May 17 Monday
National Day - Prince & Princess' visit
Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima visit World Expo 2010 Shanghai
The Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands visit Shanghai from 17 until 19 May in the context of the National Day of the Netherlands at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.
The Prince and Princess have an official welcome by the Chinese Government on the occasion of the Netherlands National Day at the World Expo on 18 May. Accompanied by Mrs. M.J.A. Van der Hoeven, the Netherlands Minister of Economic Affairs, they will visit the China pavilion and Shanghai pavilion. Then the party visits the Netherlands pavilion ‘Happy Street’. This complete street with houses along it is constructed in a number eight, a lucky number in Chinese culture. Every house shows how the Netherlands is strong in innovative use of space, energy and water. Themes are among others water purification, computer technology and solar energy. The houses by itself all represent different architectural styles from the Netherlands’ architecture tradition.
Also on this day the Royal Couple visits the Rotterdam Water City Pavilion, where water, climate, flood protection and innovative solutions for water management are central to the design. Visitors of this pavilion can, among other things, see a lifelike dike and a water square which can process large amounts of rain water.
In the evening of the National Day the Prince and the Princess attend the special modern dance performance of the renowned Nederlands Dans Theater in the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
On the day of their arrival on 17 May the Royal Couple visits the Dutch Culture Centre (DCC) in Jing’An district downtown Shanghai. This temporary centre for culture from China and the Netherlands is an official part of the World Expo. It will contribute to a long-lasting cooperation between Dutch and Chinese culture professionals in the future. From the beginning of March until the September seven big exhibitions will be held in the DCC, in the area’s of visual art, photography, fashion, design, architecture and urban planning. The program is composed by the Netherlands China Arts Foundation (NCAF) commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
On Wednesday 19 May the Royal Couple will ride the high speed magnet train Maglev, that brings passengers with speeds up to 400 km an hour from the airport to the city centre. The visit to Shanghai ends with a program to the ‘green building’ of Dutch company in Shanghai DSM. The Prince and Princess will visit the Food Laboratory and see a demonstration on food innovation and responsible use of energy and water in all DSM branches throughout China.
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