Time Zone: China is 15 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST).


NICKNAMES

Shanghai is also known as the "Pearl of the Orient."

"Shanghai" literally means "Upon the Sea."
​
Shanghai has also been referred to as the "Paris of the East."
​POPULATION
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, China has the largest population in the world with almost 1.4 billion people.

Shanghai is the most populous city in the world with over 24 million people.
SIZE
Shanghai (2,447 miles) is almost 5 times bigger than Los Angeles (502 miles - about 4 million people).

Shanghai (2,447 miles) is almost 8 times bigger than New York City (301 miles - about 8.6 million people.)
Picture
CURRENCY
Nicknames: Yuan renminbi, yuan, renminbi, jiao, fen

Abbreviations = CNY, RMB, CNH, CN¥, ¥

​Rate: 1 USD - about 7 CNY
PAYMENT APPS: WeChat & Alipay
WeChat is a free messaging and calling app that is used to communicate and to pay while in China.

Very few vendors accept credit cards.

Alipay is another app that can be used to pay digitally in China.
NATIONAL FRUIT: Kiwi
NATIONAL ANIMAL: Panda
NATIONAL FLAG
NATIONAL FLOWER: Peony
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
FAVORITE TRAVEL ATTRACTIONS
The Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world. It is 2,073 feet high. The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa, which is 2,717 feet high.
The Bund
Shanghai Skyline at Night
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is 1,435 feet tall, and is the fifth tallest building in the world. The building was completed in 1994.
The Yu Garden is more than 400 years old.
 The Jade Buddha Temple was built in 1882. A monk had brought a white jade Buddha from Burma that was almost 6 feet tall to be installed here. No photographs of the Jade Buddha are allowed. Several Buddha statues adorn the temple.
Reclining Buddha statue in the Jade Buddha Temple
STANDARD LANGUAGE: Mandarin
The standard language in China and Taiwan is Mandarin. There are many different dialects, but the majority of people can speak Mandarin.

Because Chinese is a tonal language that also uses different characters, it is a challenging language for Americans to learn. I have learned a great deal of Mandarin from the outstanding language tools and app created by Fluenz.