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Old 10-04-2012, 10:00 PM
 
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Is the main reason someone or anyone rates a spot to be overrated is there are too many tourists there now, and much is built to cater to a certain market like families, or college students?

There are really only so many things to sight see. A beach is a beach anywhere, rainforest is a rainforest anywhere. Does not matter if it is Amazon or the Indochina jungle. Fortifications are fortifications, and if you are not impressed by how high or how long a stone wall is, or do not appreciate the effort put into making it than no fortification ever will.

If parts of vietnam are overrated but some are not, what could be the difference? It is the same food, same companies providing the hospitality, same gift shops, same flora, same architecture.

 
Old 10-16-2012, 01:21 AM
 
5,490 posts, read 13,863,048 times
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First Category for Countries:

Underrated:

Taiwan
South Korea
Malaysia


Overrated:

Japan
Philippines
Mongolia
Laos


Appropriately rated:

Thailand
Vietnam
Singapore
China
India
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
Cambodia
Nepal
Bhutan


Second Category for Specific Locations in Each Country, including cities/towns and nature scenery areas:


Underrated:

Taipei
Seoul
Shanghai
Delhi
Hanoi
Kuala Lumpur
Harbin
Chennai
Bangalore
Busan
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Taiwan’s Yushan mountain range
Taiwan’s Eastern Coastline beaches, especially in Suao-Hualien
Indian Himalayas
Some Indian beaches
Malaysian beaches, especially in Penang.
Borneo island of Malaysia/Indonesia
Hainan island of China.
Jiufen
Lijiang
Shimla
Kunming
Hangzhou
Nanjing
Wuhan
Chengdu
Shenzhen
Guangzhou
Shenyang
Qingdao
Dalian
Georgetown
Osaka
Nagoya


Overrated:

Manila
Philippines beaches
Kolkata
Vientiane


Appropriately rated:

Singapore
Hong Kong
Bangkok
Tokyo
Beijing
Mumbai
Chinese/Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan Himalayas.
Thai beaches
Phuket
Hoi An
Vietnamese beaches
Japanese Alps
Nagano
Lhasa
Kathmandu
Thimphu
Agra
Goa
Kyoto
Sapporo
Ho Chi Minh
Phnom Phen

Last edited by *******; 10-16-2012 at 02:14 AM..
 
Old 10-17-2012, 09:07 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,762,350 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ******* View Post
First Category for Countries:

Underrated:

Taiwan
South Korea
Malaysia


Overrated:

Japan
Philippines
Mongolia
Laos


Appropriately rated:

Thailand
Vietnam
Singapore
China
India
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
Cambodia
Nepal
Bhutan


Second Category for Specific Locations in Each Country, including cities/towns and nature scenery areas:


Underrated:

Taipei
Seoul
Shanghai
Delhi
Hanoi
Kuala Lumpur
Harbin
Chennai
Bangalore
Busan
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Taiwan’s Yushan mountain range
Taiwan’s Eastern Coastline beaches, especially in Suao-Hualien
Indian Himalayas
Some Indian beaches
Malaysian beaches, especially in Penang.
Borneo island of Malaysia/Indonesia
Hainan island of China.
Jiufen
Lijiang
Shimla
Kunming
Hangzhou
Nanjing
Wuhan
Chengdu
Shenzhen
Guangzhou
Shenyang
Qingdao
Dalian
Georgetown
Osaka
Nagoya


Overrated:

Manila
Philippines beaches
Kolkata
Vientiane


Appropriately rated:

Singapore
Hong Kong
Bangkok
Tokyo
Beijing
Mumbai
Chinese/Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan Himalayas.
Thai beaches
Phuket
Hoi An
Vietnamese beaches
Japanese Alps
Nagano
Lhasa
Kathmandu
Thimphu
Agra
Goa
Kyoto
Sapporo
Ho Chi Minh
Phnom Phen
Malaysia might be slighted underrated, Taiwan I think seems to be largely ignored by Western tourists, I only occasionally see Europeans or Americans here. I actually think it has a lot to offer, I think it just has never really promoted itself as a tourist destination until recently and it had Martial law until 1981. Tourism to China is definitely taking off in leaps and bounds, soon I expect it to become the world's no. 1 tourist destination.

Mongolia is probably seen as a destination with a lot of cred but definitely off the typical tourist trail. Laos is coming up but it's still quite niche, receiving like less than a million visitors a year, and considering it is a slice of a more traditional Asia I don't think it's overrated. Taipei is probably a bit underrated, it's a cool city but tbh you can find everything you can find here elsewhere in Asia. I don't think many people consider Kolkata much of a destination, New Delhi seems to hog more of the attention, and some cities on your list, most people have never heard of. I'd never heard of Taichung prior to researching this trip to Taiwan, and I hear there's nothing really there. Also I seldom hear anyone raving about Manila or Ventiane, and the Phils seem relatively ignored compared to Thailand. They're underrated if anything. Thinking about it I might rate Hanoi a tad overrated, sadly. It's sort of boring compared to Taipei. Dunno about a lot of those Chinese cities. One you should add is Xiamen in Fujian province, even among those interested in China it's often left off. Fujian province in general is overlooked IMO.
 
Old 10-27-2012, 04:58 PM
 
5,490 posts, read 13,863,048 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
Malaysia might be slighted underrated, Taiwan I think seems to be largely ignored by Western tourists, I only occasionally see Europeans or Americans here. I actually think it has a lot to offer, I think it just has never really promoted itself as a tourist destination until recently and it had Martial law until 1981. Tourism to China is definitely taking off in leaps and bounds, soon I expect it to become the world's no. 1 tourist destination.

Mongolia is probably seen as a destination with a lot of cred but definitely off the typical tourist trail. Laos is coming up but it's still quite niche, receiving like less than a million visitors a year, and considering it is a slice of a more traditional Asia I don't think it's overrated. Taipei is probably a bit underrated, it's a cool city but tbh you can find everything you can find here elsewhere in Asia. I don't think many people consider Kolkata much of a destination, New Delhi seems to hog more of the attention, and some cities on your list, most people have never heard of. I'd never heard of Taichung prior to researching this trip to Taiwan, and I hear there's nothing really there. Also I seldom hear anyone raving about Manila or Ventiane, and the Phils seem relatively ignored compared to Thailand. They're underrated if anything. Thinking about it I might rate Hanoi a tad overrated, sadly. It's sort of boring compared to Taipei. Dunno about a lot of those Chinese cities. One you should add is Xiamen in Fujian province, even among those interested in China it's often left off. Fujian province in general is overlooked IMO.
Overall, there is a lot more places in Asia that is underrated compared to being overrated. However, there is plenty of appropriately rated destinations in Asia. Also, popularity for Asia from other regions in the world (at least for Europe, Australia, North America) is increasing.

Asia is a vast region with plenty of variety, and intriguing, exciting places to experience and get to know.

I am a bit jealous that Australia appears closer to Asia and some Oceania islands than most of North America USA. Here in North America/USA it is too much about the sometimes tacky overrated Caribbean islands, Central America, and some of South America. I prefer Asia a lot more compared to Central America/Caribbean/most of South America.

Then again, a lot of North America has closer geographic distance to Europe compared to Australia so I guess it compensates for that.

A lot of people say they see more Europeans, and Australians in parts of Asia compared to Americans, and two reasons why is probably because of geographic distance and cheaper traveling costs.

My list for this topic was very specific and extensive, but I decided to only focus on places East of Kyrgyzstan/Pakistan such as from Western China/India and everything East of that for the most real authentic areas of Asia culturally.

Central Asia and the Middle East are technically part of the Asian continent but they act very separate culturally, but maybe in another list I might also include places in Central Asia/Middle East.

Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia are underrated countries in Asia, but I see them becoming more popular/appropriately rated over time.

I am sure you are having an excellent fun trip in Taiwan right now. I am sure you are going to write about the trip when you come back.

Taichung is one of Taiwan’s biggest cities with 2.6 million people. That was the place where bubble tea was invented, and Taichung has plenty of historic temples/architecture sites, a lot of tea houses, and some dense neighborhoods. It seems interesting enough to visit for that, and also because it is such an unknown city internationally.

For the country of Taiwan, I would visit Taipei, Jiufen, Suao-Hualien coastline beaches, Yushan mountains, Taichung, and Koahsiung and have a nice balance of urban and nature related activities and scenery.

There is a wide variation of activities in Taiwan that I said in recent earlier posts in Taiwan vs. Yunnan Province, and for Must see attractions/activities in Taipei thread topics.
 
Old 10-27-2012, 10:55 PM
 
223 posts, read 511,982 times
Reputation: 157
most of us would need to consider value, too. Also, there is a huge difference between staying in a tourist' area for 3 days and living in a community for long term. I've met a number of foreigners, who base their whole opinion of America on their experiences in Orlando (Disney), let alone, those who base it on a Michael Moore film.
 
Old 10-28-2012, 01:29 AM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,017 posts, read 14,406,938 times
Reputation: 5568
Overrated:

Thailand
Japan
Philippines
China (along the coast)

Underrated:

Mongolia
S. Korea (and understandably, N. Korea although not many will consider visiting it.)
Taiwan
China (the hinterlands)
Central Asia (i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, etc.)
 
Old 10-29-2012, 01:54 PM
 
Location: City of Angels
2,924 posts, read 5,585,283 times
Reputation: 2267
why do people keep on putting the philippines on the overrated list?

malaysia and thailand both get over 20 million international tourists per year.

south korea, taiwan, vietnam all get around 7 million international tourists per year.

philippines only get 3.9 million per year, not much more than laos, a country with only 1/15th the population.

im just amazed that ppl keep on including it cuz it's such an untapped market. not overrated in the least
 
Old 10-29-2012, 07:59 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,762,350 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133 View Post
Is the main reason someone or anyone rates a spot to be overrated is there are too many tourists there now, and much is built to cater to a certain market like families, or college students?

There are really only so many things to sight see. A beach is a beach anywhere, rainforest is a rainforest anywhere. Does not matter if it is Amazon or the Indochina jungle. Fortifications are fortifications, and if you are not impressed by how high or how long a stone wall is, or do not appreciate the effort put into making it than no fortification ever will.

If parts of vietnam are overrated but some are not, what could be the difference? It is the same food, same companies providing the hospitality, same gift shops, same flora, same architecture.
Well a rainforest in Brazil is completely different to one in Malaysia. Different flora, fauna, landscapes.

It's hard to really boil it down...for instance, I think Thailand is a bit overrated more people tend to consider it the best for beaches, merely because of it's exposure, when I think there are easily beaches just as good in places like Myanmar, Philippines, Indonesia which just aren't as well known.
 
Old 10-29-2012, 08:02 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,762,350 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by foadi View Post
why do people keep on putting the philippines on the overrated list?

malaysia and thailand both get over 20 million international tourists per year.

south korea, taiwan, vietnam all get around 7 million international tourists per year.

philippines only get 3.9 million per year, not much more than laos, a country with only 1/15th the population.

im just amazed that ppl keep on including it cuz it's such an untapped market. not overrated in the least
Beats me, the Phils are so ignored. It's sad, really...maybe good that they're not as overrun as Thailand, but they deserve to be appreciated more. I think Manila is probably a bad ambassador for it's country, I have to say it's far less appealing than Bangkok or even Saigon. In some ways it's kind of like an Indian city with the poverty.
 
Old 10-29-2012, 10:51 PM
 
4,439 posts, read 6,946,702 times
Reputation: 2261
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
Beats me, the Phils are so ignored. It's sad, really...maybe good that they're not as overrun as Thailand, but they deserve to be appreciated more. I think Manila is probably a bad ambassador for it's country, I have to say it's far less appealing than Bangkok or even Saigon. In some ways it's kind of like an Indian city with the poverty.
Well since the Phillipines is more ignored in the South East Asian region it would classify as underrated. I not been there but there are some areas that are very impressive:






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