What I'm getting at more than anything else boils down to 2 things - space and aesthetics.Terrence wrote:I have traveled all up and down China, from the north of Harbin to the south of Guangdong. I've been in cities big and small. I've stayed in common people's homes. The only places I haven't been is way out west. I don't see the big difference. The idea that Japan and Korea fall short of western standards is outrageous to me. Now I know America is a big place. I would say my last ten years there were spent in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I never encountered anything that could compete with places I stayed in Korea, with everything electronically controlled etc. (I won't even go into all the technology and cool gadgets, HD video screens everywhere etc. It's like a science fiction movie.) The biggest difference I see in China is no central air in some places and, yes, no elevator. (Luckily my building has one) I have yet to walk into a place as pitiful as my $1000 USD per month L.A. apartment. Maybe New York has stuff that blows the doors of Korea, Japan or China, but no place I have lived had it. They only recently got 20 Mbps/sec in L.A.Rock wrote: 3. You make China out to be a country as clean and developed as Japan or Korea (which still fall short by many measures of most western European and North American countries IMO). Perhaps its like that in Shanghai or even Beijing now. But personally, I reckon much of it is still quite backward in some ways at least. Just a few years ago, I found Beijing to be quite dirty and extremely dusty, especially in the hutongs. And the second and third tier cities were full of ugly apartment blocks with filthy stairways, no elevators, and no big picture planning (each unit was designed, fitted out, or expanded at the whim of the owners), just random disorder. I hated the food too. Most restaurants couldn't get western food right and Chinese places were generally highly inferior to counterparts in Taiwan. One of the most popular Sichuan dishes with westerners (kung pao chicken) was invariably over 80% bones in most of the restaurants I tried out in Chengdu and Chongqing. China has major air pollution in larger cities and poor quality consumables. As a developing country (which is what it still is and will continue to be for some time), quality of life often gets compromised.
Population densities in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are 10-20x higher than the US. China is nearly 5x as high. So in the States, you can easily find lots of space, fresh air, open roads. In newer cities and developments which can easily be found in Vegas and the far burbs of LA, houses and communities are modern, well planned and beautifully landscaped. They are also affordable to average Joes. Similar developments might be available in some select parts of the Asian countries mentioned. But you need to be a multi millionaire to buy one or have a huge income to afford the rent. And the expensive houses I've seen are still not as nice as many of the regular modern ones in the States. In NE Asia, you generally have to live with a much higher degree of noise pollution whether comparing major city to major city or town to town. Ditto for dirt. And a note about toilets - they are often filthy and stink to high heaven in China or at least the used to be the case. Has that changed so fast?
As for aesthetics, I just don't think the majority of structures in NE Asia have much appeal to the eye. There are impressive historic sights, decent skylines in Shanghai and HK, and a few interesting landmarks. But for the most part, residential and commercial buildings are designed pragmatically. I believe much of Europe blows NE Asia away in this regard. The US is generally better as well IMO but of course there are certain limited areas of the States which are glaring exceptions.
You talked about implementation of technology in buildings and its true that in some ways, the US is behind Japan and/or S. Korea. You've got lots of innovations which focus on automation, conserving precious space, and providing ultra modern convenience, and comfort, especially in Japan. Consider their smart toilets for example. Also, when you stroll down the street in Tokyo, talking vending machines and gadgets assault your senses. But if you stay in a modern luxury condo in the States or the right 5 star hotel chain, I don't think you would be too be disappointed by lack of technological innovations and conveniences. In some ways, they would beat their NE Asian equivalents too in terms of overall living quality and service standards.
