Sharing diverse cultures of mankind

The World Expo has always been an opportunity to showcase mankind's great achievements and diverse cultures. A lot countries will display their national treasures to help the world understand their unique cultures.

The Danes have brought their "Little Mermaid" statue, together with the sea water of Copenhagen, to tell the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. The Czechs will display the 300-year-old bronze plaques that rest on the base of the Saint John Nepomucensis statue in Prague in their pavilion, while Canada's Cirque du Soleil will present dazzling performances.

Circus performer Christie, from Australia, has been rehearsing diving in deep water at the pavilion for nearly a month. To display the uniqe sea culture of her country, Christie and her teammates will give up to four rounds of performances each day during the expo.

During 184 days of the Shanghai Expo, artists from the participating countries will give up to 1,000 cultural performances and entertain visitors at a total of 20,000 events.

Wonders trip attracts international visitors

The six-month event is expected to attract over 70 million visitors, of which 3.5 million are from outside China. It will also be attended by leaders from more than 100 countries.

Visitors around the world have long before started planning their "wonder trip" to Shanghai. Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese embassy in Germany has been receiving up to 800 visa applications every day, with three-quarters related to the Shanghai Expo. The number of expo tickets sold in France has reached 20,000. In Singapore, the number of people planning trips to Shanghai in June this year has more than doubled since last year.

"The Shanghai World Expo is like a grand cultural feast; nobody can resist it. Human beings have created such colorful and diverse cultures, and countries need to share them at every opportunity. Actually, the world is like a big family, and the World Expo is just a happy family reunion," said Takuo Ikeda, a Japanese who decided to visit Shanghai in June.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2010)