Trivia: Rebecca Gayheart was initially cast as Inarra, but was replaced after one day of filming as she reportedly didn't have enough chemistry with the rest of the cast. Morena Baccarin was cast two days later and reportedly started filming that same day to make up for lost time.
Trivia: Neil Patrick Harris reportedly auditioned and was considered for the role of Simon. He later went on to play the titular character in "Firefly" creator Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog."
Chosen answer: One of the premises of the show is that the two major Earth societies that survived, and ultimately merged, were the Chinese and Americans. As a result the common language includes much Chinese. Clothing, signage, and building designs also have a heavy Chinese influence.