Korean Job Discussion Forums

swoodman · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Location: Reading, United Kingdom

Yeah - its def not trolling is it?
Its just disagreeing with you on the merits on one of the seven wonders of the world and the largest building construction ever attempted. I found it absolutely amazing, theres no where else where you can see an over 2000 year old wall snaking through a mountain range. What you're saying is akin to remarking that 'the pyramids are just a stone triangle in the desert no ever uses anymore, and the ice-cream I bought was rubbish'

Hotwire · Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Multiverse

diff strokes for diff folks.

JBomb · Joined: 16 Oct 2008

my opinion > your opinion

runthegauntlet · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Location: the southlands.

runthegauntlet · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Location: the southlands.

Hotwire · Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Multiverse

Okay I really have been to the Great Wall and I really did not feel awed at all and I all I felt was as I mentioed before 'I'm hinking a mountain the same and with same scenry as Korea, but I'm on a wall with some intermittant guards posts etc.

I'm sure you guys really did find it awe inspiring, I respect that but I just can't fathom it.

Could you explain what it was that you found so inspiring etc about it? Could you describe it for us please?

I don't want an arguemnt and we all have diffeent tastes, it's just that it honestly, truly boggles my mind is all. It is a wall on a mountain. That's all it is.

I'd put the Alhambra, The Palace of the Jade buddha, Wat Arat, Asakusa, Bulguksa way ahead of The Great Wall and they are not even in any 7 wonders list (Alhambra has been nominated.)

Seriously, what did I miss? Or how do I see things differently from you guys?

I'd honestly like to see it from your perspective, your way of seeing things, I find that interesting.

nukeday · Joined: 13 May 2010

bulguksa ahead of the great wall..and even asakusa...which is basically a secondary, very skippable sight in japan unless you've restricted yourself to tokyo..interesting. the thing i notice is you list these temples...and they might have a few unique sculptures in them, but i for one am starting to get the feeling that i've seen ALL east and southeast asian temples...not sure i want to see anymore.

i rather liked the parts where you could see it snaking across the mountains as far as your eye could see and as far as your feet could carry you (for that day anyway). it's one of a kind. nothing else like it.

i suppose there is something awe-inspiring about, well, scale.

runthegauntlet · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Location: the southlands.

The sheer scale of it is the most impressive part of it for me. That it stretches thousands of miles through some of the most inhospitable terrain that could be found and built a thousand years ago is amazing.

But I really like places like that in terrain where there is nothing else. Part of the reason Petra is my favorite place in the whole world. Carved straight out of cliff faces in the middle of a desert. It's unreal.

Plus, it's a site that you can 'interact' with. You can walk the wall (I walked 10km from Jinshaling to Simatai) and I love places where you can do things like that. Suspend disbelief and feel apart of the historical significance of it all. Loved Tikal because you can climb up the temples/pyramids imagining life a thousand years earlier. Didn't think Chichen Itza was all that impressive because I just had to look at it from afar. Same with Stonehenge.

Newer temples don't do anything for me. I thought Bulguksa was alright but I doubt I could distinguish it from any number of other temples in Korea or anywhere else.

As per your analogy, what is Bulguksa? It's a building on a mountain. It's just one small complex, built in a few years by a few hundred people on a few acres of land. Nothing too strenuous about that, though admittedly I've never built a temple....

I don't know. Hard to measure subjectivity.

Hotwire · Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Multiverse

I guess I'm more turned on by visual Aesthetics is all.

spicy · Joined: 25 Oct 2009 Location: Sinchon / Ewha / Hongdae

i thought Beijing was really cool, although my experience was probably pretty unique.

i went to visit a Taiwanese friend (fluent in Chinese) who was teaching in Shanghai but had always wanted to go to Beijing. that was a huge plus just in not having to worry about getting around.

i thought the great wall was awesome, in the purest sense of the word. we hopped on a bus that took us 3-4 hours outside of beijing, to a really un-touristy spot and hiked ~15km of mostly unrestored wall. the scenery was unbelievable, and it stretched on for a scale that's just difficult to fathom. the resources that must've been spent to create it thousands of years ago must've been absurd.

we were there for new years, though, so we also got to party it up in style at what was rumored to be the biggest part in Beijing on new years eve.

we stayed in a nice little hotel place in the hutong district, and walked around. also went to the forbidden city (i didn't like it too much, but that might've been because it was the coldest day in Beijing in the past 50 years and they'd just gotten record snowfall (30+cm) and it was windy as hell. it would probably be pretty cool in the summer without having to worry about fingers freezing off.

i have been to tokyo, but it doesn't really count, as it was a 15hr layover on my way back to the States and included in the ticket was a night at a hotel owned by the airline. i took a 5min bus trip outside the airport and hung around the hotel all night, then went back and flew to the US.

i can't recommend either place above the other because my experiences are fairly unique, but i would say that i really enjoyed going to Beijing.

travel zen · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Location: Good old Toronto, Canada

Beijing is cheaper, but if i went there again, i wouldn't stay in the city. China is a wild place where you can have just about anything. Beijing thogh, is the capital and the Big Bosses want it policed 24/7. It's not the REAL China as it is now. Go to Shenzhen or Guangzhao or that city close tor the Vietnamese border...then you will see the real China and what is has to offer. Much more interesting than a police state city.

bluethree · Joined: 20 May 2009

I haven't been to Beijing but Tokyo is definitely my favorite city that I've visited so far...much better than Seoul (though I still like Seoul a lot). If finances are an issue then even a short trip is worthwhile, but of course you'll probably want to stay at least a week to get the most out of it.

shostahoosier · Joined: 14 Apr 2009

I liked Beijing a lot.

It has a lot of (interesting) historical places that you can go to with out getting overwhelmed by seeing temples all day. Just the scale of the historical sites there (and the opulence) are enough to awe to most people and the city isnt as filthy as people make it out to be (it IS a city afterall).

It also has a nightlife, though not as glamorous a one as Shanghai.

I personally prefer Beijing to Hong Kong (though I love Hong Kong and will go again), but I think its in part to me befriending a Chinese bouncer in Beijing almost immediately and him showing me some fun sides of the city that I dont think China wants people to know about.

I would go to Tokyo if you want to see all of the crazy stuff you've heard about...and Beijing if you want to see all of the breathtaking places that you've studied about.