I've been there on vacation. Was a nice enough place, crime was a bit high, but so was crime in New York or Chicago when I went there, too, and plenty of people live in those places willingly.

The people I actually interacted with were all quite pleasant, even the border security curmudgeony old ladies were about friendliness you'd expect from border guards, no worse at all.

But the premise of your argument is incorrect: China is an emergent superpower, doesn't mean I'd want to live there, and even if I viewed it as "on par" with where I am now, I'd need to learn a new language, new occupation, new housing, it'd be a huge hassle if it were only "on par" with another world superpower.