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China is so diverse I think personally that the nations bordering China are most similar to the region they border. So Korea is much more similar to Northern China while Vietnam is more like Southern China. Vietnam is nothing like Manchuria and Korean is nothing like Sichuan.
In terms of language, Vietnamese sounds alot like Min and Cantonese, being very nasal and tonal, while I don't find Japanese anything like Chinese. Korea is a little Chinese but pretty recognisably different. Mongolia even more so imo. Thai looks Chinese on paper but in actual speech isn't all that similar. I think Vietnamese and Burmese would be the most similar to languages in China they border.
In terms of food, I'd say Vietnam, North/South Korea had cuisines heavily influenced by China but also very distinct from it. I couldn't really pick one clear winner. Japanese is a bit similar but is really totally different. One thing I notice is beef doesn't feature much in Cantonese or Eastern Chinese cuisine, but is a staple of Sichuan, a feature it shares in common with Vietnam, Laos, Korea and Japan but not so much Burma.
Any other comparisons? I couldn't really rank the nations so I thought I'd just discuss my thoughts. I think Japan is actually very unlike China in some ways (sound of the language, Samurai thing) but shares similarities in the kanji alphabet and the opera. It's no more Chinese than say Vietnam but I suppose it's because 'East Asia' is a region. It's a bit like what Britain is to France. Mongolia is a bit like Inner Mongolia or Xinjiang, but it's such a distinctive culture it actually shares alot with Central Asia. Sure the people there look very Oriental but their language sounds closer to Turkish than Mandarin to my ears. Southeast Asia is in orbit of the Sinosphere, with the influence extending as far as Indonesia and isolated parts of India.
One nation that is often overlooked is Singapore, which is 70% ethnically Chinese so in a sense that might be a candidate.
By the way in this sense I'm treating Taiwan as a part of China, and Hong Kong and Macau are of course now part of China.
Northern Vietnam is very much similar to Southeastern China. Southern Vietnam leans more toward Southeast Asian.
Also, most of Southeast Asian culturally is predominantly in the Indic-sphere, meaning influenced primarily by India. With the notable exceptions being Vietnam and Phillipines. Although racially, SEAsians are best described as "mixed-Mongoloid" types.
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Originally Posted by Lycanmaster
Northern Vietnam is very much similar to Southeastern China. Southern Vietnam leans more toward Southeast Asian.
Also, most of Southeast Asian culturally is predominantly in the Indic-sphere, meaning influenced primarily by India. With the notable exceptions being Vietnam and Phillipines. Although racially, SEAsians are best described as "mixed-Mongoloid" types.
I haven't heard of the 'Indic sphere' but I think the moniker 'Indo-China' is a pretty good description. Yes, India has influenced Southeast Asia mainly through religion, but it has influenced China in the same way. I still get the feeling all of Southeast Asia definitely feels closer to China (having visited myself) than to India in terms of language, food and how the people look.
I haven't heard of the 'Indic sphere' but I think the moniker 'Indo-China' is a pretty good description. Yes, India has influenced Southeast Asia mainly through religion, but it has influenced China in the same way. I still get the feeling all of Southeast Asia definitely feels closer to China (having visited myself) than to India in terms of language, food and how the people look.
Most of Southeast Asia was definitely influenced culturally by India than by China, although Burma, Thailand and Laos also has quite a bit of Chinese influence as well. In fact the historical antagonism between the Vietnamese and the Cambodians can be attributed to the cultural clash between the largely "Indianized" Khmer and the "Sinicized" Vietnamese.
"The region's Indic underpinning is its best-kept secret. In fact, ASEAN, the 10-nation grouping, can be called the 'Indianised states of South-East Asia' - in the words of French orientalist George Coedes — in modern garb."
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Originally Posted by Lycanmaster
Most of Southeast Asia was definitely influenced culturally by India than by China, although Burma, Thailand and Laos also has quite a bit of Chinese influence as well. In fact the historical antagonism between the Vietnamese and the Cambodians can be attributed to the cultural clash between the largely "Indianized" Khmer and the "Sinicized" Vietnamese.
Take one example, Vietnamese food. It features alot of noodles, things like crispy skinned chicken, bok choy etc which are much similar to China than India. The sound of Thai itself is more of the 'Chinese-type' than Indian is. And of course biologically they are mostly of the 'Mongoloid' type or a more Malay type.
Parts of Indonesia did have a fairly strong Indian influence. Bali is Hindu even. Cambodia had a strong Indian influence during the Angkor Wat period, but I think later other influences became important.
Now Vietnam was certainly, by most measures, more Chinese influenced. Their Buddhism was apparently more Mahayana and they even had Confucian influences due to Chinese rule. Southeast Asian languages in general aren't Indo-European, but are instead Austro-Asian or Tai-Kadai or even Sino-Tibetan. Sino-Tibetan is the family that contains Chinese.
Still there might be a tendency to undervalue the Indian influence so statements like Lycanmaster's might be a useful correction even if it might also be an over-correction.
Take one example, Vietnamese food. It features alot of noodles, things like crispy skinned chicken, bok choy etc which are much similar to China than India. The sound of Thai itself is more of the 'Chinese-type' than Indian is. And of course biologically they are mostly of the 'Mongoloid' type or a more Malay type.
All ya gotta do is read the gazillion history books that deal with SouthEast Asia or just google it for the most part. The cultural base of Southeast Asia came from India FIRST, then later China, the Islamic world and, through colonialism, Europe.
Although biologically yes, they are largely of the Mongoloid type. Although even that was not agreed upon historically when Malays were considered their own "race" separate from "Mongoloids"...
And of course there's Cambodians and Mon-Khmers, who are observed to have as much (if not more) physical similarity to their Indian/Hindu counterparts as to their more mongoloid neighbors...
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All ya gotta do is read the gazillion history books that deal with SouthEast Asia or just google it for the most part. The cultural base of Southeast Asia came from India FIRST, then later China, the Islamic world and, through colonialism, Europe.
Although biologically yes, they are largely of the Mongoloid type. Although even that was not agreed upon historically when Malays were considered their own "race" separate from "Mongoloids"...
And of course there's Cambodians and Mon-Khmers, who are observed to have as much (if not more) physical similarity to their Indian/Hindu counterparts as to their more mongoloid neighbors...
Cambodians can look dark but their facial features don't seem of the Indian type to me (flat noses, pretty hairless lol). I notice some Burmese, some Thais and even some Malays (the minority though) do look somewhat Indian. India may have had more direct influence in the past, but I think to most people the similarities with China would be more obvious.
Singapore. Not only an majority of people are ethnic Chinese but its an one party state just like China. In addition the official language is Mandarin (of course English is also an official language there) China also sees Singapore as an model to follow since the 1970s.
Singapore are most of chinese, but they always have some different. Our Chinese is also much different, because of the area. By the way, I am from Shandong, you are welcome to travel. We have Confucius hometown, Taishan.
By the way in this sense I'm treating Taiwan as a part of China, and Hong Kong and Macau are of course now part of China.
Taiwan is not a part of China. Go to China, then go to Taiwan and see if you still think they are the same. Two totally different levels of development, two totally different political systems. China has a lot of space and different types of natural beauty. It also has an oppressive government and terrible pollution around every major urban center.
Taiwan is also beautiful, but has less variety in terms of types of geographical regions. Taiwanese cities are not nearly as polluted as those in China. The Taiwanese are, on average, much friendlier than the Chinese.
China, excluding Hong Kong, is probably most similar to Vietnam. Maybe North or South Korea, but I've never been to those countries, so I couldn't say. Hong Kong is more like Taipei than Beijing. Shanghai is somewhere in the middle between HK and Beijijng. Beijing is somewhat like Hanoi, but MUCH larger. The attitude of the town is similar, though. Shanghai somewhat reminds me of Kuala Lumpur.
Honestly, China is hard to characterize as a single country. Kashgar is nothing like Kunming is nothing like Beijing. Western Europe seems less diverse than China. Italy looks more like France than Xinjiang looks like Guangxi.
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