After a day or running errands on my day off, I decided to write another blog post. I have just come home from a trip to the grocery store, I am eating a tiramisu cake I got at the grocery store and drinking Chivas Regal (scotch) and green tea, a drink I first had at a Chinese club. So basically I am experiencing life in that strange mix of eastern and western I have come to enjoy.
China is such a funny place; you really just never know what you are going to see! On my way to the grocery store, I walked through a local park for the first time and much to my surprise found a crowd of 150 or so Chinese people of all ages in the courtyard line dancing to country music. It was quite funny but very charming. I wanted to take a photo but didn’t want to be rude so I refrained. As I continued to walk through the park, I came across several pieces of outdoor exercise equipment such as arm weights, stationary bikes, and equipment to do pull-ups, sit-ups and torso twists. It’s really clever; you can be outside and enjoy the greenery, the sun (or the moon as was the case tonight) and exercise. Much more appealing than a gym, at least it was for me - I’ll definitely have to go back.
I am dedicating this blog post to the world expo which will be taking place in Shanghai starting May 1 and running through October. The World Expo, also knows the World Exposition, World’s Fair was first held in 1851 in London at Hyde Park and was the brainchild of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. Since then, the World Expo has been circling the globe via various host cities every few years or so (aside from gap during WWII when the world was otherwise occupied).
There have been several particularly famous expos that have left lasting landmarks. Ever heard of the Eiffel Tower (or La Tour Eiffel for you francophones out there : ), the Space Needle and monorail in Seattle, or the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago? Well all of these were originally built for World Expos hosted in their home cities with the intent of being torn down afterwards but because they became so popular they were maintained. So if the Expo had not gone to Paris in 1889, that world famous landmark would not be here today. Thanks World Expo because I think the Eiffel Tower is pretty cool!
Pavillions showcase new technology and cultural items from participating countries. The famous Little Mermaid Statue is leaving Copenhagen for the first time ever and will be on display at the Denmark Pavillion. This year’s expo theme is Better City, Better Life,and many countries are featuring eco-friendly technology and innovations in their pavilions. The marketing blitz for the expo has been expansive and the city is blanketed with notices about the expo; you really can’t go anywhere in the city without seeing some kind of marketing for it. Various iterations of Haibao, the cute, blue, and gumby-like mascot are everywhere, and various vendors; sanctioned and illegal are selling Haibao stuffed toys, phone decos and keychains. Oh and if you look at my post on Yu Yuan gardens, you can see the back side of a huge Haibao display.
Hosting the expo is a big deal for China and Shanghai. This is the first expo to be hosted in a developing city and huge efforts are being made to show the world the China of today. Throughout the expo, over 240 countries will be represented, over 14,000 journalists have applied for media permits, and it is projected that it will bring 70 million visitors to the city. Hotel prices and real estate prices have skyrocketed in the last month or so in anticipation of this and hotel rooms that might normally cost $100 are going for as much as $450 a night. So if you are coming to visit, you may want to take advantage of my spare bedroom but let me know soon!
So it is an exciting time to be here and I am looking forward to participating in and witnessing this cool event. If you want to read more about it, check out the Wikipedia article on the Shanghai Expo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2010_Shanghai_China
China is such a funny place; you really just never know what you are going to see! On my way to the grocery store, I walked through a local park for the first time and much to my surprise found a crowd of 150 or so Chinese people of all ages in the courtyard line dancing to country music. It was quite funny but very charming. I wanted to take a photo but didn’t want to be rude so I refrained. As I continued to walk through the park, I came across several pieces of outdoor exercise equipment such as arm weights, stationary bikes, and equipment to do pull-ups, sit-ups and torso twists. It’s really clever; you can be outside and enjoy the greenery, the sun (or the moon as was the case tonight) and exercise. Much more appealing than a gym, at least it was for me - I’ll definitely have to go back.
I am dedicating this blog post to the world expo which will be taking place in Shanghai starting May 1 and running through October. The World Expo, also knows the World Exposition, World’s Fair was first held in 1851 in London at Hyde Park and was the brainchild of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. Since then, the World Expo has been circling the globe via various host cities every few years or so (aside from gap during WWII when the world was otherwise occupied).
There have been several particularly famous expos that have left lasting landmarks. Ever heard of the Eiffel Tower (or La Tour Eiffel for you francophones out there : ), the Space Needle and monorail in Seattle, or the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago? Well all of these were originally built for World Expos hosted in their home cities with the intent of being torn down afterwards but because they became so popular they were maintained. So if the Expo had not gone to Paris in 1889, that world famous landmark would not be here today. Thanks World Expo because I think the Eiffel Tower is pretty cool!
Pavillions showcase new technology and cultural items from participating countries. The famous Little Mermaid Statue is leaving Copenhagen for the first time ever and will be on display at the Denmark Pavillion. This year’s expo theme is Better City, Better Life,and many countries are featuring eco-friendly technology and innovations in their pavilions. The marketing blitz for the expo has been expansive and the city is blanketed with notices about the expo; you really can’t go anywhere in the city without seeing some kind of marketing for it. Various iterations of Haibao, the cute, blue, and gumby-like mascot are everywhere, and various vendors; sanctioned and illegal are selling Haibao stuffed toys, phone decos and keychains. Oh and if you look at my post on Yu Yuan gardens, you can see the back side of a huge Haibao display.
Hosting the expo is a big deal for China and Shanghai. This is the first expo to be hosted in a developing city and huge efforts are being made to show the world the China of today. Throughout the expo, over 240 countries will be represented, over 14,000 journalists have applied for media permits, and it is projected that it will bring 70 million visitors to the city. Hotel prices and real estate prices have skyrocketed in the last month or so in anticipation of this and hotel rooms that might normally cost $100 are going for as much as $450 a night. So if you are coming to visit, you may want to take advantage of my spare bedroom but let me know soon!
So it is an exciting time to be here and I am looking forward to participating in and witnessing this cool event. If you want to read more about it, check out the Wikipedia article on the Shanghai Expo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2010_Shanghai_China