Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

On April 6, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin accompanied Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng to attend a joint forum spotlighting two major international expos taking place this year. The audience comprised students, faculty, and staff from the senior high schools in Taipei City.
This event took place at the auditorium of Zhongshan Girls High School. It is part of the promotion campaign for both the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition and the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.
Beginning with an Introduction to the history of the World Expo, Han described the event as a record of major achievements by the human civilization. He cited numerous innovations – roll film, electric light, and movie projector – all made their first appearance at the World Expo.
Han stressed that in the Internet age, visitors expect the World Expo to take on the role of offering inspirations and previews of future trends. This expectation gave rise to the main theme of the Shanghai World Expo – “Better City, Better Life”.

Hau remarked that the two expos help both cities work closer together, establishing a platform of exchange for future generations. Moreover, preparations for these large-scale events pave the way for renovation works on infrastructures and urban landscapes.
The participating students asked the two mayors about their opinions on a plethora of issues, including globalization, education, city-to-city exchange, and more.
At the end of the event, the mayor of Shanghai presented Shanghai World Expo admission tickets and HAIBAO (Shanghai World Expo’s mascot) puppets to school principals and student representatives.