News Bites

Design delight

The results of a global souvenir design contest supported by Expo organizers have been announced. A work called Oriental Crown China Pavilion, which was created by using remaining materials from the China Pavilion in Expo Garden won the highest award. A total of 19 works received awards either for their unique design or business value.

Varsity variety

The first Youth Week in Expo history began on July 5 and runs to July 11. An opening ceremony was held at Exposition Square. More than 2,000 alumni and students from international institutions, including Harvard, Yale and Oxford universities, and the Imperial College London, along with Peking, Qinghua, Fudan and Shanghai Jiaotong universities, are attending. Students celebrated the opening of the week by expressing the relationship between universities and cities, and between youth and the world.

Panda presents

Visitors will be able to get a free panda doll in the Chengdu Case Pavilion. A total of 130 panda dolls will be handed out every day at 6 pm at the pavilion. Visitors can get a doll by showing an Expo ticket stamped with a Chengdu Case Pavilion seal.

Flying high

Qatar Airways exhibited a model of its Boeing 777 business class cabin at the Qatar Pavilion during Qatar Week. The airline won Best Business Class in the Skytrax 2010 World's Best Airlines awards.

There are 23 weekly flights between the Qatar capital of Doha and four major cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. After a transfer in Doha, passengers can fly to locations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

To give Chinese passengers a better understanding of Qatar, the airline has introduced a city tour program. Passengers who are in transit in Doha for more than five hours can enjoy a free city tour.

New mobiles

Marko Ahtisaari, senior vice-president of Design at Nokia, gave a speech extolling Nokia's innovative design principles at the Finland Pavilion in the Expo Garden. "For Nokia, really good mobile design is about more than just style. Design has to deliver objects and services that are not only beautiful to look at but that also work just the way people want them to," Ahtisaari said.

Ahtisaari went on to introduce a new series of Nokia mobile phones, including the S40, Symbian and Meego. These new mobile phones, which have simplified functions and accessible prices, will be introduced globally.

China Daily

(China Daily 07/09/2010 page35)