Tour the Canadian Pavilion with Dashan

At present, the unveiling ceremony for the Canadian Pavilion will be held. Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada, Dashan, the general representative of the Canadian government and Hua Junduo, general representative of Chinese government for the Shanghai World Expo, took part in the ceremony. Before that, Dashan, popular among the Chinese audience, took the initiative to serve as the guide and led media from China and abroad into the Canadian Pavilion, which was already capped, to get an early look at this living-city.

Dashan explains the Canadian Pavilion to journalists

Entry into Canada

"When people look at the Canadian Pavilion, many associate it with shape of the letter C, the first letter of CANADA. Actually, careful observations will show you that the ends of C resemble peoples' arms, and the middle of C is a square. The two arms hold a square, representing an environment of mutual communication as the core of urban life," Dashan explained. Viewed from overhead, the half-circle pavilion really resembles the capital letter C. The whole pavilion is composed of three geometric, independent buildings connected together. In the middle is a public area for performances, and the inner wall is covered by green plants, and the outer wall by Canadian red cedars.

The facades of Canadian pavilion had been essentially completed. A twill wall made of red cedar surrounds the pavilion, and is fully immersed in Canadian flavor. The scaffolds along the external parts of the wall have already been removed, and the outer wooden wall structure has been revealed. According to the introduction, the red cedar used in the construction is unique to Canada, and was produced in Quebec and then transported to Shanghai by plane. Red cedar was erosion resistant, and would not get moldy in Shanghai’s humid climate.

Walking into the pavilion, Dashan pointed out the future location of the pavilion dining hall and the souvenir shop. In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, Dashan pointed to the opposite wall and said proudly: "Eco-friendless is another feature of the Canadian pavilion. In order to demonstrate recycling techniques, the largest wall in the pavilion is covered by a special kind of greenhouse plant. Sitting here and having Canadian food, visitors will enjoy the soothing green. I believe they will like it very much." According to Dashan, the pavilion would begin an inner exhibition, which is expected to be completed this March.

Boasting beautiful scenery and abundant resources, Canadians attach great importance to sustainable development. That is why a lot of recycling techniques were adopted in every part of the construction. Rainwater is collected to be reused through a special drainage system; there are no large exhibition items to ensure consistent airflow in the exhibition area; besides, the area is to be made barrier and smoke free.