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Vancouver is the world's Green Capital and at Vancouver Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010, the world found out

Vancouver's Pavilion showcases green living and sustainable logging at Expo 2010 Shanghai.

City employee Joseph Li poses with an image of Mayor Robertson at the Vancouver Pavilion of Expo 2010 Shanghai.

With an expected 70 million visitors over 6 months and an estimated 200,000 visitors daily, the Shanghai World Exposition has drawn participation from more than 242 countries, cities and non-profit organizations. For a homesick Vancouverite lost amidst the razzle-dazzle of the hulking red China Pavilion (wait-time to enter: six hours), the spiky, seemingly hedgehog-inspired England pavilion (wait-time: three hours), and the endless maze of the Africa Pavilion (dozens of national exhibits in one warehouse), our city’s low-key, West-Coast inspired Vancouver Pavilion will be a relief to find. Located in the Urban Best Practices Area, nestled near London, Shanghai and Macao pavilions, Vancouver Pavilion is in one of the quieter corners of Expo.

Quiet at Shanghai Expo, however, is a relative term. “In the first four days we’ve had 6,000 visitors,” said Bryan Dodd, Pavilion Director, adding he anticipates those numbers increasing as visitors become more familiar with Expo’s layout. Arranged on three floors, the pavilion’s first floor features extensive imagery of the False Creek neighborhood, showcasing the City’s “Green Capital” brand and Vancouver’s status as 1986 Expo and 2010 Winter Olympics host-city. Many visitors were drawn to the screens running bi-lingual testimonials from Vancouver’s Chinese community. The second and third floors, sponsored by BC’s Forestry Innovation Investment, display BC’s soft-wood resources, advertising their seismic stability, thermal insulation qualities and sustainable logging. At the end of the exhibit was the Olympics medal podium used at the Richmond Oval. Watching a couple pose on the podium, Fudan student How Shen said he was interested in Vancouver “because immigration, especially Chinese immigration, is high. It is also a green city. Perhaps someday I could continue my law studies there.”

The visitors are mostly Chinese, said Vancouver City employee Joseph Li, and curious. “They ask ‘how much is an apartment in Vancouver?,’ ‘how is it to immigrate?,’ ‘what are investment opportunities in Canada?’” said Li. He gave a passing visitor a postcard, which showed Mayor Gregor Robertson in a photo with four Chinese Winter Olympic athletes. “These are your country’s ice-skating gold and silver medalists,” he told the visitor in Chinese. “Please feel welcome to visit our website!”

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(www.expo2010vancouver.com)

 

上海世博會估計每天2萬人來參觀,攬集了242個國家,城市及非營利組織來參與. 鮮紅的中國館須排隊六個小時,英國館三個小時,塞著十幾個非洲國家無底迷宮,我這個思鄉情怯的溫哥華人來到代表自己城市的館終於鬆了一口氣. 夾在倫敦及澳門館之間的溫哥華館是最佳城市個案代表之一.

雖然較不擁擠,但”開幕後的四天內,我們吸引了六千個參觀者,"館長Bryan Dodd 認為等大家更熟悉世博地理環境後,人數將會增加. 館分三層.第一層展現False Creek 社區的綠色招牌,1986年的世博及2010年冬季奧運主人. 第二,三層展示BC木材. 復旦大學學生How Shen 表示他對溫哥華非常有興趣,"因為中國移民多,又是綠色城市. 也許有天我去那裡念法律."

 館內的工作人員Joseph Li 說 "參觀者大部分都是中國人. 他們要知道溫哥華房子的價錢,如何對待移民及加拿大的投資情況." 他邊說邊發明信片給參觀者. 明信片上的照片是溫哥華市長Gregor Robertson 及四位中國冬奧運選手. "他們是中國金銀牌溜冰得獎者." Lee 用中文說"歡迎參觀我們的電子網址!" (www.exp2010vancouver.com).

Translation: Hsu Mei-Lang

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