Get ready for five days of Shanghai power

SHANGHAI - Shanghai Week, the last provincial celebration before the Expo 2010 Shanghai draws to a close, will kick off on Friday with a promise to showcase the "gracious hospitality" of the city's people.

Baosteel Stage is all decked up for Shanghai Week that opens on Friday. [Photo/China Daily]

"Compared with the previous 30 similar weeks organized by other Chinese provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities, Shanghai Week will show the passion and gracious hospitality of the people of Shanghai," Mo Fuchun, deputy director of the Shanghai Week Operation Office, said on Thursday.

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Themed "Forever Shanghai", the five-day week, which will end on Oct 12, will demonstrate the city's achievements in economic and social development and the unique charm of Shanghai's culture, he said.

The opening ceremony at the Baosteel Stage will see children perform a dance called Gathering Expo, a traditional Chinese opera Liyuan Charming of Shanghai, an acrobatic performance Street Angel and much more.

On each day of the week, there will be several such performances at the Baosteel Stage and the Celebration Square.

Floral parade activities called Creative Life will be held in the Expo Garden every day at noon.

An exhibition of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage will be another highlight among the activities through the week.

The exhibition area of the Baosteel Stage has been designed as a typical Shanghai Longtang, a local term used by Shanghai people for alleys, where visitors will be able to enjoy a near real-life experience of a walk in one of the city's several alleyways.

At the entrance of the Longtang, the most popular breakfast dishes in Shanghai, like dabing (Chinese pancake), youtiao (fried twisted dough), cifantuan (steamed sticky rice ball) and soy milk, will be served.

On display will also be the city's industrial heritage, including phonographs and the country's first 9-inch black-and-white television.

The end of the trip will be a night view of Tianzifang, a creative art park that houses Shanghai's typical old buildings.

Shanghai's has been one of the popular pavilions since the opening of the Expo.

Themed "New Horizons Forever", the pavilion, taking the form of Shikumen, a type of tenement housing unique to Shanghai, features a city blending history with modernism.

"The design and layout of the Shanghai Pavilion perfectly match the city's characteristics of combination of decency and diversity," said Chen Dong, the pavilion's director.

All visitors to the pavilion will receive a tailor-made badge during the course of Shanghai Week.