here is my take on the "Avatar World"... its kinda long but worth reading I think, so I copied it from the original thread I placed it in Jeong Jeong Speculation

One thing I would like to speculate about Jeong Jeong, does anybody else notice he is drawn to have more "japanese" look to him than any other character. I guess this is an interest to me since I am japanese. I'm notice other small little parallels that seem to point to the "fire nation" being symbolic of Japan.

Throughout my life, my mother would tell me small parts of Japanese history and how Japan had enslaved the asian region for almost 100 years; kinda like what the Fire Nation is trying to do with the world of Avatar right now. So is it befitting that the islands of the Fire Nation are symbolic of the island of Japan and its surrounding islands. Just look at any map of Japan and mirror it, looks just like the Fire Nation islands. And the fire nation people tend to have more of a japanese look with the Earth Nation having more of a chinese look.

And of course, China is the largest land mass of the orient, which by the way has a "wall" around it, and so is the Earth Nation.

Now getting back to Jeong Jeong, I find him to parallel the Aniu of Japan, which??by the way, is my japanese heritage. You can look up their history but they tend to stand out because of their deep roots in honor and their tendencies to devout their entire being to their martial arts and disciplines. Keep in mind, some would say that the Aniu were considered outcasts among Japan society.??

I might think I was reading more into the mirroring of the current orient and the lands in Avatar but I doubt it. It is not coincidence that most of the calligraphy and martial arts forms are based on what we would call "ancient ways" or in english terms "old school".

Hey, just a thought and nice little history lesson as well!

Ainu were indeed the original inhabitants of the islands, exactly like the American Indian.?? Major different features would be the high cheekbone of the Ainu.?? To get an idea of what my mother look liked, whose heritage was Ainu, picture someone of the Hawaiian islands with a slighter more oriental tint to their skin.?? My mother used to tell me that when the Ainu were being pushed into the mountain regions of Japan by, of course, progress, many decided to leave and find a new home... and of course, looking at a map, you can guess where most migrated to.. the islands of Hawaii.

Of course, my speculation of Jeong Jeong and the relation to the Ainu is how the Ainu people were able to survive in the mountain areas of Japan without being found and how Jeong Jeong could do the same.

I was born and raised in the United States, only my oldest sister was born in Japan.

I would relate the Air Nomads to the Buddhist Monks in China, i.e. they had temples, choose to live amongst themselves only, deep studies, and a martial art tradition.