An estimated 70 million people are going to visit the Expo taking place this year in Shanghai, China. Canada's pavilion joins the some 200 other country and thematic pavilions on offer at the Expo. As of June 2nd, Canada's pavilion had already seen its mllionth visitor marking it as a popular destination at the event, with many more millions of visits expected. With Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc) being Canada's third most spoken after English and French, the connection many Chinese citizens have to our country will no doubt be explored at Expo.
Canada's three-pillared theme at the Expo celebrates our achievements and potential for the inclusive, sustainable, and creative cities we have in Canada. The beautiful three-floored pavilion representing Canada is clad in Canadian red cedar and was constructed in a way to be easily disassembled and the materials reused. The pavilion contains a public presentation area for visitors, reflecting the theme of “The Living City: inclusive, sustainable, creative.” The pavilion also has a conference centre, a visitors lounge, administrative offices, and a restaurant providing Canadian fare. Entertainment can be seen in the pavilion courtyard and video screens along the walls inside engage visitors.
Canada has promoted its arts and culture at International Expositions since 1851. Canada itself has hosted two Expos - Expo '67 in Montreal and Expo '86 in Vancouver. This year Canada joins the world in its efforts at Expo 2010 to engage visitors through it's theme "Better City, Better Life." According to the Expo website this theme represents "the common wish of the whole humankind for a better living in future urban environments." Without doubt the majority of Canadians and those of us living on the Prairies in this country share this wish and hope Expo 2010 will have a positive impact toward this end. The Living Prairie City project will allow us to discuss these hopes and how we might have our own impact.
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