I just finished my trip to Taiwan, which concludes the last East Asian country I’ll be visiting. I visited China first in 2011, then Korea in 2013, then Japan and Taiwan this year. I already talked about some of these differences. Below you can see some videos I made.
I think that every one of these countries has there own unique idiosyncrasies and differences with each other, but its no secret I prefer South Korea the best. I think the nightlife there is the best and Korean women by far care the most about their appearance and are the best looking on average, but I think Taiwan and Japan have the best manners in general. Its interesting to note that I didn’t see a single tomboy in Seoul in all my time living there, whereas in Taiwan or China its very easy to find girls who dress or look like boys. This is a very unique factor about Seoul, the gender boundaries are very clear and the women there are the most feminine. In addition, some other things unique about Korea I noticed; I’ve seen the most couples on the streets there than anywhere else I’ve traveled to, literally every 1 in 4 people on the streets are a couple, and its the only Asian nation with a Christian majority. That’s interesting about Korea to say the least. Other Asian countries trend towards either Buddhism or Islam.
I plan to go to Shanghai again next year, this time to take some video since I didn’t have a camcorder with me last time.
Then I can do a proper comparison between Seoul vs Tokyo vs Shanghai, all three megacities. Taipei is too small of a city to be counted amongst those three.
I also find the more I learn about these different Asian cultures, the more I find that China in particular tends to have more in common with the USA than with Korea/Japan/Taiwan.
Similarities between China and USA
-They are tied for being the 3rd largest country on Earth
-They are the two biggest economies in the world
-Chinese and Americans are both known for having a lot of national pride, sometimes bordering on arrogance
-They are both very diverse countries with multiple races and languages
-There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in both countries
-They contain the world’s first and second largest population of prisoners
-They contain the world’s first and second most billionares
-They are the largest influences in their respective hemispheres
-Chinese and American women are both known for being strong and independent
-Most people dress casually in both countries and there is no ‘standard’ for appearance, compared to Korea/Japan where more people dress up and wear makeup
-No rules on politeness either! You can be as nice or as rude as you want to in both countries. In Korea/Japan there are politeness rules in both the language and culture
Just some interesting things I’ve noticed…
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