Ni Hao, Kai-lan started as a few shorts and evolved into TV's first preschool series to explore Chinese language and culture. All images © Nick Jr.

Ni Hao, Kai-lan ("Hello, Kai-lan") is Nick Jr.'s latest preschool series, and the first on TV to explore Chinese culture and language. Teaching Mandarin to 3- to 5-year-old viewers might seem a fool's errand, but that is way down on the list of the show's actual intentions. With a week's worth of new episodes premiering on March 24, show creator Karen Chau and Teri Weiss, Nickelodeon's senior VP of Preschool TV Production & Development, recently discussed young Kai-lan's adventures and her role in fostering cross-cultural understanding…

Karen Chau: Ni Hao started out as a handful of shorts, but my original, original, original conception for them were as children's book illustrations. They were actually my first drawings in [Adobe] Illustrator.

I posted them on a book illustrations website. My character's name was Xiao Xiao Pong, which means "Little Little Fatty" -- it's a cultural thing, a term of endearment -- not an insult. [Ni Hao Executive Producer] Mary Harrington saw them, I met Mary and it went from there. I got to do three shorts for My World Stories [the Nick Jr. interstitial series exploring foreign cultures] called Downward Doghouse -- you know, like "Downward Dog" in yoga?

Joe Strike: How did it make the jump to series?

Teri Weiss: There was something really unique about the character. From a purely visual point of view, she really pops off the screen with her big, big eyes and the exuberance she had in her stories. Every time it came on the air our viewers couldn't get enough of it.

The background designs Karen created were really so unique and beautiful. It was really an opportunity to explore culture and experiences of a Chinese-American and use Karen's personal experience as a kind of platform for the idea of these two cultures coming together.

We were trying to figure [things] out from a curriculum standpoint -- obviously we were dealing with the richness of the Mandarin language, and the incredible things to explore in Chinese culture.

JS: There seems to be one word of Chinese per episode. Are you really planning to teach Chinese to preschoolers a word at a time?

KC: I think it's more of an introduction to the language. From the cultural standpoint, it's a playful perspective from Kai-lan's view of what Chinese-American culture is.

When I was growing up, it was truly bicultural, but it was a clashing of cultures. At home it was a very traditional Chinese household, versus going to school and being an American. I really wanted Kai-lan to be representative not just of the two cultures coming together, but a true hybrid celebrating both.

Ni Hao's creator Karen Chau wanted Kai-lan to be a true hybrid celebrating both Chinese and American cultures.

TW: In terms of the emotional component, I think the idea of integrating an emotional-intelligence curriculum stems from what Karen was talking about: the juxtaposition of expectations of how to behave in her conservative home versus how to behave as a preschooler or an elementary school kid.

We're not really born socialized. Kids have to learn aspects of integrating yourself. The idea of identifying emotions, your friends' emotions, then taking it to the next step of how to react to that, and then graduating to how do you help a friend solve a problem. [It's] an emotional moment, whether it's anger, jealousy, frustration or the excitement of not being able to contain yourself, or looking before you leap, thinking about one thing and not about the group. All of those social dynamics are really challenging for a preschooler.

JS: I noticed Rintoo the tiger seems to have a hard time dealing with things.

TW: What's really groundbreaking about Kai-lan is I don't think there are many shows where you see a tantrum. That is really interesting for kids -- to see all life onscreen. Kids really recognize it; they know what that is. All of a sudden here's Kai-lan trying to figure out how to make him feel better and help him understand how [his behavior] impacts everybody else.

It's a wonderful tool for kids. There's an excitement and playfulness about this show that's undeniable -- but there's also this substantive element.

KC: Tolee [Kai-lan's koala friend] has an identity crisis -- she wants to be a panda. It came from me. I guess I was a little bit peculiar when I was little: I would draw paws on my hands because I really wanted to be a bear. I thought being a bear would be the coolest thing.