Reading Breakneck from China

How diaspora readers debate China as “engineering state,” America decline, civil society’s collapse, rule of law vs. rule by man, and what it means to…

Nov 19, 2025 • afra

67

28

17

Story of A Beijing Vibe Coder

From burning through $50,000 in Claude Code tokens per month to building global software products from Beijing apartments—how resource scarcity is…

Nov 7, 2025 • afra

147

15

27

October 2025

The China Tech Canon

How does the paideía of the Chinese tech elite differ from their counterparts in Silicon Valley?

Oct 22, 2025 • afra

191

8

50

The Room Where AI Happens

A weekend at the Curve conference—an AI insider gathering in Berkeley revealed how people think about AGI timelines, China, creativity, and writing

Oct 10, 2025 • afra

42

12

17

September 2025

AI Prophecy from Hangzhou

China's first ASI evangelist, Alibaba's Yunqi Conference, more vibe shift

Sep 24, 2025 • afra

39

22

12

Topology of "China AI"

On circles, misconceptions, deep infrastructure, founder archetypes, state's role, memes, AGI. A conversation about the topology of China’s AI world for…

Sep 11, 2025 • afra

114

21

30

August 2025

Acceleration, Conspiracies, Caricatures

Notes from a month of movies and essays: Silicon Valley archetypes, America’s paranoia, China’s retro-nationalistic fantasy, and the stubborn need for…

Aug 27, 2025 • afra

24

13

4

China OS vs. America OS

I had an unfiltered conversation with two tech investor friends who operate in both Silicon Valley and China

Aug 1, 2025 • afra

86

23

18

July 2025

Progress in Chinese Urbanism

A conversation about Datong, urban renewal, and finding the future in the past

Jul 17, 2025 • afra and Jeff Fong

46

12

9

June 2025

Reading Abundance from China

I organized a Chinese-language reading group for Abundance and we examined Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's ideals through the lens of China

Jun 19, 2025 • afra

142

19

45

UK's Progress Ambivalence

I entered the Britain's quiet revolution against technological pessimism

Jun 16, 2025 • afra

33

13

11

May 2025

The Clock and the Rocket

Qian Xuesen's America, My Grandmother's China, Wright's California: a story about many forms of technological time travel

May 21, 2025 • afra

37

3

13