News bites

Captain's log

A book that details the life at sea of a Chinese merchant marine captain was recently released at the China Shipping Pavilion in the Expo Garden. The author, Hu Yuexiang, was one of the first merchant captains after the formation of the People's Republic of China.

In his book, Hu details visits to foreign lands, his loneliness of being apart from his family for long periods of time and even battles with pirates throughout his 28 years at sea. As one of the Going Abroad series of books published by Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, the book aims to show life in foreign countries to help establish a better world outlook for young people.

Photo contest

A tourism photo contest organized by the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, called "See the World Expo, See Shanghai", is open to professional and amateur photographers. The contest invites photographers to share their Expo moments and the charm of Shanghai in photographs. There is one first-prize winner, two second-prize winners, and three third-prize winners each month. The overall winner will be chosen from the list of monthly first-prize winners.

Painting exhibition

A painting exhibition is being staged inside the Sweden Pavilion with drawings by autistic children in Shanghai on display. Sponsored by the biopharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, the organizers of the exhibition hope that it will help the public better understand and care for kids with infantile autism, the number of which is about 1 million in China.

Lighter than a feather

A gauze kerchief, which is said to be made from the lightest textile in the world, is on display as part of the Exhibition of Swiss Design & Innovation in the Switzerland Pavilion. The textile weighs 10 grams for every meter of fabric and its weight is not perceptible when lifted.

The textile was created using a polyester weave. One side of the textile is plated with aluminum or copper, while the other side is digital painted with a pattern. The exhibition continues until Sept 5.

Easy shoes

Italian footwear brand, Vibram, launched its Vibram FiveFingers shoes at the Italy Pavilion recently. At the event, performers wearing FiveFingers shoes integrated traditional Chinese martial arts, hip-hop, artistic gymnastics and other activities to demonstrate the freedom of movement, enhanced balance, flexibility and natural movement while wearing the footwear.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/27/2010 page)