EXPO Express

In Brief

Shenzhen installs the largest-ever Mona Lisa

Director Zhang Yimou captures Beijing’s sights and sounds

China’s Snow Dragon arrives with plans to open its Arctic doors for the Expo

Shanghai’s ‘golden line’ is finally open

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Participants

Shenzhen to Show Massive Mona Lisa

4/12/10 – The largest-ever re-creation of the Mona Lisa was installed on the exterior wall of the Shenzhen Pavilion on Sunday, Beijing News reported. The 300-square-meter oil painting took 999 painters four hours each, according to Meng Yan, a worker in the Shenzhen Pavilion. The painting is composed of hundreds of 30×20-centimeter pieces, with each painter’s signature in the bottom right corner. All the painters work in Dafen Cun Oil Painting Village, a famous village in Longgang District, Shenzhen, which produces copies of all kinds of art. Inside the pavilion are hand-made copies of the world’s most famous artworks, highlighting the flourishing oil painting industry as well as rapid development of the village in recent years.

[Qin Mei / China Radio International]

Zhang Yimou Shoots Film for Beijing Pavilion

4/2/10 – Zhang Yimou – the internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker, former cinematographer and one of the best know Fifth Generation Chinese film directors – has recently finished filming a five minute movie to be played at the Beijing Pavilion. The film narrates the story of a foreign tourist’s one-day visit to Beijing. Four of Beijing’s iconic buildings including the Temple of Heaven, the Water Cube, the Bird’s Nest and the National Grand Theater will be displayed on a light-emitting diodes panels. The film will also highlight many different sounds that a typical traveler would hear in the city, including Beijing accents and Peking Opera.

[Tom Qian / en.Expo2010.cn]

Sponsors

FamilyMart and Lawson Appointed

4/12/10 – The Expo Coordination Bureau has signed retail service agreements with two convenience store providers: Taiwanese FamilyMart, and Lawson, an investment of a mainland Chinese state-owned enterprise. According to reports from the Central News Agency of Taiwan, the bureau has signed contracts with 48 retailers and two convenience store service providers. The Expo site will have eight convenience stores — four stores under each of the two brands — in its public areas, focusing on the sales of fast food, drinks and daily commodities to meet the immediate needs of visitors. Both FamilyMart and Lawson have undertaken to provide products at the same prices they charge everywhere else. It’s predicted that retail sales during the Expo period will reach CNY2.1 billion, with a per capita consumption of 30 RMB.

[China Retail News]

Moutai to Extend Network to France

4/12/10 – To expand China’s leading moutai producer’s efforts in internationalization, Kweichow Moutai will establish a marketing network in France, the firm’s chairman Yuan Renguo said. He explained that just as the company currently has a marketing network in each Chinese province, there will be specialized personnel to manage and offer services for the local distributors in overseas markets (currently, there are only distributers). The liquor producer plans to expand the domestic market through the upcoming Expo, during which Kweichow Moutai will launch more than 80 new packaging designs, created according to the pavilions of different countries, he said. Sales of Kweichow Moutai is estimated to grow 8-10 percent during the Shanghai Expo.

[Global Times]

Chisen Electric to be Sponsor, Provide Eco-Friendly Battery

4/11/10 – Chisen Electric Corporation, a leading lead-acid motive battery producer for the electric bicycle market in the People’s Republic of China, announced today that it is very honored to participate as an alternative power source sponsor at the Expo, and to provide an eco-friendly solution to power the road signage at selected Expo Park locations. Mr. Xu Kecheng, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Company, stated, “As a leading provider of eco-friendly, reliable lead-acid motive battery products for non-polluting, electric-powered bicycles, we are very pleased to have been given the great opportunity to be a sponsor of this prestigious event focused this year on improving life in the world’s urban environments.”

[PR- USA.net]

General Info

600K Cap on Daily Visitor Intake

4/12/10 – Expo organizers are putting a 600,000-a-day limit on visitors for safety reasons, local officials said over the weekend. The measure, announced less than a month before the Expo starts, indicates the pressures the city may face during the event that could see one of the largest visitor turnouts in history. Zhou Huai, head of the Expo traffic management department, said that traffic outside and inside the site will be “safe, convenient and in order.” Outside the Expo site, the city has reserved policies to cut the use of private and official cars on certain days according to their license plate numbers to ease possible traffic snarls, according to a traffic organization plan released in January.

[Zha Minjie / Shanghai Daily]

Expo Transport System to be Largest Ever

4/12/10 – Expo organizers will launch a comprehensive public transport network combining subway, bus and marine services to provide convenient access to the 3.28 square kilometer park for nearly 70 million visitors. Officials described the scale of the operation as unprecedented for a World Expo. “The transport network, including one subway line, five bus lines and 12 water traffic lines, is the largest ever,” said Zhou Huai, deputy director of the Urban Transport Management Bureau in a press conference Saturday. The transport system, set to open May 1, will give access to 95 percent of the expo park with no more than 300 meters between stops.

[Xu Shenglan / Global Times]

Handy Ticketing for Lhasa Residents

4/12/10 – Residents of Lhasa will be able to use mobile phone tickets according to the China Mobile Tibet Branch (CMTB). The ticket is technically a short message saved in the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, which can be read and identified by an automatic entrance ticket examining device at the expo park. Instead of tickets, visitors will swipe their mobile phones on the devices before entering the park. This is the first time for a world expo to introduce mobile phone tickets, said Gao Xianqiang, general manager of the branch’s Marketing Department.

[China Tibet Online, Xinhua]

Arctic Research Lab to Open for Expo

4/11/10 – China’s only icebreaker, Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, will be open to the public for free between June 5 and 12 at Waigaoqiao port, as an extra attraction in collaboration with the Expo. Officials from the Polar Research Institute of China made the statement Saturday in Shanghai, on the home arrival of the nation’s 26th Antarctic expedition. “We will also give lectures and outline Xuelong’s and China’s polar research achievements during the one-week program,” said Qin Weijia, vice director of the institute. The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum will also feature a polar research exhibition, showing samples that scientists brought back from the expedition.

[Cai Wenjun / Shanghai Daily]

Citywide Retail Promotional Campaign Begins

4/9/10 – Departments and local stores in Shanghai are planning a campaign to promote the Expo with merchandising products, effective last Sunday through May 30th. Retailers will promote Expo products, time-honored Chinese brands and Shanghai’s cuisine in major shopping areas. Around 10 billion RMB worth of Expo products has already been sold. “We expect demand will get even stronger after the Expo opens and we are confident to achieve 20 billion yuan sales revenue,” said Chen Yuxian, a Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce official.

[Jin Jing / Shanghai Daily]

Shanghai’s Line 10 Opens

4/9/10 – With the long-awaited line 10 up and running on Saturday, the city now has 11 lines with 420 kilometers’ worth of track, making Shanghai’s subway the longest in the country. Line 10, named the “golden line,” will run by several of the city’s landmarks including Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, the iconic Yu Yuan Garden, Shanghai’s Library and Wu Jiao Chang, near the famous Fudan University. The new line should relieve the crowded Line 8, which has a similar route in the city’s north neighborhoods.

[Xiao Zha / Shanghai Daily]

Sightseeing Tours to be Offered

4/9/10 – Throughout the Expo’s six months, the Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center will provide sightseeing packaged tours. Tourists will be able to travel to Shanghai’s suburbs and neighboring provinces by bus, and get a feel for China outside the big city. In summer, they will have the opportunity to travel to Bao Shan district or Zhejiang province and experience local beaches. During the National Day holiday in the fall, tourists will be able to travel to Qing Pu District and Hangzhou province.

[Lu Feiran / Shanghai Daily]

Volunteers Ready for Action

4/8/10 – Around 82,000 volunteers were recruited for the upcoming event attracting 70 million visitors. Most of the volunteers are university students, with around 72,000 working inside the Expo and the other 100,000 working at over 1,000 service centers around the city during the event. More than 55,000 volunteers have already received the required training for the Expo. In addition to the Expo volunteers, around 1.97 million will work as civic volunteers during the Expo’s six months.

[Tom Qian / en.expo2010.cn]

Shanghai-Taipei City Forum Highlights Expo

4/7/10 – Shanghai mayor, Han Zheng, led 260 members in the 10th year anniversary of the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum in Taipei to promote the Expo at the beginning of April. Han Zheng said he hopes his visit to Taipei will boost and strengthen communication and cultural exchanges between the two cities. A global partner for the World Expo, Bank of Communications, will soon allow transactions in RMB and NTD between the two metropolises. Additionally, the two cities are actively pushing for the establishment of a regular direct flight between Hong Qiao Airport in Shanghai and Song Shan Airport in Taipei.

[Xinhua, en.expo2010.cn]

Biz Offering

Shanghai Airports: First Step to Expo 2010

We are pleased to inform you that Hill & Knowlton has recently formed a strategic alliance with JCDecaux Shanghai airports media, and is now launching a “First Step to Expo 2010” offering. With the forecasted 70 million visitors to the Expo, there will be a significant increase of daily flights bringing an unprecedented number of visitors to Shanghai during the six-month period. As the No. 1 touch point for Expo visitors and tourists, Shanghai’s airports are a solid platform to boost your brand exposure, stage promotional events, and make a first impression on consumers in China.

Please get in touch if you are interested in knowing how H&K can help you best leverage this special opportunity. Simply email Marc Arnold at marc.arnold@hillandknowlton.com to receive the offering.