New Expo passports on sale

The new version of the Expo passport went on sale at Expo franchise stores in the Expo site yesterday, the organizers announced.

The new Expo passports still have two editions - a cartoon edition and a standard edition in three colors. Producers of Expo passports were increased from one to five to ensure an adequate supply.

A temporary outlet selling souvenirs for 2010 FIFA World Cup on floor B2 at the north end of the Expo Boulevard also drew large crowds. Limited edition of football badges and pins, for instance, are popular among fans.

Meanwhile, drizzly weather made the Expo site cooler, attracting more than 440,000 visitors yesterday.

Among yesterday's visitors, 168,000 were on tour groups.

A total of 38,568 tickets were sold on site, with 15,310 night admissions.

Houtan Gate received about 79,000 visitors, Changqing Road 68,000, and Shangnan Road, Gaoke Road W. about 126,000 in total.

By 5pm, 72 shows were staged, attracting about 45,000 spectators. A total of 6,272 volunteers served on the site.

The site is estimated to receive about 180,000 group visitors today. Individual tourists are advised to enter from less crowded gates at Shangnan Rd, Bansongyuan Rd or Madang Rd during 9am to 11am rush hours. Expo visitors are also advised to take umbrellas around during plum rain season in Shanghai.

Mozambique celebrates Pavilion Day

Mozambique in the Africa Joint Pavilion celebrates its National Pavilion Day today with performances from its traditional troupe.

With a "Better District, Better Life" theme, Mozambique hopes to showcase the country's achievements in areas such as education, hygiene, science and technology, economy, environmental protection and planning and share experience with other countries in promoting urbanization, economic development and improving people's livelihoods, Armando Artur, Minister of Culture, said at this morning's ceremony in the Expo Center.

The Expo 2010 would promote world peace and development, respect and help countries learn from each other in urban construction and development.

Ou'yang Jian, China's vice minister of Culture, congratulated Mozambique on the 35-year anniversary of its independence and the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mozambique.

He said the country's exhibition not only displays its achievement in urban construction, but also its focus on regional development and planning and sustainable development.

The Mozambique Pavilion emphasizes regional development to achieve goals and sustainable development and showcases progress in its cities.

The pavilion's four areas are linked by the "Zambezi River." There are a school, a traditional cottage, a hospital and a modern apartment building.

The school represents education and culture, the hospital shows science and technology and the cottage of traditional materials features tourism and hotels.

The residence is the welcome and information area and features projects on public engineering, urbanization, road construction and beach erosion.

There are also two major projects for exhibitions highlighting a bridge and a dam.

Environmental change on forum agenda

The fourth theme forum of Expo Shanghai focusing on "Environmental Change and City Responsibility" will be held in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, on July 3 and 4.

The forum aims to explore how to combat environmental change through division of work and collaboration among city governments, corporations and citizens. It would last one day and a half, involving an opening ceremony, six parallel forums and a closing ceremony, Xu Wei, spokesman of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, told yesterday's press conference.

About 60 speakers will share their visions. They include minister-level officials, well-known environmental experts, mayors, representatives from international organizations and entrepreneurs from more than 10 countries and regions.

At the opening ceremony, speakers will deliver keynote speeches on "environmental protection and urban prospect," "facing climate change and promoting harmonious city development scientifically," "global resource environment and development in China: the contributions and responsibilities," "towards a green and sustainable urban future" and "assessment of global climate change: science, adaptation and mitigation."

The list of speakers includes officials from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China Meteorological Administration, China National Energy Administration, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner and Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A number of experts will attend parallel forums on "low-carbon development and climate change," "industrial development and green innovation: production and energy," "public participation in building green cities," "urban environment management and clean energy development," "industrial development and green innovation: sustainable architecture" and "sustainable way of production and living."

In conclusion of the forum, the former president of Chinese Academy of Engineering Xu Kuangdi will deliver a keynote speech on low-carbon and the global technology revolution. Yang Xiong, executive vice mayor of Shanghai and executive deputy director of the Expo 2010 Executive Committee, will make concluding remarks.

The Nanjing government has endeavored to build the city into an international green city with policy support as well as science and technology, Mou Xiaoyu, deputy secretary general of the Nanjing Government, said at the conference.

Six Expo theme forums are scheduled in all. The other theme forums will start successively in Shaoxing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. The theme will be "Economic Transformations and Urban-Rural Relations" for Shaoxing and "Harmonious City and Livable Life" for Hangzhou.

Sweden Pavilion spruced up with sea of flowers

Visitors to the Sweden Pavilion will be surrounded by an ocean of flowers because florists are decorating the pavilion in celebration of midsummer today, one of Swedes' most beloved cultural festivals.

Gunnar Kaj, Sweden's most famous floral designer and florist Elaine Jansson, are turning the pavilion into a garden with garlands and daisy chains. They will make a maypole with flower, leaf and garlands, a symbol of midsummer festival. Some visitors to the pavilion will be invited to join in the decoration.

According to old sayings, nature was full of supernatural powers during midsummer, said Gunnar Kaj. "To collect all this powerful magic in a daisy chain was thought to give strength and luck for the future. That is a tradition we want to bring to Shanghai."

A raft of programs is on the pavilion's menu, including the SymbioCity Forum in July, the family musical "Pippi Longstocking" in August and forums in August and October. Swedish Crown Princess Victoria is expected to visit the pavilion in October.

Exhibition traces Chinese migration to Peru

An exhibition entitled "160 Years of Chinese Immigration to Peru" opened at the Peru Pavilion yesterday night.

The exhibit comprises photographs and historical documents that narrate the settlers' voyage and the linking of Peruvian and Chinese people.

The last part of the showcase displays how Chinese contribute to the development of Peruvian cuisine and make it diverse.

Chinese started moving to Peru in the mid 19th century. In 1874, a series of agreements in business and trade were signed between the two countries, heralding the start of their cooperation and exchange, said Harold Forsyth, ambassador of Peru to China.

Over the past 100-plus years, the friendship between the two peoples is deepened, the ambassador said. He noted that the pavilion hopes to promote its traditional culture and further friendship with Chinese people via the Expo.

Norway Pavilion unveils painting of northern light

A painting featuring dreamlike northern lights in Tromso was unveiled in the Norway Pavilion this afternoon.

The painting "Trace of Aurora" was created by Chinese artist Sun Yao, who made a trip to Tromso in northern part of Norway in December 2009.

Sun said he was fascinated by the diverse color of the light and hoped to call on people's awareness in protecting the nature via his painting.

Replica of Spanish ship arrives in Shanghai

A replica of the 17th-century Spanish galleon, known as "Andalucia," docks at the North Bund yesterday.

A replica of the 17th-century Spanish galleon, known as "Andalucia," docks at the North Bund yesterday.

cute mascot

sailors of the ship

A replica of the 17th-century Spanish galleon, known as "Andalucia," docked at the North Bund yesterday after a 10,500-nautical-mile voyage from Seville, Spain.

The 52-meter-long and 10.1-meter-wide ship is a replica of Spanish galleons, which are large, multi-decked sailing ships used to transport silk, porcelain and spices between Asia, America, Europe and Oceania since the 17th century.

The ship embarked on the journey on March 21 from Seville, anchoring at Malta, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Singapore. It attracted 96,000 visitors on board. The aim is to promote Spanish culture, tourism, business and delicacies.

It is regarded as an ambassador of friendship of Andalucia, an autonomous community of Spain.

The ship will leave Shanghai in September.

Jazz flavor at Japanese Industry Pavilion

Julee Karan and her band perform at the JAL stage of the Japanese Industry Pavilion.

Julee Karan and her band perform at the JAL stage of the Japanese Industry Pavilion.

Julee Karan, a Japanese jazz singer, performed at the JAL stage of the Japanese Industry Pavilion yesterday afternoon.

Her performance included "I will always love you" and "Star," her most famous songs.

She will stage three concerts on the stage.

56th day records nearly a half million attendance

The Expo site attracted 480,900 visitors yesterday despite drizzles.

Among yesterday's visitors, 167,100 were on tour groups and 104,300 visitors used free tickets Shanghai government distributed to local residents.

A total of 37,201 tickets were sold on site, with 13,186 night admissions.

By 5pm, 54 out of the 136 shows on schedule were staged, attracting 19,600 spectators. A total of 6,272 volunteers served on the site.

Altogether 256 people were treated at the five medical service stations in the Expo site by 4pm, including 38 suffering injuries.

Expo dining and shopping guide maps are availed at information centers since yesterday.

More visitors are expected today. Individual tourists are advised to enter the site off the peak hours from 9am to 11am.

Only gates at Puxi's Madang Road and Xizang Road S. are now exclusive to individual visitors, as starting yesterday, the gates at Shangnan Road and Gaoxiong Road S. joined the other gates to open to group visitors.

Jackson fans commemorate the King in Expo park

Fans are taking photos with Michael Jackson's wax figure

Michael Jackson fans set up floral tributes at the Expo park yesterday to mark the death one year ago of the controversial pop star.

A wax figure of Jackson from Madame Tussauds Shanghai was set up at the Expo UN Devnet Pavilion as well as an exhibition of photos, albums and memorabilia.

The wax figure, under a giant poster of "This Is It," stood in the center of a stage, wearing a red woolen coat. It attracted many Jackson fan visitors to the Expo yesterday to take pictures with.

The figure will be on show at the pavilion till next Tuesday.

Seminar to address Porto Alegre's bid for better urban life

A seminar was held yesterday at the Pavilion of Future on the Expo site to review the Brazilian city Porto Alegre's ambition of creating a better urban life for residents via good urban transport management and green information technologies.

Porto Alegre, a port in southern Brazil with a population of 1.43 million, has an Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) project at the ongoing World Expo Shanghai 2010, illustrating this ambition themed "Local Solidarity Governance Implementation in Porto Alegre, Brazil: Strategies for Social Inclusion Promotion."

The project features the Brazilian city's participatory budget program - a social reform effort to pursue the real needs of the urban society.

At yesterday's seminar, Porto Alegre gave its solutions to a better urban life - good public transport services and green technologies.

For example, the city set up unified charging standards to avail fairer and cheaper public transport services to the residents.

And to reduce the pollution and waste, side effects of the technology development, it launched the PROCEMPA project to promote environmentally-friendly information technologies.

Marcos Eduardo dos Santos, financial managing director of Companhia Carris Porto-Alegrense (CARRIS), and Andre Imar Kullzynski, president of PROCEMPA, joined yesterday's seminar.

Elite singers perform for children

A collection of classic Chinese songs will take the spotlight on the stage at the Expo Culture Center tomorrow night, opening the concert series "the City the Love."

Senior artists including Li Guyi, Li Guangxi, Dedema, Geng Fenglian and Xiao Xiangyu and as well as young singers such as Tan Jing, Shang Wenjie, He Jie and family group the Lucky Four will bring classical songs for children including "Drinking Song" and "Beautiful Grassland My Home."

They will bring the audience back to the old days and let youngsters get closer to the classic moments.

The concert is also a part of the "Stars Bring You to Expo" event when the artists will take children from poor rural areas to the Expo site and have a tour together. The children will be the special guests to tomorrow's concert.

Somalia Pavilion Day brings unlimited potential

The Somali Pavilion held its National Day today at Expo center with congratulations from senior officials from both Somali and China.

Abdullahi Yusuf Mohammad, Somalian Minister of Petroleum, and Jiang Zhengyun, China's deputy commissioner general for World Expo, delivered speeches at the ceremony.

Abdullahi Yusuf Mohammad said the rapid development of urbanization also brought about negative problems. So it is a meaningful and attractive idea to make city as the theme of World Expo Shanghai where people can share their city experiences and talk about the world's future.

Jiang congratulated Somalia for the National Day and expressed gratitude for the country's support to Expo Shanghai.

He believed, Somalia - the first east African country to establish diplomatic relations with China 50 years ago - would again bring its special beauty here.

Themed "Boosaaso: A City with Unlimited Potential," the Somalia Pavilion showcases this northeastern city bordering the Indian Ocean. It is an example of the importance of geography and culture in Somali cities and shows the impact of various cultures -- African, Middle Eastern, Indian, European.

The round pavilion, both modern and mysterious in sea blue and desert white, features civilization, geography, political views, religion, ties with other countries and sustainable development.

Visitors walk clockwise around the pavilion, starting from a "desert" dotted with camel models.

Italian wedding gowns on Expo catwalk

EXPO visitors to the Italy National Pavilion were dazzled by a fashion show last night featuring a collection of more than 40 Italian designed and made wedding and evening gowns.

The gowns were all hand-made and designed by renowned Italy fashion firms Azzurra Collezione, Bellantuono, Giovanna Sbiroli, Rossorame, Ninfe Collezioni Sposa, Anna Primiceri Spose and Gianni Calignano.

They were made of silk and with lace and bow knot decorations.

Rossorame's designer Bruno Simeone said he had worked in China for three years. That had inspired him to introduce Eastern female grace to the new designs, he said.

Simeone defined the Italian fashion style as a good combination of colors and styles.

Houtan Gate takes the lead to encourage good manners

Expo site's Houtan Gate was named as Expo 2010's first model gate yesterday, part of a program to encourage good manners from the visitors.

Security checks at all 14 gates of Expo 2010 have been improved since the event's opening in May, but still facing great challenge, officials said.

Up to 39,000 people can now pass through the Houtan Gate in an hour compared with the earlier 10,000 per hour. It has gained appreciations and praises from visitors.

Yin Yicui, Shanghai vice Party Secretary, Yang Xiong, Shanghai executive vice mayor, Yang Zhengwu, Minister of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Committee's Publicity Department, and Hu Hanwu, Political Commissar of armed police, attended yesterday's naming ceremony.

Yin said security check is a crucial defense job of the Expo site and a big mirror of residents' good manners.

She called on the Expo staff to further gear up and improve the work and encourage good manners from Expo visitors.