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Asia's most sinful cities

The best cities in Asia for indulging the devil on your shoulder

Seven deadly sins -- seven lively Asian cities. We all stray off the path of righteousness from time to time.

So if you're going to end up in hell due to a temptation to eat more than your fair share of stinky tofu, take a detour to Taipei first. Or if pride's your vice, take a turn toward Manila.

Click through the pages to see how these Asian cities take a sin and turn it into a raison d'être. 

1. Gluttony: Taipei, Taiwan

 Cheap eats, everywhere, day or night. 

Taipei sports 18 streets dedicated to nothing other than food. Where you might usually expect a bus shelter, instead you'll find a barbecue. Sidewalks become snack stalls. The pungent smell of stinky tofu fills the air. 

Night markets in Taipei have become famous for their snack selections, or xiaochi, literally meaning "small eats." 

The dishes may be little, but so are the prices, running around US$1-2 dollars. A fat gut never came so easily

2. Sloth: Seoul, South Korea

When South Koreans are not racking up overtime, they're collecting bandwidth fees. 

Seoul’s Internet has been honed, sculpted, streamlined and sped up to such a degree that no one really needs to move, at all, ever, except maybe when the orc hordes descend in "World of Warcraft" and some rapid double-clicking is required.

South Korea has been ranked the 15th laziest country in the world (and the first in Asia) by The Daily Beast. And there's every reason to assume they'll get even lazier. 

A recently proposed government policy seeks to advance digital technology in the capital, partly influenced by demand for online gaming and streaming video, and will take Internet speeds to 1,000 Mbps by 2012. 

So if some of the 39 million connected South Koreans wanted to emulate their favourite national soccer heroes, they may as well just do it via "FIFA Manager."

3. Pride: Manila, Philippines

Much is made about the loveliness of the Filipino female. But you wouldn't know it by talking to the Filipino men -- they're too busy gazing lustfully into the mirror.

According to a study from Synovate, Filipino men are the most narcissistic in Asia. A whopping 48 percent consider themselves sexually attractive.

And if the ladies reading this think the guys' encounters with the brow tweazers are for your benefit, sorry -- nine out of 10 Filipino men polled said they liked to look good for themselves, not anyone else.  

By way of comparison, just 25 percent of men in Singapore considered themselves sexually attractive, 17 percent in China and Taiwan and a measly 12 percent of Hong Kong guys think the same. 

4. Greed: Shenzhen, Chian

The financial crisis is for suckers.

When everyone else was tightening the belts, Shenzhen carried on regardless, pumping out billions of dollars worth of high-tech products.

Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with a provincial GDP of US$42 billion -- that's more than some countries such as Guatemala and Lebanon, and four times more than Iceland. 

Meanwhile, China's millionaires keep millionairing -- it won't be long before there are 1 million U.S. dollar millionaires in the country, guided by Shenzhen's philosophy: if you can't make a million, make a billion.

5. Lust: Tokyo, Japan

 Japan's sex industry is worth an estimated ¥2.5 trillion (US$30 billion), second only to the country's automobile industry. Is there any competition? 

According to “Pink Box” author Joan Sinclair, “Japan offers absolutely everything imaginable.” 

From gratuitous puke porn (and worse) to the barely titillating maid cafes, Tokyo is like a dirty old man in a teenager's body. But one who celebrates his lewd desires with the gusto of an exhibitionist poodle on heat.

Head here to indulge your fetishes or simply to have yourself bathed by a pretty young thing in a uniform

6. Envy: New Delhi, India

 More Indians emigrated in 2010 than any other nationality in the world except for Mexicans, according to the World Bank's Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011. 

Some 11.4 million Indians headed elsewhere to find a better life, drawn by the lure of things done properly. 

India, and its capital New Delhi, has the world's worst case of grass-is-greener syndrome.

7. Wrath: Pyongyang, North Korea

 Pugnacious, belligerent, quarrelsome ... the North Korean capital is the moody adolescent of the continent. But unlike most spotty delinquents who express their angry insecurities by piercing body parts or coloring their hair, this one sinks ships and shells islands. 

North Korea's national sport is Taekwondo. If there's a food shortage, the military get served first. Propaganda films talk of the "invincible power" of the North Korean army and posters in the capital state, "The way to peace is on the point of a bayonet."

Its army comprises nearly 1 million troops, out of a nation of 24 million. 

Still, the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il does claim to have made the world's best ever golf score -- an astonishing 38 under par on a regulation 18-hole course incuding five holes-in-one. And that on his first ever attempt, too.

Perhaps he's not so bad. 

Read more: Asia's most sinful cities | CNNGo.com #1 http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/asias-most-sinful-cities-174006?page=0,6#ixzz1MDSe3ZmP

【菁英站前世界新聞】CNN公開亞洲7原罪 台北遍地美味犯『暴食』 

 CNN的旅遊網站最近評台北為貪吃之都，大陸深圳則被形容為代表「貪婪」（Greed）的城市。

    　CNN的旅遊網站最近以聖經中的七種原罪，一一點名亞洲的7個城市，文章中指出，台北有18條小吃街，空氣中還充滿臭豆腐的味道，以「暴食罪」（Gluttony）來形容台灣。不過這種西方宗教意識形態的批評，讓台北市民相當不服氣。民眾多半認為台北應是美食天堂，而非貪吃之都。

    　台灣夜市美食國際聞名，台灣一直被認為是美食的天堂，CNN最新旅遊報導卻用「暴食罪」來形容台灣，說太多便宜美食會引誘人吃不停，不少夜市攤商聽了，認為報導太誇張，扭曲台灣文化，連外國友人也覺得用「暴食」（Gluttony）太負面。

    　不過，觀光局卻請大家不要想太多，反倒認為「暴食罪」的說法，其實是趣味行銷，對台灣絕對加分。

    　報導除了將台北列為貪吃之都外，南韓首爾因網路遊戲產業太發達被列為懶惰（Sloth）之都，日本東京是因情色產業興盛被列為慾望（Lust）之都，和台北的貪吃之都相比，這些城市的居民恐怕更加無法接受。

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