Thoughts on China and Japan

I’m back.  I will resume normal blogging tomorrow, but I thought I would reflect on my trip for everyone’s benefit while it’s still fresh in my mind:

  1.  The Japanese are quiet and obsessively polite.  The Chinese are much more boisterous and have no trouble telling you what they think.
  2.  It is actually easier to find fluent English speakers in China than in Japan.
  3.  There is a vending machine about every 100 feet in Japan.
  4.  American ATM cards reputedly only work in 7-11s in Japan.  Fortunately, they’re everywhere.  On the other hand,  using American credit cards can be an adventure in China.
  5.  It’s easier to find a vending machine than a trash can in Japan.  You are apparently expected to carry your trash with you, which is ridiculous.
  6.  Chinese taxis are dirt cheap, but you get what you pay for.  Japanese taxis aren’t, and again, you get what you pay for.
  7.  Both Chinese and Japanese bullet trains are excellent.
  8.  Chinese people in urban areas typically live in cookie-cutter high rises that look like dominoes from the air.  Japanese people in most areas live in single-family homes on tiny lots with no lawn.  I have no idea how they handle surface water management, given the amount of impervious surfaces.
  9.  Green space in Japan outside of the mountains typically consists of tiny rice farms near the railroad tracks.
  10.  As you would expect, the Chinese have far better ancient history museums.  The Japanese, on the other hand, do a much better job of juxtaposing glass and steel buildings with landscaping.  Their modern buildings are absolutely gorgeous. We could learn a lot from them.
  11.  Both Chinese and Japanese businesses are, by American standards, grossly overstaffed.  In China, this manifests itself in lots of people in uniforms looking bored and doing nothing in particular.  In Japan, the excess workers are there to provide a very high level of service.
  12.  The beef in Japan is excellent.
  13.  You can’t read the NYT in China, and a CNN story on a Chinese dissident resulted in a black TV screen for several minutes.  Otherwise, you don’t really feel the government at all.
  14.  Chinese people will occasionally stare at you.  The Japanese don’t.
  15.  I’m a giant in Japan, but not in China.
  16.  Both countries have high tech toilets.  Simple American toilets are better.