The law in the US is absolete and the more availabale guns and bullets are, there higher the chance that people will kill and be killed by guns.
mathmatical fact, plus a group dynamic effect (they have guns so i should have one to to protect myself...blabla)

Car accidents and gun crime don't compare at all, never did, never will .....
accidents vs. crime just enjoy the meaning of the words.

No one needs (semi)automatic rifles except the military, so why can you buy them?

hunters and people in dire need to have guns will always have access. it's the john doe that should stay away from it.

Nutters become nutters, few are born that way. and yes they will always get their weapons somehwere, but do you really need to make their life easier by selling heavy weapons (some of them fall under the law of heavy war weaponry, in europe), in shops next door?

If you love your freedom so much and the contributions to the U.S. wouldn't it be a nice approach to try, just try, to get rid of all those weapons and see if lives would be saved?
Image a person allowed to carry a gun, gives it up for the better of society, instead of defending a law that is dumb in the first place, proven to make things worse, is 200 years outdated and has no purpose in modern society at all. (hint... you really want to ovethrow the opressive governemtn of th U.S. with some shotguns and locked automatic rifles against the biggest and strongest army in the world)?

I am specialized infantry and I learned enough to know that you shouldn't fight a battle you can't win.

Only soldiers and law should carry guns (and even that is questionable).

If you want to be a big boy and play with toys, get a fun car or a sex doll (or all both) or something else, that eases your cowboy-defence complexions.

as a weapons trained adult, i tell you Guns are bad!!!
There is actual real scientific research about that (bowling for columbine, playboy, NRA fliers, don't count), that proves that strict gun laws decreases gun crimes, ...if you don't believe the "LIVING" examples in other countries.

I never touched a "real" gun after the Army and it feels great, i still know how to use it but i don't have to prove it by having one under my pillow.

But don't worry, have your guns and kill or get killed, gokunming forum members leave no soldier behind..... whoo-ah. :D

aaronb,
I agree things are getting better in general and i made the same observation of people being more helpful especially looking back 10 years ago.

about the 2 wrongs don't make things right, I agree as well, even freaggin rats help each other, shouldn't be such a big deal for the human race to help each other, right?
...don't we claim to be so much smarter, than the animals?

I don't think it's lame comparing the two cultures, looking into some of the threads it looks like there are big misunderstandings on how those two cultures work (together).

Some westeners think that the west is the best and some chinese think theirs is the best and pointing out that they forgot that we have the same problems in slightly different ways. just helps to bring the conversations back to reality.
It's a fact that the exact problems appear but slightly different is not exactly lame. Crime, corruption, discrimination, rascism helping in accidents, you name it. If it would be that clear no one would mention it.

But a lot of the threads are realease valves of anger and frustration, exegerated opinions influenced by bad media...(sorry aaronb,...but on both sides)....

This is an entry to few of the posts. So it's quite long..oops!

I feel for all the ones that have been in accidents or helped.

And I agree that in China there are more people standing around and enjoying the show than in the west, but not becasue a lack of compassion i think.

The excuses I always hear are ridiculous, you are getting sued for helping people. Thats an urban legend and dates back far to the early 2000's.

If it's true then find the news article about those cases and what happened to them in the end. Well actually there were three cases (if i remember right)in which samaritans were sued but the court dismissed them to the expenses of the accident victim claiming to be wrongly treated...etc...! Noone (at least foreigner) was ever deported or sued (successfully)for money, trying to help accident victims.

There was a gray area in the law and the government changed it. And the gov is aware of the lack of compasion that's why they teach kids in middle school in Beijing, First Aid and thats why you see on KMG bus 161 videos of civilian heros pulling out people of their crashed cars, almost every day.

It's just an easy excuse so you don't feel guilty for not helping. Similar to the beggar mafia old guy skimming 5 mao or a kuai.
Even if there is a mafia so what you can't spare 5 mao for that poor man/woman working for those jerks.

What do you think, not giving him money changes him for the better? So he will find a job at microsoft or quite the mafia job....I recommend a logical though about this, keyword "Mafia".

Help, when/if you can, and enjoy the feeling of it. I did help in China before and I had a wonderful experience seeing others assisting or even taking the lead. the victim were grateful (when they were able to show it) and the cops were nice and respectful.

On three accounts it was a very positive experience.

An accident is a dynamic situation that evokes fear, selfreflection and intimidation (similar to stage fright) every shrink will tell you that. When one starts helping, others (not everyone) will join (peer-pressure). If not just give them minor tasks (get a blanket, call the ambulance, please bring some water) and see what happens, you will be amazed.

About Crazylaowai, I agree the 5000years of culture thing is ridiculous, what is this an age competition? every culture on earth is as old as the other. nomads started to settle and un-nomaded themself, there the established culture started (plus the time before they started, and while they were on the move).

European, Native Amer....yeah... every culture is as old as Chineses'. So people should award China a medal for having their culture as long as anyone else. Oh yeah and especially if you are so proud of your (East or West) culture, then you should especially work on how you treat living beings.

We are all equally bad and good, China is no exception.

Also about the "If you don't like it why don't you leave China." it is a big funny diversion and how does that help? Chinese or the foreigners.

Again a rational logical thought might fix it...(seriously, if you wanna kick out everyone that has a little criticism about a foreign culture what would happen in the long run.)

China needs changes (politics actually agree) but without pointing out what probelms exist it would be hard to find out for people used to the problems. And if you think thats arrogant, then why, if you are aware of the problem didn't you start changing it, already. So then it would be: arrogannce versus ignorance.

...What's better or worse?

Imagine I stop you on your motorbike and tell you, that you have a flat tire. Would you reply with the same statement "If you don't like it, why don't you leave China?" ....that would be funny, though.

My point is not every critical though is a criticism of the people and culture. Isn't it in China's best interest to change social issues?

So who cares who mentions it. You can go to Europe and do the same thing and people actually may appreciate it.

There is thise funny Chinese Immigrant mocking American culture, James Wong or so, he is great....Good Job!

Chinese (same as foreigners) living in their entrusted cozy environment, don't want to move their ass and change their direct environment. It's so much easier and comfy to blame anyone who has an open eye for change. And then if someone sees and mentiones it the locals are "stupified". East or West, same thing.

Well Laotou,
dunno if you realized it but China is smoking rich, unfortunately the money is spend on aircraft carriers, space ships, rockets, and independent space station (rather than using the well working existing one and try team work for once), big VW CC or Hummers for governemtn officials..etc
China owns one third of the U.S., so money is no problem.
But maybe talk to a farmer and poor people and see how much help they receive from the gov., and keeping the country together and protect from all the foreign invaders (equals=drug traffickers and dealers)... :)
The opium war has nothing to do with helping in an accident plus I recommend to get historical facts straight.

The laowai's in the past didn't just open opium dens for fun.

Little hint everything happens for a reason. And before I hear again you are not Chinese, you don't know the truth, then I recommend to check more independent or more updated history books about the Opium Wars.
The opium wars weren't the brightest spot on the horizon of westers civilisation but I think China has a few dark spots too.

so maybe we can put the whole nationalistic /rascist attidudes aside and agree that we are all not perfect and need to evolve, together would be a great idea.
Also ask yourself why are those problems you mentioned so hypocritical, what possible reason could there be? I have two floating around and they are both correct.

Yes it's true, many people in the west don't just help becasue they think it's awesome (i ssume some do) but most do help, because the law states that IF YOU DON'T HELP, YOU GO TO JAIL.
So not all westeners are samaritans by trade but becasue they don't want to go to jail and Even then some still let people die in their wrecks.

BTW.
The violin guy was not a social experiment but an musical experiment they wanted to find out if people with musical knowledge would recognize his talent or even who he is. A pretty tricky task if you are not an art fan specialized in violin stuff.
I think his name is Kennedy an Irish dude living in Germany. (if thats the same guy)

So everyone should take a deep breath and get out of the system that Chinese just watch the misery. They might actually never heard of how to help and try to put yourself in the position what would happen, if you would have absolutely no idea about first aid, what would you do?

I love China too and I still mention things that are not perfect here, becasue if they ever change I would be proud of the people and government. And many things have changed and more will come...
I'm looking forward to it.

For Beijing try www.thebeijinger.com

They have nice (free) magazines, too.
You find them in the expat frequented cafes and restuarants.

Magnifico,
I'm sorry to say that but, yes, -you are no expert in sports, and a little bit of a running party pooper, -no offense.
Running doesn't ruin your knees or joints, quite contrary, if done right.
It stimulates the the growth of ligament in your knees after trauma or loss of it (ligament, not trauma,-that is).
As every sport you have to start easy and if possible stop it gently and slowly if you want to stop or change your favorite exercise.

Good shoes are crucial (and physicians recommend harder soles these days, or running socks, weird looking shoes with individual toes).
The running surface matters less it will train your feet and legs. Softer soles will ease the impact on your foot but increases the impact force on your knee.

But as everything some people swear on cushioned soles and some say the harder runners are better.

Same with pollution some doc's say running in pollution is still better than not running at all.
There was a nice article in TheBeijinger about sports in Beijing during the Olympics (might still be in their archive) and the overall tenor was; "Activity is better than no activity disregarding the pollution level."
Also if you want to argue against it (and please guys do) google the effects of Indoor pollution if you think that outdoor air pollution is an issue.

Or put a few unlit cigarettes in your mouth while running, then at least

the air will be filtered. [If you don't mind people staring at you]

Chris I only ran parts of the route you described, I can only agree, it's really nice, good air, not many people to stare or stand in the way, the surface is great, especially around the Dianchi Lake area. Also the Villa parks around the lake are nice to circle.