Filthy India Photos, Chinese Netizen Reactions

by maxiewawa on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 1,903 comments comments

Note from Fauna: The following post and collection of photographs spread on the Chinese internet in 2008.

On Tianya, Mop, LiuLiu (and many other Chinese forums):

Reflections in the midst of extreme poverty and filth — a record of a trip in India

India is the dirtiest country I have ever been to. I have heard people say that Pakistan, which is to the west and Bangladesh, to the east, are worse, but that is probably beyond the limits of my imagination.

In two months in India, I went from south to north, visiting some tourist towns that I had read about. I also went by train and bus to countless towns and open fields that weren’t so famous, and everywhere there were people had something in common — dirty, messy and stank. Interestingly, I also saw countless foreigners having a great time.

A holy ground covered with feces! Note: No toilet paper!

Tourists have been coming for years to the small town of Bodhgaya , the place where 2500 years ago Buddha achieved enlightenment, bringing their foreign money to the pockets of a few hotels and tourism operators, but still they live in abject poverty. The streets are lined with rubbish, wild animals squabble to find their breakfast in it. Look carefully and find wild pigs, dogs, mountain goats, and sometimes even cows, which are considered sacred, make an appearance. No wonder the locals don’t each much meat, these animals depend on trash to survive.

Cow dung is the most environmentally friendly fuel source

India is very dry, and vegetation scarce. Sometimes you’ll sweep your eyes over the horizon and only see a barren expanse. Rural villagers use firewood, but like using cow dung more. In cities and towns, sacred cows fill the streets, defecating wherever they please. Cow dung is the most eco-friendly kindling of all, and this means less trees need to be cut down. Moreover if the manure that is produced is not removed daily, a small town would probably quickly drown in it.

You often see see women collecting fresh manure, packing it together with hay using both hands, then carefully sticking it against a wall to dry. The manure largely contains grass that the sacred cows are unable to digest. For Indians, this kind of smell is natural, and tourists who have stayed awhile get used to it. In my two months in India, I learned to accept the piles of cow dung that fill the streets, and their all pervading odor. Compared with the smell of the dung of carnivores, the smell isn’t as strong. Indians have an undying reverence for their sacred cows, which makes me automatically think of people in the modern age and their frivolous materialism.

Puri is a tourist hot spot on the east coast, where heaven and hell come together. One side of town is the hotel area, with its picturesque beaches, the other side is a poor fishing village. The inhabitants’ straw huts are lonely islands in a sea of trash, and I got the feeling that it’s never taken away. The most shocking thing: every villager would defecate on the beach. It wasn’t only villagers who would take a crap on the beach, out in the suburbs you’d get used to seeing people doing it on the side of the road, and the Indian men would do it out in the open, never sneaking off to a secluded spot in the undergrowth. Everywhere from small towns to large cities would have men showing the special characteristics of their culture; even in the major city of Kolkata [Culcutta], on the most upmarket of streets, were white collar workers carrying briefcases walking past crowds of people urinating against walls.

One can’t criticise people for reliving themselves on the beach or in a field, after all this is what our ancestors had to do, all the Indians are doing is preserving a natural way of life that has continued for tens of thousands of years. This is one of the most natural parts of the way people there live, and it’s only we foreigners who make a fuss about it. It’s just that urinating on the street in a big city after all isn’t very decent, but I am sure that with the increasing pace of modernization, India’s cities will very quickly take on a new look. China’s toilet usage/habits have come a long way in the past ten years, so is there any reason that India, another ancient Eastern civilisation, can’t do the same?

I am filthy, but I am brilliant. In the ancient city of Varanasi [Benares], on the banks of the Ganges, all the sewage created by people relieving themselves on the ground in corners, and the rubbish, everything flows into that sacred river, the same water where pilgrims come from all over, brushing their teeth, washing their faces, bodies, and swimming. However, the dirty Ganges and Varanasi are India’s most beautiful place, lots of foreigners love it, staying for months at a time. I lived there for a while, living like a local, swimming in the river like one of them. The ancient town’s intense artistic spirit and religious fervour made me forget material poverty. This important part of the Indian psyche is passed down even today: the spirit is greater than physical riches.

India is indeed “dirty”, “messy” and “smelly” but I have gotten more out of it than any other place I have been. If this wasn’t the case in my two months I wouldn’t have met so many expats who return often, or never leave. As the Taiwanese dancer Lin Huaimin said, whenever he is stuck for artistic inspiration, he goes back to India.

Maybe only in the most disgusting of material surroundings, and the basest living conditions can we find the most profound spiritual enlightenment.

[Warning: This post contains graphic images.]

[Note from Fauna: Not every copy of the post includes the same captions or all of the same pictures. We have translated from the Liu Liu version of the post, which appeared later than the Tianya and Mop copies. ]

Puri, where heaven and hell come together.

The banks of the Ganges River, and women laying out cow dung to dry.

The famous ancient city of Varanasi. The Ganges is for both morning baths and cremations.

At the river side lighting the fire for cremation.

Floating corpses, a common sight on the Ganges!

Here come the remains of a sacred cow!

The famous morning bathing by the Ganges, washing as if the rotting corpse floating by was nothing!

Bathing in the corpse-filled Ganges!

A corpse in the midst of the morning bathing at the Ganges, what do you think?

Corpses…as if they were nothing…sigh!

A rotting body on the banks of the Ganges River.

A body floating by a wharf. Gasp!

A floating rotten corpse.

The floating corpse of a sacred cow!

The body of a cow or a sheep?

Ganges River scenery.

Everywhere the floating corpses of sacred cows!

Natural clothes washing area + sun drying clothes area + cow and sheep bathing pool + excrement flowing and mixing together.

Ganges River morning bathing, how can this water be used for brushing teeth?

Bodies abandoned at the Ganges River.

A dead elderly man by the Ganges River.

A body being dragged by a boat.

Note the lower right corner. What is it? Revealed in the next photo.

Here comes the close-up!!!! Note the flies!!!!

Washing after discarding a corpse.

An old man also comes to bathe.

Girls also come to bathe.

Those on the shore bathe, while in the water floats a stinking bloated corpse.

A skeleton on the shore of the Ganges River.

A corpse floating in the Ganges River.

Let’s put the corpses-in-the-Ganges-River aside for a moment, and talk about Indians using the toilet. Have a look at the three pictures below…

These three toilet photographs represent three levels of toilets in India. Note what is common to all of them, which is that none of them have any toilet paper, but all of them have a bucket of water at arms length… yes, you’ve guessed correctly, Indians don’t use toilet paper when using the toilet, they use their hands. After defecating, you use your left hand finger to wipe the feces around your anus, and then use the water in the bucket to wash your hand. The custom is to use your left hand to wipe your butt, so when you go into a store to select food, you mustn’t use your left hand.

JY people believe, this is actually is a good habit. The first benefit is that cases of hemorrhoids are significantly lower; the second is that it can greatly save paper, good for protecting the earth’s resources and the development of green initiatives. So just by doing this, it saves a great amount of wood.

I’m not sure if I should bring out this photo…a sick elderly person, lonely standing by the Ganges River. I don’t know if he is appreciating the true meaning of life or bemoaning the helplessness of human existence…that helpless expression…that remarkable face carved by the years…is unforgettable…

Don’t look if you won’t like it…you are responsible for yourself…

Sunset, rotting corpse, rowing and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Sunset, rotting corpse, a butt facing the sky.

A rotting corpse in the Ganges at dusk.

A rotting corpse that looks like a frog.

A person more frightening than the rotting corpses and old leper! Seems to be someone who carries dead bodies professionally.

The Ganges River filled with rotting floating corpses, and people rowing boats as if nothing were the matter.

Not only do [they] wash and bathe in the Ganges River where rotting corpses float about, [they] also drink from it. My god, I can’t take it anymore!

Rotting corpse on the shore.

Wild dogs freely tearing their food off a rotting corpse.

Wild dogs tearing their food off the rotting corpse of a sacred cow.

A crow standing on a floating rotting corpse.

Corpses on the Ganges River, giving off an offensive rotting stench.

Dog. Crows. Fighting for a child’s head as food. Dog victorious.

Dog gnawing on human head.

Steps on the river shore with floating corpses. Can you tell how many rotting corpses are in the water?

An old fish catcher on the shore of the Ganges River.

The tour guide said that this kind of fish in the Ganges is called “Gulang” fish, a very nice sounding name…and it is said the flavor is very good, but upon thinking of the corpses soaking in the water, the soap from the bathing, the garbage by the river…I don’t have the courage to try it, not sure if this kind of fish will have a human flesh flavor…

This needs no introduction as many compatriots are able to eat it domestically [in China]…but a reminder, never eat an authentic one…because the chef uses his left hand to wipe his shit when using the toilet/restroom.

Here, let’s let the JY people see India’s free medical care.

A public hospital’s surgery room.

Ganges River in the early morning, bustling because of the crowds…some to wipe themselves down, some to get water, some to bathe.

Suddenly encountering some familiar faces, [I] was surprised…deeply admiring the guy who entered the water to his waist…BH [biao han, daring] to the extreme…but hope he is not our compatriot.

Flagrantly floating downstream not 500 meters at another set of steps [into the river] was a corpse. Even foreigners had taken out their cameras to snap photos. I wonder how that swimming guy just mentioned above felt…

Two photographs after going ashore…

An elderly person doing morning exercises, technical difficulty rating 3.0, far higher than the Tai-chi exercises of old men and women in [China’s] parks.

Accepting a holy water baptism…valiantly emerging from the water…[his] motions too fucking carefree…

Not enough money to buy [enough] firewood, those two feed will not be able to burn away, so it looks like they can only be discarded into the Ganges River…the people baptizing [in the Ganges], will they be so daring as to find a foot…?

Now let’s return to this post’s main topic…the rotting corpses in the Ganges River.

What are the dogs eating? Notice what is in the water on the left side of the image!

Swimming and bathing even with so many rotting corpses around.

There are a small number of middle-aged men and women squatting on the steps brushing their teeth, none of them using toothbrushes, half of them using their fingers, the other half using twigs, swallowing the water after brushing, and then cupping and drinking down a few more gulps, which happens to be in the opposite direction of people in other countries brushing their teeth and then spitting the water out.

Comments from Tianya:

白_马_非_马 (on Tianya) & 君子坦蛋蛋 (on LiuLiu):

I just want to say, there are a lot of places in China that are just the same. Don’t use the same air of superiority that Hong Kong and Taiwan people have when they look at mainlanders to look at India. I don’t like it.

英语绵绵 (on Tianya) & 七夜 (on LiuLiu):

All this is easy to fix, just use violence. China uses the hukou system to keep the poor population from settling in cities, and then uses chengguan to beat the rabble to death. The cities will then look very nice.

bjwh50: (responding to above comment)

Actually, this is exactly how America does it, using violence to beat the Indians [Native Americans] to death, pushing the Asian, African, and poor out into the country, running the poor white people into the surrounding outskirts of the cities. America’s police are even more terrible than China’s chengguan. If you’re within two meters of a police officer, you have to raise your hands, otherwise American police have the right to shoot you dead.

怎样走路 (on Tianya) & 绿毛怪 (on LiuLiu):

Taking a bath in this kind of river water…

And they say you will receive spiritual enlightenment…

Lou zhu might as well go try a septic tank, and see if you achieve even greater enlightenment, even greater consolation/comfort.

This kind of filthy country doesn’t think it is a shame but instead thinks it is glorious. Truly speechless.

yoonkyesanglover:

That’s their place, they can do what they like, why discriminate?

看不下去说三句:

How is India a democratic country? Would a democratic country divide society into four levels [castes]?

飙破:

There’s truly something wrong with Indian people.

乔治咖啡:

The Indians’ widespread use of cow dung, JY can say that this is their ancient wisdom, an understanding of eco-friendliness.

In the late 1970 when the West’s interest in China was kicking off, a French television channel did a show about China, and mentioned that the bicycle was the major mode of transport for two thirds of Beijingers. The host said these ancient people really understood how to live in harmony with nature, which is why they chose such a environmentally friendly way of getting around, and that it made them Europeans feel ashamed.

keanuzhu1982:

Wasn’t it said that they are thrown into the Ganges River after being cremated?

What do you do if you were swimming in the Ganges and accidentally ran into a corpse?

edali:

Kosuke Kindaichi said in a murder case, the hardest thing for a murderer to do is getting rid of the body.

Kosuke Kindaichi has obviously never been to India, because in India, getting rid of a body is too simple. Just buy some firewood and burn the body in broad daylight will do it. Murderers that are truly lazy murderers can just throw the corpse in a river and be done with it.

Comments from Mop:

jameskin:

When Indians themselves see how dirty India is, how bodies float in the river, they don’t feel bad about it???

伽菲肥猫:

Although different people have their own customs, after seeing the photos above, I feel that these things that Indian people do can’t be called customs. It is simply uncivilized, inhumane! I really think that have not evolved fully! Savages!

{白痴}:

Although India is poor
The people have a lot of money
In this year’s list of richest people
There are a lot of Indians.

雷丽雅:

This civilisation is too distinctive.

会飞的大象:

I still think a sky burial would be easier to accept!~~~~~~~~~~~~~

米猪硬砸:

These aren’t pictures of Afghanistan or Iraq, right? TV can trick people.

Hell on earth.

nearoye:

You’ve successfully made me nauseous, this post has completely changed how I look at India～～～

Comments from LiuLiu:

不是一般人:

India is a democratic country with down to earth people.

The many dead animals above would have long ago been taken away by unscrupulous peddlers to be sold as food in China.

天下第一:

My God! Bodies can be seen so easily in the river! The Lou zhu was even able to take photos! It’s hard to imagine how calmly the Indians face death!

禁止登录:

Bodies floating in Chinese rivers aren’t unheard of (drowning victims, people who have fallen in, those who kill themselves, can be found anywhere). In recent years, changes have been widespread and only after they have finished will this situation change.

As for going swimming amongst dead bodies, people from different perspectives have different thinking, just like how the Chinese can’t understand how the Africans eat mice, and the Africans can’t see how the Chinese eat frogs.

騎豬趕驢:

India is so dry, you really think people want to live like that?

[You don’t think] they don’t want to live well? Don’t want to be like us and drink water from a faucet? To bathe in and drink clean water?

We can’t look at them in that way, they live like that because they have no other choice.

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CP

Don’t take pictures of rubbish piles in China though. That really hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.
- file124528
  
  Bodies, carcasses, and human waste can be cleaned up in India.
  
  The Chinese are in a helluvalot worse shape.
  
  http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/
  - jackbutcher
    
    how can you compare that. they are corpse floating on the water.
    everywhere!!!
    - muhaha
      
      my, my, ever heard of cannibalism in china?
      - WT
        
        No. Have you?
    - MSB
      
      Let’s send the Chinese there to eat it. They sure eat a lot of crap.
      I’m sure digesting this wouldn’t be a problem too.
    - The John
      
      http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/videos/baby-bodies-discarded-in-river-discovered-in-shandong.html
      
      Dead Babies found in a river in China…
      - bunnyfreakz
        
        If Chinese found dead babies, they report authority. But indian just casually wandering around dead human corpses in gengas is utterly disturbing
    - Raj
      
      So you have decided India is wierd country just by seeing pics that were taken in a small town that too where people are illiterates and follow superstitions sir. Every country have superstitious people if we all go around the world and find only black spots on white paper then you are missing the white paper around black spot.please watch other places in India too and please comment about it here only. Please don’t forget khungfu evolved from India and pls don’t forget bodhidharma the monk who taught khungfu and medical knowledge is Indian.
      - SunnyK
        
        looks like he confined himself to a single place
      - SleekMouse
        
        kungfu is not from india sorry
      - Abhishek Mishra
        
        But Karate is. Isn’t it?
  - TheLulzWarrior
    
    >Designated.
- TheCrusader
  
  Some of the pictures posted are fakes.Some are old pictures taken probably a decade back.
  Anyways the place where these pictures were taken is one of the most backward places in the country where age old traditions are blindly accepted and followed.Also the literacy rate in the state which hosts this place hovers around the 20% mark.
  I suggest you visit the following link to get an alternative glimpse into the beauty that India has to offer.
  
  http://www.keralatourism.org/pictures/
  
  Please don’t create a prejudiced view of India in your minds because of a few pictures.After all,we too are human although of a lesser God.
  - Dee
    
    Yes, you are absolutely right. I have been to India many times, and the beauty I see there far out ways the negative.
- True Human
  
  Yes. I’m from India. Lot many problem here are created by local citizen itself. They should be educated for more environment friendly, should take care of hygiene.
  
  Here the biggest problem is exception population grown, which leads of overcrowding of cities. But now gov is taking step to control population and in near future India will return back to her GLORIOUS past.
Chef Rocco

Some Chinese feel good about themselves by looking at these pictures? Sofa here!
Chris

I know the area is holy etc… but gee willikers batman… I really don’t think I could get used to living like that.

I think that most people living in more civilized countries are not exposed to the dead in the same way.

I guess it would just take some getting used to and hoping that it isn’t you drifting down the river using your balls as floaties.
bill

Agree with this Chinese comment…

“I just want to say, there are a lot of places in China that are just the same. Don’t use the same air of superiority that Hong Kong and Taiwan people have when they look at mainlanders to look at India. I don’t like it.”
- Ethan
  
  Second that. I know India has some really terrible stuff happening in it but it also has some amazingly beautiful places and things happening, Just like China in that regards… Beauty in one town and horror in the next…
  - Tryst46
    
    That applies to many places, even in India. You can take a look at the horrors by the Ganges or you can take a walk around some of the outlying areas of India which are stunningly beautiful.
    
    What I find strange is that the Ganges is supposed to be sacred in Hindu religion and yet they treat it like this. I would have thought a sacred place would be treated with reverence, not as a dumping ground for any waste you have.
    - True Human
      
      Yes. I’m from India. Lot many problem here are created by local citizen itself. They should be educated for more environment friendly, should take care of hygiene.
      
      Here the biggest problem is exception population grown, which leads of overcrowding of cities. But now gov is taking step to control population and in near future India will return back to her GLORIOUS past..
- aflame
  
  I’m quite sure Chinese don’t leave corpses floating around like that, even if they are complete strangers’ corpses. But it’s just cultural difference I guess
  - Dan
    
    You don’t recall the babies thrown into a river in China earlier this year? A one off maybe but still.
    - wayne
      
      Babies throwing into the river in China, same case or it’s worst than India
    - kiwi28
      
      Every time I listen to news coming from asia there is someone dumping a live baby into a rubbish bin or down a drain. If they’re not dumping them they’re selling them or even eating them. Not exaggerating look it up, asians eating fetuses and newborns.
  - Ronald Cummings
    
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11797410
- Erianie
  
  You said in China there are lots of place like that, Please give ONE example.I am more curious than to see it in India.
  - sean
    
    Dude,
    
    Go to sichuan especially cities like de yang, wen chuan, zi yang, you will find shits like this ( There are minorities in these places mostly from YI, TIBETAN and QIANG), In yunan people use leaves and bamboo leaves to wipe their ass because they are poor. Tell me how many chinese guys take shower everyday or brush your teeth in winter. Tibet is much more worse than India, People there used to eat shit of dalai lama thinking that it will cure some disease and even now they use their own urine to wash themselves with the belief it can get rid of skin infections. Go to Anhui, Henan, Ningxia, Qinhai and visit all the places in china and first know china well before making any judgments. The hard truth is most of you chinese know only history written by your goverment and not the real side of the story. So arise, awake and cleanse your country. Also an educated person no matter wher ever she/he is from won’t argue or try to make fun of poverty. Poverty is everywhere, Gap between rich and poor is everywhere and shits like what you see in the picture is everywhere. If needed anyone can post pictures of anything ( including the weed and sex culture in holland or may be people eating organs of animals in siberia or mongolia or the weird eating habits of chinese and philipinos).
    - F D
      
      I’ve been to deyang, and wtf are you talking about? Have you even been there?
      - sean
        
        you cunt first use a real name, then tell me what you know about sichuan, I have clearly explained in my previous post about the minority people in those places and how clean they are. Those people are even ready to sell their wives if they get money. Mother fucker have you ever studied world history or chinese history. Cleanse you rotten tiny brain you cunt. First tell you country to provide jobs to all the perveted bitches who are working as prostitutes in asian, middle eastern, south american and european countries. Your people no matter wherever they are, They like to collect garbage and recycle that, This happened in france and lot of european countries. Your country is full of money minded, materialistic, perveted bitches and bastards, when are you people going to use your brain and be humans. You mother fucker you will even be glad to let your mum sleep with a japanese if you can get money, Is that enough?
      - Alan no longer in China
        
        @sean
        
        Wow someone is easily riled up. F D didn’t even say anything insulting and you call him a stupid cunt? You can make all the claims you want but as F D asked, have you actually been there? Making the simple claim of poverty is everywhere doesn’t provide an example of a place in India. Yes, there is poverty in the United States but you generally won’t be able to find corpses just floating in a river.
        
        Plus you’re talking about people cleaning and the like, but that and dead bodies floating in the water are a bit different. Anywhere that’s poor they’ll just use one source of water for everything, but the fact that there will just be HUMAN bodies floating around is kind of disgusting.
    - mp
      
      just to verify… urine is antibacterial. thats probably why they’re washing to cure infections.
      they dont have the same resources as we do. im sure if we didnt have antiseptic creams, alcohol etc, we would be using urine.
      personally, at a tourist attraction like the ganges river in india, im disappointed by the lack of government intiative to clean up this mess to leave a good impression on visitors.
      - Eddie
        
        Wow you are an idiot, urine is NOT in anyway antibacterial. It is sterile when it first leaves the body, but it is a perfect place for bacteria to grow and multiply after that.
      - abe
        
        Urine is sterile, not antibacterial.
    - JK
      
      dude,
      
      I grew up in Ziyang, Sichuan and lived there for 17 years. But I have only seen a floating body once, which was after a flood years ago. Soon after it was spotted, a crew of people came over and got it away. Surely there were disgusting things there, but nowhere near the magnitude shown in those pics of India. Basically, I really don’t know what you are talking about about Sichuan or whichever province.
    - ciao
      
      I have been to most chinese cities you mentioned. any one is cleaner than what those photoes show. If you really saw what you mentioned, share photoes, and people would judge which one is more dirty and messy,china or india.
    - Tryst46
      
      No matter where you go, you will see signs of poverty. I have lived in Jakarta and seen people washing clothes in dirty and polluted monsoon ditches, dead animals included. These people generally live in shacks made of any odd materials they can find to build a shelter with. No prizes for guessing where their drinking water comes from. That’s the rich capital city of Indonesia where you would think poverty has no place.
      
      What I find hard to understand is WHY these people live in the capital city in conditions like that. Move out to the open country and find a clean place where you can grow food in a small garden, drink from (cleaner) water supplies and build a home that’s worth living in. There are lots of places like that, even near Bogor, just outside Jakarta. These people have no jobs and no money for rent, they can live anywhere they can build a shack. So why live in a polluted and dirty city next to a road where people wear face masks because of the exhaust fumes?
      - True Human
        
        Yes. I’m from India. Lot many problem here are created by local citizen itself. They should be educated for more environment friendly, should take care of hygiene.
        
        Here the biggest problem is exception population grown, which leads of overcrowding of cities. But now gov is taking step to control population and in near future India will return back to her GLORIOUS past../
  - Ronald Cummings
    
    here ya go . its a good business in china http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11797410
- anne
  
  I can’t think of any places in China where they float out their dead into their main source of water as a cultural norm. But perhaps you could point me to the right direction?
  - Vakeesan
    
    Anne,
    
    I have never seen it, But i have seen babies being thrown into river and also into dust bins in china. I have also seen girls being sold to old guys for money in china. All these happens in the west, south west, north east, southern part of china. You can’t just bluntly say china is good and at the same time you can’t say it’s bad
  - Cmmdr Keen
    
    anne look at the pictures above. and this is not the main source of water lol
  - Cmmdr Keen
    
    everybody in the west heard the stories and saw the pictures of rivers of blood filled with baby girls during one child policy
  - Ronald Cummings
    
    ahem
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11797410
xmcx

Yay, thanks for this post which puts so much in perspective!
I was peeved today when my garbage disposal was upset by a pair of scavenging Chinese immigrants. (like this: http://www.leparisien.fr/diaporama-photos/index.php?id=1084684&photo=2&pub=&rub= )
It’s a brand new phenomenon, their numbers have gone from 0 to 200 active practitioners in under a month, after it was made public that the Roma were deported, DongBei people moved in immediately to close the business gap!
However, noticing the different mindset of the free Indian citizens, I am now less concerned about these HuaRen pilfering my garbage. In a small way, again, you made my day.
- Joe
  
  I wasn’t aware garbage could be “pilfered.” To pilfer means that you still wanted the garbage. Garbage is public property, and it’s good that there are dumpster divers recycling materials in such a manner.
  - xmcx
    
    Whereas this would be true in a disorganized third world jungle, it does not apply to Europe.
    1)Companies specialize in treating the garbage to recycle as much as possible and pollute as little as possible in the end. These companies rely on the income they could make from any valuables left in the garbage. When DongBei people go through the bins first, they are depriving a well structured industrial company of its necessary income in order to run their own small scale ex-garbage-retail operation. All in all, the DongBei people make something for free and society as a whole is left much the worst. The garbage treatment plants have been designed over decades since the industrial revolution in the West, and are undebatably more efficient recyclers than small scale hand laborers.
    2) Less than 10 years back (before authoritarian states increased their aggressive dumping of shoddy goods into our economies) no one was interested in a second hand garbage-salvage market. As a consequence, you could safely throw out envelopes, torn up cheques, official papers, with a sufficient sense of security that the chain of events took them from a well identified garbage man to a well identified garbage treatment plan. With these new laborers you cannot begin to guess who is looking through everything you put outside. And getting to know them is not such a great idea, the vast majority are illegal immigrants forced into labor by HuaRen that are better left alone.
    So, all in all, Joe, not so good a turn of events. Of course, given the excess population in China, I suppose one has to be understanding. It just made me feel sad to see these people so far away from their mother land, so far away from the dream of prosperity in their mother land. And to repeat myself, the pictures above do put that feeling into perspective.
    - Joe
      
      1. Was not aware of that. Interesting. Those garbage salvagers would do well to set up shop in the U.S….
      
      2. Dumping of shoddy goods? You mean your western appetite for “shoddy” goods? China’s industries can produce at many quality points (iPod or dollar store junk), but your countries’ demand is based on price point, which China delivers. Somehow China is to blame for “dumping”? The majority of goods on store shelves made in China are not shoddy at all, and this is just the popular rhetoric of the times.
      
      Most people in the U.S. shred sensitive documents before having them recycled. We never had a sense of security to start with, so you were better off.
    - aquadraht
      
      Le Pen frog, you are raving a lot of bull. There is a tiny amount of garbage treatment and recycling in Europe, but by far not to the extent you are lying about to back your F-haine prejudices.
      And it has few to do with the pictures shown.
      
      The garbage treatment industries surely do not care about poor people collecting some useables from garbage bins.
      
      The pictures may fan the fires of your and your fascist friends’ prejudices. For me, it is not clear at all that the collectors stem from the PRC. It is not important, anyway. You and your ilk will spout hatred against any foreigner.
- True Human
  
  Yes. I’m from India. Lot many problem here are created by local citizen itself. They should be educated for more environment friendly, should take care of hygiene.
  
  Here the biggest problem is exception population grown, which leads of overcrowding of cities. But now gov is taking step to control population and in near future India will return back to her GLORIOUS past./.
Jiang

This IS one of the best in Chinasmack. Ought to be awarded an Oscar. I have Indian friends who admit India is dirty. Political will and the paradigm shift of the whole subcontinent is need for a major change.
Great work.
- WZ
  
  Yeah, I feel like these things can be cleaned up and changed pretty quickly; it’s the mentality of the people that takes a generation or more to change. Parts of China most likely looked like this some 100 years ago during the depths of the Qing imperial decline.
  
  But the photos are pretty grotesque, is it actually common to see corpses like that??? The police or chengguan or whatever equivalent don’t clean it up ASAP?
  - mary
    
    i’m agree with you. It’s the mentality of the people that takes a generation or more to change…exactly!
Choonage

Uh sick photos… but I wonder what this really has to do with China though.
- Frank
  
  It’s a popular post that shows what Chinese internet users think about something?
- Chef Rocco
  
  India is a good benchmark for China, similar size of population and land, both ancient civilizations, comparable level of economy in the 50’s, both suffered from colonialism in their recent histories, the apparent difference lies at their political systems: democratic vs. authoritative.
  
  Nowadays, what we are witnessing is a startling gap between their socio-economic status.
  - Harshil
    
    What crap?
    
    Do you even knwo what you are saying?
    Similar land size?
    Both suffered colonialism? really? who colonized china?
    Similar economies in 1950’s?
    
    Do your research before you post bullcrap.
    - Calvin
      
      ^ The Dutch, Portuguese, British, Japanese, French, Germans and Russians all held slices of China of one point or another. Colonization doesn’t have to be total domination to be destructive.
      
      “Similar” economies in that both nations had to build an industrial base from scrap, the Chinese due to war and the Indians due to colonial neglect
      - Kning
        
        The Dutch? Either you are implying that Taiwan was a part of China before the Dutch were there, which would be wrong; or you have no idea what you are talking about. The Dutch did not hold any part of China, ever. They held Taiwan, but so did the Spanish, and they are not in your list so I’m just going to go ahead and say that you have no idea.
        
        Furthermore – the Chinese had to build an industrial base from scrap because of war? You mean the war that destroyed the glorious, modern and flourishing Chinese industries of the 1930s and 20s? Errrhm…. Buddy, the Chinese had to industrialize in the 50s because their arrogant view of the rest of the world as being inferior to the great Middle Kingdom and only worthy of giving gifts instead of trade put them on the sidelines long before any opium war, let alone the second world war.
        
        I would be the first to say that India is a shithole compared to China but that certainly doesn’t say much about China – rather it does about India.
      - BALA CHANDRAN
        
        Not only colonial neglect but the colonialists came and rape, plundered,suck,squeeze,drain and butchered every aspect of the India – its culture, its land, its religion/spirtuality, its climate, its political,socio-economic system, etc etc… they gave India untold misery for 1000 years….but this land called Bharat withstood all the atrocities of the foreign invaders and she is getting up again on its holy feet! What you see negatively is the work of foreign invaders ! Jai Hind
    - Chef Rocco
      
      Harshil, land-size wise, of course China’s is larger than India’s, but India’s arable is larger – 160.5 million hectares compared to 137.1 million hectares.
      
      Heard of Manchuria? Japanese occupied and colonialized Manchuria in 1931. You’d better read some modern history books about China.
      
      The ratio of China’s GDP to India’s was 1.08 in 1950, see the link:
      
      http://www.imf.org/external/np/apd/seminars/2003/newdelhi/desai.pdf
      - Alikese
        
        How can you compare the Japanese control of one province of China for 13 years to the Empires that ruled India for hundreds of years? It’s not remotely similar.
      - Chef Rocco
        
        Alikese, Manchuria occupied by Japan is just an example of China’s suffering from colonialism and imperialism. Calvin said it well above: “Colonization doesn’t have to be total domination to be destructive.” During that one hundred year, China experienced many military defeats, giving land concessions and huge amount of compensations to western powers and Japan.
        
        As a matter of facts, China’s suffering from Sino-Japan war was relatively short but devastating compared to India’s long term suffering from British’s exploition.
      - Alikese
        
        Do you really think that China losing tiny parcels of land (Hong Kong, Macau, Qingdao) and losing some concessions to the West during their downfall is equal to India’s status as an Imperial Colony for hundreds of years in terms of colonial setbacks? There is no way. I think you’re just arguing now because you don’t want to backtrack.
      - Chef Rocco
        
        Alikese, you sound argumentative now. Read my orginal post again, where did I state : China suffered from colonialism exactly same as India?
        
        Talking about samilarities, your criteria to measure scale of sufferings appears to focus solely on length of time, but how about intensity of suffering? i.e., death from wars, economic and infrastructure loss, psychogical effects, cultural treaures destroying and stealing, etc. This may be a thesis of Phd., you really want to get us into it?
      - CC
        
        Actually India benefited from being a good and compliant servant of Britain. Just see how much railway Britain helped to build and how much more they built for themselves after independence. Alikese do you remember how India got panic and affected in 1962 border war with China? From 19th century China has been either fighting with Japan or preparing for invasion of USSR. Why can’t you just face the reality?
    - Erianie
      
      Harshil:
      Agree with you.there are some people talking the nonsense here.They must come from another world.
      - Chef Rocco
        
        Now I finally understand why Bollywood movies are so popular in India.
      - aquadraht
        
        Yes, people like you and Harshil are indeed writing a lot of crap and are insisting stubbornly. None of you seems to have ever read a history textbook.
        
        At the end of the third quarter of 18th century, both India and China were prosperous ancient civilizations with high economic output, gross as well as per capita. Average standard of living was far higher than in any European country (the US included).
        
        Both, by different methods, fell victim of Western and later Japanese expansionism, the one by conquest of the whole country, the other by forced “free trade”, Opium Wars, coerced unfair treaties, land grabs and concessions.
        
        In the beginning, Indians suffered more, under British looting, violence, and catastrophic famines caused by the destruction of Indian textile industries. Later, the prevalence of a powerless and inept feudal regime followed by the disintegration into countless warlords’ dominions and a nearly five decades lasting period of unrest and civil war, later full intensity warfare, may have impaired China ways more while India somewhat recovered through an imposed Western style educational system and some infrastructure such as railways and streets, as well as some industry.
        
        So, history of the last 200-220 years of both countries bear significant similarities. When India is rating lower today, colonialism and its impacts is not a good explanation or excuse.
        
        Btw. things are not that simple. India, as well, is now developping at a fairly good pace, and both countries should learn from one another and cooperate. Anyway, the example of India shows that the mantra “introduce democracy, and corruption, ethnic unrest and all other evils will wane” does not work that way.
    - jixiang
      
      Come on now. China was colonized, what do you think the opium war was? And yes, the land and population sizes do make for a comparison. The half of China where 90% of the Chinese live is not that much bigger than India in size.
      - Kundan
        
        sorry brother from india side. actually its a true photo. i also faced and use to avoid that place. The difference between india and china is leader. Indian leader always goes for rule and devide where as china leader always think about his greater mother land.
  - Lei
    
    I thought Indian people were proud of being part of the commonwealth contries, aka Great Britain colonies. Is that true or just my wrong impression? At least I know China as well as many other countries were quite ashamed of that part of history.
    - shiva
      
      guyz…im an indian nd im proud of it…..and to the chinese people who were criticising my country all above, i have to say one thing…..dont think that your so called china is very different when compared to india…..all the pics above are taken only from a same place…varanasi…..there are a lot of places other than that alryte…..its better you guys dont make us to talk about china…..then this will not stop here…..if you want to know an introduction you can read my blog i have written about china…..that is just an introduction ok…
      http://creativeblunders-shiva.blogspot.com/2010/02/chinathe-brand-name-part-1.html
      
      http://creativeblunders-shiva.blogspot.com/2010/02/chinathe-brand-name-part-2.html
      
      hey chinese all that glitters are not gold …i hope you guys understood what i meant by that…….dont think you are above all people assholes
      - manoj
        
        very good shiva
      - SENTHIL T.M
        
        THERE U R SHIVA
      - isenkrammer
        
        Did you read the Chinese people’s comment below the pictures? they aren’t laughing at your country, not at all.
Rafael

It’s disgusting, but at least it comes from a depraved form of mysticism. They throw the bodies to the river because is their tradition, and after centuries situation turned that way.

And I don’t like the superiority tone used by the autor.
I’ve seen really fucking filthy places in China, and the only explanation was the laziness and poor hygiene of the locals.

In both countries there is the same problem, a lack of waste and hygienic management policies.
- Obama
  
  Ah you are so right!
  I think it is the government. Why arent there anyone cleaning up the river? Why dont they have cremation service for the poor, if that’s what everyone agree on?
eattot

why i wanna cry?
it’s so difficult to explian this feeling,not only about poverty.
- Kundan
  
  i read whole comment by chinese. it is my pleasure that no body laughing on photo. they all accept it like it may be any where. and some one blaming over indian government. so i love you china.
jin

alot of places in china that are the same…. but 0 places in china that have a river of corpses. and drink/swim/pee/poop/brushing teeth in it.
- Ronald Cummings
  
  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11797410 really ?
Sachin

I’m from India. Sad to say but the pictures are the true reflection of India. India is 90% poor, what you see on TV and Bollywood is not the complete picture of India.

If you look at the rich list, India has the most number of billionaires in the top 10 list, the most expensive home in the world was recently built in India. More billionaires in Asia than China, Hongkong, Singapore or japan.

You get the drift…few elites sucking on the poor. There is no economy in India, its all monopoly and family owned business that are more than 100 years old controlling 80% of Indian assets combined this with age old superstitious belief and you have the above pictures.

However, I have been to China, Hong kong, Macau, Thailand, PH, Singapore and i have met many people from that country and human beings deep beneath the fakery of money and glitter are all same.

I like China very much, In-fact the fastest growing restaurants business in India is Chinese food. I bet if you could get a reservation for Chinese owned restaurants in India in less than a week.

People to People ask anyone in India..they have no issues with Chinese people, if you look at our heart…not the superficial aspect of society..we are very much like you.

Barring the political divide…We shouldn’t think we are any different than you guys…we too have our sets of problems and joys in life like you do…Thanks
- Peter in China
  
  Sorry but China has more billionaires. India loses again.
  
  But on the bright side, you guys are way way way ahead of the Middle East and Africa. A different style of government would do wonders to improve things.
  - Sachin
    
    Sorry but you are wrong..here is the link to prove
    
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6433367.stm
    
    Infact the richest european is also an Indian Lakshmi mittel in terms of total assets
    - perspectivehere
      
      @Sachin, that link is from 2007.
      
      According to the SCMP today, citing Forbes, there are 128 billionaires on the Chinese mainland, up from 79 last year.
      
      Most are wealthy due to recent IPOs, after listing their companies on the mainland or Hong Kong stock exchanges.
      
      “China now trails only the United States in terms of the number of billionaires.”
      
      In 2000, only 2 mainland tycoons made it to the Forbes list.
      
      “The strong entrepreneurial spirit, buoyant stock and asset markets, China’s sustained economic growth, as well as appreciation of the renminbi, are going to produce an even bigger number of billionaires at a stunning pace in the years to come” said the chief editor of Forbes China.
      
      This is not to put down India at all – both China & India (ChIndia) are emerging market economies which are going through high-growth phases. The pie is getting bigger for both countries, and entrepreneurs with the right combination of hard-work, connections, technology, management skill and luck will take bigger slices. They are the ones at the top of two very big waves of economic growth.
      
      How the wealth creation will be distributed more widely (through market forces or government fiat) are big issues facing both countries.
      - Ronald Cummings
        
        China has a lot of paper billionaires. Chinas richest man lost $15 billion of his paper shares in 1 hour
  - sk
    
    Sorry to disappoint you Peter. But no one wants communism in India.
    - quietlives .
      
      Naxalites?
- eattot
  
  our tv also plays some indian tv show but in those shows they merely show anything outside of the rooms, now i understand why.
  the sadest thing is the huge gap between rich and poor. same in china.
  - Vince
    
    its a sad fact, on a side note, indian tv shows are so lame :P
    - BlothaLonely
      
      keep some space for one more side note, please…
      Apart from being lame, they are as pathetic as their audience. They are only for lonely people like me, other supa-awesome people watch American reality shows.
  - Raj
    
    Hey Einstein, not all of India looks like the Ganges River. I don’t think dead bodies are floating in the river next to a Bangalore high tech startup.
- WT
  
  Well written. I am Chinese, and have often said that culturally and spiritually (owing in large part to the spread of Buddhism from India to China), the two countries are very similar. This is especially true when they are compared to the West. On a political level, though, the two countries are far apart.
Bokamba

What I think is hilarious is that Chinese refer to non-Chinese (white people especially) as “foreigners,” even when the Chinese themselves are outside of China. It’s funniest when they refer to local people as “foreigners” while on a trip to Europe or the US.
- Sunni
  
  I think you know that it just makes for easier referencing?
  - Alex
    
    I went to 华润万家 and there was this “foreigner” chinese woman working there. These inmigrants are all over the place!!
    - Rational
      
      Not to mention India…Chinese people can be spotted everywhere in India. In restaurants, streets, beauty salons..and where not! Not that Indians mind..they are known to be the most flexible race. But this article made me think over, if Chinese people should be welcomed in India anymore!
      - India
        
        Are you sure they are Chinese? I am sure they are Indian from the Eastern parts of the country who have probably migrated to the bigger cities. They look Chinese but are not Chinese. The Chinese population in India is very tiny (around 200,000 or so) so I doubt you will find them all over India, a vast country.
- FOARP
  
  That ain’t the half of it. Go to any China town and you will hear long-time residents and even second-generation immigrants referring to the non-ethnic Chinese around them as ‘Gui lao’ and ‘laowai’.
  - perspectivehere
    
    And what happens by the third generation? Are Chinese any different from Jews, Italians or other immigrant populations in that respect? How many third-generation Chinese even live in Chinatowns anymore, or speak fluent Chinese?
    
    According to this report based on Census 2000 data, New York’s Lower East Side Chinatown comprised 56 thousand Asian residents of which over 42 thousand were born in Asian countries. 40% of New York’s Chinese population do not speak English well at all.
    
    http://www.aafny.org/research/dl/911study/08AppendixA.pdf
    
    Chinatown residents have low job skills, limited English ability and educational attainment. Most are blue-collar workers. 44% of Chinese New Yorkers did not finish high school. 71% reported difficulty with English as major barriers to employment. 85% of applicants for job training apply for referral to English as Second Language courses.
    
    They are also the backbone of a vibrant tourism, apparel manufacturing, retail, transportation and restaurant economy. These are hard-working and incredibly productive people, who despite a great deal of challenges manage to hang on and provide a better life for their children.
    
    Please don’t cast aspersions on them simply because they don’t use what you think are the politically-correct terms to refer to non-Chinese. They don’t have the luxury of time or education to think about those things – they are too busy working.
    
    They can only hope that someday their children might get an education and become as culturally enlightened and superior as you.
  - Ryannoime
    
    Chinese, no matter which country they’re in, call anyone who doesn’t look like them “laowai”. We’re all foreigners in our own countries.
    
    I’m visiting Taiwan at the moment, and quite enjoy it. It’s like China without all the bullshit. But a few nights ago, while standing in line to go up to the top of the Taipei 101, I was being stared at. Loudly talked about right in front of my face. No sense of shame even when I looked right at them. First Chinese tourists I encountered on the trip. The following bouts of loud, bug-eyed, mismatching slack/suit coats following little flags wasn’t any different.
    - dave
      
      LOL I like the Falun gong and free Tibet guys outside 101 who greet every coachload of mainlandfuckers with big placards saying the communist party is shit.
    - A Chinese Guy
      
      The term ‘Laowai’ isn’t a racial slur anyway. The title of ‘Lao’ can also be used to name a respected elderly person.
artemis

TRULY DISGUSTING. My cousin told me about this, never believing it, at least not to this level. That’s them, but I could never imagine life there. I feel so sick after viewing these images……….
deepak

please dont make image of whle india just seeing pics of one place.
there are many cities in india that are devolping at epic pace such as delhi,mumbai,banglore,whole south india.

yes dead body floating in river is disgusting .but hinduism is one of the oldest religion in the world .so it surely have millions of positive side and some negative sides as well.
- deepak
  
  any hey
  plz check out “mukesh ambani” 22 floor house
  the most expensive house in the world ever made by any one.
  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/6809637.cms
  
  and hey we help very sucessfull commonwealth games just recently as well.
  - @@
    
    sorry but that apartment looks like shit
    - Justin
      
      well it’s not finished. Once it is all coated with glass it will look like “expensive shit” to borrow a phrase from Fela Kuti.
  - Fuyutski
    
    Hey Deepak,
    
    Most countries (Media, Atheletes, etc) which attended the Commonwealth Games have agreed that the games were poorly handled and scheduled. Overall, it was rather average at best. No offense, that’s just how it was.
    - Rational
      
      And Mr. Fuyutski, were u at the games? If not, we would rather not waste our time reading what u don’t know.
      
      And if it comes to media, they say quite a lot about China, you definitely won’t want the world to believe them!
    - Calvin
      
      Actually, most top officials by the end of the game, including the chairman of the next games in Scotland agreed that India did a good job hosting the games.
      
      The problems at the beginning were magnified by media scrutiny, though of course that doesn’t make those problems any less embarrassing. Freedom of the press and all that. At least people could criticize the games openly in India compared to Beijing 2008 and this year’s Expo and Asian Games.
  - DRaY
    
    Who gives a F*ck! about this rich prick s billion dollar apartment. it looks like crap anyway…. Tax these super rich bastards and reform the country… too many poor people
  - Chad
    
    Not to be another India basher, but there’s nothing to be proud of with regards to having the most expensive house in the world in a country where there are millions living in poverty.
    - sunshyn
      
      i am an indian…and i totally agree with u on dis point….what we need is some heavy taxing (of d rich ‘pricks’) and (some heavy duty)reforms….
      while i consider myself really fortunate to have been born in this free country, i feel theres a lack of initiative in our people.
      These pics made me feel sick too…this is certainly not the case with the rest of the rivers in India!
      Hinduism believes in burning d dead…its the bodies of the poor who flock to Varanasi in large no.s to die over there as it is thought to lead to ‘heaven’….so too many ppl dying in one place….i guess d locals have stopped caring….
      This is no excuse for the for d govt though…shameful…..
      - sshetty
        
        Its not taxing of the rich pricks. The elimination of the politicians will suffice nicely. They are the biggest scums on this earth
      - Rajiv
        
        I agree with you. The pictures are from Varanasi, Its the worlds ancient Living city. Life here hasn’t changed since its birth. Its a Holy place for Hindus. Each year Millions of pilgrims/devotees visits this place for salvation. and thousands came here to die and cremated here. This is going on for thousands of years. That’s why its a hot destination for Foreigners and Photographers.
        Now coming to floating corps, this is a disgusting view. But let me tell you people(Which is not an excuse) those are not so frequently sited. In India, a Holy Man i.e. who left all the material belongings, all the desire of life is never cremated they leave their body to the Ganga River. Further more very poor people from all over India came here to die, they don’t have money for cremation. The Government,Several NGOs are try hard to clean up Ganga from this king of Corps, but failed as the Volume of dead people is so high. One can imagine the numbers, there are few cremation ghats in Varanasi and all works 24/7 and one can find 8-10 bodies burning all the time. SO people working there, are immune to any sensitivity.(Again This is not an excuse). I visited Varanasi Thrice, and I will visit again and again.
        If you people search Varanasi pictures on net you will find Thousands of Beautiful pictures of Ghats, Prayers, Streets, But this Shit Chinese Tourist only took photos of dead people. animals and cremation ghats. It can only showed his mental side. A rotten living corps.
  - Shalom
    
    Yeah, after the cost increased 60 times from the original budget. Should nuke urself if u failed..dont you think? How can you even be proud of that? Wake up and look around.
- mingster
  
  Overall Chinese is still worse than any living thing on this planet! There is no tradition, no morals, no religion etc…
  They spits wherever they like, collectively is enough to form another Ganges river…based on a research, virus from each spit can travel 70 square feet, literally the air in China are filled with viruses…you are breathing it now if you’re in China! Besides…the food in China are artificial or pumped with dangerous chemicals…melamine in milk for babaies, fake flour, veg and live stock pumped with cancer causing hormone, basically everything you eat in China is poisonous! Interestingly many Chinese are not aware of it, or they can’t differentiate it because they were not expose to real food, they have never tasted it.
  
  Now, who is more discussing? Chinese or Indian? BTW I am not an indian and not from indian.
  - Calvin
    
    Can we just agree that both countries have areas that aren’t up to Western standards of cleanliness? No one is going to win the China vs. India filth and disease war.
    - BlothaLonely
      
      Actually, China and India are close kins, just like p*ssy and @sshole :p
    - Dev
      
      and who decided that western cleanliness was standard for cleanliness? Have you seen photos of the chicken farms? How about how the animal feed is made? how about garbage in the streets of New York city? How about the homeless pissing on the subway stations?
  - Justin
    
    No tradition? Are you kidding? Try 5,000 years of it. As far as religion goes, fuck that. Who needs it? Religion is a plague that has caused more death over the course of history than 50 holocausts and continues to divide man against man to this day. Good riddance to old superstitions.
    - namae nanka
      
      “Religion is a plague that has caused more death over the course of history than 50 holocausts ”
      
      that’s just plain out wrong, you need to read the irrational atheist that’s free on the net to set your head straight.
    - Asad (aka Asim)
      
      Justin,
      
      You seem to a bastard Indian basher employed by Chinese Govt to sow seeds of hatred amongst Indian and Chinese common populace…
  - Sunni
    
    “BTW I am not an indian and not from indian.”
    
    此地无银三百两。
  - Alex
    
    There is no religion in China because traditionally there hasn’t been any religion that overtook this country. Religion is allowed in China and Chinese have the freedom to choose to believe in any religion. But most Chinese choose to be atheist. Not forcing its citizens to believe in any religion offers the most freedom.
    - jin
      
      i dont know what youre talking about but china used to have a large% of buddhism. buddha??? noticed that all temples got a buddha in it? and the huge buddha statue carved in a mountain in china?
    - Ved
      
      See i dont know why you chinese people are so interested in india….whatever and however is my country….its our problem an we are fighting against it….no country is perfect and if we have something bad then in that case we have many thing to feel proud of….we are one of the fastest growing market…and my dear chinese…India is one the biggest market for your products so better shut your mouth and mind your own business…don’t forget….all invention and innovation are happening these days….would not have been possible..if aryabhatt from India would not have discovered Zero…..and if you find India bad…stay in your own country whose asking you to come to india????
- Linkysink
  
  Like drinking/bathing/dumping excrement/dumping bodies/brushing teeth all in the same water supply? This is Hinduism?
  - sunshyn
    
    oh no no no…it isnt hinduism…its poverty
  - BlothaLonely
    
    That’s not Hinduism, that’s the bottom low of ‘carbon footprint’.
- manoj
  
  deepak i am manoj very good i proud of u …../////////
Josephus Flavius

Having been to India, I must say that it is dirtier than China. But still, no other place in the world can be compared to it. It’s an amazing country!
Most pictures were taken in Varanasi (Where they burn the dead and discard the corpses in the river). This place is not for the weak at heart…
- Alikese
  
  So if Chinese people go to India to “find themselves” and white people go to China to “find themselves” where do Indian people go? The Congo? Newfoundland?
  - Sunni
    
    Newfoundland is a nice place.
    - Alikese
      
      So is the Congo.
      - Pramod
        
        They will go to Silicon Valley,Pentagone,NASA,Stanfort,Oxford,MIT.
        
        Just find out..
        
        And as these pictures are from only one place Haridwar( where this type of things happens) As poor,uneducated people found it ultimate satisfaction of dying on river coast of Ganga.
        
        We Indians also opposing this things from so many years but it will only vanishes when everyone will be educated .
        
        However our government can stop this forcefully( as China does for everything including Ban on facebook restrictions on MediA) but they kept issue of dying as individuals freedom.
        
        And most importantantly these things never happened force fully , but poor & uneducated people except by there own.
  - Al Jensen
    
    They go to Stanford!
  - sshetty
    
    we don’t need to go anywhere to “find ourselves”
Asian Male

Toilets in China also don’t have toilet paper.
- Shawn
  
  no doors too!!! i’ve been in such places where ppl r smokin, shittin, fartin n chattin with one another!!
- SO
  
  You bring your own paper to toilet. Shitting on treet is not acceptable.
- anne
  
  yeah you bring you’re own because if they provided you with toilet paper in public toilets, people tend to steal them. No doors occurs in some places I suppose…thank God I haven’t come across any yet.
  - Ryannoime
    
    A lot of public transportation stations’ toilets are like that. I remember one of the Shanghai bus stations being like that.
    - Appalled
      
      Just so we’re clear, it has been scientifically proven that cleaning yourself with toilet paper is inferior in terms of cleanliness to cleaning yourself off with some water. You wouldn’t just wash your hands by rubbing them on a towel would you? Why your nether regions. It’s because we’re too conservative to consider touching ourselves.
My name is Lee

There goes my breakfast… PUKE~!
I will skip lunch today… oh my God is this for real?
google google…
Arrow Gant

The only way to make Chinese feel superior is to look at the problems of other countries. But what they are doing is the same thing as the very first Chinese poster at the top of the page said.

I could show you pictures of China that would sicken anyone, so don’t act all arrogant.
- Sunni
  
  Ooo I want to see. Show me.
- Chef Rocco
  
  You are wrong, this is not the only way to make Chinese feel superior, when some bigots make racist comments on Chinese, they feel superior morally and intelligently as well..
  - sk
    
    Morals!?!? look who is talking? When did the world begin to associate Chinese with superiority and morality? Chinese people need to grow up. Seriously.
mingster

Because China has so many spits on the road that can make a river! Chinese are freakin’ disgusting!

FYI, virus of each spits travels 70 feet, China is full of invisible virus indeed…you are breathing it now!
Jackson

This is what England will become if the British don’t wake up and embrace White Nationalism.
- Calvin
  
  “White Nationalism”
  
  Too bad the English are already a mix of the Angle, Saxon, Jute and other Germanic tribes.
  
  Pure races are a myth, everyone is a mix of something.
  
  P.S. If people will indeed be defecating in the Thames, its karmic payback for leaving India in such desperate poverty and instability that it is only now climbing out of. Everyone from Africa to China knows what I’m talking about. Damned Brits.
  - Hoa tan
    
    Yeah what a bout the Chinese eating real fetus baby soup? stupid one right?
    - Kenny
      
      The fetus baby soup is a hoax: http://www.urbanmyths.com/index.php?/Food/fetus-soup-anyone-the-myth-of-chinese-baby-soup.html
  - smp
    
    Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were ALL descended from Germanic tribes. They were all of the same race.
- FOARP
  
  If this is a joke, it’s pretty good . . .
- Justin
  
  Fuck off and die Nazi scum.
- haotian
  
  Thank god just England, being Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish, we don’t have the same problems as those idiot English. Oh wait a minute you meant the UK, I’m sorry.
  
  England is NOT the UK you fucking retard. Learn some god damn geography.
- Joe
  
  I almost forgot about you, Stormfront!
Calvin

Sadly the river will look like that for the foreseeable future. The poor are always going to burn the bodies poorly then throw them into the river in addition to dumping in it. It’s not just because the river is holy, but its convenient for the poor to bathe and defecate it it because well, they don’t have indoor plumbing. Half of the commenters probably wouldn’t believe if you told them what other cities in the world did before the era of sewers and indoor plumbing. -_-

We can hope economic growth improves the situation, but more likely, the poor will get pushed somewhere else.
- Joe
  
  I don’t see this as being a problem if the population decreased. It’s only nasty because so many people are doing it…
- Obama
  
  Calvin,
  I like your comment.
  It is all about the government.
  Why is there no sewer system?
  Why 99% people are poor and a few extremely rich?
  Something wrong here definitely
sulli

china has got so many dirty things than India or other countries…i heard in guang dong province…they eat aborted fetus to look young..noting disgusting than this…At least in India you can live freely express your feelings freely..but in china……………..you can not judge the whole country by seeing one place….
- jin
  
  it was a hoax. fetus eating -.-
Rajah Singh

[Note from Fauna: Why are you using different identities?]
Rational

Haah !!! …half truth is a lie and the author should realize that. Moreover, it doesn’t make sense coming from people who eat everything that crawls…talk about filth !

Every country on earth has in store a different picture when you go to the outskirts. Even China has its own share of filth stored when you move out of the major cities. Get a life and accept whatever said and done, India holds her head high in glory for everything that she is!
Sunita

There are two photographs of individuals with Neurofibromatosis in the list titled “Don’t look if you won’t like it…you are responsible for yourself…” and ” A person more frightening than the rotting corpses and old leper! Seems to be someone who carries dead bodies professionally”. If you are ignorant, it is still unkind and impolite to make comments about people suffering from diseases for which there is no known cure.

There are nicer places in India that even the Chinese get to visit….but this is good propoganda against India….so Chinese….
- Appalled
  
  I was quite disappointed to see those pictures here. That was complete discrimination to have those pictures in this article. It is also completely unrelated to the topic of what seems to be “corpses in rivers”.
  
  The author or compiler of these photos was completely biased and much of what has been compiled when looked at from an objective point of view would be labeled discriminatory.
- T.M.SENTHIL KUMAR
  
  DEAR SUNITHA, YOU ARE A PROOF THAT INDIANS ARE KIND AND HAVE NOBLE THOUGHTS UNLIKE……..,KEEP IT UP!
Kedafu

India is great

went there in 2002

crazy place! you could spend your life there and not see it all!

just like China baby!

GREAT Civilizations!

song of the article,

Ravi Shankar on Sitar with Raga Jhinjhoti

it is 50 Ruppies today comrades!

五毛党
Chinamen

Chinamen on the lookout for dinner…beware India!
- Deepak Dogra
  
  Chinese mustache you doesn’t to give us warning…. please, we are ready to serve you a special dish which is none other than but your own chinese food… with no guarantee no warranty… Chinese maal chalaa to chaand tak warna shaam tak…
  
  ha ha ha
丽明

shame on you who ever took those pictures i total agree with this.
“I just want to say, there are a lot of places in China that are just the same. Don’t use the same air of superiority that Hong Kong and Taiwan people have when they look at mainlands to look at India. I don’t like it.”

Just because you can afford to take a flight to India does not give you the right to do this.
I bet you feel so good looking down upon the Indians.If that’s the way they do it and it does not affect them ,i do not see the problem with it .
mind your own business and if you think your country is better than India then stay in your own country.
I think you are more disgusting than those picture .
NB: am not Indian and I’ve never been there.

This beat the whole purpose of having a holiday in another country .You go there to appreciate the beauty not to laugh at the locals
Apa

Oh fuck man, India seems very civilized and nice. Not. Stinking and festering country I’ll never even consider visiting. Hardly want to buy clothes knowing they or at least the fabric sometimes comes from that region.
- Rational
  
  Good for u! Nyway u don’t deserve it. And nobody misses u in India…hahaha !!! Stupid man!
  - Alikese
    
    Good call on the “not” joke! Haven’t heard one of those in a while.
    - Apa
      
      @Alikese, thanks man, appreciate it.
      - vince
        
        lame joke, u seem to have be easily satisfied Alikese.
  - Apa
    
    I’ve also seen documentaries about the worshipping of rats, which are fed and built temple(s), anything basically to increase their numbers and all what that brings with it in forms of diseases etc. Also I’ve seen the same thing done for some sort of monkey and then there is some sort of phenomenon called Aghori, or similar, and many many more deviating pervertions.
    Fascinating in a amusing and well… disgusting way, from far, far away.
    - Rational
      
      U sound more like an Indian (u just know so so much ) !!! out with the truth man… U r an Indian…aren’t u??? hehehehe :D
    - Nomnivore
      
      I must say, it’s okay so long as people stick to the issue. The hygienic conditions are appalling, I agree. But to be a pathetic snoot and turn your nose up at a people’s religious beliefs, without even knowing ANYTHING about it (phenomenon called Aghori indeed) is downright moronic. Also, India’s textile industry won’t crash with your heart breaking rejection. Grow a pair.
dim mak

Stop the bashing. China and India have been historically the wealthiest and greatest civilizations mankind has ever produced. We’ve both fallen into a slump during the last few centuries, but that will all change and power will flow back to the East. The China vs India antagonism is also unnecessary. We are the only two big neighbors that have never really fought with each other for 4,000 years. This trend should continue.
- adam
  
  yea, theres really no comparsion between the two. india will always remain a shithole laughingstock
  - Rational
    
    And Chinese will remains like yellow monsters they had been for ages !!! And mind u..there is no need for name calling..u duckheads !!!
  - Appalled
    
    And a comment like this is called ignorance. Grow up.
  - vince
    
    you like taking it in the rear don’t u? ;)
- elenore
  
  Are you going to ask the Mongols to concur you both again?
  - Calvin
    
    OH dear! The last thing we want are the Mongol’s “concurring” with us! I don’t think they will though as they are rather disagreeable fellows.
    
    I think you mean conquer :]
renny

Um, why are you people in shock? It’s INDIA, one of the most polluted countries in the world. The level of poverty in Indian is crazy, an average human being would know that. You people are sick to think that it’s their fault! Their uneducated and don’t know any different. This is what’s wrong with the world, and this sort of thing needs first priority.

Education!!!!!
Mike Rogero

Funny how when I went there I saw a completely different world.

http://www.onwalkabout.com/photos/2003-12-12_Varanasi/index.htm
turimbar1

@bjwh50 you are trolling, I live in america and it is nothing like that. any instances of police brutality are brought to light quickly and dealt with. Police have to give good reason for firing their weapon and it can only be done in self defense.

not to mention we now treat all races with respect, maybe 50-60 years ago that was not the case, but alot has changed.

india’s government is very corrupt and the landowners keep the lower class down and milk them of money, causing the horrible conditions you see.

@ bjwh50你是曳，我住在美国，它是不是这样。警察暴行的任一实例，揭示了快速处理。警方不得不放弃他们的武器进行实弹射击很好的理由，它只能进行自卫。

更何况我们现在尊重所有的种族，也许50-60年以前，情况并非如此，但发生了很多变化。

印度政府非常腐败和地主保留下来，牛奶低下阶层他们的钱，导致你看到可怕的条件。
- Rational
  
  How wise of you to say that. Americans have absolutely no right to talk bout any other country wen they are the pillars of corruptions across the world! so, chill !
  - Rand
    
    @Rational
    
    Every single government on Earth is corrupt. Check out the global corruption index for ideas how bad places are.
    
    As for India, well, I feel for it. When there are people classified as “untouchable”, there is something wrong. All peoples are equal, birth should never give you a kingdom, or not allow you to even qualify as a human.
    
    Times are changing in India, its just a slow process for an ancient, and noble, civilization.
    - Rational
      
      @Rand
      
      Every country, as ancient as India, has a traditional past. Untouchable and all you talk about, it was a time..we call it PAST. The present time has brought India into the limelight for everything it is. Education, culture, Economics, Film, brains…everything.
      
      If you keep on referring to India as it was ‘once upon a time’, its you who are lagging behind and not the country. Please update and upgrade yourself.
  - staylost
    
    The United States just rated 22nd for least corrupt countries.
    
    No other countries with a large population are even close to us.
    
    They may not be a pillar of purity, but they are certainly a good example of how to fight corruption as no country with a population close to theirs was able to rate anywhere near that high. (India 87th, China 78th)
    
    Source:
    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/26/global.corruption.survey/
    - Alikese
      
      I don’t think Rational cares about citing facts because they don’t play into his preconceived notions.
      
      “Pushing the Asian, African, and poor out into the country, running the poor white people into the surrounding outskirts of the cities.”
      Wait, only rich white people live in the cities now?!? Every city I’ve ever been to must have been some sort of anomaly? It is abundantly clear that this commenter has never been to the US.
      
      And for those of you who don’t know: you don’t have to put your hands up when you’re near a cop, they’re not going to shoot you. 99% of police are just normal guys doing a job, this isn’t Rambo.
  - elenore
    
    Most Americans don’t care about other Countries as a way to insult.Most Americans are more concerned with Domestic issues.However the Charities do bring it up because most Charities get a lot of money from Americans.They bring it up telling Americans that they have resources in Education and Money to help others.Usually when you see reports like this in the U.S. it is usually followed by Charities trying to build wells,deliver clean drinking water,clothing,medical supplies and educational materials to the poor.It’s more about asking for help to make it better than to stroke egos.
  - More Rational
    
    turimbar1 is merely trying to point out that what bjwh50 said was a complete fallacy. I’ve never had to raise my hands to a police officer, EVER.
    
    And you are wrong, bashing him. Americans, actually MOST Americans do not back what the government does, whatsoever. There are tons of anti-war protests, anti-tax protests, anti-everything protests. So you chill. Not all of us are ready to kill people just because the government says so.
Harsh

Well its a gory site. But then who says reality is much better on your side of town. Industrial waste is all over the place. The pollution and population is a major concern. In fact since China became the biggest exporter and manufacturer of plastic goods in the world, it has affected global warming more than any other country in the world. You Google China and all you get is the beautiful city of Hong Kong. Please google Delhi and chandigarh and there we are! In a recent video i saw actually showed the inhuman way of skinning animals for Fur Exports. Please do have a loo . It has the heather Mills Video.
Justin

This must have been the first time LZ has ever set foot out of Shanghai. The poor, rural areas of China I’m sure hold some equally depressing sights as well if you venture far enough out. I recall riding on a bus through Inner Mongolia and watching a bony dog eating its own shit. No floating corpse, but it was pretty gross.

Chinese people were never schooled in Western concepts like cultural relativism though, so it’s easy to see why they would see floating corpses as disgusting, because after all it is pretty gross, but it’s just a religious practice like sky burial, which one of the other comments mentioned.
- Victor C
  
  “Chinese people were never schooled in Western concepts like cultural relativism though”
  
  Ironically, maybe this is also due to cultural relativism. But in seriousness, your condescending tone appalled me no less than the pictures. You exemplify the very worst of western chauvinism.
  - Justin
    
    Wasn’t trying to be condescending. It’s just that cultural relativism seems to be something that comes from liberal Western academics and I don’t imagine the concept is taught too widely in schools here, though I may be wrong. I’m sure it is probably taught to Chinese students in the social science. I’m usually on here trying to defend China against the attacks of the China bashers, so please give me a break.
    - Justin
      
      Also, you’ll never see me touting the superiority of Western civilization, which I have at times called a disease, though half-jokingly, because I know there are great contributions from both the East and the West. I moved from the U.S. to China and currently work for the Chinese state media, so please don’t confuse me with another China hater. I’m just trying to put some perspective on why Chinese people might react so harshly.
      - Justin
        
        and to be fair it isn’t taught or practiced by most Americans either. In fact there is an open campaign against it by the religious right in America, so I apologize.
Rand

It’s a democracy on the top, but you dont overcome 20,000 plus years of history in a hundred or so years of democracy.

Their immune system is probably very strong, and their views on death are probably a lot different than yours or mine.

Ill never give up my toilet paper!
- Sunni
  
  Wait… I hope you’re not referring to India’s history…
Karthik

I’m an Indian, these pictures are true. The tradition of thousands of years have been practised and considered holy. Unfortunately today the population of India is so large it cannot possibly keep the water holy with all the industrial waste, human garbage, feces and dead bodies.

I also believe that if Indians over here take this as an attack, they are taking it in a wrong attitude, its time to clean up our shit. Today the times have changed and so should the age old rituals. This is not new for me, I knew it for ages so does every Indian but I thank the photographer who took these photographs and the website host. I really hope that some positive steps would be taken to improve the dreadful filthy conditions. This is not about India vs China.
- Rational
  
  Ohh c’mon ..Get lost ya loser!
- sunshyn
  
  i second what you said….time to straighten our backs. Everybody clean up your own mess!
  GAWD!!! I feel like kicking every single man peeing on the roadside!!
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staylost

I want to just remind especially those living in China of the relative dangers of this sort of pollution. Biological waste like this can at most result in the creation of disturbing diseases, but industrial pollution can destroy an area for decades or longer.

Not to shame China, but to hope that they can do better than America and Europe did:

Things worse than dead bodies are floating in your rivers. The poisons of industry, when not properly disposed of, are difficult to to remove from the water sources around you. Remember, if you as a nation do not hold businessmen accountable for their actions, they will not do so themselves.

The water, filled with invisible pollutants fills the bodies of you and your children and slowly kills them.

These Indians here have learned to cope with the poverty and death around them by standing and watching like it is nothing.

Will you simply stand by, just as these Indians, as some already wealthy person gets even more rich off of the deaths of your children?

China is a beautiful place filled with some of the greatest history in the world. Please be proud! It is up to each of you to make China the best it can be.
Blotha Lonely

Truly disgusting !!! More distrusting than Guangdong foetus soup ..
- Vincent
  
  nothing is more disgusting than foetus soup, at least u dont have to drink the water of the ganges, get ur priorities straight :P
  - Nicolas
    
    India belongs to Indians . So have fun . For me all Asians are same . In Marseille ,France.There are very dirty people from Asia .
    I used to see asians cooking cats and their food smells like shit …
    
    So strange that you Asians also know what is DIRTY .
    - BlothaLonely
      
      I think French people are cool. You guys get high by smelling fart, is that true?? must be cool!!
    - vince
      
      lol yes frenchie, enjoy your grenouille legs.
bi min tang

Does anyone see the complete insanity in all this. Attention all Indians, Attention all Indians: STOP FUCKING!!! It is obvious that your country’s carrying capacity has reached the tipping point. It should NOT be a point of national pride nor should it be a national goal to have the world’s largest population. You are only ensuring the suffering of your people. Wake the fuck UP!!!
- Rational
  
  A Chinese has no right to comment on hygiene and cleanliness whatsoever! U guys eat human fetus..yuck !!! How deadly is that!
  - Confucius says
    
    You sir, are an idiot. It was a hoax and been confirmed by FBI.
    
    http://www.snopes.com/horrors/cannibal/fetus.asp
    - BlothaLonely
      
      bhwahwhahha . !! FBI ?? No doubt they are so ‘famous’ .. seriously, FBI ??? :p
- Indian Guy
  
  Well then why don’t we Indians try to be more like the Chinese and conquer Tibet and move our population there ?
  
  Maybe we could be like the “more” civilized white folks and conquer North America, South America AND Australia and then move our people there ?
  
  I have never been outside India, but I am glad I saw this post and had an opportunity to understand the Chinese. The wonderful effects of being a single child raised in a godless and morally bankrupt society where human values and life is measured in american dollars is interesting to watch.
  
  If this is what years of chinese “civilization” has produced, then we would have to redefine “civilized” and “civilization”.
  
  Life is a mirror and what we say and what we see is a reflection not of others but of who we really are. Something to remember.
- Sohaila Shaukat
  
  You make an absolutely ignorant comment. No country makes it their national goal to have the world’s largest population. And also, CHINA HAS THE WORLD’S LARGEST POPULATION. Did China think it would achieve something if it has the world’s largest population ? Make sense before you say something or just keep your ignorant mouth shut.
chadw

That comment about how “American police have the right to shoot you dead” is wildly untrue. Police in the USA do not have the right to even search random people, much less attack them.

The only time a police officer will shoot someone is if the other person has a deadly weapon (gun, knife) and shooting them is the only means of stopping them from using it. They will always try talking them into surrendering first.
kyuni

Oh man, I live in the Philippines and it isn’t even remotely as bad as this.

… and I though our country was dirty!
Abhi

Hi I am an indian….and all i want to say…that yes…Varanasi is like that….ganges…is a river where u see such things..but its always been one of the most spiritual places on this planet… why? have seen many literate rich people of india diving and bathing in ganges even after knowing what it is full of…so.dont look at it just from poverty perspective….

i have never been to varanasi.. after looking this would like to go there…..to get face to face with reality…to realize the fact that death is as real as life…and once person is dead…it is dead….body doesnt mean anything and those people staying there have accepted it…..

I dont hate China…but they are just too focused in showing how beautiful their country is..when people living in china.dont even have rights to express their opinion about their government…china is just taking a short cut to success. without facing the truth…that its not a democracy….but eventually you will have to face the bitter TRUTH….
Reema

surprise that inspite of living in varanasi (where author claims to have so many pictures) we fail to see bodies in this state. …wonder where this author actually went ???????????
Sam Christma

Was in India in 1972/73. Nothing changed only population doubled. India is a toilet they never flush.

Indians believe” if it goes into water it is clean”. So they see no evil or have any sense of microbiology. They live that way because they do not see it. Even the educated are surprised when you question them about pictures like this. The Indian hospitals wash their sheets in the same water.
A real emerging market !! Eh
dilladonuts

Fuck the bullshit you guys, stop pretending that most of this is not straight up gross. It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, this is not ok from a hygien standpoint. I’ve been to plenty of poor countries and I ain’t seen no corpses just chilling in the open like that. Not one, or hell, maybe even two, but a bunch of them bloated ass rotten corpses cold chillin like nothing!!! While lookin at the photos I just started laughing out loud thinking about how ridiculous this is.

China has its problems and all, but at least I don’t have to see floating corpses on the daily. NNNASTY AS HELL.
- loeg
  
  China is so clean it produced SARS. So far India hasnt been an epicentre for major worldwide disease. Then again the Chinese love to eat penises right?
- Sohaila Shaukat
  
  Why the hell do you care ?
  It is not your country, so I think you have no bloody right to comment.
  There is a beautiful side to India too, which for some weird reason the morons who made this post chose to ignore.
  And please on one side you say that it is “NASTY AS HELL”, and on the other side you say you “started laughing out loud thinking about ridiculous this is”. You make no sense.
clyde67

well thats all good and neato, i now know to not go in or near that water in india (where i hope to visit sometime before i die).

however–
“America’s police are even more terrible than China’s chengguan. If you’re within two meters of a police officer, you have to raise your hands, otherwise American police have the right to shoot you dead.”

this comment by one of the commenters above was just ignorant and completely stupid. people actually think that?
Some one

US is the dirtiest place all over the world…. but amercicans can’t see farther from their eyes….
- osirus
  
  what is amercicans?