Did you Know!

Did you know...

1. Fortune Cookies weren't invented in China.  It was actually invented in California, as to who and when it was invented that seems to be debatable.  

2. Number 8 and 9 are considered lucky numbers in China. 

- A favorite one is 8.  In Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) sounds like "Fa", means wealth and prosperity.  And because what it sounds like, is a very popular number to purchase for cellphone, anniversary dates, and even license plates number as it protects the driver.  For example the 2008 Beijing Olympic Ceremony was chosen on the date October 8, 2008 (8/8/2008) for that example purpose, and on that year lots of woman either got married or had their kid.  

-  9 in Mandarin sounds like "Forever", a very good number for longevity of a person or a event or an item.  A overall positive number.

3. Number 4 is unlucky in China.  The number 4 in Chinese sounds like "death".  Since death bring sadness this number is avoided at all times in phone numbers, and especially building number or car license plate numbers.  

4. The most common Chinese last name is Li（李),  then Wang（王）, then Zhang (张).   Mine is Ji(纪), and I can tell you it's equivalent to having an American first name Marlisa, not very common.  

5. Fashion is always a year and a half ahead of America in China.  I noticed every time I purchased clothing/jewelry/shoes when I am in China, that fashion doesn't become the fashion in America till a year or two afterward.  That's because clothing mostly are made in China, the fashion that is in this year is actually already out last year in China.  And that also depends on which state you are in America, states that are closer to the port where the shipments gets shipped in, such as California gets their new fashion a few months earlier than states such as Illinois. 

6. Today in China many Americanized fast food restaurants such as KFC, McDonald, and Pizza Hut cost more than a typical Chinese meal, and are considered a special treat for the family.  A medium sized cheese pizza from Pizza Hut would cost at least 100 yuan, which after conversion would be about $15.  Because the introduction of fast food into the Chinese diet, a lot of kids(the typical targeted audience at these fast food places) are over weight.  

7. Major cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Tianjin, etc.  has both christian and catholic churches for hundreds of foreigners that decide to make China their home.  These churches have different masses for English speaking and Chinese speaking attendees.  To accommodate families that have children, there is also a number of foreign schools for English speaking kids.