2010-04-26 08:44

The iconic Little Mermaid statue is unveiled in the Danish pavilion of the Shanghai Expo on Sunday. [Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Shanghai - The Little Mermaid is back in the water.

After a long journey from Copenhagen to Shanghai, the iconic statue was unveiled?on Sunday?in the Danish Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai.

One of Denmark's most popular groups, the Antonelli Orchestra, performed special Mermaid songs, while the country's top rock singer, Thomas Helmig, wrote and performed Swim, Little Mermaid especially for the event. The Danish Minister for Taxation, Troels Lund Poulsen, delivered a short speech to celebrate the historic moment.

The Little Mermaid sits in the centre of an artificial pond in the pavilion. It is the first time the statue, a Danish national icon, has left Copenhagen.

The Little Mermaid has been sitting on the edge of Copenhagen Harbor for nearly 100 years in honor of the famous fairytale character created by Hans Christian Anderson.

The pavilion's theme is like three chapters in a fairy tale: the story of Danish cities, the story of Danish people and the story of Danish technology and solutions for future urban living.

Designated day

The Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination reminds visitors that May 1-3 are designated days. Only visitors with a ticket valid for one or more of these three days can enter the Expo Garden. Those with standard day tickets will be denied entry.

The bureau said there are 17 designated days during the 184 days of the Expo. Designated days are May 1-3, Oct 1-7 and the week preceding the closure of the Expo. At these times, only visitors with Peak Day tickets will be allowed to enter the Expo Garden.

Traffic control

There will be traffic control on Lupu Bridge from 10 am on Apr 27 to midnight on Apr 28 and from midnight to 4am from April 30 to May 1. Temporary control measures, based on the amount of traffic at the time, will be taken from 4 pm to midnight on April 30. Other areas that are likely to undergo temporary traffic control include Yanan Elevated Road, Hongjing Road to Jiangxi Road, Inner Ring Elevated Road, Wanping Road to Guohuo Road, North-South Elevated Road, Beijing Road to Luban Overpass, Nanpu Bridge and Yanan East Road Tunnel.

Six taxi stops have been set up at five entrances around the Expo site: Entrance 1 on Luban Road; Entrance 3 on Bansongyuan Road; Entrance 4 on Bailianjing Road; Entrance 7 on North Changqing Road; and Entrance 8 on Houtan Square. Taxis are also available by dialing 96822.

Ticketing system

Organizers of the Expo said they will use a "universal ticket system" in the Expo Garden, so that visitors can gain access to all the pavilions and performances. The reservation service will be used to save visitors time. Visitors can only reserve one pavilion from among the China Pavilion and the five theme parks. Visitors can also have, at most, five reservations to other pavilions.

Organizers clarified the rule stating that visitors can make six reservations with one ticket does not mean that visitors can only go to six pavalions with one ticket.

One-day cards

Shanghai Metro launched one-day travel cards costing 20 yuan this month in the run-up to Expo 2010 Shanghai. The one-day tickets are valid for 24 hours after they have been swiped for the first time. This new ticket is targeted at short-term visitors to Shanghai, who are likely to make several trips a day on the Metro. Other ticket schemes will be launched in the future, such as multi-day and multiple-use travel cards.