Shanghai Daily news

The city will be showcasing itself to the planet in the lead-up to World Expo 2010 - and Japan is the first port of call. Hundreds of pictures of Shanghai and World Expo posters will feature later this month along a key railway line in the Land of the Rising Sun, the city government announced yesterday.

The promotion is part of a series of "Shanghai Weeks", from March 16 to April 30, which will include tourism promotion, playing local movies in Japan and expo-related business talks between the two countries.

"We attach special importance to promoting the World Expo 2010 in Japan and to attracting Japanese people's participation," Shanghai Municipal spokeswoman Jiao Yang said yesterday in a news briefing.

She said Shanghai chose Japan as the first country to promote expo because the two countries are close neighbors, and this year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties.

Jiao said that on March 18 an Eastern Airlines plane, painted with the expo logo, will carry a delegation of more than 30 people, mostly government officials, to Tokyo.

An eight-car train between Tokyo and Kanagawa, provided by Keikyu Electric Express Railway Co Ltd, will be named "Expo Express" and painted with the logo. The company has allowed Shanghai to display 320 pictures inside each carriage.

Dozens of expo posters and "Chinese knots" will decorate stations along the Tokyo-Kanagawa line.

Seven documentaries about Shanghai's history and people will be played on Japanese television.