Chinese people like kimchi and soap operas most among Korean exports, a recent survey shows. Kimchi is what comes to mind first when they think of Korea, with 27. 9 percent, followed by pop stars (24 percent).

Asked the same question about China, the biggest proportion of Koreans named made-in-China products with 27.2 percent and the Forbidden City with 19.5 percent.

Both Koreans and Chinese like each other's films.

The survey was conducted by Hanyang University's Institute for East Asian Studies for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Culture and Information Service as part of a project to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Beijing in 2012 and to formulate strategies for bilateral cultural exchanges.

The participants were 313 Koreans and 616 Chinese, plus 30 Korean and 50 Chinese art and culture experts.

Tourism topped the list in both countries as the reason people want to visit the other. The largest proportion, or 36.4 percent, of Chinese respondents want to watch Korean video art.

Some 62.3 percent of both Koreans and Chinese complained about lack of information as the biggest hurdle to enjoying performances or exhibitions in the other country. Arts and culture experts gave top priority to joint research and seminars in bilateral exchanges.

Asked for their view of their own country, more Chinese than Koreans were satisfied with and proud of the cultural environment in their country. The researchers speculate that this means the Chinese could respond more sensitively than Koreans when their country's culture is criticized by the other.