The Expo Culture Center is an essential building of Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. It is the place where the Expo opening and closing ceremonies were held. Situated by the side of the Huangpu River, the Expo Culture Center is shaped like a giant flying saucer. It is particularly beautiful at night as the lights sparkle like thousands of diamonds. During the period of the Expo 2010 from May 1 to October 31, 2010, there were hundreds of free-of-charge cultural performances and entertaining programs taken place in the theaters and cinemas of the Center. Inside the Center, there are shopping mail, ice rink, and restaurants. On the third floor, there is a Firework Observation Deck where people watched the firework over the river during the Expo opening ceremony. On the sixth floor, there is a 360 degree balcony. People can walk along the balcony to make a circle round about the Center. This is the best place where people take the view of the Expo site, including China Pavilion, Taiwan Pavilion, Expo Axis, Japan Pavilion, Korea Pavilion, Saudi Arabia Pavilion, and India Pavilion. This is also the best place to take a good view of the Huangpu River and far across the river to the Puxi section of the Expo.
The Expo Culture Center is a permanent project of Expo 2010. While many building will be demolished after the closure of the Expo, the Expo Culture Center will remain to serve for important events and entertaining activities to citizens. It will surely become a new landmark of Shanghai.
On the balcony of the Expo Culture Center
Walking on the balcony of the Expo Culture Center, people can take a panoramic view of the Expo site.
ZED stands for Zero Energy Development. A ZED is a building that generates sufficient renewable energy for its site's use. The ZED Pavilion, situated at the Urban Best Practices Area in Shanghai Expo 2010, is the first zero carbon building model exhibited in world expositions. The ZED Pavilion demonstrates the design of zero energy. The pavilion building simulates a large-scale zero carbon development in the United Kingdom. In the project, natural energy such as solar power, wind and water power are used. The pavilion building applies low carbon concrete structure, solar sading, Nano coating of exterior wall, super insulated wall, thermal mass, low-e glass, sun spaces, thin film-PV, FSC timber, solar power dehumidification, rainwater recycle, specific water supply system, LED lighting, and green roof.
In the displays, we learn about biofuels, hydrogen power, and how waste water streams can be turned into power. There is a research collaboration between the universities in the UK and China. Research achievement includes the development of a unique-type of temperature reactive window coating that reduces the need for air-conditioning. Using cutting-edge nanotechnology, scientists in Nottingham and China are developing a new generation of high-performance low-cost solar cells.
The Czech Pavilion has given us an amazing surprise not just because of its attractive exhibitions but also its hard work for the Shanghai Expo 2010. While most pavilions are closing their doors at 09:00pm, the Czech Pavilion still welcomes new visitors at 09:30pm. The Czech Pavilion is a rectangular building. On the walls of the pavilion, there are a large number of ice hockey pucks patterned in the map of the Old Town of Prague, the capital of Czech. Ice hockey is the national sport of Czech. The entrance of the pavilion is rather pretty. It looks rather like a giant spiraling ribbon. To enter the pavilion, visitors have to get through the ribbon coils. The theme of the Czech Pavilion is "Fruit of Civilization". In the exhibition hall, there stands a brass statue. In the Czech tradition, people believe that they will receive good luck if they touch a certain part of the statue. It is the first time that people could make a wish with the statue out of Czech. A giant kaleidoscope, named as the Czech Pearl, is shown with various beautiful patterns. Scientific technologies achieved by Czech include nanofiber, contact lens, and crystals. Other than visual displays, the pavilion lets visitor participate in the interactive programs. Sitting on a small airplane, people can see themselves appear on the TV screen and fly over the Czech cities. In another section, people can generate electricity by rubbing the thermal paper. The quicker a person rubs, the brighter the light will be.
Czech Pearl
Flying on a simulator airplane in the Czech Pavilion
Today, it is the 177th day of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. There remains 7 days to reach the end of the Expo. Visitor enthusiasm persisted even though it was raining hard yesterday. One of my friends experienced a rainy day in his second visit to the Shanghai Expo last month and said that the rain made their Expo activities become difficult. Due to the hot weather in Shanghai summer, many people planned their Expo visits in September or October. It was cooler after mid September. The weather, however, was bad in most days. This pushed the number of visitors to the highest level in October. On the last day using standard-day tickets (160 yuan each), visitor counts reached 837,500 yesterday. From today onwards, admissions require peak-day tickets (200 yuan each). As of today, the accumulated visitors exceeded 70 millions which was the expectation from the Expo authority for the entire period of Expo 2010. This figure is the highest visitor volume in the world record of a single Expo.
A 62-year-old Japanese housewife, Tomiyo Yamada, is a super fan of world expositions. She has been given the name of "Expo Grandma" because of her high attendance records to world expositions. She has been visiting the Shanghai Expo each day since the opening on May 1, 2010. Yamada greatly enjoyed her first experience at Expo 1970 in Osaka of Japan. She then made a world record of Expo attendance by visiting 243 times at Expo 2005 in Aichi of Japan. She has moved to Shanghai with her family to facilitate daily visits in Expo 2010. Her husband has purchased the tickets for all 184 days for Expo 2010.The Expo Grandma is keeping a diary for her Expo journey. Her diary is full of Expo stamps, photographs and signatures.
Strolling in the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai, visitors will develop a feeling like taking a journey in Italy. Stepping into the pavilion, people will see a model of the ancient architecture in Italian style. Passing through the architecture under an arch, individuals come up to a very spacious exhibition hall. Most of the exhibitions focus on visual presentations. There are luxury cars and motor bikes. There are Italian artworks, furniture, paintings, antiques, fashion design, graphic design, volumetric and motion design. There is a Pinocchio Workshop demonstrating how a long-nosed wooden puppet, Pinocchio, is made by a craftsman. Round the corner, six Sicilian altar frontals are hung on the wall. These fabric embroidery hangings with colorful silk yarns and precious materials are used in churches to cover the front of altars. Going to another end of the exhibition hall, there is a giant high-heeled shoe. A number of stylish and fashionable Italian shoes are attached to it.
On the second floor of the pavilion, there is a very nice Italian restaurant and a cafe. In the gallery named as "Italy of the Cities", movies introducing Italian cities, lifestyle and culture are projected on both sides of the passages. Next to the "Italy of the Cities", there is a section introducing Toscana which is a region in central Italy. Florence is its regional capital. The displays in the Italy Pavilion are very artistic. Various artistic patterns are formed by millions of Italian pastas in different shapes. Famous products also include Italian wines. The last part of the exhibitions is to bring up the message of World Expo 2015 which will be held in Milan of Italy.
Both Denmark and China are nations of bikes. The Denmark Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai advocates the benefit of bicycles as the energy free transport for cities. Over a hundred bicycles are available for visitors to experience the Denmark city life with zero-carbon transport. The snow-white Denmark Pavilion consists of two circular ramps spiraling around a beautiful pool in an open area. There are pedestrian and bicycle tracks on the ramps. At the center of the pavilion, the little Mermaid sculpture sits on a rock in the middle of the pool. Throughout the journey walking up to the top of the pavilion, we saw the displays of the famous Denmark products such as beer and toy LEGO. There were not much to see. After we had reached the top of the pavilion which was an open area, we continued our walkway and eventually back to the ground level. The Denmark Pavilion looks great. It has won a prestige award from an American-based exhibitor magazine.
The main focus of the Denmark Pavilion is the Little Mermaid. The first time I saw the Little Mermaid statue was during my visit to Denmark a few years ago. Sitting on a rock by the seashore at the downtown of Copenhagen, the little mermaid appeared to be smaller in size than I expected. During the period from May 1 to October 31, 2010, people are not able to see the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen because she has been moved to Shanghai for display in the Denmark Pavilion at Expo 2010.
The Shanghai World Expo will last until October 31, 2010. The most popular China Pavilion is a project for permanent exhibitions, but it will close for a month in November. The animated version of the famous Chinese painting scroll "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" will be moved to Hong Kong for display during the period from November 9 to 29, 2010. The exhibition will be held at the Asia World-Expo venue, Hong Kong International Airport from 10:00am till 9:00pm for 11 hourly sessions each day during the concerned period. The setting of the rendition will be mildly adjusted when comparing to its display in the China Pavilion. Ticket sales in Hong Kong has started from today through 41 URBTIX outlets and cost HK$10 each. Sixteen thousand tickets which are about one-fourth of the total ticket volume have been sold today. Starting from tomorrow October 20, 2010 onwards, tickets can also be purchased through online ordering (http://www.urbtix.hk) or credit card telephone booking services (Tel: 21115999). For more information, please visit http://qingmingriverside.hk/en/. For inquiries, please call 1823. Hong Kong residents are very fortune to see the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" without going to Shanghai or waiting in long queues. Starting from December 1, 2010, the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" will return to Shanghai for permanent exhibitions in China Pavilion.
Daytime activities as described in the famous ancient Chinese painting "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" presented in the China Pavilion
Today is the 170th day of Shanghai Expo 2010. As the Expo will come to an end in 2 weeks' time, many people attempt to grasp the last chance for the visits. Visitor counts dramatically increased in the recent days. There was a relatively low visitor volume in September because it was raining in most days. The favorable October weather in this month has pushed the number of visitors to the highest record. Over one million visitors flooded into the Expo park on the Double Ninth Festival holiday yesterday. To deal with the huge visitor flows, additional manpower and facilities had been arranged. To date, the accumulated visitors had surpassed 64 millions which is a new record of Expo visitor volume. Both the first week and last week of October are designated to be Peak Days on which tickets cost 200 yuan each. Holders of standard-day tickets (160 yuan each) for the ordinary days will be allowed to visit the Expo park in the last week if an additional charge of 40 yuan is paid. The standard-day tickets can be used in non-peak days or change to 2 evening tickets.
The USA Pavilion, located at Zone C of the Pudong section, is one of the large-size pavilions in Shanghai Expo 2010. The pavilion architecture is simple but beautiful, shaping like an eagle with open wings. Separated from the exhibition areas, an American restaurant is situated at the rear part of the building. There is a waterfall running on the side wall at the main entrance to the exhibition hall. What are the exhibitions? In contrast to visitors' expectations, there are not any high-tech products or demonstrations of the latest achievement in advanced scientific technologies. Instead, the exhibitions highlight the American culture and values in building a harmonic community with better urban environment. The theme of the pavilion is "Rising to the Challenge". To express the American spirit, three films are shown. Although there are not any stunning effects with the films, the stories are meaningful and educational.
The first film was taken place in an open hall without any seats. The film showed a street interview with the local residents in the United States who were making their first attempts to speak Chinese. There were warm greetings and there were jokes when the native Americans were striving to say "Hello" or "Welcome to the American Pavilion" in Mandarin. These friendly greetings came from people of various ages, ethnicity, and occupations. The audiences responded in joyful laughs and smiles when interviewers were uttering the new language in a funny way. The key elements of the second film were welcome speeches from Hillary Clinton, the Secretory of State, and Barack Obama, the President of the United States. The last film entitled "The Garden" was a movie with 4-dimensional effect in the expression of the passion of a 10-year-old girl for the improvement of living environment. The outcome of the story emphasized that an individual effort from a little girl could make a great influence to the neighbors for community building. There was not any dialogue but songs and music in the film. When storms and rains appeared in the film, water sprinkled from the ceiling of the cinema on our heads. The real sense of raining made everybody yell with surprise and fun. After we had finished watching the movies, we came to an exhibition hall where American business firms were advertising their products. The USA Pavilion had been criticized of being too commercial in the States. I think it should limit to the last part of the exhibitions.
Showcases for new inventions and new products have long been the main focus of world expositions. In the Germany Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010, there is a section showing the advanced technologies of the latest German products. Exhibitions include both traditional visual displays and interactive programs. Numerous products are displayed. These include environmental friendly vehicles with fuel cells in battery electric drive, water-saving shower heads, halogen light sources, professional audio equipment, compact video intercom systems, universal mobile phones, and ergonomically optimized aircraft tableware etc. Visitors could play around with the interactive programs such as simulation cooking through the touch screen of the German glass-ceramic cooktops.
The following section displays numerous types of new materials which are of specific effects and benefits. For example, there is a display of ecological thermal insulation building material. There are High-Tech polycarbonate sheets suitable for a wide range of applications, such as roof tops, facade glazing, thermal protection for machines, and lighting strips. These sheets are superior to other plastic sheets. There are T shirts manufactured from biological recycle materials. They are safe and will be decomposed after a certain period.
Interactive programs in Germany Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai
Many people expect to see some innovative exhibits with high-tech settings inside the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai. That is why there are always tons of people lining up in front of the pavilion. Located at Zone A of the Pudong section not too far away from Entrance Gate 4, the Japan Pavilion features like a purple silkworm. Having a semi-circular structure outlook, the pavilion is covered by lightweight membrane materials with the erection of a few Eco Tubes on its top. Eco-friendly environmental technologies including the utilization of solar power are integrated into the building design. Rainwater can be stored for use and air can be circulated to reduce environmental burden. As a start touring around the pavilion, we stepped onto an escalator inside a tube. We then watched the displays of the Japanese landscapes in four seasons. The following exhibits were relevant to modern advanced technologies. There was a new model of battery-rechargeable car. There was a display of the Eco heat pump which could boil water efficiently with the use of minimal power to gather heat from the air warmed by the sun. There was a magic floor map. Stomping heavily on the map could produce electricity to turn on the light. The heavier we stomped, the more electricity we could generate. The Japanese had manufactured a lightweight vehicle for a single person use. The vehicle took less space than the conventional cars and allowed more mobility and convenience. Many people are fancy with the electronic music played by a robot violinist. To me, the robot performance is nothing new. Robot technologies have already existed for 30 years. I recalled that I watched a robot draw the face pictures for the visitors in World Expo 1985 at Tsukuba of Japan.
Japanese Industry Pavilion
It takes 2 to 4 hours to wait for the admission to the Japan National Pavilion. If people expect similar displays in the Japanese Industry Pavilion located at Zone D in Expo Puxi, they will be wrong. During our daytime visit to Zone D, we saw a very long waiting queue at the Japanese Industry Pavilion. Instead of waiting for 2 hours, we left the site. When we returned in the evening at the time approaching pavilion closure, the queue was much shorter. After waiting for half an hour, we got into the pavilion but were then disappointed with the shows. There were eight movies introducing the Japanese products. One of them was a 3-D movie, and one of the products was made from soy beams. The movies acted rather like advertisement. They were so boring that we left the pavilion after we had finished watching four.
I love reading, studying, traveling and sightseeing. I have visited a number of countries over the world. I enjoyed my previous visits in several world expositions. The Shanghai Expo 2010 is on the top of my interest. I, therefore, would like to keep the beautiful memory by writing a blog.
