Results tagged “worldexpo2010”

This irks us almost as much as that really terrible opinion piece on Xinhua that poked fun at Facebook's "gloomy" status in China without ever mentioning that the service has been blocked. Guess who's on Facebook (and fellow blocked social networking tool Twitter)? The World Expo.

Old habits die hard, but when Shanghai says "No" to smoking, it ain't playin'. Organizers of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 have returned a $29.3 million sponsorship from Shanghai Tobacco after they felt it clashed with the Expo's "living healthier" image.

As Shanghai prepares for the 2010 World Expo at a frighteningly fast pace, one aspect of urban development is being overlooked: emergency shelters. Currently, should any sort of natural disaster befall the city, Shanghai's almost 19 million citizens would have only one (still unfinished) public emergency shelter to turn to.

Australia seems to be taking the early bird proverb pretty seriously these days. It became the first foreign pavilion to finish its outer structure last week, and then revealed its own official mascot for the World Expo - a kookaburra! And now it's looking for the Chinese to give the Ozzie representative a name.

So the Shanghai World Expo organizers have set another date for when they will finally say “No way, no how, you're too late to build your pavilion now”: June 30.

We knew you were curious about what song Jackie Chan sang this morning to welcome in the Expo year-long countdown, so we went and looked for it on Youku. Turns out there's already a video featuring Jackie, Lang Lang and Yao Ming!

• Despite not having discovered any swine flu in the city, Shanghai's taking measures to prevent it. [Shanghai Daily]
• That's Shanghai takes a look at the city during World War II, specifically a little German right-wing group you may have heard of once or twice. [Urbanatomy]
• It's now almost a year to the start of the Expo, and Dongtan - the fabled eco-suburb-city of Shanghai - still lies in a rut. Following the footsteps of the Christian Science Monitor, Yale Environmental 360 and several other news organizations, the Guardian now has its own take on the matter. [The Guardian UK]

We thought we'd have another two years before the smoking laws came into effect, but it now looks like Shanghai's ready to ban cigarettes from public places - indoor venues, public transport and work areas - by January 2010. They're even discussing a penalty this time around! Officials say the law will help make the Expo smoke-free when it starts five months after... and since it's attached to the Expo, you can bet people will be enforcing this with maybe slightly more gusto than previous attempts to wipe out the cancer sticks. Still... it IS China. What will officials use as the go to way of establishing guanxi after? Lollipops? Source: Shanghai Daily

Whilst not everyone loves the regular toothpastey Haibao, it would take a cold, cold heart not to love him in his new outfit.

Definitely welcome news to our ears, eyes and headspaces - the televisions streaming constant looping advertisements in the back of Shanghai's taxis are thankfully on the out.

• Shall we go for a jaunt in the cemetery, check out celebrity graves and catch a flick? [Shanghai Daily] "Though young people are less fearful than their parents, going to the cemetery is still a grave undertaking, not a walk in the park. So it was a break with tradition when parklike Fushouyuan Cemetery in suburban Qingpu District applied late last year for scenic-site status from the city's tourism commission. Fushouyuan (literally Happiness Longevity Garden) says the process is underway and is making big plans to attract visitors throughout the year... That a cemetery could become a tourist attraction - and investors plan a cinema and a museum - is a sign that China's funereal (meaning sad) culture could slowly be lightening up."
• Enter the bunker of sound - 0093 [Urbanatomy Shanghai] Lisa Movius checks out 0093 - also called Ling Ling - a former bomb shelter turned rehearsal rooms where Shanghai's young bands have begun practicing their music. More than just a place to play, 0093 has become the glue that holds the Shanghai music scene together.
• Man falls onto Metro Line 2 track, killed by passing train [Oriental Morning Post] On Wednesday morning, a man suddenly fell onto the tracks at the Loushanguan Road station and was hit by an oncoming train. He was taken off the tracks immediately afterwards, but had died on impact, according to medical personnel. They could not find any documents on him. The Metro Line 2 train was delayed for 7 minutes.
• Shanghai’s Extreme Expo Makeover [All Roads Lead To China] "Well, you knew it was coming, and if you have been in Shanghai for the last 8 months you will already begun to see the signs of the 2010 Shanghai face lift. Extreme Makeover style. It is a process that will spare few neighborhoods, look for lots of buildings encased in green construction packaging, and the last line of the Shanghai Daily article City to clean up for Expo really says it all: 'Old residential areas, wet markets and small streets are the key targets'."

File this under the2010 World Expo actually making our lives marginally more convenient, huzzah!

• Mandarin Chinese profanity [Wikipedia] "While many offensive words and expletives involve insulting someone's mother, it is also common to show contempt by scorning another person's ancestors. Other Mandarin insults accuse people of not being human. Unlike English, Mandarin words for excrement or feces are less commonly used in slang and insults. Also, there are few parallels to English's blasphemous phrases, such as 'God damn it'."
• NKorea premier ends China visit [AFP] North Korean Premier Kim Yong-Il Saturday wrapped up his first visit to China, which came two weeks before Pyongyang's planned launch of a satellite, the Xinhua news agency reported. Kim's visit, which began Tuesday, was his first since taking office in 2007 and was officially to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
• Earthquake Pandas Go Home (with video!) [BBC] "Eight young pandas have returned to their native Sichuan province, after being relocated to Beijing, following last year's earthquake. Large crowds turned out to visit the pandas on their last weekend in Beijing before they are flown back to Sichuan province. The pandas will have a new home in Sichuan province with indoor air conditioning and outdoor swimming pools."

Weird Expo-related news of the day: members of a local Shanghai qipao club will be taking their favorite dresses to Taiwan to promote the World Expo there. Qipaos first came into fashion in 1920s Shanghai and were worn mostly by socialites and upperclass women. The qipao-clad ladies will spend a week walking around Taiwan in qipaos as a way to “show the traditional Chinese styles as well as the modern Shanghai style.” Their qipao club, founded in 2007, now contains over 270 members and has parties twice a week. Source: Shanghai Daily

• Morgan Stanley’s Chinese Land Scandal [NYTimes] "Last month, with property prices here and elsewhere in free fall, the bank dropped a bombshell: in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, it said it had fired an executive in its China real estate division after uncovering evidence that he might have violated the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars American business people from bribing foreign officials."
• U.S. Pavilion at Shanghai Expo to break ground on schedule [Xinhua] "Despite fund raising problems, officials of the U.S. Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010 say they are confident they will break ground to build a national pavilion on schedule this April."
• Premier Wen urges journalists to write "true, accurate" stories [Xinhua] "Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday urged journalists to write 'true and accurate' news stories because it is a fundamental principle and a lifeline for the media. Wen told a group of Xinhua News Agency staff that Xinhua should take the lead in doing so and carry on its tradition of reporting news accurately, effectively and timely."

Can't wait to get your tickets for the World Expo? Neither can we! Luckily for all of us, we now have a couple of dates to look forward to: group tickets will go on sale on March 27 and the public can start lining up on July 1. Basic price will be 160 yuan, three-day passes will be 400 yuan and seven-day passes will be 900. Discounts will be offered to the disabled, seniors, students, Chinese service-people and early birds. Source: Shanghai Daily

Much like the better toilet campaign enacted by Beijing before the Olympics, Shanghai will be upgrading its public restrooms in time for the World Expo. The city has said it will clean up and renovate more than 5,200 public toilets to meet the “urgent needs” of roughly 70 million expected Expo visitors.