having lived for a long time in both china and america: yes. chinese people are given a much more accurate view of life in america than americans are given an accurate view of life in china

I think a lot of people in America (and HN commenters) think that life in China is closer to North Korea than Singapore based on massive media propaganda. In reality, in T1 and T2 cities in China, quality of life has exceeded American cities in my humble opinion. They're quite close to Singapore from my experience.

When I visited Shenzhen and then came back to the US recently, I felt like I went back in time 15 years.

I've been saying on HN for years that the commenters here should buy a ticket and go see China for themselves. It's extremely safe. Far safer than any American city/suburb. No, they're not going to detain you and send you to jail. They don't care about you. People are generally friendly even if you're from the US.