Interview: French pavilion chief shares rosy memory of Shanghai Expo
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After nearly six months in China overseeing French participation in the Shanghai World Expo, French pavilion chief Jose Freches has a rosy memory full of satisfaction, emotion and nostalgic feelings.
"I, with my team, was all quite satisfied with, firstly the organization of the World Expo, it's manificently organized, and sencondly, we are satisfied because we received 10 million visitors, it's a record," said the president of Cofres, the company in charge of France's exhibition in Expo 2010.
Speaking to Xinhua by telephone from Shanghai, he said the sadness of dismantling the French pavilion when the Expo ends would be offset by plans to build a replica of the Sensual City in another Chinese city so those unable to visit Expo would still have a chance to experience the French contribution. That city has yet to be chosen.
"For other cities that are interested, we'll build what is called 'French Salon,' which is slightly smaller than the French pavilion, but with the same characterstics of the architecture," he said, adding it would cater for events such as Sino-Franco culture exchanges, exhibitions of French indigenous products and French restaurants.
He said he wasn't surprised by the record visitor numbers because he was confident in the Chinese people's affection for France and the pavilion had been designed to satisfy their expectations.
Chinese visitors' eagerness for the French pavilion struck the French representative as well. "It's very hot in summer, but they were queuing peacefully... people wore smiles and they were enjoying the Expo."
According to the chief representative, except for the Eiffel Tower and an amusing robot performance, the seven pieces of artwork from Orsay Museum in Paris were definitely the focus of public attention, while the Age of Bronze by French sculptor Auguste Rodin was no doubt the most attractive masterpiece.
"Better City, Better life is an actual theme, how to organize cities of tomorrow to allow people to have better lives in big cities. It's a concrete theme for all the planet and there will be a Shanghai declaration, a charter to be adopted by all countries who participated in the exhibition of Shanghai," he said.
"I'm sure Shanghai World Expo has made a great contribution to this idea," he said.
He compared the significance of Shanghai Expo to China as that of the 1900 Paris World Expo for France. "It allowed the Chinese people to see that French people want to give them a present, through which France testified her friendship and proximity to China," he said.
Labeling the Shanghai Expo a historic event, he said the French pavilion was "an act which remains, I think, in the history of friendship between the peoples of China and France."
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