As I stood at the immigration queue at Delhi airport, just two days after I had departed Shanghai, I was mindful that I had just gone from one mega city to another, two giants that are leading what experts are calling the Asia Decade, or maybe the next two Decades.

In terms of population, both are pretty much on par â€" Shanghai’s 24.15m to Delhi’s 18.98m. In other terms, you could say they are as different as night and day â€" but there are similarities.

One, both countries have still some way to go towards opening their doors wide to inbound tourism, although visas have become slightly easier to obtain.

An alley in Delhi. Picture: Chiu Lai Har

Of the two, India’s the more improved â€" these days, you can get an e-visa pretty easily and there are separate e-visa counters at immigration to facilitate entry. The ruling though that you can’t enter again as a tourist within three months is slightly ridiculous â€" India’s a big country and deserves to be visited by tourists more frequently.

The bicycle is now a museum piece in this M50 gallery in Shanghai.

The process of getting a Chinese visa requires much paperwork, and physical surrendering of your passport, which can be a nuisance if you’re a frequent traveller, but once you get the paperwork done, you’re pretty much set.

Two, you see firsthand the rapid pace of development in both cities â€" more buildings, more cars, more pollution â€" and you feel the boundless energy of a new generation aspiring to better themselves, yet with both anchored in deep, rich and ancient cultures.

And so in both you feel the sense that anything is possible and yet some things are just immovable.

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