Ｃｏｍｐａｒｉｓｏｎ，Ｃｏｎｔｒａｓｔ ａｎｄ Ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ Ｉｍｐｒｅｓｓｉｏｎｓ ｏｆ ａ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ｉｎ Ｉｎｄｉａ

Ivisited India at the invitation of India'sPhotographers' Association and theKarnataka state government as a mem-ber of a Chinese delegation composedof participants of the Pingyao InternationalPhotography Festival. It was December， andthe weather in Beijing was chilly， but imme-diately upon disembarking the plane at NewDelhi's Indira Gandhi International Airporta balmy blast of summer-like air greetedus. And so I noted the first of many ways inwhich India and China differ.

Flying on from New Delhi to Banga-lore， we had an opportunity to survey thegeography of the South Asian nation fromthe air. The terrain is generally level， withfew mountains or hills. In accommodating anational population of 1 billion， second onlyto China， India benefits from a greater shareof arable land.

The Indian people are typically very gra-cious. At each city， town and village we vis-ited， we were warmly received with flowersand smiles. The Pingyao International Pho-tography Festival (Asia) press conference inBangalore went off successfully， with greatemphasis placed on friendship and coopera-tion between China and India. Known as theSilicon Valley of India， Bangalore， the capi-tal of the state of Karnataka， also serves asthe center for the media and film industries.In covering the festival， the Indian press fo-cused on the cooperation between the neigh-boring nations. Newspapers， like the Timeso~ India and Hindustan Times， reported onthe press conference the following day. Ac-companied by large-format images， enrouteto visits， at the hotels and at newsstands， wesaw headlines such as \"A View of Chinathrough the Lens.\"

In Karnataka we visited the World Heri-tage site of Hampi， an ancient city stretch-ing for dozens of kilometers across the hills.The stone palace， temples， markets， residen-tial buildings and military battlements areformed in exotic shapes. Unlike the archi-tecture of ancient China， in Hampi there wasno city wall and all the buildings were wellventilated and spaced out. We assumed thismight be attributed to India's hot weather，with the vented structures able to better dis-sipate the heat of the sun. The ancient Indiansgenerally built with stone， while the Chineseused wood. We assumed this was due to theunsuitability of the tropical trees of India，like the coconut and sandalwood. In contrast，China's poplar， willow and pine woods arewell-suited for sturdy construction.

The Taj Mahal is India's iconic symboland a great source of pride for the people.It's well known that in 1631 the MughalEmperor Shah Jahan ordered the construc-tion of the mausoleum for his favorite wife，Mumtaz Mahal. Compared with the impe-rial mausoleums of China， which were builtunderground as an emperor's final restingplace， the grand Taj Mahal was erectedabove ground for the emperor's wife.

India is home to many nationalities，most of which speak varied languages andmaintain a particular culture. As a result，communications barriers remain and Indi-ans typically rely on English as the 'com-mon language.' India is the cradle of oneof the five ancient civilizations and boastsa splendid and long history. However， dueto the lack of a unified language and discon-tinuity in the evolution of the written word，historical records dating back more than athousand years are rare. In comparison， Chi-na's 5，000 years of history is well recordedin pictograms， from the earliest Oracle BoneScript to the later Regular Script. And so weappreciate Qin Shi Huang， the first emperorof China， for his decision to standardizeChinese characters.

India is also a place where various re-ligions coexist. We took note of temples，shrines and pious disciples at every placewe visited. Apart from the two major faiths，Hinduism and Islamism， India's religionsinclude Sikhism， Christianity， and Parsee-ism， among others. Although Buddhismoriginated in India， today only one percentof Indians follow the belief. While Bud-dhism lost its leading position in the landof its inception， in China the practice pros-pered. Today China is home to the greatestnumber of Buddhists in the world， and thisfact serves as an example of the historicalexchange between the two cultures.