Adding star power to Expo
Gong gets gong from French
Actress Gong Li (巩俐) and all-round entertainer Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) are among the celebrities adding star power to the Shanghai Expo.
Gong helped inaugurate the France Pavilion at the World Expo as its “Ambassador of Charm” on May 1, the opening day of the six-month-long exposition.
Though not a French citizen, or even a Chinese citizen (she elected to become Singaporean last year) she was presented with a French Order of Arts and Letters award by the country’s Ministry of Culture.
A spokesperson for L’Oreal Group, Gong attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the France Pavilion with chairman Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones and CEO Jean-Paul Agon.
At the Canada Pavilion, Dashan (大山), whose real name is Mark Rowswell, greeted visitors with his fluent Chinese.
Andy Lau promotes HK
As the “most famous foreigner in China,” Dashan was appointed last year by the Canadian government to the post of Canada’s Commissioner General for the Expo.
Aside from attending regular activities for the Canada Pavilion, Dashan will meet and greet the press, host some cultural events and even serve as a guide for visitors, mostly Chinese.
Another celebrity who attracted a huge crowd of fans at the Expo was Wang Lee-hom, spokesperson for the Taipei Pavilion (though he’s technically an American).
Screams and cheers almost drowned out the idol’s speech at the Taipei Pavilion opening ceremony.
Andy Lau (刘德华), meanwhile, has been promoting both the Hong Kong Pavilion and the China Pavilion.
Sources:
Chinese: http://www.cns.hk:89/yl/news/2010/05-02/2259188.shtml
http://big5.ifeng.com/gate/big5/expo2010.ifeng.com/dongtai/detail_2010_05/01/1478233_0.shtml
Gong gets gong from French
Andy Lau promotes HK
