The celebration of Chinese New Year is always exciting, but last week there was even more with the Lantern Festival falling on the same day as the 800-day countdown to World Expo Shanghai 2010.

On Thursday, as people across the city celebrated the end of Lunar New Year festivities, Expo countdown activities were also held mingling Expo elements with traditional cultural flavors.

Residents in Shanghai's 19 districts and county participated in more than 50 activities with Expo mascot Haibao making an appearance at almost every countdown party.

He seemed almost as popular as traditional Lantern Festival highlights such as lion and dragon dances, red lanterns and tangyuan, round-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice and stuffed with sweet fillings.

Visitors to Xintiandi, which was decorated with hundreds of twinkling lights, got the chance to write their wishes on bottles and throw them into Taipingqiao Lake as a show of their expectations for the year ahead and their excitement about Expo.

In Baoshan District, primary school students drew Expo images on a 100-meter-long piece of canvas in the park while residents in Songnan Town presented a photo exhibition showing their participation in Expo since Shanghai won the right to host the event in 2002.

Another group of Shanghai residents toured the nation - even climbing the Himalayan Mountains - to promote Expo, planting flags with the names of people they have met during the tour.

In Huangpu District, local residents welcomed yet another statue of Shanghai Expo's lovable mascot Haibao. The first Haibao erected in a local community is at the crossroad of Zhongshan Road S. and Xizang Road S., the future entrance of the Expo site in Puxi.

(Shanghai Daily Feburary 25, 2008)