Flying kites on a warm sunny day is a favorite activity for children all across the world. At the World Expo Shanghai next year, those sweet childhood memories can be recalled at the Mexico Pavilion.

People will see no building, but a 4,000-square-meter area covered in grass with hundreds of colorful Mexican kites flying in the sky.

Visitors can read a book, have a picnic or simply relax on the grass under the shade of the kites. They can also buy a traditional Mexican-style kite from the pavilion and fly it to recall the fun of their childhoods.

You can even learn how to make a unique Mexican kite as the souvenir.

The country's pavilion will be a "Kite Forest."

It will be a green slope with a total of 135 kites being flown over it. Seen from afar it will look there are hundreds of people flying kites together.

An artist's rendition of the Mexico Pavilion [en.expo2010.cn]

An artist's rendition of the Mexico Pavilion [en.expo2010.cn]

The kites, to be made in eco-friendly plastic, will be in red, pink, yellow, green and blue, to make the pavilion one of the most colorful Expo exhibits. The kites will be about 8 meters long and 4 meters wide, larger than normal kites, and supported by poles each 3 meters to 13 meters tall.

Construction began yesterday on the pavilion and a dozen children from Mexico and China planted colorful Mexican kites on the top of poles on the foundations of the pavilion to celebrate the ground-breaking.

Kites represent the idea of flying and are the strength that unites the Mexican and Chinese cultures, said Eduardo Seldner, commissioner general of the Mexico Pavilion.

The kite originated in China and is popular in Mexico.

The name for kite in Mexican is nahuatl, which also means butterfly.

The design envisions a future with spaces specifically planned, thought and designed for relaxation, as well as recovery of parks and green areas, where new generations may find themselves in a city that offers them a better life, said Edgar Ramirez, the pavilion's architect.

"The square is the heart of the pavilion. It is the representation of the future vision for the kids from Mexico," Seldner said.

However, the pavilion will be more than a square for fun. The exhibition area will be a two-story area under the square.

The pavilion will showcase Mexico's culture, landscapes, cities and the ancient Maya civilization.

Some cultural relics of the Maya will be exhibited.

Once inside the main exhibition area, visitors will be taken on a chronological journey through the history of Mexico from the pre-Hispanic era to proposals for the future, the commissioner general said.