Shanghai Expo memorable for Canadian visitors
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As Shanghai's six month party nears a close, the World Expo has been drawing accolades from Canadian visitors, both politicians and tourists, impressed by the sheer scale of the fair and how it has been successfully carried out by China.
With China and Canada currently marking 40 years of diplomatic ties, many Canadian politicians, from either the federal, provincial or civic level, made a trip to China this year. A visit to the Expo was considered mandatory as the fair featured both a Canadian Pavilion in addition to a Vancouver Pavilion.
Stockwell Day, the country's Asia-Pacific Gateway Minister, as well as Treasury Board Chairman, was the highest-ranking Canadian official to visit the expo when he attended in May. More recently, Rob Moore, Canada's Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), visited earlier this month when he led the country' s first ever tourism trade mission accompanied by four provincial tourism ministers.
With Mark Roswell, aka Dashan, acting as the commissioner general for Canada at the expo, and Cirque du Soleil performing, Moore said the more than six million visitors who went through the three-story pavilion "surpassed our most optimistic predictions".
"The Canada Pavilion has shown .. the image of a modern Canada, where cultural diversity, technological expertise, and concern for the environment are all assets that make our country a top destination for doing business, studying, or traveling," he said.
The Vancouver Pavilion in the Urban Best Practices Area played a significant role in promoting the interests of British Columbia. During the fair, Gordon Campbell, the premier of Canada's western- most province, and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson both attended the expo on separate visits.
Campbell, a tireless promoter of B.C. who has made several China visits over the years, told Xinhua that it was important to be there to support the long-term partnership Canada has had with China. He talked about how impressed he was in the transformation of the expo site in only a few short years.
Vancouver experienced a similar transformation in the mid 1980s when the city hosted the Expo in 1986 under a transportation theme. The fair was held on old industrial site downtown that has since become a showpiece for the city and home to thousands.
"What it really does is it shows what we can do when we think about living cities and creating places people want to live. The expo showed what the future can look like, and I think it is going to be very powerful for China and it is certainly powerful for the rest of the world as well. It was a huge success and I hope everyone in Shanghai and China feels like it was a huge success as well," Campbell said.
"The Vancouver Pavilion, I thought, was important from our perspective because it shows people what you can do with one of our really important building products - wood. We think wood will help solve a number of problems in terms in the environment. It doesn't just store carbon, but it is very flexible in terms of meeting the needs of the modern family and I think again in Vancouver's Pavilion, they showed that off."
Robertson, a relative of Dr Norman Bethune, visited China in September where he traveled to Shijiazhuang, Hebei, to visit the grave of the famed Anti-Japan War hero. He also took in Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and the Shanghai Expo to promote Vancouver's green initiatives.
"The Expo was amazing. It was a really, really incredible scale and quality and impressive to see how many people were there. Vancouver Pavilion has been very successful. We had our 500,000th visitor while I was there," he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
"It was great for me and my business colleagues to be able to see Shanghai, see the Expo, see how far China has come in a short period of time. The significance of a global event like the World Expo, similar to the Beijing Olympics, I think, has really elevated China's profile in the world, drawn worldwide attention to China, and the ability for China to be a leader on the world stage."
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