EXPOsing Shanghai: The Zealand that is New

For the first time in over a month both Tori and I were done working for the day before we were so tired that we only just managed to lag our sad little bodies back to our beds while cursing heavily towards anything expo-related. This new-found energy also comes from the lack of stamps at our pavilion and a better queuing system. To celebrate this we decided to hit up a few pavilions. We began at Portugal which will not be covered lengthily as it was a bit of a disappointment, besides the delicious egg/vanilla/butter dough snacks they served. Following this we went to Australia which will be covered at length, but not in this post. Then we visited Thailand where we had to queue for about five minutes which gives them a big minus (that's right, I don't queue!). The last one visited by me was New Zealand which I have been curious to take a closer look at because of its alluring roof-top garden. A proper green lung. With mosquitos.

pitstop at Portugal pavillion, this was the highlight!

Lets start up with a few facts and figures before I brainwash you with my opinions about this particular pavilion. New Zealands theme at the expo is "Cities of Nature: Living between Land and Sky". Does this mean that the kiwi population is in constantly air borne? No. This is not a literal statement contrary to what some of you may think. It illustrates the close connection between people and nature. Very nice. The pavilion is situated in zone B close to the Australian, Singaporean and the Indonesian monster pavilion. It stretches out over a 2000 square meter piece of land and is architecturally quite beautiful. In the words of the Kiwi voices they proudly proclaim on their website that, "The dream team of New Zealand’s award-winning visitor experience designers comprises Story Inc, creator of The Lord of the Rings international touring exhibition, Plan 9, music composer for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Kim Jarrett, greens master for King Kong.". I mean, all of this in one sentence can only make for a great pavilion! With a budget of 20mill USD they have certainly managed to get a lot out of their cash.

I would like to tell you now what I learnt about NZ while visiting their oasis. They have sheep, they go to school, they have cities, they have plants and they have wind energy. Also I believe it is quite a "cute" country. By walking through their pavilion I got the feeling that city and nature intertwine quite closely, and that nature is a high priority for New Zealanders. There was however a lack of information as there seems to be in all pavilions at expo, and I was unable to learn as much as I would have liked. This may also be because of the lack of guides present throughout the pavilion. I saw one, but the poor guy was stamping his ass off... Stupid stamps.... Who decided this stamp thing was a good idea?? REALLY?? Hmm.. ok enough of the digression. One very strong plus for the Kiwi pavilion was their use of flora on the roof. I felt like I was back in nature doing a very crowded hike especially popular with the Chinese. They had a little luxurious-looking pool in the midst of it all, and me and the girls are fervently trying to figure out how we can smuggle ourselves, bathing suits and a big bottle of champagne into the pavilion after hours.

This pavilion is definitely worth a visit. I would recommend kidnapping one of the guides so that you can get a proper tour of the pavilion. This way I am sure all the clever details that the "dream team" have come up with will be a little clearer, and you will leave with a much stronger impression of what they are trying to tell the rest of the world.
Huan ying nin lai xin xilan guan!! check out the pictures below!
Trine:)