headseast

With a theme of “Better City, Better Life,” the 2010 Shanghai Expo is about creating and envisioning a better living in future urban environments. Expo 2010 will create blueprints for future cities and harmonious urban life styles, providing an extraordinary educational and entertaining platform for visitors from all over the world. Opening ceremony video below.

With only a few months now to the kick off of the Shanghai Expo 2010 the venues are nearing completion and the media buzz is starting to build up. To keep up to date with how construction is coming along a great photo essay can be seen at the Big Picture (photo below courtesy of Big Picture / Reuters / China Daily). Also a run down of some of the better buildings under construction at Lost Laowai will give you a taste of what to expect.

The Harbin Ice Festival has been underway for a week now. Sadly, I have not been able to go this year but there are plenty of photos on the web to see of this year’s exhibits. The best collection of have found is here – from the Boston Big Picture site. My photo below is  few years out of date but still – enjoy.

With only a few days to Christmas I couldn’t resist putting up this photo. Taken in the southern China metropolis of Guangzhou this enormous fairly light creation was hanging down the side of the equally huge White Swan hotel. This hotel was reputedly China’s first 5 star hotel back in the 1980s and is still very popular being located on the lovely Shamian Island – Canton’s original foreign concession. This year there seemed to be more Christmas lights in China than in London – perhaps they just do it all on a larger scale as the photo demonstrates. This blog only got underway in July this year but already the following is impressive and rapidly rising. We would like to thank everyone who has tuned in and we hope to continue to expand the blog through 2010. All of us at Headseast.com would like to wish you a Happy Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2010 – Oh, and stay tuned for updates over the festive period!

Hard to believe it has almost been a week since China’s 60th birthday party. Photos and videos continue to be published on the web and here are some links to the best we have found.

Boston Big Picture: “China formally kicked off its mass celebrations of 60 years of communist rule with a 60-gun salute that rung out across Beijing’s historic Tiananmen Square earlier today. Hundreds of thousands of participants marched past Tiananmen Square in costume or uniform, with floats and dancers mingling with soldiers and military hardware. Collected here are photographs of the once-in-a-decade National Day parade in Beijing, and of others commemorating the anniversary elsewhere. (39 photos total)”

Surviving Beijing since 1980: “See here more pics, coming from several sources (our foreign participants – thanks, China Daily etc.). As indicated in the names, there are still some from the rehearsal on 18/19 Sept.”

And then my favourite – this video by Dan Chung, hat tip to Lostlaowai:

China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

A great set of photos from The Big Picture showing the preparations for the upcoming National Day Parade.

Under way for a few days already and continuing into October is the Shanghai 2009 Tourism Festival. Described as “the people’s festival, taking the ‘Entering the happiness and pleasure’ as subject, Shanghai Tourism Festival has progressed for 19 years successfully since 1990 when it first held.” Make of that what you will!

A list of events for anyone in Shanghai during this period can be found here.

Photos can be seen here and here.

According to the China Daily Beijing is preparing to manipulate the weather to ensure that it does not rain on its National Day parade on Oct 1.

September and October traditionally have the best weather of the year in China’s northern capital but no chances are being taken with this National day which also happens to be the 60th anniversary of New China. Big military parades in the rain do not make great TV it seems.

So, if you happen to be traveling in Beijing on the 1st Of October it’s a great day to sight see except that you probably won’t be able to move or go anywhere with all the security lock downs promised.

I won’t be there for this national day but here are some photos from the last big one – the 50th anniversary way back in 1999 (the photo on the right was NOT the military parade that year!)