China VS Japan

Razlike - Kina i Japan

One of the benefits for living in China is definitely a chance to explore a part of the world that once seemed very far. I finally had the chance do check off one of the things from my “bucket list”, I went to Japan.

These two countries have a lot in common but still many differences. I will share with you what were the most obvious differences that I’ve noticed.

Jedna od prednosti života u Kini je prilika da se istraži deo sveta koji se nekada činio vrlo daleko. Napokon imam mogućnost da precrtam jednu od stvari sa svoje "Bucket liste", otputovala sam u Japan.

Ove dve zemlje imaju mnogo toga zajedničkog, ali takođe postoje mnoge razlike. Podeliću sa vama ono što su najočiglednije razlike koje sam ja uočila.

SOUNDS

In China everything is loud, people are speaking loudly, supermarkets are usually playing audio advertisements loudly, everyone is watching TV shows or playing games on the phone.

Japan is totally opposite of that, sometimes it even looked impossible how many people at one place can make such a little noise.

U Kini je sve glasno, ljudi govore glasno, supermarketi uglavnom glasno reprodukuju audio reklame, svi gledaju TV emisije ili se igraju igrice glasno na telefonu.

Japan je potpuno suprotan, ponekad je čak izgledalo nemoguće koliko ljudi na jednom mestu može napraviti tako malo buke.

PAYING

In China, there is a perfect system for paying on the popular apps WeChat or AliPay. You only need your phone. No cards, no cash. That definitely spoiled me. In Japan there are subway cards that you can top up and use in some convenience stores but I still find Chinese way of paying much more convenient.

U Kini postoji savršen sistem za plaćanje popularnim aplikacija WeChat ili AliPay. Potreban vam je samo vaš telefon. Nema karatica, niti neša. To me je definitivno razmazilo. U Japanu postoje kartice za metro koje možete dopuniti i koristiti u nekim manjim radnjama, ali svakako smatram da je kineski način plaćanja mnogo praktičniji.

TRAFFIC AND DRIVING

When it comes to subway I think both counties are well organized, it’s easy to find your way and the subways are only crowded in rush hours. When it comes to driving, it was really refreshing to spend some time in Japan. Everyone is respecting the traffic rules which makes it easier to function. In China it can be difficult to cross the road even if it’s green light for you.

Kada je u pitanju metro, mislim da su obe države dobro organizovane, lako je pronaći put a gužve su samo u špici. Kada je reč o vožnji, bilo je zaista osvežavajuće provesti neko vrieme u Japanu. Svi poštuju saobraćajna pravila koja olakšavaju funkcionisanje. U Kini može biti teško preći put čak i ako je zeleno svetlo za vas.

PEOPLE

From the first second that I landed and needed to find my way to the accommodation I was amazed how helpful and polite everyone in Japan is. That stayed my impression the whole trip. Even without asking them, if I stop for a moment to look at the map, people would stop and ask if I need some help.
In China, probably because there is way less people who can speak English, they say it is stressful for them to speak to foreigners. That’s way, very often, if you ask someone for help the will just replay with “No” or “we don’t have it” if you are in the store.

Od prve sekunde kada sam sletela i morala pronaći put do smeštaja bila sam oduševljena koliko su svi ljudi u Japanu ljubazni. To je ostao moj utisak do kraja putovanja. Bez pitanja, ako na trenutak zastanem da pogledam mapu, ljudi bi stali i pitati da li mi je potrebna pomoć.

U Kini, verovatno zato što ima mnogo manje ljudi koji govore engleski, kažu da je stresno da razgovaraju sa strancima. Zbog toga, vrlo često, ako nekoga zamolite za pomoć, često će vam odgovoritii sa „Ne“ ili „nemamo“.

PARKS

After walking for hours in a big city, it is nice to sit on a bench in the park. That is, in my opinion, way easier in China. There are a lot of small parks, places to sit and garbage bins.

Japan is unbelievably clean, the streets are spotless, and they separate plastic from other garbage. The only down side is that it’s difficult to find a place to throw trash so you will probably end up with a bag with trash for few hours while exploring the cities.

Nakon nekoliko sati hodanja u velikom gradu, lepo je sesti na klupi u parku. To je, po mom mišljenju, lakše u Kini. Ima mnogo malih parkova, mesta za sedenje i kanti za smeće.

Japan je neverovatno čist, ulice su besprekorne, odvajaju plastiku od drugog smeća. Jedina slaba strana je da je teško naći mesto za bacanje smeća, tako da ćete verovatno završiti sa kesom sa smećem po nekoliko sati dok istražujete grad.

FOOD

I live in Sichuan, part of China that is considered to have the most delicious food. I really do like Chinese food but it is nice to have more options. In Japan food is delicious but you also have more option and varieties, that we are used to have in Europe, so it’s easier to have a meal in Japan.

Živim u Sichuan-u, delu Kine, za koji se smatra da ima najukusniju hranu. Stvarno volim kinesku hranu, ali lepo je imati više opcija. U Japanu hrana je ukusna, ali imate i više opcija na koje smo navikli u Evropi, tako da je lakše hraniti se u Japanu.

INTERNET

Some of these things, like knowing English or different kinds of food probably come from the fact that Japan is more open to western counties. China is very strict about wanting to save their culture so they don’t even have the access to sites like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter etc. That is very annoying for all foreigners living in China.

Neke od ovih stvari, kao što su poznavanje engleskog ili različite vrste hrane, verovatno potiču od činjenice da je Japan otvoreniji zapadnim državama i kulturi. Kina je veoma stroga kada se radi o očuvavanju svoje kulture, tako da oni nemaju čak ni pristup sajtovima kao što su Google, Facebook, Instagram, Tveeter itd. Ovo je nešo što je veoma naporno strancima koji žive u Kini.

SPACE

China is all about big houses, cars and spacious places. Enormous shopping malls on every corner and comfortable apartments. When it comes to Japan, all the apartments that we’ve seen were very small, just enough to live but not move around. There is no space in between buildings, it is rare to see a house with a garden and parking spots look so small that I don’t even understand how people get out of the cars.

U Kini je svi žele velike kuće, automobile i prostrane prostore. Ogromni tržni centri na svakom uglu i udobni apartmani. Kada je reč o Japanu, svi stanovi koje sam videla bili su veoma mali, dovoljno da žive, ali ne i da se kreću u stanu. Između zgrada nema prostora, retko se vidi kuća sa baštom i parking mesta koja su toliko mala da ni ne razumem kako ljudi izađu iz automobila.

MONEY

And the last one, but I think everyone already know that one, Japan is way more expensive. Food, apartments, transportation, everything is cheaper in China.

I poslednja razlika, mada mislim da ovo već svi znaju, Japan je mnogo skuplji od Kine. Hrana, stanovi, trevoz, sve je jeftinije u Kini.