EXPO Express

In Brief

• A resolution in the House of Representatives sees the US Pavilion get heavyweight support
• Lucky visitors get the chance to win diamonds at the Belgian Pavilion
• A rare bird takes to the Expo skies to celebrate Sino-Japanese links
• Delight for armchair Expo fans as Dassault Systèmes sign deal to a build a cutting edge 3D online model of the site

Participants

Congress Resolution a Huge Boost for US Pavilion

6/8/09 – The US Pavilion has welcomed a resolution introduced in the United States House of Representatives on June 4 entitled “Encouraging the United States to Fully Participate in the Shanghai Expo in 2010.” The Resolution contains a number of clauses, including that “the United States participation is an important application of `soft power’, affording other nations and millions of citizens an opportunity to appreciate United States technological innovations, cultural traditions, participation in peaceful and beneficial global events, and national respect for other nations and cultures.” Frank Lavin, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the US Pavilion said, “We are delighted with the strong support from the U.S. House of Representatives. This resolution reminds us that as Americans learn more about the Shanghai Expo, they tend to support it.”

[US Pavilion Official Statement]

Belgian Pavilion Design Revealed

6/5/09 – The design of the Belgian and European Union Pavilion for 2010 Shanghai Expo was unveiled in Shanghai on Wednesday. The facility will cover more than 5,250 square meters, 1,000 of which will be offered to the European Union. The pavilion will serve as a bridge between Europe and China, holding more than 150 lectures, meetings and celebrations during the Expo from May 1 to October 31, including economic and trade exchange and a green science exhibition.

[Xinhua]

Endangered Bird to Fly High in Japanese Pavilion

6/5/09 – As the centerpiece of its Expo showcase Japan will stage an opera about a rare bird that avoided extinction in Japan with the help of China, the country’s Expo team said. The Crested Ibis became officially extinct in Japan in 1970s. The Chinese government began giving these birds to Japan in the 1990s which began breeding and re-established themselves in Japan. The opera will be directed by Chinese and Japanese directors. Its theme will be the “connection between hearts” and the “future of harmony.” It will highlight the friendship and exchange between the two countries, Hirofumi Wakamatsu, director of the Japan Pavilion, told a press conference in Shanghai.

[Yang Jian, expo2010.cn]

Diamond Giveaway at For Lucky Visitors

6/5/09 – The Belgian Pavilion will give away diamonds to fortunate visitors, Leo Delcroix, the country’s commissioner general for the Expo, said yesterday after unveiling the design of the pavilion. Each week of the Expo, the organizers will give away a Belgian diamond to a visitor, drawn by lottery, Delcroix said.

[expo2010.cn]

Gambia Are Coming

6/4/09 – With the confirmation of the Republic of The Gambia of its participation, 191 countries and 48 international organizations have accepted invitations to attend the Expo as of the beginning of June.

[expo2010.cn]

US Participation Soon to be Confirmed?

6/3/09 – State media in China are predicting that US participation is close to being confirmed, following last week’s announcement from the US Pavilion that it had secured significant funding from the Golden Eagle Group. A People’s Daily Online report read, “As Golden Eagle International Group recently has become the sixth partner of the US pavilion at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai, the funding issues that have long plagued the US team are expected to have been resolved. Affected by the financial crisis, the US team has made slow progress with fundraising. Although there are just 333 days remaining until the official opening of the Shanghai World Expo, they are still making last-minute efforts to finalize preparations for the exhibition.”

[People's Daily Online]

Prague to Have its Own Pavilion at 2010 Shanghai World Expo

6/2/09 – The Czech capital Prague will have its own pavilion at the Expo after the organizers decided world capitals as well as countries would able to showcase their successes in improving citizens’ lives. Prague Deputy Mayor Marketa Reedova told Czech media that Prague had been selected thanks to an anti-flood barrier project it implemented after devastating flooding in 2002. “Apart from the Czech national pavilion, Prague, along with another 87 advanced world capitals, will have its own pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in which 175 countries will take part.” Prague Mayor Pavel Bem said that, according to Reedova, Prague’s pavilion at the Expo would be located in a “very good place,” directly near the entrance to the Urban Best Practice Area pavilion.

[Prague Daily Monitor]

Sponsors

French Firm Chosen to Provide Online Virtual Expo

6/5/09 – Dassault Systèmes have announced that it has been chosen to create the first ever World Expo Online in the Expo’s 158-year history. Using its 3DVIA technology, in conjunction with Web3D and multimedia systems, Dassault Systèmes will build a 3D Expo Online – a virtual park of the 5.28-square kilometer Expo site with hundreds of virtual pavilions, allowing visitors to vividly experience the entire Expo site and travel freely from one pavilion to another with just the click and drag of a mouse. Expo Shanghai Online will be permanently preserved after the physical Expo ends, creating an everlasting virtual exhibition for future generations.

[Dassault Systèmes Press Release]

Policy

Bring Your Own Bags Please Say Organizers

6/5/09 – Visitors will be encouraged to bring tableware and eco-friendly bags to the Expo site to reduce waste, as part of an initiative to promote green issues. The organizer issued guidelines with the United Nations Environment Program, calling on Expo visitors, participants and shop owners on the site to make the Expo a green event, to take public transportation to the Expo site, sort their garbage and dispose of it in the relevant bins. The organizer will reward visitors who obey the guidelines, said Dai Jianmin, director of the operation department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. For example, if a visitor takes a beverage can to the recycling station, the organizer will hand out a small gift, he explained.

[Shanghai Daily]

Pavilion Re-usage a Hot Topic

6/5/09 – China 2010 Shanghai Expo General planner Wu Zhiqiang, speaking at the International Green Architecture and Environmental Development Conference in Pudong New District said the construction of Expo pavilions must meet the demands of Shanghai development policy. As part of this, the Chinese Pavilion will be converted into a cultural museum after the Expo, and he suggested that the Expo Village be used as a huge consulate district after the event, to solve the problem of a lack of such sites in Shanghai.

[China News Agency]

General Info

Jin Yong Library to be recreated at 2010 Shanghai Expo

6/8/09 – The Macau Pavilion organizers have secured free use of the works an internationally acclaimed literary scholar. It will build the Jin Yong Library at the Expo and oversee all matters regarding the exhibiting of all his works and characters from his novels. This historical Macau building will be recreated in full scale at the expo’s Urban Best Practices Area and the library will be built inside.

[Macau Daily Times]