First Impression on Russia
Before visiting Asia or China, in many Europeans or Americans’ mind, China is supposed to be a poor country and falling behind the times. Their impressions on China still stay in Mao Tse-tung Period. My impression on Russia is similar. Soviet Period has been past for decades, the economy in Russia is still stuck. So the city should be very old fashioned. I find some of my colleagues also think so after I share my experience with them when I’m back. Definitely, we are all incorrect. I’ve ever read a few people’s traveling blog mentioning Moscow and St Petersburg are 15-20 years behind Beijing and Shanghai. But this sounds ridiculous to me. How they judge the prosperity of the cities depends on how many skyscrapers there are. But I prefer the history and culture in the cities.
俄罗斯の初印象
如同平时与亚洲国家毫无交集的欧洲人在涉足之前对中国的印象仍然停留在古代或者毛泽东时代一般，初来莫斯科之前，我脑海中的莫斯科应该是个陈旧落后的城市，因为苏联的衰落以及俄罗斯经济的不景气，前苏联鼎盛辉煌的时期一去不复返，经过近几十年的洗礼，这座城市的整体水平应该也就同曼谷差不多。回来之后与同事分享，发现他们也与我去之前的想法一样。当然，事实证明我们都错了。可笑的是，我看见一些人在关于俄罗斯旅行的日志中分享道，莫斯科和圣彼得堡，至少落后北京和上海十五至二十年，而我却并不苟同，因为他们评判一座城市发达与否的标准是高楼大厦的数量。
