Forget everything you thought you knew about cities. London, New York, Rome; that are all cities of the past, dwarfed by the new rising Mega cities of East Asia. No matter if you take the busy streets of Bangkok, the flashy lights of Macau, the hive like apartments of Seoul, the fast lane lifestyle of Hong Kong, the always-open-for-business shops of Taiwan or simply the monstrous size of Tokyo; nothing can really compare to it. Just spending one day in one of these metropolises make one realise that “Western” cultures and in particular the infrastructure of “Western” cities are falling years and sometimes even decades behind. It seems that East Asia justifiably deserves the label “developing region”, since here is actually still development happening, while Europe has fallen into a deep deep sleep of stagnation and status-quo. In order to understand my point of view I want to share my experience and my pictures, which I have gained especially during a one month East-Asian trip, where I visited Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Macau and Hong Kong. If you want to have a deeper insight into Tokyo please check out some of my older articles in particular the one about its Skyline.
Bangkok
It’s an chaotic city. With motorbikes, mopeds, scooters, cars and rickshaws driving like crazy down the street, you better run for your life if you want to cross the street. Beside of beautiful golden Temples (see more in my next article) the city architecture is mainly dominated by flat, fragile buildings. The few Skyscraper that exist are mainly luxury apartments or luxury hotel next to the river, which is another of the 
main transportation routes. Often are shady neighbourhoods right next to such high, modern buildings, which gives the city an interesting heterogeneous charm. Because of the lack of neon signs the city is not as shiny as its East Asian neighbours at night, however Bangkok is the best place to see some of the most stunning Sunsets.
Taipei
I have to admit: from all the places in East Asia I have been so far, I fall in love the most with Taipei. The whole infrastructure is very similar to Tokyo. Similar buildings, a similar Metro-system (but much smaller) and even similar shops and shopping centres. What impressed me the most however where the people (see more in my article about East-Asian people) and the price. Compared to Tokyo I get the same standard of living, sometimes even better for a much smaller 
price. Transportation, food and social activities are often more than half the price of Tokyo and furthermore you can find a perfect mix of Japanese and Chinese Culture here. Especially worth mentioning are the notorious long open night markets and the impressive Taipei 101 (it has apparently 101 floors) both symbols of the city.
Global Echos 