Forum - View topicLiving in China = No Anime :(
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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So recently I moved to the great nation of China (formerly a resident of Washington state) and, which I did expect, coming across anime is rather difficult.
This is heightened by the fact that I do not live in a large city like Beijing. There are other things I love that are hard to find here like cheese, cinnamon and deodorant. Surprisingly bootlegs are nowhere to be found either (I may be wrong, but it seems they are actually illegal to sell here). My usual sources of anime when in the States was Crunchyroll, occasionally other streaming sites and DVD purchases. Both of those options are out of the question as all English subtitled sites are blocked in China and importing DVDs (while simple enough) is just not cost-effective and I don't completely trust the reliability of the Chinese postal service. So what is an otaku expat living in China to do? Can any others share their experiences or ideas? |
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EmbraceMe
 Posts: 2013 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
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I don't have much information on this site but it appears to be legal. The site name is Bilibili and it appears to be a Chinese version of Crunchyroll and a mixture of Youtube/NicoNicoDouga. There's a Wikipedia page on it so that's where I'm basing my information off.
Another suggestion is to try torrenting but I don't know how Chinese laws work and whether it'll work in China. I went to Guangdong last summer and hit the local DVD shops and found very few selections of anime but plentiful amount of Gunpla stores. I think I also saw quite a bit of anime merchandise around the malls but not large offerings. Note to mods: If the site is indeed illegal, please remove my link for me. Edit: Most of these videos will probably be subtitled in Chinese so that may pose as a problem if you're not fluent. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Thank you for the reply EmbraceMe. Realistically, there's simply no infrastructure in place that makes it feasible for a foreigner not fluent enough in the local language (or Japanese) to enjoy anime programming. This is in spite of the fact that anime is quite popular in China. The Chinese government is overbearing and prohibitive but citizens are allowed freedom to pursue their own interests such as anime. But the restrictions that are in place do interfere with the degree of access I'm accustomed to. I'm not interested in torrenting fansubs, and if I was, my internet connection is neither private nor reliable enough to make it worthwhile.
Guess I'll stick to gaming. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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I wouldn't even think of living in China without speaking the language.
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EmbraceMe
Posts: 2013 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
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It might be helpful to know which part of China you're currently residing in but since you said you're not located in a large city, it's probably very difficult to find access to stores that stock anime related content.
If you're in the Southern Part of China and have time to travel around, I'd recommend making a visit to Hong Kong (but realisticall, this might not even be a good option since it'll be a hefty price for a flight and hotels). Most people speak Cantonese but I think English is the secondary language there so it will be a bit foreigner friendly. I Googled a bit and came across these results and a guide there which may be of help to find stores/shopping areas (specifically Mong Kok, Nathan Road, or wherever -- I've never been to these parts). I'm not so sure about Northern China since I haven't been there much except for mountainous areas for tours and I missed out on my family trip to Shanghai. |
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Spotlesseden
Posts: 3514 Location: earth |
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there are many legal anime in Chinese subtitle. i guess that's not an option for you.
The only option is download English illegal English subtitle via torrent. There is little or no English fansub nowadays. Most illegal anime steal CR or Funimation. If you feel guilty, you can always pay CR and download it illegally. Another option is to get a proxy server in US. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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There is one anime shop in the town I live in. Yes a town not even a city. Actually it's a county, in China counties are subdivisions of cities. But within counties there are small towns or villages.
Here are a couple of things I bought at the anime store: It's a Cardcaptor Sakura Tarot Card Deck, completely legit not a knockoff. It's a convention bag I suppose. It's kind of dirty but I only payed a buck for it (6rmb). The bootlegs are only sold to fools overseas  For the Chinese market pretty much everything is just as legit as buying from Right Stuf. I imagine bootleg stuff does find its way back into the Chinese market as it's not strictly controlled or monitored.
I don't really want to talk about merchandise in this thread, it is my preference not to accumulate too much stuff here as everything will have to be shipped back to the US eventually. |
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nobahn
Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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^
How long will your stay be? |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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I'm coming to find that using anime characters in advertising is rather common in China. Plus I have had better luck accessing legal streams of shows. I bumped this thread because I just had to post this picture I snapped in a park today. Nothing like very cute PSA signs from China's very own Socialist-tan.
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pinoyfreestyler
Posts: 102 Location: Makati, Philippines |
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Tudou.com - worth the shot I guess.
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