Children bop along to the performance of Haibao, the mascot of the Shanghai World Expo, at Xintiandi in downtown Shanghai last night. The city organized activities, including word puzzles and lion and dragon dancing, to mark the 800-day countdown for the event and celebrate the Lantern Festival.—Shanghai Daily

The city had more than the Lantern Festival to celebrate yesterday as World Expo Shanghai entered its 800-day countdown with some razzmatazz of its own.

Shanghai's 19 districts and county held traditional activities, such as word puzzles, lion and dragon dancing and lantern shows, to push the Expo, which will be held from May 1 to October 31, 2010, and promote traditional Chinese culture and arts.

Last night, Xintiandi was decorated by hundreds of twinkling lights for both the festival and the Expo countdown party.

In Baoshan District, top Expo officials planted white magnolia trees - Shanghai's city flower - in the "Expo forest" in the Paotaiwan Wetland Forest Park yesterday morning.

Organizers chose the park as the original ecological scenery is well preserved, which coincides with the environmental-protection concepts of the Expo, said Hu Jingjun, deputy director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Students from primary schools in Baoshan drew Expo images on a 100-meter-long canvas in the park.

In Huangpu District, local residents hailed a new statue of Expo mascot Haibao. The first Haibao statue is at the crossroad of Zhongshan Road S. and Xizang Road S., the future entrance for the Expo site in Puxi.

City officials, including Zhu Yonglei, deputy director of the Expo Bureau, presented flags to volunteer teams in six communities and offered residents books about amenity and English learning.

Organizers hosted a jazz concert in the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center last night.

Meanwhile, the organizers announced they will open an Expo exhibition center in the Hong Kong New World Tower on Huaihai Road M. on May 1.

Located in the downtown area, close to the Huangpi Road S. Station of Metro Line 1, the exhibition center is expected to host a million visitors every year, the organizers said at the contract-signing ceremony with the government of Luwan District yesterday.

The center will garner the essence of the World Expo national tour exhibition, which made its first stop in Shanghai for a month to celebrate the 1,000-day countdown on August 5 last year.

Exhibition highlights will feature multimedia displays, including two small cinemas to show promotional videos of Shanghai Expo and a video of World Expo history.

Visitors will also be able to see the first telephone in the world and the earliest Kodak camera. The latest models and pictures to showcase Expo participants' pavilions will also be put in the exhibition center.

The best news is saved for last: Admission will be free.