Not to push the cliché, but you really are comparing apples to oranges. I mean sure, both provide you a shave, both are vastly superior to a cartridge razor (in my opinion), and both lend themselves to wet shaving... but the experiences are vastly different. The learning curves are vastly different. Hence the commitment needed is night and day different. For me, even the pleasure derived is different.

Both are awesome tools. I found because of the amount of skill needed to manage a straight was so much higher than a DE, I became more enamored with my straights than I did about my DE's. But that's not to say I didn't love my DE's too.

I think it would be great were you to while in China, began using a DE. That'll allow you to learn how to create great lathers with your brush, and probably see you mapping your face (noting which way your beard grows) so you become accustomed to the reduction method (doing more than one pass when shaving) starting with a "with the grain pass."

That will give you a great foundation before starting with a straight when you get back stateside. That of course assumes you will want to try a straight after using the DE. There is allot to be said about shaving with a DE, and you might find that you don't wish to move on to a straight - but I hope you do .

Good luck!