While many acquaintances in China are much more interested in Western ideas, he still thinks a lot about the country and its culture.

CNN: THE EYE OF A BANNER MAN

But few places in the world embraced Art Deco with the fervor of Shanghai, a city obsessed with fashion and fixated on being up-to-date -- in part because of the view, prevalent in China at the time, that only by modernizing could the country regain its strength and stand up to Western imperialism and a militant Japan.

WSJ: Touring Asia's Art Deco Gems in Shanghai and Napier, New Zealand