walked into the world’s most expensive trap, smiling, waving, and signing IOUs it hasn’t even figured out how to pay back because what Ankara is trying to do right now is the fiscal equivalent of ordering 300 Ferraris on credit while your bank account is already negative. Turkey just promised to buy 300 planes and locked itself into 20-year LNG deals with U.S. suppliers. That’s a mortgage on the next two decades of your grandchildren’s future. Buying hundreds of jets is straight up debt cosplay. Even if financed over decades, these planes are denominated in USD. Means Turkey just said, “We’ll pay you in dollars,” while the lira is busy free-falling like a skydiver without a parachute. When your interest rate (r) > your growth rate (g), the math is brutal: Delta D = (r - g)D + new borrowing Congratulations, Turkey just turbocharged its debt overhang problem. Keep in mind that Turkey still doesn’t have enough fire planes. Then there’s the LNG contract. BOTAS signed a 20-year deal with Mercuria. Twenty. Years. That’s basically saying: Hey, whatever happens in energy markets, shale boom, renewables, global price collapse, we’ll keep overpaying because we pinky-swore with Trump. Beautiful, if you’re Mercuria. Disastrous, if you’re a Turkish consumer footing the bill. 🤔300 planes + long-term LNG = massive imports. 😳Imports = foreign exchange outflow. 😱Outflow = bigger current account deficit. 😫Bigger CAD = more dependency on foreign capital inflows. 😵💫Foreign inflows = you’re one tantrum away from a sudden stop and devaluation. The minute you’re tied into defense and energy contracts worth tens of billions, you’re not balancing anything, you’re leasing your sovereignty on a monthly plan. The U.S. now holds a remote control with two buttons for delivery delay and price adjustment. Instead of investing in domestic aerospace, renewable energy, R&D, or education, Turkey is funneling billions into imports. That’s like skipping college tuition for your kid so you can buy your neighbor’s kid a car, a house and life insurance. It’s economically suicidal. You don’t build resilience by importing dependency. Ataturk wouldn’t have wanted this. Turkey’s policymakers may think they scored diplomatic points, but what they really signed up for is a future of debt, dependency, and diminished autonomy. When growth slows, when FX reserves shrink, when interest payments eat the budget alive, remember these deals. A massive economic own-goal. Instead of strengthening its economy, Turkey just mortgaged it. Planes will fly, LNG will burn, but the debt will stay grounded like a heavy chain around the country’s ankle. The people selling Turkey these planes and gas don’t even need to lift a finger. They just sit back, collect the payments, and watch as Ankara tries to explain to its citizens why their kids’ future has been securitized for someone else’s balance sheet.
Evrim Kanbur664,740 次观看 • 8 个月前
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Chinese youth are using AI to bring their ancestors to life showing them the country their resilience and hard work helped lay the foundations for. A powerful tribute across generations. Now ask yourself this: would your ancestors be proud of where your country stands today?
Evrim Kanbur395,026 次观看 • 1 年前
Çin’de yangınlarla mücadele, sadece insan gücüne dayalı geleneksel yöntemlerle değil, ileri düzey teknolojik altyapı ve yapay zekâ destekli sistemlerle yürütülmektedir. Çin’de yangınla mücadelede teknolojiden nasıl faydalanılıyor? 🤜 Yapay Zeka ile Erken Uyarı Sistemleri Çin, ormanlık alanlara yerleştirdiği yüksek çözünürlüklü gece görüşlü kameralar ve insansız hava araçları yani drone ile gerçek zamanlı 7/24 görüntüleme yaparak yangın belirtilerini önceden tespit etmeye çalışıyor. Bu sistemler, yapay zekâ destekli görüntü tanıma teknolojileriyle dumanı, sıcaklık değişimlerini ve olağan dışı parlamaları analiz ederek yangını başlamadan fark edebiliyor. Örneğin, Sichuan ve Yunnan gibi riskli bölgelerde bu sistemler yaygın olarak kullanılıyor. 🤜 Uydu Destekli İzleme ve Haritalama Çin, Gaofen uydu serisini ve Beidou navigasyon sistemini kullanarak yangın bölgelerini anlık olarak izliyor. Uydu verileri sayesinde yangının yayılma yönü, rüzgâr hızı ve sıcaklık gibi değişkenler analiz edilerek yangın söndürme stratejileri anlık olarak güncelleniyor. 🤜 İnsansız Hava Araçları (Drone) ile Söndürme ve Gözetleme Yangın bölgesine ulaşması zor olan alanlarda yangın söndürme drone’ları kullanılıyor. Bu drone’lar hem gözetleme hem de yangın söndürücü kapsül veya kimyasal bırakma amacıyla görev yapıyor. Ayrıca termal kameralarla yangının merkezini tespit edip insanlı ekiplere veri aktarıyor. 2024’ten itibaren devasa boyuttaki dronelar ile yangınların ortasına su bombası atma yöntemi uygulanıp sonuç alınmaya başlandı. Aşağıdaki videodan izleyebilirsiniz. 🤜 Amfibik Yangın Uçakları ve Helikopterler Yerli üretim AG600 “Kunlong” amfibik uçakları, 12 ton suyu tek seferde taşıyabilen ve suya inip kalkabilen dev uçaklardır. Bu uçaklar Çin’in ormanlık bölgelerinde aktif olarak görev alıyor. Ayrıca Z-8 ve Z-20 tipi helikopterler yangın bölgelerine hızlı müdahale sağlamak üzere donatılmıştır. AG600’ün gece görüş sistemiyle karanlıkta da operasyon yapabilmesi, onu kritik saatlerde vazgeçilmez hale getiriyor. 🤜 5G Tabanlı Yangın Komuta Merkezleri Bazı şehirlerde kurulan 5G destekli yangın kontrol merkezleri, anlık olarak yüzlerce sensörden, dronelardan ve kameradan gelen veriyi analiz ederek gerçek zamanlı dijital yangın haritaları oluşturuyor. Bu haritalar sayesinde komuta merkezleri ekipleri dinamik olarak yönlendirebiliyor. 🤜 Yangınla Mücadelede Robotik Sistemler Özellikle endüstriyel yangınlarda, ısıya dayanıklı robotlar kullanılarak alevin kaynağını tespit ediyor ve söndürücü kimyasal püskürtüyor. 🤜 Yapay Zekâ ile Kaynak Tahsisi ve Risk Analizi AI destekli yazılımlar, hava durumu verileri, bitki örtüsü, insan faaliyetleri ve geçmiş yangın verilerini analiz ederek risk haritaları çıkarıyor. Bu sistemler, yangın çıkma ihtimali yüksek bölgeleri önceden belirliyor ve itfaiye birimlerini buna göre ön konumlandırma yapıyor. Yunnan’da Uygulanan Entegre Yangın Sistemi Yunnan eyaleti, Çin’in en ormanlık bölgelerinden biri olarak AI + drone + 5G + uydu izleme kombinasyonunu pilot bölge olarak ilk uygulayan yerlerden biri. Bu bölgede çıkan yangınlara müdahale süresi, geleneksel yöntemlere göre %70 oranında hızlanmış durumdadır. Çin, yangınla mücadelede insan gücünü destekleyen ileri teknoloji sistemlerini entegre kullanarak yangın öncesi, anı ve sonrası için kapsamlı bir strateji izlemektedir. Bu strateji, erken uyarıdan uydu analizine, robotlardan amfibik uçaklara kadar çok katmanlı ve yapay zeka destekli bir yapıya sahiptir. Yangın sadece bir afet değil, aynı zamanda bir veri sorunudur; Çin, bu sorunu çözmek için veriyi gerçek zamanlı eyleme dönüştüren bir yangın ekosistemi inşa etmektedir. “Peki bu bilgilerle ne yapacağız?” diye sorarsanız… sadece genel kültür mü olacak, yoksa bu sistemlerden ilham alıp kendi yangın yönetimimizi çağın gerekliliklerine göre yeniden mi tasarlayacağız? Yangın ekiplerinin can güvenliğini ve eforlarını teknoloji ile destekleyecek miyiz? Bizi bu adımları atmaktan alıkoyan şey ne olabilir?
Evrim Kanbur99,150 次观看 • 10 个月前
Gerçekten Speed’in de dediği gibi, insanın ‘bu kadar da tesadüf olamaz’ diyesi geliyor. Herkesin bavulu sorunsuz gelirken, tam da ISpeedShow ve ekibinin ana yayın ekipmanlarını taşıyan çantaların uçakta olmaması… Yayın çok daha pozitif, çok daha etkileyici olabilirdi. Bu fırsatın böyle heba edilmesi gerçekten üzücü.
Evrim Kanbur89,810 次观看 • 11 个月前
China’s construction tech is on another level! If you still picture construction sites with tones of workers swinging hammers, you’re officially stuck in the 90s. In China they’re out here building skyscrapers like it’s a speedrun challenge, with a tech stack that would make Silicon Valley jealous. AI-Powered Smart Sites Drones, IoT sensors, and AI are managing construction sites better than some human managers. Real-time safety alerts, automated progress tracking, and even predictive maintenance are standard tools, not fancy bonuses. Green Building Technologies Solar panels built into facades. Rainwater harvesting embedded into skyscrapers. Buildings that regulate their own temperature to save energy, not future dreams, but today’s standards. Robotics in Construction From brick-laying robots to rebar-tying machines, construction crews in China now have mechanical teammates with no lunch breaks, no grumbling. Welcome to Construction 2.0 (China Edition) Humans supervising, robots building! Gone are the days when a construction site meant a hundred+ guys with shovels. In China’s construction sites today, the machines are the real MVPs, humans mostly sip coffee and supervise. Bricklaying Human hands? Please. Robotic arms now lay bricks faster, straighter, and neater than your uncle’s weekend DIY projects. Some can lay 1,000+ bricks an hour and never ask for overtime. Excavation Remember digging trenches with shovels? That’s adorable. Now AI-guided autonomous excavators carve the earth with GPS-level precision while operators chill in air-conditioned control rooms. Concrete Pouring Giant robotic nozzles squeezing out entire building frames like they’re icing a wedding cake. Layers and layers, no sweat, no mess, no “oops, we need to redo that wall.” Welding You think shaky human hands are still melting steel together? Nah. Robot welders buzz and spark with perfect, tireless accuracy, even in places that are too risky for humans to reach. Inspection Sending humans to climb scaffolding 50 stories up? Very 2002. Now drones buzz around construction sites like paparazzi, scanning every beam, bolt, and brick, spotting defects before a human eye would even blink. Material Transport Why carry things manually when you can have self-driving forklifts and delivery bots moving steel, concrete, and pipes faster than an Amazon Prime truck? Site Monitoring Forget some guy in a neon vest wandering around with a clipboard. Today it’s AI-driven command centers tracking thousands of data points: worker safety, machinery health, material delivery schedules all from one giant screen. Project Planning Old: Paper blueprints and arguing architects. New: AI and BIM (Building Information Modeling) simulate the entire building in virtual reality before the first brick is even printed. This video shows how construction sites in China are now using robots to handle tasks like rebar placement, concrete pouring, and polishing, which has led to a 50% reduction in the workforce at some projects. The robots are proving to be more efficient, with one project's furnace robot achieving a 20% efficiency increase in just 5 days, saving 5% on labor costs. The construction company is developing even more advanced robots for future use as they work to improve smart construction technology for widespread real-time application. At China’s next-gen construction sites, humans don’t sweat, they strategize. Machines are not seen as luxury, they are seen as a necessity. Why does it matter? China is using 5G, AI, IoT, and robotics to build entire smart cities. And when the world comes looking for fast, sustainable, and scalable construction models… guess who’s already handing out the blueprints? Next time you hear: ‘Made in China,’ think bigger, it is: ‘Engineered for the future in China.’
Evrim Kanbur71,826 次观看 • 1 年前
Schools in Dongguan city, in China, have already started integrating AI teachers into classrooms. Where do the U.S. and Europe stand on this? Imagine walking into class and being greeted by Albert Einstein or a renowned Chinese scholar, this is already a reality for over 6,000 students across 45 schools in Dongguan! AI-powered teachers are bringing history and science to life, answering students’ questions in real-time. Schools are experimenting with large AI models to personalize education and enhance learning experiences. Even after-school services are transitioning to AI-driven management systems! Now, imagine AI-powered history lessons in the U.S. and Europe, what if George Washington explained the American Revolution? Or Leonardo da Vinci brought the Renaissance to life in an interactive classroom? The impact on education would be profound. AI is revolutionizing education in China. How quickly will the U.S. and Europe embrace it? For those who don’t know me, I’m Evrim. I’ve been in Shanghai for over 10 years as a teacher, lecturer, and entrepreneur. During my holidays, I backpack to remote villages in China, visit schools, chat with teachers, and sit side by side with students. I share the latest developments in education, technology, healthcare, and urbanization in China. If you want to truly understand China and stay updated on these changes, join me on this journey!
Evrim Kanbur59,023 次观看 • 1 年前
The ones who share “ghost city” memes about China would lose their minds in Shanghai cause it is the future and most of the West is stuck in 1984 (literally, infrastructure and technology-wise). Metro Network Shanghai: 800+ km, 19 lines, clean, cashless, runs like clockwork. NYC: Built in 1904. Still waiting for the Q train like it’s a mythological event. 5G Coverage Shanghai: City-wide 5G, powering smart city tech, autonomous buses & AR-based urban planning. LA: Still buffering on your rooftop. Digital Infrastructure Shanghai has a real-time digital twin called the “Shanghai Clone.” It helps the gov plan traffic, construction, and public safety. Meanwhile, in some Western cities, installing a smart traffic light is a 5-year pilot project with 50 feasibility studies. AI Startups Shanghai: 200k AI companies (2024). Also home to unicorns like Horizon Robotics & YITU Tech. In some Western cities are still trying to regulate AI without knowing how it works. Maglev Train Shanghai: Yes, it flies, 431 km/h from the airport to downtown in 7 minutes. Meanwhile, Amtrak: “This journey will be 4 hours longer than expected due to… reasons.” Smart City Awards Shanghai was named World’s smartest city in 2020. Why? Real-time governance, sensor-based services, sustainable urban planning. Some Western cities draft ‘smart city’ whitepapers while their websites crash when too many people try to pay parking tickets. Still stuck on China’s ‘ghost cities’? Then walk through Lujiazui😎You’ll see the future, while some Western cities are still stuck in the past.
Evrim Kanbur53,908 次观看 • 1 年前
I wish the Nanjing Massacre in China had never happened just like I wish so many other horrors in human history had never happened. But since it did, you need to hear this. I know you probably think of Japan as one of the kindest, most polite societies in the world. And in many ways, that’s true. I have Japanese friends and they feel genuine grief and shame over this part of history after they learnt about it. But many others simply don’t acknowledge it at all mostly because they don’t even learn about it in school. It’s not a chapter in their history textbooks. Many Japanese children grow up never hearing about it, never knowing it happened. If you don’t learn it, you can’t mourn it or feel ashamed about it. And maybe you’ve been carrying around this quiet assumption that anything good coming out of Asia must come from Japan. That’s a bias worth breaking. I didn’t even learn about the Nanjing Massacre until 2014, when my school in China held a memorial day for the victims. I remember the cold shock running through me when I first heard the details. My colleagues told me what happened I wish I could unhear. Later, I began reading more about it and eventually went to Nanjing. It wasn’t a trip for sightseeing. My heart was heavy. The same heaviness I felt when I walked through the killing fields of Phnom Penh, a silence so loud, it follows you long after you leave. At that time, I had a Japanese student in my class. But the other kids didn’t want to sit next to him or talk to him. And there I was, as a teacher, tasked with keeping the classroom equal and fair. His father’s work had brought them to China. One day his father told me his son had mentioned how I tried to make sure he was treated equally. In the end, though, they moved him to another school. I understood why. My students from Nanjing carried stories in their blood, grandparents or great grandparents who had survived the Nanjing Massacre or never came back at all. For them, this wasn’t distant history. It was inherited grief, passed down like an unwanted heirloom no one ever asked to hold. In the winter of 1937, during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese troops invaded Nanjing, then the capital of China. Over six weeks, 300,000 civilians and prisoners of war were slaughtered. 80,000 women, including girls and elderly women were raped. And when I say “sexual violence,” I mean the nightmare that comes to your mind, multiplied by a hundred. Their bodies were violated, most intimate parts torn with bayonets, bamboo sticks, tree branches, left to bleed to death after hours of relentless rape and assault. The word “war” sugarcoats it. It was extreme sadism wearing a uniform. Amidst the horror, a few foreigners like businessman John Rabe and American missionary John Magee created the Nanjing Safety Zone, sheltering over 200,000 Chinese civilians. Magee even smuggled out footage, one of the only surviving visual records of what happened. That’s how the world learned to call it the Nanjing Massacre or, chillingly, “The Rape of Nanjing”. Nearly 90 years later, Japan’s relationship with this history is complicated. Yes, there have been official apologies, like the 1995 Murayama Statement. But Japan has never truly owned the full scale of its wartime crimes in China. Some politicians still deny it ever happened, as if 300,000 dead and mountains of testimony can be erased with political amnesia. Dead to Rights movie has smashed box office records in China since its July 25 release, over ¥7 billion. I saw the movie and bawled my eyes out. Chinese social media flooded with raw, emotional memories. Many are calling this one of the most important historical films. December 13 is now marked in China as the National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre. In Nanjing itself, the Memorial Hall, built in 1985, still stands, visited by millions each year. They come to remind the rest of us: what is forgotten, is repeated.
Evrim Kanbur41,265 次观看 • 10 个月前
Still so true. One of my Chinese neighbors owns a Ferrari, yet we take the metro and shared bikes together. He barely touches the car. Says he’s saving money. I raise an eyebrow wondering if he’s trolling me… but nope. Dead serious. Another Chinese neighbor stopped donating to his kid’s school. Also saving money. My Chinese friends are incredible savers. The government responds with another stimulus to encourage spending, why? Because they can. Prices remain consistently low. Education, healthcare, food, rent, transportation, all affordable. In China, saving is a lifestyle, not a mid-life crisis. Meanwhile in the U.S., sneezing near a hospital could cost you your retirement plan. Priorities, systems, and outcomes, wildly different.
Evrim Kanbur40,904 次观看 • 1 年前
I kinda vanished from X in 2020, thanks to an endless parade of anti-China trolls who had more stamina than a caffeinated hamster. But here I am, back after a long hiatus, and it feels good, and obviously I’ve developed a troll-resistant exoskeleton. What dragged me back? A “respected” professor casually dropping a forecast about China’s supposed economic collapse. At first, I did what I always do, roll my eyes and move on. Bots spewing nonsense are nothing new. But when his post popped up again, I stopped scrolling. This wasn’t just another bot with two likes and a stock photo profile pic. This was a man with 7.6 million students, colleagues, and followers, feeding them misinformation like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet of nonsense. That didn’t sit right with me. Something snapped. The sleeping dragon woke up. And it’s been a month? I’m seeing more and more dragons here, cutting through the noise with facts, data, and truth. It’s glorious. Whether the bots ever evolve beyond their copy-paste scripts is irrelevant. I’m here for the real ones, those who actually want to learn and understand China, not just regurgitate propaganda. If you’re one of them, let’s connect. Ps: I love my adopted home, Shanghai.
Evrim Kanbur46,010 次观看 • 1 年前
People always ask, “Why are you always posting about China?” Because I didn’t just Google it, as an expat I live in Shanghai, well over a decade. Because as an economist, watching China’s transformation is like front-row seats to a real-time economic miracle. They didn’t just talk about growth, they built it! Factories, high-speed trains, infrastructure, AI, robots, tech hubs, education, healthcare and safe communities… the whole productivity orchestra. And they didn’t forget the secret sauce, unity, pride, and a collective sense of we’ve got this. It’s inspiring! It all loops back to one of the core principles of economics. A nation’s living standards rise with its ability to produce goods and services. China understood the assignment. Every country should take notes.
Evrim Kanbur37,574 次观看 • 1 年前
