charoko

Just curious, but did you talk to them in English or Mandarin? I've found that if I talk to locals in Mandarin, even if broken Mandarin, they are more willing to tell me the truth.

Whereas if I talk to them in English, they become defensive and think I'm criticizing them.

"The CPC is currently the world's second largest political party with a membership of 87.79 million as of 2015.

To join the party, an applicant must be 18 years of age, and must spend a year as a probationary member. In contrast to the past, when emphasis was placed on the applicants' ideological criteria, the current CPC stresses technical and educational qualifications."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_China

> If you think you could live in China and even write anything about the party the way you write about the US government from your comment you are delusional.

Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression

Contrary to previous understandings, posts with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state, its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored. Instead, we show that the censorship program is aimed at curtailing collective action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilization, regardless of content.

Source: http://gking.harvard.edu/publications/how-censorship-china-a...