Did you know ... Shanghai

“China is a land of accomplishment, contradiction and inconsistency. It is a civilization founded on traditional values and ethics that have endured over 5,000 years of imperial order and disorder, Western colonialism and intervention, internal rebellion and civil war,”  James Godfrey, a former director of Chinese art at auction house Sotheby’s and long-time China resident, said in a lecture.

“The value system in China includes virtue, family, education, ritual and superstition and respect for elders. Chinese don’t ask, ‘Why?’  They accept things as they are.  All aspects of life are based on harmony and social order,” Godfrey told us.

Some startling facts about the world's most populous country:

1. One in five people on this planet live in China. That's 1.34 billion people.
2. Half a billion Chinese are under the age of 30.
3. China is the largest holder of U.S. debt.
4. China exports three times as much to the United States than we do to China.
5. Shanghai was one of the only ports in the world that accepted Jews without visas during the Holocaust.
6. Nine percent of all items sold in Wal-Mart are made in China.
7. The number 4 is an unlucky number because it sounds like the word for “death.” 
8. The number 8 is lucky.  That’s why the 2008 Olympics in Beijing were held on the eighth day of the eighth month, starting eight minutes after 8 o’clock.
9. Toilet paper and ice cream were invented in China.
10. The Chinese language has no articles, no tenses or conjugation, no adjectives, no phonetics, no alphabet and no words for “yes” or “no”.  The writing is based on pictures and concepts.
11. There are countless dialects in China and eight different cuisines.

Carp, or 鯉魚, are also highly regarded as symbols of good fortune.

More highlights from Shanghai:

• Facing the China Sea and Hangzhou Bay, the Port of Shanghai is China's main hub for foreign trade and serves the country's most developed and densely populated provinces, giving this deep-sea and river port critical economic importance.
• Chinese people decorate streets, rivers and marketplaces with colorful lanterns and extravagan scenes to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This year, the Year of the Snake, starts February 10.
• Because Buddha’s followers believe evil spirits can only navigate in a straight line, a zigzagging bridge leads visitors to the Yuyuan Garden, first built during the Ming Dynasty 400 years ago.
• Chinese gardens must have four elements: trees; shrubs and flowers; natural rocks from nearby lakes or mountains; water with fish for good luck and other living things and a building or two.
• The four-story Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, with 12,300 pieces in 21 categories, was built four years ago next to the People’s Park are in the center of town.
• Numerous statues of Buddha adorn the alters of various temples where believers leave fresh fruit and vegetables for the monks as they pray for good fortune.
• The Jade Buddha Temple houses the famous statue of Buddha, carved from one piece of white jade and is nine meters high. Monk Huigen brought it from Burma in 1882 and built the temple to house it. A happier-looking, reclining Buddha, also carved out of white jade occupies another room where donors of $10,000 or more each year are honored with plaques high up on the walls. 

Look for the offerings of muffins and oranges in the picture. They are consumed by the monks who live in the temple and pray three times a day.