London contributes zero-carbon buildings for Expo

The City of London is building China's first carbon-neutral buildings as its contribution for the Shanghai World Expo's Urban Best Practices Area.

The buildings will house a lecture hall, a restaurant, an exhibition hall and six model rooms.

Six designers will create six different styles for the rooms, which will have environmentally friendly furniture and decoration.

The inspiration for London's UBPA two pavilions came from the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED), an environmentally friendly housing development near Wallington, in the London Borough of Sutton.

BedZED encourages public transport, cycling and walking, and discourages cars with limited parking.

The buildings will use the technology and methods used in BedZED with adjustments for Shanghai's climate.

The London Pavilions will be situated north of the Shanghai pavilion on the Puxi side of the Expo site.

Construction started in May.

Interns join Expo cause

Xu Weiguo, deputy Party chief of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination

Student Lu Minhua(left) and Lu Yanhua show their contracts with the Shanghai Foreign Service Co yesterday. They are two of the 130 interns officially recruited by the World Expo 2010 organizer.

THE 2010 World Expo organizer yesterday recruited 130 interns from the city's university graduates to assist in operations for the event.

They will begin to work in the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination from September to the end of the Expo in October next year.

A three-week training program from the Expo organizer will include Expo general knowledge, Chinese and English writing, etiquette, group working, fire fighting and emergency aid.

The students were employed in 23 departments of the bureau in areas including secretarial work, archive management, marketing, construction, legal services and public relations.

The organizer will recruit about 1,000 more interns at the end of the year to work in the Expo bureau, national pavilions or government institutions at the Expo site

The Expo organizer aims to showcase the image of Shanghai youth to world visitors at the Expo and provide job opportunities to local graduates under the current financial crisis, said Xu Weiguo, deputy Party chief of the bureau.

Local unemployed graduates aged between 20 and 25, are eligible.

English speaking and writing abilities are needed for most of the positions. Wages are about 576 yuan (US$84.27) per month with the bureau paying other expenses.

Shen Yue, 23, who graduated from Tongji University, said she rejected an offer from a company that promised to pay her 2,500 yuan per month to apply for the Expo position.

She was recruited as a bureau administration assistant.

Interns can leave work if they find new jobs, but need to give a month's notice, said Zhuang Meichun, deputy director of Shanghai Foreign Service Co.

The company, a human resources service provider, will hold the first round of interviews. The Expo bureau will conduct final interviews at the end of next month.

Potential candidates can apply online at http://jianxi.efesco.com/jianxi/index.jsp.

Xu said the organizer would grant certificates and write recommendations for the Expo interns for future careers.

Spotlight falls on urban harmony extravaganza

scene of the signing ceremony

Wang Zhongwei, head of the Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai

Zhong Yanqun, fulltime deputy director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee

A Taiwan arts company, along with Shanghai Media Group, will provide a spectacular stage show based on the "Better City, Better Life" theme of the 2010 World Expo.

The Taipei Arts International Association yesterday signed a deal with the Expo organizer. The stage show, "Light of Cities," will use music and dance to tell an urban story of love and harmony.

It would show the development of Chinese cities from ancient to modern times as well as urban lives in different countries, said Serrina Chen, director of the association and a producer of the show.

The show would involve Chinese opera, Western drama, acrobatics and multimedia, she said.

Dialogue will be sparse in the show to help visitors from around the world.

The show will last for 30 to 40 minutes and feature four afternoon and night sessions. A total of 650 shows will be performed during the Expo.

The organizer will build an indoor stage especially for the centerpiece show in the Expo Park at the very west of the Expo site. It will be about 8,000 square meters in area and 20 meters high and capable of holding 2,000 spectators.

It will also be able to be dismantled and moved to other venues at the site.

Japanese Expo delegation praised

scene of the meeting

A senior organizer of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo praised the Japan Pavilion team on Friday for their outstanding management and the speediest construction of a pavilion.

Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said the efficient management of the Japan Pavilion had set an example for others when he welcomed Hirofumi Katase, the director of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is responsible for the pavilion.

Hong hoped Japan's exhibition will be a huge attraction and pledged every support for the country's participation.

Katase said construction workers are still enthusiastic and the Japanese side will continue the momentum for a successful Expo.

The 24-meter-high Japan Pavilion, which sits on a 6,000-square-meter plot, is the largest and most expensive Japan has built for a World Expo. The pavilion is a semi-circular structure, covered by a purple membrane material. Several antennae and caves will make the pavilion a "breathing organism," which will express the harmony between the human heart and technology.

Christine Foodstuff becomes bakery products supplier for Expo 2010

Christine Foodstuff Co Ltd becomes Expo 2010's project sponsor and supplier of bakery products.

Hong Hao (right), director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, offers a bronze plaque of project sponsorship to Lo Tien-an, chairman of Shanghai Christine Foodstuff Co Ltd.

The Bureau of Shanghai Expo Coordination signed an agreement yesterday with Shanghai Christine Foodstuff Co Ltd, making it Expo 2010's official project sponsor and supplier of bakery products. The company will open outlets in Expo site.

The cooperation between the bureau and Christine will enhance the line of Expo sponsors and offer an opportunity for Christine's further development, said Chen Xianjin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, at an agreement signing ceremony.

Chen Xianjin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, delivers a speech.

Lo Tien-an, chairman of Shanghai Christine Foodstuff Co Ltd, delivers a speech.

Chen also hoped that as an Expo project sponsor, Christine will not only offer "safe, nutritious and healthy" food for the Expo 2010 but also help promote the Expo.

Christine Chairman Lo Tien-an said that the company started as early as four years ago its preparation for becoming part of the Expo 2010.

The company will not only offer healthy and safe food for the Expo but also showcase China's great achievements in food industry, Lo added.

Employees of Christine Foodstuff take an oath to serve the Expo.

Christine Foodstuff operates eight food factories and about 800 outlets in 21 Chinese mainland cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. It is the largest company in China's baking industry in terms of business volume, number of outlets as well as tax and profits. It has also been listed in Forbes Magazine "Potential 100 China" for three consecutive years.

With Christine Foodstuff, the Expo 2010 now has 13 global partners, 13 senior sponsors and 15 project sponsors.

Haibao appears at Capital Airport

Haibao statue at the departures hall in the Third Terminal Building of Beijing Capital International Airport.

Haibao statue at the arrivals hall in the Third Terminal Building of Beijing Capital International Airport.

Haibao statue attracts passengers.

Five statues of Expo 2010 mascot Haibao appeared in Beijing Capital International Airport's second and third terminal building on Thursday.

These statues attracted passengers and some people took pictures with these statues.

The Expo 2010 will start on May 1, 2010. The Beijing Capital International Airport is China's largest airport. It transported 55 million people last year and 31 million people in the first half of this year.

China's top football league to promote Expo

scene of the signing ceremony

Nan Yong, deputy chairman of Chinese Football Association

scene of the signing ceremony

scene of the signing ceremony

THE World Expo Shanghai logo and its mascot "Haibao" will appear on the billboards behind goals at Chinese Super League soccer matches in the remainder of this season and all of next season, as the top tier professional league organizer today signed a deal with the Expo organizer in Shanghai.

More than 60 million people across the country are expected to see the "Better City, Better Life" Expo Shanghai theme in the matches while watching on TV or go to the stadiums.

The Chinese Football Association will use all its recourses to promote the Expo and also hoped to introduce the Chinese football to the world via the Expo 2010, said Nan Yong, deputy chairman of the association.

Unlike many European leagues, the CSL starts at February-March and ends at November-December every year. There are 16 teams in the current season. Shandong Luneng won the champion last year.

Twenty-six domestic TV stations are broadcasting live the league games. About 58 million audiences watched the first 16 rounds of games of the 2009 season on TV while about 20,000 people on average attended a match.

Jiefang Daily forms Expo reporting team

Jiefang Daily forms Expo reporting team.

Zhu Yonglei, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, delivers a speech.

Huang Qiang, deputy editor-in-chief of Jiefang Daily, delivers a speech.

Shanghai's leading newspaper Jiefang Daily formed a reporting team today for Expo with its elite reporters and editors.

The team will set up an embedded work place within the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Jiefang Daily has been supporting Expo 2010 promotion from the very beginning, said Zhu Yonglei, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Jiefang Daily has not only produced quality in-depth reports about Expo but also carried Expo advertisement and organized package reports to promote the event, Zhu added.

Huang Qiang, deputy editor-in-chief of Jiefang Daily, said that the newspaper will run a special Expo page on the 10th, 20th and 30th of every month to report the latest development.

The special pages will join with the newspaper's other Expo series reports, Huang added.

Jiefang Daily Group, the parent of Jiefang Daily, became one of Expo 2010's media partners July 21 with two other major Shanghai media groups – Shanghai Media Group and Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group.

2009 Expo youth camp opens

High school students read aloud Expo camp declaration to call on fellow students to contribute to Expo 2010.

High school students read aloud Expo camp declaration to call on fellow students to contribute to Expo 2010.

About 500 outstanding high school students today attended the opening ceremony of an Expo youth camp and a key high school student union chairmen's forum at Fuxing Senior High School in Shanghai.

These students were mainly from 80 key high schools in Shanghai and several key high schools in the neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

The summit forum of the camp invited Yu Lizhong, president of East China Normal University, Huang Yaocheng, counselor for national participation with the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, Gu Yefei, chief supervisor of Bailian Group and Pu Donglin, chairman of Shanghai Student Federation, to discuss the theme of "express myself, showcase the Expo." The guests offered their opinions on how young students, mostly dubbed as "post-90 generation," should demonstrate their personalities and feelings and how to contribute their talents to the Expo 2010.

The guests said that young people should consider other people's feelings when they are expressing their opinions or demonstrating their emotions. Yu said that an outgoing personality means a proactive demonstration of one's quality, which is very positive in our times. Huang said that it's a good thing to be willing to express oneself. The Expo offers a glimpse to the future, and the future calls for the braveness and passion of young people. But it will be stupid if young people focus only on their feelings but neglect that of others. Gu reminded the listeners to learn to be a team player, not a lonely star.

The organizers of these activities include the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, Spiritual Civilization Office of the CCP Shanghai Committee, China Communist Youth League Shanghai Committee, and Jiefang Daily Group. Such activities have been organized annually since 2004 and will be organized during the Expo 2010 period.

The activities will last until Monday. Other activities include dressing up Expo mascot Haibao, discussing how to coordinate study and extra curriculum activities as well as face setbacks in lifes.

Touring exhibition promotes Germany Pavilion

a model of the Germany Pavilion

German officials have started touring major cities of China to promote its "Balancity" pavilion, Germany's official World Expo 2010 Website revealed early this week.

The exhibition features a model of the pavilion on a scale of 1 to 200 together with a film providing a virtual tour through the exhibition of "Balancity."

The film starts with showcasing the displays of Germany's federal states. Visitors will then gradually explore various places typical of a city -- a harbor, a factory, a garden, a park and a depot where exhibits and urban projects from Germany will be on show.

The exhibition also involves several posters providing information in German, English und Chinese about Germany's Expo involvement and the pavilion's architecture and exhibition.

The tour started in June in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, which was marked by a week-long exhibition. It has also reached the German Centre for Industry and Trade Shanghai Co and Goethe-Institute Shanghai.

It will hit Wuhan, Beijing and return to Shanghai in 2010. Its Shanghai leg also includes a series of exhibitions at Tongji University.

The 6,000-square-meter structure will be Germany's largest ever at an Expo and will comprise three exhibition areas that will showcase urban life and how the country's design and products can help solve urbanization problems.

It will demonstrate the importance of balance between modernization and preservation, innovation and tradition, community and the individual, work and leisure, and between globalization and national identity.