Dying Salamanders

19 Oct 2010 - It has been some time since I wrote about the Shanghai Expo, which is probably a good sign. However, the Expo got in the news again. Thedeats of 15 Chinese giant salamanders at the World Expo are no big deal, officials said. The salamanders were at the Shaanxi province pavillion for three weeks in August. Nine died then, and six died after they were removed to a "quiet indoor" place in Shanghai - they prefer dark, quiet environment and rapid running creeks with water below 25 degrees Celsius. An official from the Hanzhuong Fishing Affairs Supervision Station sniffed at the death of"just a dozen". Chinese giant salamanders, which can grow to a length of up to 1.8 meters, are the largest in the world and have a history of 350 million years. It seems no difference is made in the valuation of salamanders' (and other?) life.

Inflated Expo?

13 Aug 2010 - In the last weeks I have not reported on Shanghai's World Expo, but the event is back in the news. Shanghai's top Communist Party official has responded for the first time to allegations that visitor numbers at the Expo are being artificially inflated. The six-month long fair - the largest and most expensive Expo ever - drew far smaller crowds than expexted in its opening month of May. In June figures picked up, and the fair is now on course to reach its target audience of 70 million visitors. However, there is a widely held belief among Expo staff that the government has been ferrying large groups of retirees and students into the park to make up numbers - or simply faking official attendance statistics. Conspiracy theorists were given a boost when it was announced on 1st August that 35 million visitors have visited the Expo so far - exactly half the projected attendance rate the day after the halfway point ........

Say Cheese

20 May 2010 - A lot has been said about the Shanghai Expo, but here comes another warning. I read that foreign visitors are often grabbed by locals to take pictures with them. The big Expo is offering mainlanders, barely 5% of whom have been abroad, a rare opportunity to interact with people from other parts of the world. When watching performances from other countries at the Expo site, mainland visitors whisper about the color of the artists' hair, eyes and skin, as well as their body size. Most visitors do not speak English and turn to body language pointing at their cameras and them themselves. But maybe this is a match made in heaven, as the Chinese want to take the opportunity to get to know people from overseas, while most foreigners in China are keen to learn more about the Middle Kingdom.

Labor Day Holiday

3 May 2010 - It was reported that the number of mainland tour groups coming to Hong Kong over the Labor Day holiday is expected to fall 10% because of the World Expo. This week is peak travel season for the mainlanders, who usually flock to Hong Kong to shop and see the sights. Mainlanders make up two-thirds of the city's visitors. However, the first days after the opening of the Expo have been everything but smooth. Long queues, chaos at the entry gate, people fainting in the summer heat and disappointing numbers of  visitors. Maybe the mainlanders have already found out that Hong Kong is a much nicer city than Shanghai. And by now probably cheaper too!

Happy Street

2 May 2010 - We have not heard much of the Dutch Pavillion at the Shanghai Expo. I don't know if that's a good or a bad sign. but in "Hello Kitty land" the theme "Happy Street" seems appropriately chosen. It is constructed in a figure eight - the lucky number in Chinese culture. It is mainly composed of a 400 meters pedestrian street, lined by 26 small houses. Built completely on stilts, the street looks like a roller-coaster. The idea is to give the visitors an impression what it means to live under sea-level, but I am somewhat worried that people think Holland is a theme-park. But maybe that is the point!!?

Back to the Future (2)

1 May 2010 - So today's newspaper are applauding the dazzling display during the opening of the Shanghai Expo, but one should not forget that thousands were removed from the Expo site by force. Also, many activists, dissidents and petitioners were kept at a distance or even told to leave the city. One activist, Feng Zhenghu, had planned to set up a 'Shanghai Expo for Unjust Court Cases', but was asked to frequently report to the police. Another activist confirmed that she was repeatedly invited for 'tea' by the police. Amnesty International's Roseanne Rife said: "Chinese authorities are again taking extreme steps to ensure that Shanghai activists don't protest, don't interact with visitors, or speak with journalists during the World Expo. The construction of the expo cannot hide the ill-treatment of those who were forcibly evicted.".