H is for Hai Bao

Hai Bao is the mascot for 2010. At the moment,since the Shanghai is in total preparation mode for next year's expo ( I left for two weeks, and in that time, our entire street was repaved and had its sidewalks replaced), you can find the gigantic plastic version of him all over town. His name means the treasure of the sea and is apparently typical lucky name in Chinese tradition. Although the official site did not say so, I remember a television interview with the artist sometime last year in which he said that the original shape of the mascot comes from the Chinese character for people (ren).