Comment by mirgj | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mirgj | Hacker News Reader

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Is true, but Shenzhen is culturally very different from Beijing and so is Shanghai.

Shenzhen is a new city and tech stuff are there because of the influence of Guangzhou as production hub and HK as facilitator for access to the west.

Beijing is more, let me say it, artistic. Is much more vibrant, culturally, than any other city in China. This kind of mix that you can find in New Work, Berlin or London also it brings innovation. So I don't think is meant to make the government "happy". Many Chinese tech company started in Beijing form many reasons: education, capital access, culture and so on. To give you an example: Mobike was founder by an ex journalist

Many tech companies started in Beijing with obvious government boosts. There is also the major research universities (PKU and Qinghua at the top, many more at tiers just under). However, Beijing is also famous for government meddling and Black Audi-style privileged that is lacking in SZ and SH.

Take traffic for example, it is much saner in SH and SZ because the police can actually enforce the rules, whereas in BJ you get a asense they have given up because they feel like everyone is an official or is connected to one. It is a weird city even by Chinese standards.

I don't have nothing to support this thesis. I just shared my pure observation, after living there for a while, I notice it was a way more dynamic compared to the other 'cold' Chinese cities.

Yet I think my message didn't pass through since I got downvoted

I lived in Beijing for 10 years working in tech so know it pretty well. I always surprised how much smoother things were in SH in comparison to BJ. Heck, many second tier cities (like Hangzhou) were much better run than Beijing.

Mobike being founded by an ex-journalist is an argument against your point, not for it. Journalism work in China isn't artistic, rather it revolves around finding things to say that keeps the govt happy.

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