World Expo 2010 Shanghai China: Riverside Scene Qingming Festival

China Pavilion at Expo Shanghai

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

China Pavilion

The China Pavilion is the top attraction in 2010 Shanghai Expo. Its building is grand and magnificent, blending the modern architecture with a taste of the ancient Chinese culture. The theme of the China Pavilion features the Chinese wisdom in urban development. In the first section of the exhibition, we watched a short movie which showed cases of Chinese's experiences in urbanization over the past 30 years. We then moved to the main gallery in where we were fascinated to see a giant animated rendition lively presenting a scene of Chinese people' activities during a festival back to the days 900 years ago. The scene is an imitation of the famous ancient Chinese painting scroll "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival". In the picture, animated characters were shouldering commodities, selling groceries, riding donkeys, enjoying dinners, rowing boats, etc. We strolled along the "bank" of the animated "river" which stayed right below the 128 meter-long animated rendition. Referring as one of the China's national treasures, the real painting of the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" was also displayed in the pavilion. Other displays were valuable antiques in the hall "Crystals of civilization".

Architecture China Pavilion

In the second section, we came to the "Land of Hope". There were projections of future apartments showing how people would improve their quality of life in cities. In the agricultural area, there were displays of super rice which were tall and strong. One of the signboard's indications was the emphasis of rural-urban harmony. In further explorations, we entered the hallway in where children paintings were displayed. Peeping through the glass wall of the hallway, we could view distant scenery of the Expo site and people lining up in front of the China Pavilion. We were, in fact, staying as high as in a modern high-rise building. Getting into another exhibition hall, we found a chance to rest our tired legs by riding an excursion train. The train tour offered us a dynamic and exciting journey of discovery and enabled us to learn about Chinese wisdom in city planning.

Looking down from the China Pavilion

The final section of the exhibition expressed the effort of the Chinese government in the advocacy of low-carbon lifestyle to its citizens. Energy saving facilities such as wind power generators and LED bulbs were displayed. Reaching the end of the exhibition hall, we came to a large ring-shape lotus pond surrounded by sliding rains. We got into the center part of the lotus pond and stepped onto the extraordinarily long escalator which sent us down to the open-area podium. Passing the Chinese garden, we got our way to the exit.