Most overrated and underrated country in Asia (place, people, travel)

[AJAVIER]

Which country in Asia do you think is overrated?
Which country in Asia do you think is underrated?

[Trimac20]

In what respects?

I think Myanmar/Burma is probably the most underrated as a tourist destination. It seems more exotic and interesting than Thailand. I've seen a map of it, and it looks like it has literally hundreds of islands off the Southwest coast. I'm sure there are unspoilt beaches there every bit as good as those nice beaches in Thailand spoiled by the hoards of tourists. Especially when they party too hard (which in itself not a bad thing) and litter the beaches.

I think China is actually both underrated and overrated. People just aren't aware of it's sheer natural beauty/diversity...they see the cultural side and modern cities, but in beauty, vastness and diversity China at the very least equals and arguably surpasses the US.

India is also underrated as a tourist destination. Like China I find it far more interesting than Southeast Asia, which is culturally mostly a mix of the two and nowhere near as old in terms of civilisations. India and China also have more spectacular landscapes than Indo-China.

Indonesia and the Philippines seem under-appreciated.

Much of the Middle East is similarly underrated for tourism. While no westerner would be able to live in Iran even if they wished to (as far as I know) it seems a really interesting place to visit. This was, after all, the great ancient Persia, one of the world's great civilisations.

Overrated: Thailand - it's nice but it's not like there are no other places. Singapore, a little bit, but still a cool place.

[japanese001]

Myanmar,Iran
There are nature and a world heritage.
The times of the high-rise building are over.

Overrated:

1. Japan: It is nice but Japan is still quite a bit overrated. Some people think it is the only country to visit in Asia and that is so far away from the truth.

2. Turkey: Most of it technically counts as being a part of Asia, at least by Wikipedia definitions. I'm generally not impressed enough by Turkey.

3. Mongolia: Boring frozen tundra most of the year with very long Siberian Russian like winters. Even in the summer, Mongolia seems boring and too difficult to travel in with not enough good infrastructure and stuff to do for travelers.

4. Bangladesh: Well this country is already not perceived that well and there are reasons for that. But still why would anyone travel to Bangladesh when they can easily go to India which is much better and much more interesting? (Unless it is for family or business reasons when they have no choice).

Underrated:

1. Taiwan: China upstages it by far. Taiwan used to be a part of China and some still don’t realize it is now technically its own country. Great vibrant modern city (Taipei), Hawaii like tropical scenery in the mountainous and coastline areas.

2. India: Some people focus too much on the negative aspects of India instead of all of the interesting and positive things about it. It has huge interesting cities such as Delhi, and Mumbai, vast coastline areas, mountainous areas in the Northern region, and plenty of interesting diversity in scenery all over the huge country. It is rapidly growing in its economy with infrastructure rapidly developing over time.

3. Vietnam: Two huge interesting cities (Hanoi and Ho Chi Mihn), a lot of nice tropical/subtropical coastal and mountainous scenery as well.

4. South Korea: Mostly just for Seoul which is a huge interesting city. I am sure there are other worthwhile places to visit in South Korea other than Seoul too.

5. Azerbaijan

6. Kyrgyzstan

Appropriately rated:

1. China

2. Thailand

3. Singapore

[ragnarkar]

Overrated:

Japan

South Korea

Taiwan

Hong Kong

Thailand


Appropriately Rated:

China

India

Underrated:

Mongolia

Pretty much any other country not mentioned here besides N. Korea.

[CairoCanadian]

Overrated: Japan. It's a fascinating country, but I think it's overly prominent.

Underrated: many, but Iran, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Burma, and Laos strike me as really fascinating countries that are quite unfairly off the map when it comes to international travel interest.

[Davy-040]

How is Japan overrated?

International Tourist Arrivals (Asia)

2010:
1.China - 55.67 million
2.Turkey - 27.0 m
3.Malaysia - 24.58 m
4.Hong Kong - 20.09 m
5.India - 17.90 m
6.Thailand - 15.84 m
7.Macau - 11.93 m
8.Saudi Arabia - 10.85 m
9.Singapore - 9.16 m
10.South Korea - 8.80 m
11.Japan - 8.61 m
12.Syria - 8.55 m
13.U.A.E. - 7.43 m
14.Indonesia - 7.0 m
15.Vietnam - 6.0 m
16.Jordan - 4.56 m
17.Philippines - 3.52 m
18.Israel - 2.81 m
19.Lebanon 2.17 m
20.Laos - 1.87 m


2009:
1.China - 50.88 m
2.Turkey - 25.51 m
3.Malaysia - 23.65 m
4.Hong Kong - 16.93 m
5.Thailand - 14.15 m
6.Saudi Arabia - 10.90 m
7.Macau - 10.40 m
8.South Korea - 7.82 m
9.Singapore - 7.49 m
10.U.A.E. - 6.81 m
11.Japan - 6.79 m
12.Indonesia - 6.32 m
13.Syria - 6.09 m
14.Jordan - 3.79 m
15.Vietnam - 3.77 m
16.Philippines - 3.01 m
17.Israel - 2.32 m
18.Cambodia - 2.16 m
19.Lebanon - 1.85 m
20.Qatar - 1.66 m

[Davy-040]

Overrated:
Turkey
Syria

Underrated:
Japan
South Korea

[tvdxer]

Overrated: Laos, at least in the backpacking community.

Underrated: Kazakhstan

[dunno what to put here]

Japan is overrated.. not as many visitors but many people, especially young people, obsess over it - especially with their anime and other things.