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Which country feels to you more exotic - meaning connected to its ancient past, different from the West, not as commercialized and full of pop culture, and very different in its landscape and architecture from Europe and North America?
My experience are not fully relevant, since it has been nearly 20 years since I've been there, and in both countries, I visited only remote districts quite out of the mainstream, and no large cities at all. But I would say India was more exotic, and probably today much more so now than then. India had the familiarity of an English-speaking country, whereas in China I traveled for days at a time without finding a single person who could speak English. But even taking that into account, India still felt more culturally and developmentally exotic. The Chinese were warm and friendly and hospitable and generous in a style that was comforting to a western traveler, whereas in India, one just felt pushed along in the crowd. It was also nice in China to never need to worry about anything being stolen.
But I've heard that China has changed since then, and one no longer feels open generosity and hospitality.
I have yet to visit either of them but hopefully will in the near future. From the outside, India seems more exotic to me and would be my first choice to visit between the two.
I haven't been to either of them, but culturally India is much more similar to Europe. Indian languages (Indo-Aryan, not Dravidian) are Indo-European, like most European languages etc.
I've been to China but not India. I have been to Sri Lanka though. India seems more mysterious/exotic because it's a lot more traditional (most women wear traditional clothing for example), conservative and religious. China has modernised a lot more, and parts of Shanghai or Beijing look like any international metropolis. The Chinese are more connected to western pop culture and seem more influenced by America etc.
I haven't been to either of them, but culturally India is much more similar to Europe. Indian languages (Indo-Aryan, not Dravidian) are Indo-European, like most European languages etc.
India is nothing like Europe. There are many different cultures and traditions in India depending on what area you visit. They have very different customs to any European country. Even though India was a British colony at one time it is definitely very unique and a legacy from British colonial times is that English is spoken by a large number of Indians as a second language but if you went to India you wouldn't compare it to Europe. I think India is more exotic than China even though both countries are incredible places.
-Ancient Indian customs, culture and architecture have been preserved better than Chinese ones, for a multitude of reasons.
-The Chinese diaspora (50 million) is larger than the Indian diaspora (22 million), although this will vary considerably from country to country. Americans, Canadians and Australians are more likely to be familiar with Chinese culture while Brits and South Africans are more likely to be familiar with Indian culture.
-Way more people visit China (57 million in 2012) than India (6.6 million in 2012), and of course any place will be less mysterious once you've actually visited it.
-Ancient Indian customs, culture and architecture have been preserved better than Chinese ones, for a multitude of reasons.
-The Chinese diaspora (50 million) is larger than the Indian diaspora (22 million), although this will vary considerably from country to country. Americans, Canadians and Australians are more likely to be familiar with Chinese culture while Brits and South Africans are more likely to be familiar with Indian culture.
-Way more people visit China (57 million in 2012) than India (6.6 million in 2012), and of course any place will be less mysterious once you've actually visited it.
I think now is the time to visit India, lest it becomes too globalised like China, but then again, India has a very very old culture and it seems like a place that will never really change at heart.
Being of Chinese heritage, I'd say India. Probably because China seems familiar to me.
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