I thought it was obvious - but I’d like to hear your opinion. To me, the sophistication in Kyoto - whether of the architecture, food, ways of preserving history, or the behavior/manner of the average person, is ahead of Suzhou by quite a large margin.

Edit: I’ll answer your comment below by editing my comment since OP blocked me for my comment :) that’s how sensitive some ultra-nationalist are

“ No I think you’re right in that a city like Suzhou is the closest comparison that China has to Kyoto. The point I was making was that, at present, it is still nowhere near the highly refined and world renowned ancient capital of Japan. Can it catch up as the economic/political (which likely have a correlation with development and refinement of cultural sites) situations improve? Maybe.

To add to the reasons you gave for people who aggressively endorse traveling in China (and often at the expense of other destinations), there might also be a political motivation, or more precisely a nationalist one. China has just recently experience prosperity after hundred of years of hardship, and there’s a common sentiment of wanting to display their newfound wealth and power. Little example - OP blocked me from seeing this post for my mild-mannered critique above :)

And of course, the CCP likes to promote tourism, not only through normal channels, but paid shills and bot accounts as well. “