Sourced from Pixabay
As we all know, China's government just shook the crypto market by banning bitcoin exchanges and ICOs. A lot of us are probably sick of China trying to meddle with the market but that's just the leaders.
What about the everyday people like you or me?
How do they live their lives? What do they care about?
Do they even know what bitcoin is? Or Steemit?
Let's find out...
1.) So what’s the story behind your English name? Did you choose it yourself?
"Yes, I chose it myself. It’s the first word in the Greek alphabet and I love Greek mythology."
2.) What do you want your major to be?
"Programming. It’s amazing and it can help me to understand how computers work. More things will need programming in the future so I think it’s a good idea."
3.) How old are you?
"I'm 16."
4.) Where in China are you from?
"I’m from a city called Linping in Zhejiang Province. It’s a small town near Hangzhou that is very modern. Over 1 million people live here and it’s becoming better and better."
5.) Describe your average weekday.
"Usually, I will wake up at 5:30 AM. I will quickly brush my teeth and wash my face, then eat breakfast. Normally, I’ll eat dumplings for breakfast. Next I’ll ride my bike to school and I get there at 6:30 AM."
"For half an hour, I’ll do my homework and then at 7 o’ clock we have our daily reading class for 30 minutes. The school makes us read poems and articles as this will help us later with exams."
"Each class is 45 minutes and we have eight lessons per day. After the second morning class, we need to go outside to run around the track. If it’s raining, we don’t have to run so usually I hope it rains."
"Lunchtime starts at 11:35 AM and ends at 1:30 PM. First, I’ll go to the cafeteria and eat lunch with my friends. Sometimes the food is very expensive (10 yuan) but it tastes very good. After I eat, I’ll do homework and read but if it’s summertime, I’ll take a quick nap."
"School ends at 4:30 PM but I have to stay until 9:00 pm for nightly study sessions. Afterwards, I’ll bike home and I’ll play some games on my phone. I shower and then I go to bed around 10:00 pm."
6.) What do you normally do on weekends?
"I like to play games on my computer and phone. I also enjoy watching science fiction movies. My favourite science fiction movie is “Star Wars”. Sometimes, I will read or go for a bike ride around my city."
7.) Tell me about your family.
"There are six people in my family – my parents, my grandparents, my younger brother, and I. My parents own a small shop that sells carpeting for homes. My brother is 8 years old and he’s pretty naughty sometimes."
8.) What are your passions/interests?
"Astronomy...Science Fiction...Pretty much anything to do with space!"
9.) Define "success" from your perspective.
"Success to me is to be happy and achieve my dreams. Also, to take care of my family and be a responsible person."
10.) Describe China in ONE word.
"Ancient."
Sourced from Max Pixel
11.) Describe America in ONE word.
"Freedom."
12.) How would you change China to make it better?
"I would make sure China has the best of technology. I would also improve on China's education system."
13.) How would you change the world to make it better?
"I would make it so there are no borders and no nationalities. This creates too much conflict."
14.) What's the BEST Chinese food?
"Braised Pork Belly!!"
Sourced from Wikimedia Commons
15.) What would you consider to be a healthy diet?
"No matter what you eat, don't overeat."
16.) What are Chinese people best at?
"Imitation"
17.) If you had one piece of advice to give to a foreigner coming to China, what would you say?
"Pay attention when you're walking in the streets. The roads can be dangerous"
18.) What do you think of BITCOIN?
"I think it will be the new currency of the internet."
19.) Have you heard of Steemit?
"No, I've never heard of it."
I'd like to thank Alpha for taking time out of his busy day to answer these questions for us. Alpha is one of the Chinese who is open-minded towards Bitcoin. I've met a few of his ilk but I've also met those who are swayed by media and are too focused on how "criminals" use it.
That negativity and general aversion can be dispelled by us! It's not only China that thinks this way. We need to encourage our friends and family to do a little research and they will see the merits of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
As for him not knowing about Steemit, I'm not surprised. It's becoming increasingly popular outside of China but the Google captcha unfortunately blocks Chinese citizens from taking part in the Steemit community (unless they have a VPN).
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next one. My friend Mike - who is a police officer here - has agreed to sit down and answer some questions. He has some very interesting stories and I'm looking forward to sharing them with Steemit!
Wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful day/night!!