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I lived and worked in China and have visited a very rich friend in India for a few weeks prior the pandemic.

I always thought you can compare China and India. After that trip I must say: My assumption was just so wrong.

China is cleaner, way more modern, more reliable and way more industrialised than India. I made the mistake to go out in Old Delhi after 9 PM and I was fearing for my life. People just lie down on the road and slept away, dogs followed me, people followed me. People were making open fires on the road, others were defacating. The air was terribly poluted, it is not recommended to use tap water for brushing teeth.

And yet, I liked the people there very much. It was great to be able to communicate in English, to speak to the normal taxi and uber drivers and to learn about their life.

Again, the biggest takeaway for me was: China and India are separated by 30-40 years of Chinese high-speed development, I would assume.

[rocknor]

20 years is more like it. Both countries were at a similar place until the late 90s / early 2000s.

https://qz.com/india/404758/once-near-equals-china-and-india...