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Newsletter No. 57, April 1, 2010
Better facilities for media World reporters applying to cover Expo 2010 can get sevenday accreditation within 15 working days rather than the 45 days as previously planned, provided that the information they submit is in full and without mistakes. The registration process for temporary credentials has also been shortened to three working days. These are the measures the Expo Organizer has taken to help media organizations undertake their Expo coverage. The Media Center in Pudong and the Puxi Press Center as well as the International Broadcast Center will begin to receive reporters from the end of April. Foreign correspondents in China with J-1 visas may apply for permanent credentials. As of March 30, the Organizer had received 12,371 applications from reporters from 713 domestic and 547 overseas media to cover the event. The Organizer has chosen a dozen hotels near the Expo Site with good service, Internet access and reasonable prices for reporters. Some battery cars will be offered at the Expo Site for reporters with heavy equipment. Restaurants serving Chinese and foreign fast food have been set up in the Media Center. A canteen near the Expo Center for Expo staff will also cater for reporters. China Telecom, China Mobile and some camera manufacturers
Expo Fact
Above: The media work stations and video facilities inside the press center. Right: An internal view of a studio in the International Broadcast Center.
have been invited to be on hand at the Media Center in case equipment needs repairing. The Organizer will also take proper measures to facilitate the customs clearance of accredited journalists’ equipment. They can enjoy a fast pass service at Customs. Over 300 volunteers will serve reporters at the press centers as well as the Accreditation Center
at the Expo bureau. The Media Accreditation Center has three press conference halls, where all types of press conferences will be held. A media lounge will provide water and free refreshments for reporters working in the center. The Puxi Press Center is in the Joint Corporate Pavilion while the Media Accreditation Center is in the Bureau of Shanghai
World Expo Coordination. The Organizer is also building an International Broadcast Center in the Expo Center to better serve broadcast media and facilitate their coverage. The Media Center and the International Broadcast Center will open from 8am to 12pm. They will operate around the clock during holidays and other peak periods.
More than 12,000 reporters have applied for accreditation to cover Expo 2010.
2 Book on hotels website AN official hotel-booking website opened on March 24 for visitors to Expo 2010. More than 300,000 rooms in Shanghai and another 200,000 in neighboring cities are available at www.expotia.com. An English language version is
available at http://english.expotia. com. The number of rooms will be sufficient for Expo visitors, and the prices offered by the website should be comparable to recent years’ rates, said Zhang Dian, president of Hubs1, the official
booking service provider for the Expo. The average price of budget hotels will be 300 yuan (US$44) per night. Five-star hotels will be 1,300 yuan, Zhang said. Prices are decided according to average prices over the past three years.
Volunteer help will be all over town VISITORS from other parts of the country or from abroad will be able to connect with volunteers for the World Expo at airports and train stations, the Expo Organizer said on March 25. Some 884 volunteer stations will be set up across the city’s three-star hotels, large shopping centers, transport hubs, Metro stations and universities. Three to five volunteers at each station will provide information on transportation and scenic spots in Shanghai and Expo brochures in Chinese, English, French and Korean. The service will be available from 10am to 10pm. At the Expo Site, volunteers will be on hand to help with ticketing, offer sign-language, and arrange for wheelchairs, among other things.
New Zealand Pavilion will display two jades, one from China and one from the South Pacific nation, during Expo 2010 Shanghai China. Hei tiki, a carved jade from the Otago Museum, belonged to the family of a Maori clan chief. It is a miniature of a Maori man sitting with his head up. The other jade piece will be a cong from the Shanghai Museum dating back 5,000 years. New Zealand has borrowed the Chinese jade to show a shared culture between the two nations.
Real city look
Carton comfort Benches made from recycled milk and beverage cartons are unveiled at the Expo Mansion in the Pudong New Area on March 24. The 1,000 benches, to be installed at the Expo Site, were made from 113 tons of cartons collected from 728,400 citizens in Shanghai.
World Water Council joins in online ‘browsing pavilions’
Expo Fact
Special jade
The Spain Pavilion has just been completed. It resembles a huge basket with an exterior of 8,542 pieces of rattan-covered steel and glass. It took designers and workers a year to complete and will be open on April 23 and 25 for a trial run. The steel frame has been “dressed” in 8,542 wicker panels in brown, beige and black. Sunlight filters through the panels. The black panels form the shapes of Chinese characters such as “sun” and “moon.”
Expo Online World Water Concil has become the latest participant of Expo Shanghai Online, bringing the total number to 231 participants, including 187 countries and 44 international organizations. The
In Brief
Wicker cover
42 bus routes set up FORTY-TWO Expo bus routes have been set up to take visitors to the World Expo Site or to Metro lines that go to the Expo Site, the Organizer said on March 24. The 42 routes — 22 new ones and 20 existing ones that offer route B only for major stops — will carry some 20 percent of the estimated 70 million visitors to the Expo. The buses will operate from 8am to 1am. For detailed information, log on to www. jtcx.sh.cn or dial 12319 and 962010. A detailed map of the Expo shuttle bus service is available at www.shanghaidaily.com/ traffic0202.pdf.
Newsletter No. 57, April 1, 2010
Organizer said that 37 countries will build “experiencing pavilions.” 44 cities will present their cases of Urban Best Practices online and 18 corporate pavilions have confirmed their participation in Expo Online.
For more information, please contact Chen Xuyan (Tel: 86212206-2079, Email: chenxuyuan@ expo2010.gov.cn) and Rong Jiachen (Tel: 8621-2206-2084, Email: rongjiachen@expo2010.gov.cn).
The Germany Pavilion has been completed and will have a test run in late April. With a theme of Balancity (a term combining balance and city), it will join the test runs of the Expo Site on April 20, 24 and 25. Visitors will find solutions to urban problems and experience the feel of a real city. It will host classic and hip-hop concerts, and a 350-seat canteen will offer sauerkraut boiled with beef, sausages from Nuremberg and pork shanks from Bavaria.
Power display The “magic box” inside the State Grid Pavilion will use a worldleading six-facet LED panel to guide visitors during Expo Shanghai. The box is made up of 112 LED panels, 14.9 meters wide and 13.9 meters high. From a special screening of about five minutes, visitors will learn how the State Grid meets electricity needs of a vast country like China.
Forty-two Expo bus routes have been set up to take visitors to the Expo Site or to Metro lines.
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Newsletter No. 57, April 1, 2010
Top family talents make finals TALENTED families from around China, including two with expat wives, will sing, dance, act and tell inspiring stories in a World Expo promotion called “Super Family” that airs weekly. Ten families will take part in the national finals, which will air live every Sunday at 9:15pm on Dragon TV. It will run until the opening of Expo 2010 on May 1. The popular show was launched last July and thousands of families from China and abroad took part in rounds at local and regional levels. Veteran Chinese mainland actress Liu Xiaoqing heads the jury panel, but SMS votes will be decisive. It is the only licensed Exporelated talent show. Winners will become Expo Goodwill Ambassadors and may perform in the Expo’s grand opening on May 1. Their virtual 3D images will appear on the official Expo website (www.expo.cn) and help Internet visitors learn more about Expo and its pavilions. The winning family gets one-year free rent in a new villa in Shanghai and tickets to the six-month Expo. Ukrainian Iryna Novikova and her Chinese husband Bei Le (Duets, Cantonese and English love songs): Novikova, who has been living in Shanghai for four years, is something of a local celebrity, singing in clubs and on popular TV entertainment shows. Born into a musical family, she carries on her late father’s love of music. Fascinated by Chinese culture, she moved to China and learned Chinese and English. She found work singing in pubs and clubs and on TV. Novikova met Bei Le, a professional local singer, who became her husband. As Novikova and Le are dedicated to their Luwan District community and support preparations for the World Expo, they have been honored as district Expo Image Ambassadors. “Both of us are thrilled to do something for the Expo,” said Novikova. “I especially love the city’s delicious food, customs and art.” She has invited her mother to
Expo Fact
Ukrainian Iryna Novikova (left) performs on stage with her Chinese husband Bei Le, and her mother (second from right) and her mother-in-law.
Shanghai and she herself plans to live in Shanghai for a long time. Another finalist couple from Shanghai includes a German wife and her Chinese husband. Wang Feihong (Pop singer, martial artist): At first sight, Wang Feihong looks a lot like the late kung fu master Bruce Lee. A student of Hong Kong martial arts choreographer Kong To-hoi, Wang is taking part in “Super Family” to pay tribute to his idol Lee. Last year Wang and his brother performed the pop song “A Man of Determination” and enlivened it with martial arts. He chopped through wood with one hand, walked on glass from light bulbs and practiced Wing Chun kung fu. Born into a poor family in Guizhou Province, Wang lost his father when he was only seven years old. To support the family, he worked on construction sites and waited tables in big cities such as Guiyang in Guizhou Province and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. “I learned martial arts in childhood, at first simply to protect my mother from thieves,” Wang recalls. “Later I was moved by
Yi ethnic singer Ang Meixian (with microphone) sings with her family during the “Super Family” talent show.
Bruce Lee’s determination and his persistence when he lost bouts against some of the best fighters in the world.” In the “Super Family” show, Wang will perform classic folk songs from his hometown with his brother, mother and sister. He hopes to build a charity school for poor children. Tang Dan (Singer, cancer survivor): Tang Dan from Jiangsu Province is known as a “soul singer”
because her triumph over cancer has moved so many TV viewers. In 2007, at the peak of her career, she was offered a contract by the Japanese Music Society. At the same time she was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. More than 30 radiation treatments in four hours damaged her ability to swallow and walk. Now she is in the process of recovering and can even sing. She performed on a show to earn production money for her new album, “Love.”
Some 884 volunteer stations will be set up across the city to serve the needs of Expo visitors.
4 Innovative to the core National Pavilion THE Sweden Pavilion at Expo 2010 is a temporary building. However, it is constructed from recyclable materials that can be reused elsewhere. This feature represents the three keywords the Swedish team aims to convey: innovation, sustainability and communication. The theme of the pavilion is “Spirit of Innovation.” The design concept is the relationship between city life and nature. Nature is very close to the Swedish people and it inspires and triggers their creativity, while a well-developed urban city is essential for their enjoyment of a good life. The 3,000-square-meter pavilion is divided by a cross or “plus sign” into four parts “It means city life plus nature,” says Annika Rembe, commissioner general of the Swedish committee for Expo 2010. “The design is easy and simple, but is interesting in itself.” The pavilion also represents the national flag of Sweden. The four parts are connected by glass walkways for the convenience of visitors. Photographs taken by a famous Swedish photographer will be displayed through passageways. Though the specific form of presentation has not yet been revealed, they promise to be “exciting and eye-catching.” The outside look of the pavilion is like a city map of Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden. “I can point out to you where I live,” says
What to see?
Innovative materials used in the recyclable wooden structure and a showcase of photographs taken by a famous Swedish photographer.
What to eat? Experience traditional Swedish culture as well as Chinese
dishes while enjoying a drink in the coffee shop in a Nordic environment.
Want to have fun?
Creative performances will be presented during the Expo. People are expected to become involved in a range of interactive activities.
US$19.5 m
3,000 sq m
The aim of activities is to present Sweden as an innovative, sustainable nation.
Built in four parts from materials specially recycled
Rembe half-jokingly. In the pavilion, people will travel through a “story” by walking through different areas over the three floors. One of the pavilion’s key elements is in seeing things from the
Newsletter No. 57, April 1, 2010
UBPA case
Bilbao tells of museum fight back SPAIN’S Bilbao will showcase how the city government restored its economy by building a modern art museum to attract tourists from around the world. The city suffered an economic depression in the 1980s after flooding and the collapse of traditional industries. So the government invited US architect Frank Gehry to design and build the Guggenheim Museum and launched a citywide renovation to turn Bilbao into a tourist attraction. The exhibition will feature a model of the city which will illustrate the changes it has experienced over a period of 30 years. Bilbao will share a pavilion on the Puxi side of the Expo Site with Paris and Osaka.
for modern construction. perspective of a child, with their sense of fun, curiosity and strange but inspiring ideas. Fictional character Pippi Longstocking has been selected to represent the innovative spirit of Sweden.
Greenland building group becomes senior sponsor of 2 pavilions Expo Partner Greenland Group signed a contract on March 22 with the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination to be a senior sponsor of the event.
The group will offer funding support for construction and operation of the China Pavilion and Shanghai Pavilion. The group has offered the largest amount of funding to sponsor the China Pavilion. Greenland is one of China’s
leading property corporations. It has participated in Expo projects such as the elevated walkway, and the construction of buildings such as the Pavilion of Urban Civilization and the World Exposition Museum. Greenland also won the bid to
construct the Italy Pavilion. During the 600-day countdown, the group started renovation projects in high-rises and streets in Shanghai’s Hongkou District, Wuzhong Road and Guilin Road Expo projects in Xuhui District and an Expo bridge project.
Visit www.expo2010.cn for more news & information
The Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, 3588 Pudong Road S., Shanghai 200125, China
Contact: Ms. Lu Lixing, Tel: +86-21-2206-2310, Email: lulixing@expo2010.gov.cn; Mr. Zhang Jun, Tel: +86-21-2206-2924, Email: jameszhang@expo2010.gov.cn Beijing Office: Ms. Liu Yingyuan, Mr. Daniel Xu, Tel:86 -10-88075553, Fax: 86-10-88075401, Email: liuyingyuan@expo2010.gov.cn