<h1>China and two Koreas share an entwined (sometimes unpleasant) history. Since the war in 1950s, North Korea continues to live in its ideological dreamland, while South Korea has become more westernised or Americanised. And we Chinese have adopted a new dream. In October 2017, I visited the south for the first time. Korean people have been trying very hard to forge a strong and unique national identidy, for which I fully appreciate and respect. But you don't need to look very hard to notice the deep Chinese influence and the half-baked American pie. </h1> <h3>▼Sejong the great, who created the Korean alphabet.</h3> <h3>▼But one of many consequences is that only a handful of scholars can now read and understand your own (or our shared) classics and historical records. </h3> <h3>The skyline of Seoul. You have to give credits to Korean people for renovating and preserving some old buildings which blend well with the skyscrapers. After all they are not mad enough to wipe out all the marks left by Chinese. Recently I heard there was an aborted campaign in Beijing to clean up its skyline. Stupid!</h3> <h3>▼Is this a Korean temple? Could be.</h3> <h3>▼I can tell this is indeed a Korean temple.....yes, these big pots are used to make Kimchi.</h3> <h3>Korean people love coffee. Me too. And their cafés have fancy names.</h3> <h3>▼A twosome place. Sounds very romantic.</h3> <h3>▼Take some willy, seriously?</h3> <h3>▼Cloud nine. Wow, their coffee must be very special.</h3> <h3>▼Angel in us. Well, the baristas there were nice but I didn't see the wings flapping.</h3> <h3>Imagine you go to a twosome place, take some willy, end up in cloud nine, and then find an angel in us. Funny, innit?</h3> <h3>▼Guess what this leads to?</h3> <h3>▼Yes, another café but with a twist. "Please come, queer." What a straight and proud statement!</h3> <h3>▼What kind of moms feed their children chicken and burger everyday?</h3> <h3>▼Is rabbit on the menu?</h3> <h3>My visit of South Korea was short and enjoyable. I have not been to North Korea yet so have no first person experience. Based upon the simple fact that the north is ruled by a single family and isolated from the international society, my vote will go down to the south easily. I trekked the Hallasan but didn't see the legendary white deer lake due to the very misty weather. Maybe next time.</h3>