From May-Oct, Shanghai is launching the biggest-ever Expo. After 8 years of preparation, $50 billion have been spent, 192 participating countries invited and an estimated 70 million people – mainly Chinese – are expected to visit.

Themed “Better City, Better Life”, the 2010 World Expo aims to provide a platform to communicate ideas from 192 participating countries and regions together with 50 international organizations. The Finland Pavilion tries to give a stimulating answer of ‘a better life’ – ‘well-being, competence and the environment,’ which is believed to form a firm foundation of ‘a better city’ according to the Chinese newspaper the Global Times.

The Finnish Pavilion is an energy efficient, low emission and eco friendly building, the construction materials are a composite UPM ProFi -shingle based on recycled paper and plastic. The outer facade of the pavilion is covered by 25,000 injection moulded marble white scaly shingles. Inside the Pavilion, there is a huge animated screen; visitors interact with screen contents with the help of the virtual guides to understand the themes and stories with no language barrels.

Nokia hosts the first public premiere of augmented reality on Nokia’s N900 mobile device in the Finland Pavilion during the EXPO .The KONE -designed Lantern elevator features the latest in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, which will enable the pavilion’s VIP guests to reach the access-controlled top floor.

Oulu´s Mayor, Matti Pennanen, visited with a delegation of 24 city and business leaders the Expo. The delegation also visited Hangzhou and Beijing to discuss economic and cultural relations and create business opportunities.

In Beijing, Oulu-based company Chempolis Oy signed a license and EPC (engineering, procurement, commissioning) agreement with Tianjin Jiuqian Paper Co Ltd. to supply 3 bio refineries. The value of the order exceeds €60 million.

Finnish President, Tarja Halonen, and Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang attended the signing ceremonies according to China New Energy News.

Kaisa, Korhonen, Project Manager of Building Success in China at Oulu Innovation Ltd, views China as an opportunity venture.“It’s huge country with lot of money. The competition is hard. Finland is not so well known but still Scandinavia has a good reputation.” she says.

“The scale is totally different. Smaller cities might have more inhabitants than in the whole of Finland. Here we are used to think and wait, but in China there are many companies who want to get your contract. You need to stay in touch with your clients, tell them that you really are interested. Also, gifts are much more important than in here.” explains Kaisa.

2010 is also marked as the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and China, and China is now Finland’s leading trade partner in Asia and fourth-largest partner worldwide. ”There is still a lot of potential for growth in cooperation” Finnish president Tarja Halonen told Chinese television.

The Chinese newspapers were not only fascinated by the quirkiness of the Finnish pavilion, but also its cultures. Finland is a “Sauna Country”, and the Finland Pavilion is the only one at the Expo 2010 Shanghai to build a sauna wrote the People’s Daily. The best of Finnish art has also been brought to Shanghai with music and drama performance.Folk and metal music gives visitors impressions of the country’s culture. Santa Claus and Moomins are particularly loved by children.

The Finnish Pavilion also received highly enthusiastic responses from visitors

“The Finnish Pavilion is the must-see pavilion for my daughter who adores the Moomins,” said Ding Qing, a high school teacher and mother of a six-year-old girl. “I don’t think my daughter understands the spirit of the Expo but she definitely can obtain knowledge that she won´t learn at school”.

“Ten years ago, I only knew Finland´s Nokia. But now I got to know more Finnish companies, they are world leaders in many other fields as well,” Qiu Jian, a business owner told Shanghai Daily’s correspondents.

“I am happy because the EXPO brings the wonders of the world to my neighbourhood. It will let Chinese people understand foreign countries, such as Finland much better and hopefully help them better understand us,” added Wang Cao, who used to work and live in Finland for a while.

As to the Design of the pavilion, Timo, from Finland, wrote on China Daily EXPO Forum: “This is a mature concept, its clean, sensitive and harmonious, it perfectly represents Finnish design and culture, it has a interesting scale-facade and good interiors for a exposition. It is not too showy. It is not jumping to your face, it is interesting and fun. It is a well planned EXPO building…and I am not just saying this because I am Finnish. ”

However, in the Jingchu Daily News, Mao, a retired worker, is sceptical, “I wonder how to keep it (the building) clean in reality. But anyway it is an excellent design. ”

In my own opinion while writing this article, I am very proud that my home country hosts such a big world fair. Shanghai EXPO provides a great opportunity to observe other countries´ ideas and life styles. We can learn from their successful experiences as well as their mistakes. Besides that, I would prefer to view EXPO as a culture exchange platform rather than a trade fair where different cultures can inspire each other and further mutual understanding.