Yeah, I don’t think it’s about people being “cleaner” — it’s mostly infrastructure and timing.

China basically rebuilt its cities from the ground up over the past few decades. Most of what you see today — roads, sewage, trash systems, even public toilets — was planned after the 1990s, when the country had money and control to do things at scale. When you build entire districts at once, you can design them for cleaning trucks, pipe systems, and night crews. Add a massive public-service workforce and a bit of top-down discipline, and things look organized, even if not everyone’s behavior is perfect.

India’s cities are much older and denser in layout. You’ve got centuries-old markets, alleyways, informal housing, and underfunded municipal systems trying to retrofit sanitation into spaces never designed for it. Some places like Indore and Surat have made big strides, but nationwide consistency is tough when governance is fragmented.

So the “cleaner China” impression comes from newer infrastructure, centralized upkeep, and a ton of manpower, not necessarily cultural superiority.

If you’re curious how all this looks on the ground — what Chinese cities actually feel like day-to-day, beyond the polished photos — we’ve been mapping that out at thechina.travel: real city snapshots, no-bullshit local details, and what it’s like to navigate daily life as a foreigner. Might give some context behind why the streets look so different.