Expo accessible for the disabled

All Expo venues, including 51 Chinese pavilions, will have access for the disabled, officials said at a city's meeting on the construction of disabled access facilities on Monday.

Construction on disable access facilities at the Expo site has started, said Zhu Wei, deputy director of Site Planning Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Expo 2010 should be more accessible than previous ones.

The Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination has been compiling routes guides for disabled visitors and setting service standards.

Volunteers to assist disabled visitors will be called for from September.

Source: Shanghai Daily

Expo mascots join hands

Organizers of two upcoming consecutive world expositions unveil the statues of Shanghai 2010 World Expo mascot Haibao and the Yeosu 2012 World Expo mascot Yeosurang and Badarang.

Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, delivers a speech.

Organizers of two upcoming consecutive world expositions yesterday unveiled the statues of Shanghai 2010 World Expo mascot Haibao and the Yeosu 2012 World Expo mascot Yeosurang and Badarang at a major railway station in Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea.

Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, Yeosu Mayor Oh Hyun-sup and Kang Dong-Suk, the new Chairman of the Organizing Committee for Expo 2012 Yeosu unveiled the cute blue figure of Haibao as well as Yeosurang and Badarang at the Seoul Station.

Yeosurang means "With Yeosu," reflecting people's love for Yeosu, while Badarang meaning "With Sea" representing the nature of the city and its pure sea. Blue, white and red are the three major colors used for the mascot, symbolizing sea, clean environment and creatures respectively.

Meanwhile, huge countdown clocks at the station have started ticking off the seconds, hours and days to the two Expos.

A promotional video about the 2010 Expo is being broadcast on Seoul's Subway Line 5, which is an important east-west link connecting Gimpo Airport, the Yeouido business area, downtown Seoul, and the Gangdong residential districts.

The Yeosu Expo, which will have the theme "The Living Ocean and Coast - Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities," aims to bring countries and regions together to improve the understanding of the value of the ocean and the coast and to propose desirable ways of using the ocean for the present and future prosperity for all.

It will be held between May 12 and August 12, 2012.

Expo podcaster group taps China Pavilion

Ni Yang, deputy chief designer of China Pavilion, elaborates on the design of the 20,000-square-meter China Pavilion to podcasters.

Podcasters pose with China Pavilion.

An Expo podcaster group yesterday visited the under-construction China Pavilion to learn about its design concept.

The podcaster group includes podcast users from websites such as qq.com, sina.com, China.com, PPStream, tudou.com and youku.com with authorization from the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Ni Yang, deputy chief designer of the pavilion, elaborated on the design of the 20,000-square-meter red structure, "The Crown of the East," which is an inverted pyramid.

The podcasters said it was a rare opportunity to have a look at the pavilion. The first organized activity of the Expo podcaster group was held at Capital Museum, where the World Expo 2010 Exhibition was held.

Officials with the bureau said that netizens were becoming more important in communication and information and they organized the podcaster group to record and promote the Expo.

Huangpu cracks down on Haibao counterfeits

Urban management staff in Shanghai's Huangpu District confiscates counterfeit versions of the 2010 World Expo mascot Haibao.

Urban management staff in Shanghai's Huangpu District have confiscated about 200 counterfeit versions of the 2010 World Expo mascot Haibao following a recent raid on downtown Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street.

It was the first time that local authorities have teamed up with the Expo organizer to confiscate bogus Expo 2010 products that infringe the event's intellectual property rights.

The raid came after reports published in local newspapers saying that street vendors were selling counterfeit Haibao toys.