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Barcelona, Spain, has presented a special gift to the 2010 World Expo – an exact replica of Antonio Gaudi’s Dragon in celebration of the event.
A farewell ceremony was held in Barcelona late last month, attended by Manuel Romera, the Regional Executive Director of La Caixa, and Wang Shixiong, the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Barcelona. It was chaired by Barcelona Mayor Jordi Hereu.
Gaudi Dragon is a symbol representing the city of Barcelona. The replica is 3.28 meters long, 1.65 wide and 1.82 meters high. It weighs 12 tons.
The sculpture will be exhibited at the Spain Pavilion and remain permanently in Shanghai after the Expo.
It was presented because it is the first time that cities will have their own space for display in World Expo and the close relationship between the two cities, Barcelona officials said. Shanghai and Barcelona signed a sister city agreement in 2001.

Barcelona presents Gaudi Dragon replica to Expo

EXPO Shanghai

More than 610,000 people, including 3,001 foreigners, signed up to be volunteers at the 2010 World Expo, an Expo official said Tuesday. A total of 70,943 people have been recruited to work inside the Expo site.
The majority of volunteers are Shanghai people aged between 16 and 35 and with higher education background, Xia Kejia, director of the Volunteer Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, told a press conference in Shanghai.
The foreigners are from 109 countries and regions.
Most of the foreign volunteers live in Shanghai and can speak Chinese. The organizer has also recruited some volunteers who served at the 2005 Aichi Expo in Japan and some from Milan in Italy, which will host the 2015 World Expo.
They will start training with the Chinese volunteers on Friday.
Volunteers who work inside the Expo site will be used as information consultants, assistant receptionists, aids for physically challenged people, event coordinators, assistant guides, interpreters, media coordinators and management assistants for volunteers.
Each volunteer will work about seven hours every day and for at least 14 days.
The Expo will have 2,553 volunteers serving visitors in the site on weekdays. The number will double during weekends, holidays and national celebrations, Xia said.

scene of the press conference

EXPO Shanghai

A cinema with a 360-degree screen will be a feature of the Macau Pavilion, officials said at an Expo forum in Macau yesterday.
Visitors will take an escalator in the pavilion’s atrium to watch films displayed on the huge screen, said Ieong Pou Yee, director of the Office Preparation of Macau’s Participation in the Expo.
The forum had the theme: “Sustainable Development, Better City” and it was being held by the 2010 World Exposition Executive Committee and the Macau Special Administrative Region government. Similar meetings will be held in Hong Kong and Singapore later this week.

scene of the forum

EXPO Shanghai

Leading media in Shanghai including Shanghai Daily will start airing 100 celebrities’ visions of the 2010 World Expo from tomorrow, the 100-day countdown to the grand event.

The project, called “100 celebrities worldwide talking about Expo 2010” is being organized by the Information Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government, the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, Jiefang Daily and Wenhui Daily.
One hundred international and domestic figures from various walks of life are invited to share their visions about “Better City, Better Life” and convey their expectations and wishes for the Expo.

Jiefang Daily, Wenhui Daily, Shanghai Daily, the International Shanghai Channel, the Website for the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, the official Website for Expo 2010 and Eastday.com all participated in the drive.
Books collecting all celebrities’ words will also be issued in Chinese and English.

The list includes Singapore’s veteran politician and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan, NBA star Yao Ming and Olympic hurdle champion Liu Xiang.

EXPO Shanghai