- Do you think that physical attributes are more important to maintaining a successful relationship or do you think that friendship maintains a relationship?
Since you’re talking about maintaining, and you don’t give a time frame, I’d say looks are not worth a damn. Your significant other might be the hottest on the planet, but add 30 or 40 years to his age, and he might look like a rabid alien. Some people don’t age well, most men can’t keep their muscles (if any), women (specially the big-breasted ones) will have hanging breasts more like udders than the beautiful breasts of their young age. Both men and women will get wrinkly. Men will probably lose hair on the head. Women might get body hair after menopause.
Long-term scenario, looks are not worth a damn. If I cared so much about the looks, what would have I done after our daughter was born, when we discovered my wife had put on 20+ Kgs? (she still hasn’t shed then, and our daughter is 2 years and a half). I could also argue that I put on with lots and lots of crap, but well, I’m a patient one.
You can have a friendship relationship and another relationship based on physical attributes. How about that? 
physical. big tits or get lost!
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If my wife hadn’t been a woman that would have been a deal-breaker, though we might have stayed friends. Does that count?
Out of curiosity, why are you asking? If this is about a personal relationship issue, well, it’s hard to generalize about these things, but if you’re unhappy, then that’s significant.
Friendship counts more when it comes to longevity, but the looks probably get the whole thing started.
In my experience you get used to a super good-looking partner’s looks pretty quickly, while a not-so-good-looking partner starts to look better over time (if you don’t find out they’re a bad person in the interim).
It depends on what your relationship is for. If you’re in an unserious relationship than looks are more important but it probably won’t last long once boredom sets in. If you’re looking to accomplish something in being together then friendship would matter more though like Non said, looks will usually still start a relationship off these days.
A strong friendship is definitely the biggest factor in keeping a relationship going, but I think that physical attraction is also important in keeping the relationship alive and kicking. 
Who wants to sleep with a partner they are not physically attracted to? As Blaquesmith says, we do become less attractive with age (usually), but I think that it’s important to try and counteract that as much as possible to try and remain attractive to our partner.
I think physical is a part of becoming attracted in the beginning, but eventually there needs to be friendship, and it will be most important
A toned body with a heavy/dull/constricted mind is often much less desirable than an average body with a light/joyous mind. They walk differently, move differently, etc. Even then it depends on the person viewing, for example some people necessarily view any outward expression of joy as aloofness and naivety.
Though I found my gf very attractive from the beginning I wouldn’t jump into relationship if she were dumb as fook and we couldn’t carry a normal conversation. Sure, if we’re talking about a sex relationship than overall look is much more important because you’re not doing enough talk anyway, but long-term? I don’t really care THAT much about the way my SO looks. Sure, if she was ugly as hell I wouldn’t probably date her in the first place, but being already in the relationship the look is not important anymore.
Yes physical attributes are more important to maintaining a successful relationship. Friendship is the base for the relationship.
all of it
Does anybody else here feel that the family of the [potencial] partner here in Taiwan/China/Asia should be considered as well before jumping straight into a serious relationship, aside from looks and personality?
It’s my impression that here one has to deal quite a lot with them… And in mainland, I once had a girlfriend, and found myself four weeks after we first met sitting on a couch under the picture of Mao Zedong and getting an offer of her mother that we can ‘隨便 make the babies’ and they in mainland china will raise them and take care of them. What a romantic thought. And I guess that if you decide to stay with her in Taiwan it’s not uncommon to just meet and deal a lot with the family, from my impression way more than in Europe. My current girlfriend will take the bus to her home every two to four weeks, me on the other hand in Europe will see my parents maybe two or three times a year and that’s enough. Needless to say, if her relationship to her family is super-super-bad this can usually lead to a lot of tension in one’s own relationship to her (at least this was my experience in the past). Like she will seldom keep the tension and negativity just to herself.
And looks, mhmm, I think sexual attraction is not totally unimportant. If you never found her attractive, and the sex is no fun, than there’s no point of a relationship even though she might be a nice human being. On the other hand, of course, I think it happens quite frequently that the girl [as well as the man, no matter if in Asia or Europe] become lazy and ‘relaxed’ after a few years of relationship. So what once was a tweny-something-superhot-chick can turn into a 15kg-overweight-almost-mommy in 2 years without big suprise, pregnancy is not necessary for this transformation. I saw that happen with my friends, also in the typical asian chick + western guy constellation. But I think personality seldom changes like that, so in the end I would always put the character first and the looks second, but without any attraction or fun in bed it’s just not worth it, yes…
Of course, the family matters a lot over here in Asia.
Since you’re likely all alone out here, you’re marrying into the girl’s family, unlike the tradition of her marrying into the man’s family.
All of a sudden you’re having to drop everything you’re doing and run out to bumfuck nowhere county on weekends to help the parents do something. If you’re lucky the parents will raise your future kids by brainwashing them with their political views. Be prepared to take care of them when they’re old one day too. Scary thought, huh?
If she has a bad relationship with her parents, or her parents are messed up, then you should tread carefully and likely rule out anything serious. If you ever meet hipster, artsy, or club girls, just dig into their family life a bit and you’ll see why the girl is messed up (can go this way for guys too). Disliking their parents is a huge red flag, especially Asian/latina women that come from cultures with strong family ties.
Yep I totally agree. So getting to know her family is seriously a pretty reliable way to find out wether she is really a good potencial partner or not. Looks and moods can change, but family will pretty much stay. And I agree with the ‘bumfuck nowhere county on weekends to help them with something’. That’s how it is. But I have the impression that taiwanese families usually are more easy to deal with in this respect than the mainlanders. The gap is not thaaat big, it’s still big.
I believe it is a 50:50 proportion. Physical Attributes and friendship.
True that about China; it’s bound to be more intense there. XD