Travel >
Asia
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedFor westerners traveling to Asia, is it better to vacation in China or Japan?
Results so far:
| Japan | 65% | 320 votes | Total: 495 votes | |
| China | 35% | 175 votes |
Japan
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesI have been to both Japan and China, and I must say that while it really differs from person to person, Japan would be a better place for westerners to vacation in.
Why? The reason's simple. In the west, people are not privy to coming in contact with Asian culture; when we compare the degree of exposure of Westerners to Chinese and Japanese culture, more often than not, the view of Chinese culture is grossly distorted through the Westerner's eye and Japanese culture is slightly more understood in the sense that for years, people have been more interested in Japan. Most are familiar with Japanese signature foods like sushi, sashimi, ramen etc. and Chop suey [fried noodles] or other bastardized dishes like sweet and sour pork from Chinese takeaways seriously do no justice to Chinese food. While whole bluefin tuna, preserved cod roe and the likes may startle a newcomer or two, there's nothing more horrifying than seeing kittens mewling on their way to restaurants, or the odd man on the street plucking fine hairs from killed dogs that have been gutted and cleaned. Therefore, if you are not looking for a culture shock and yet look to experience a different way of life, Japan is definitely the way to go!
Japan is undeniably more expensive than China, but do not let that be reason enough to deter you from visiting this country. In this age of budget travel, it is easy to get cheap tickets and as with all major cities, driving around in Japan [especially big cities like Tokyo, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Osaka] is discouraged because of heavy traffic all day long. Depending on your trusty feet is a surefire way to stretch your dollar! As with your tickets, do more research on the internet and find out when the sales seasons are, so that you can tailor your trip to fit your shopping needs and from experience, the sales in Japan are downright crazy because you get quality items at a really low fraction of their original prices.
Finally, Japanese culture and history is no less complex than its Chinese counterpart, and history buffs will be more than satisfied with the numerous temples, shrines, palaces and the like. Kyoto, the country's ancient capital, is one of the history buff's "must visit places" to get a feel of old world Japan and to see elegant women totter by in their gorgeous kimonos.
After becoming more accustomed to the quirky but nevertheless interesting nature of Asian culture, one can then move on to visiting China, which is infinitely hard to describe in a few words but if I must choose, "a land of startling contrasts".
Learn more about this author, Sheena Lee.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
China
While I agree that whether it is better for Westerners travelling to Asia to vacation in China or Japan very much depends on several factors - financial, cultural, political, among others - it is ultimately a personal choice. Whether you, the Westerner, choose to spend your all-important holidays in China or Japan - a decision which you feel will benefit you more. Making you more rejuvenated at the end of the vacation, or enriching your culturally or intellectually or otherwise when you choose one country over the other.
This article is written on the premise that, all things being equal - equal in that the traveller has no financial constraints, nor cultural or political or other constraints - it is still better for the typical Westerner to vacation in China rather than Japan. Which brings the important question - what is meant by 'better'? Better in what ways? And of course this is also related to the temperament and disposition of the traveller concerned. After all, a traveller, like all human beings, has his or her personal prejudices, inclinations, political convictions, etc.
Some of the reasons why a Westerner would find it more beneficial or better to holiday in China rather than Japan are:
Reason #1: China has greater cultural diversity than Japan
Any traveller to Japan would have noticed immediately the homogeneity of Japanese society: the Japanese people belong to one single ethnic stock ( with the exception of a small number of indigenous tribes whose numbers are negligible ); they speak only one language, the Japanese, with very slight variations in spoken vernaculars among its people. There is very little cultural diversity in Japan: one hardly hears any tongue spoken except Japanese; wherever one goes, one only finds signs in Japanese and hardly any other language, even in big cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe, except in tourist brochures describing important tourist destinations. In like vein, visiting one Japanese shrine or temple in say, Kobe, is as good as visiting any other shrine or temple in other Japanese cities. They are all more or less alike.
The Westerner would discover that China is much more diverse culturally: no doubt the official language is Mandarin Chinese but there are many spoken versions of the Chinese tongue - one hears Cantonese in Hong Kong, Mandarin in Beijing ( or Peking ), Mongolian in Inner Mongolia, Tibetan in Tibet and even Mandarin is spoken in quite different ways in different parts of China, from Fujian Province to Northern China and Western China. You go to Szechuan Province and you will find the Mandarin spoken there quite different to your ears if you are used to the Mandarin spoken by Chinese people in Northern China. It also goes without saying that one finds different peoples in different parts of China: a Manchurian in Northern China is different in many ways from a Shanghainese ,a Tibetan, a Mongolian and Uighur and other ethnic minorities of China.
In China, even the cities can be culturally different from one another. Shanghai is a modern metropolis whereas Beijing is slightly more 'traditional' or it has more historical buildings like the Forbidden City, the Great Wall - whereas Shanghai displays its historical past in its Western-styled buildings built by many foreign and Chinese tycoons during the early part of the 20th Century.
Reason #2: The Chinese are more cosmopolitan than the Japanese.
Although most people are agreed that Japan is technologically more advanced and modern than China, this does not mean that the Japanese are more westernized or cosmopolitan - in fact, the opposite is true. The Japanese are at heart traditionalist living behind the faade of ostentatious modernity. The Japanese ethos is more exclusive and insular; whereas it is safe to observe that the Chinese are furiously becoming more and more 'westernized' and cosmopolitan. One finds a sizable expatriate community living and working in many cities of China but the expatriate community in Japan is small in size and negligible in numbers. The Chinese are more receptive of foreign elements incorporating into their value systems: for instance, English is becoming a very important language to the Chinese, especially since the Olympics in 2008 and the World Expo due to open in Shanghai in 2010. Now if the English-speaking Westerner makes a vacation in Japan, he or she will face some communication problems unless aided by an English-speaking tourist guide. The situation in China is definitely better as the number of Chinese citizens able to converse in English is on the rapid rise. In Japan, you hardly hear any Japanese speaking to each other in any language other than Japanese. This is not to say that the Japanese do not realize the importance of mastering English; it is that the Japanese are too proud of their tongue and speaking Japanese only is deeply entrenched.
Reason #3: There are more places worth visiting in China than in Japan
While it is true that Japan does have many places worth visiting e.g the historic cities of Kobe, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagasaki; there is also the world-renowned Hokkaido with its beautiful sceneries all year round - but especially during Winter time - it is also true that China has more places worth visiting than Japan. Beijing, the capital of China, offers the Western vacationer many tourist attractions: the Ming Tombs, Tienanmen Square, the Great Wall, the Olympic Stadium otherwise known as Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, venue of the 2008 Olympics swimming events. And if you realize that China is a vast country compared to Japan, The contention here is that China offers more places for the Western tourists than Japan, especially if one factors cost into the picture. Japan is well-known for its expensive goods and services, although it must be said that the quality of Japanese merchandise and service are quite impeccable. The same cannot be said about China, at least for now.
Reason #4: China is more important than Japan economically and socially - to the Westerners.
Of course this is really a moot point: but it is true that China has become the international power-house especially for most manufactured goods, from consumer electronics to advanced machinery. If not for the fact that many cheap ( and of reasonable quality) Chinese consumer products have found their ways into Western and US markets, consumers in these markets will have to pay more for similar or equivalent products.
Reason #5: China is less familiar to the average Westerner compared to Japan - hence all the more a Western traveller should vacation in China.
Most Westerners are more familiar with Japan than with China: the media is full of stories of Japanese technological advancements in automobile manufacture and design; Japanese food, floral arrangement and even the Japanese language have become the objects of studies and close scrutiny by many ordinary Westerners, not just academicians, social scientists and professionals. Of course this is party due to the fact that Japan has become a strong Western ally - especially to the US. In comparison, China is relatively unknown and the Chinese perhaps even a little inscrutable to the Westerners, although this may change in the years to come. It is therefore imperative for more Westerners to make a trip to China than to Japan - to find out for themselves what make the country tick, what make China so important and strong economically, and along the way acquire a greater understanding of the Chinese nation.
Learn more about this author, Chu Chin Kwok.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
