Shanghai Expo China hall comes to spotlight amid frenetic attention

DREAMS OF CHINESE

The China Hall is designed by three design institutes from Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. Construction teams from across the country, under the direction of SCG, the general contractor, are working on the project. Thousands of construction workers were devoted to the construction.

"It is my honor to have the chance to participate in constructing the China Hall. I will cherish the experience all my life," said Zuo Hui, a worker with SCG.

The China Hall is separated into various sections for exhibitions from all provinces. The top of the hall is reserved for national booths. This national show section is the only arena allowed to accept donations from people of all ranks.

According to the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Coordination Bureau, since the donation acceptance was announced in September 2007, countless Chinese, including overseas Chinese, flooded their donations, including one yuan from primary school pupils, 10 yuan from laid-off workers, and hundreds of yuan from businessmen. On April 22, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. from Hong Kong, jointly donated 100 million yuan, the largest single donation.

No matter whether it is one yuan or 100 million yuan, the donation symbolizes the concern of the Chinese for the China Hall, said the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Coordination Bureau.

As people show high concern to the China Hall, there might be criticism, as China halls had in previous sessions, said Yu Qiuyu, a famous culture scholar in Shanghai.

"The China Hall was always very large in size in previous sessions, and audiences from various countries would show high expectations on the China Hall," said Yu, who took part in the previous two sessions of the World Expo.

"Many audiences were disappointed with the China Hall, as there were few cultural images that really attract audiences of contemporary days." said Yu.

"Audiences of other countries would largely seek the vitalities behind cultural innovations in the hall of China, an economic powerhouse. However, in our previous exhibitions, we always stressed the four great ancient inventions, the Peking Opera facial make-up, and the Great Wall," said Yu.

"It means a real test will follow after we have completed construction of the 'hardware' for the China Hall. We need to think about what 'software' we are to show in this grand hall," said Yu.