The Mascot of 2010 Shanghai World Exposition — Haibao

　　1. The Desgining of Haibao

　　The mascot of 2010 Shanghai World Expo Haibao is very important for interpreting the theme of this world expostion and expressing the culture of the hosting country—China, just like other mascots for huge worldwide events such as Olympics and World Cup. The emblems and images of past World Expos have turned into the unique intangible legacy. The World Expo mascots have not only become the representatives of Expo images, but also embody the culture and spirit of hosting countries and cities.

　　Mascot, as the symbol featuring the hosting country, will embody the history, development, culture, concept and social background of the country and will play an important role in the communication in political, economical and cultural fields.

　　2. The main characters of Haibao.

　　Created from the Chinese character "ren," which means people, the mascot embodies the character of Chinese culture and echoes with the designing concept of the emblem of World Expo Shanghai. Using the Chinese character as the mascot of an international event is an innovation.

　　3. The manifestation

　　Hair: the hair of the mascot is like the wave of the sea, which represents its open character and stated the character of its birth place—the coastal city of Shanghai.

　　Face: its cartoon expression_r_r shows its confidence and friendly character.

　　Eye: big, round eyes show his anticipation of the city.

　　Blue: the color shows its latitude and imagination, which represents the rising and potential China.

　　Body: its round body represents a well-off life, which is also lovely and cute.

　　Fist: he thumbs up to show the appreciation and warm welcome to the friends from all over the world.

　　Big feet: he stands steadily on the big feet and embraces the world with big arms, which shows that China has the ability and faith to host a successful Expo.

　　The Chinese character 人has two strokes supporting each other. This structure shows the concept that a good life should be created by all the people. The world should be supported by "people," and people should have harmonious relationships with nature and society, so that the life in cities would be better.

　　The mascot will surely become the lucky symbol and cultural remark of Shanghai Expo.

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　　4. The birth of the name of Haibao.

　　The name of the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is Hai Bao, which means the treasure of the sea. The name of Hai Bao is easy to remember, echoes with the color of its body and is a typical lucky name in Chinese tradition.

　　Hai Bai is the good well ambassador of Shanghai Expo. He is embracing friends from all over the world with his arms and confident smile.

　　Mascot selection

　　Human beings, as the creators of good life, are the core to push the city development. That’s why the designing of the mascot chose the Chinese character of people to be the main image. The blue color mascot represents the elements including earth, dream, sea, future, technology and manifests the theme of World Expo "Better City, Better Life."

　　The image of the mascot is simple, easy to remember and to communicate. Though it is a single mascot, with the different motions and costumes, it could also have various appearances.

　　The mascot "Haibao," which means the treasure of the seas, is another Expo symbol created from Chinese character following the Expo emblem in the shape of "世" (world).

　　Water is the source of life. The main character of the mascot is water. The blue color stated Chinese brand-new gesture to embrace the world. Hai Bao is the wish to colorful life and the warm invitation to friends from all over the world to Shanghai.

　　5 The selection of mascot

　　The final winner is selected out of 26,655 entries from the four-month worldwide public solicitation for the mascot idea. Instead of asking designated teams to create the mascots, like most of the other World Expos and Olympics, the organizers launched a public solicitation to hear what common people think.

　　The staff of the mascot selection office traveled to more than 50 cities in China and across the world. It also did a door-to-door promotion to over 80,000 people, asking them to submit ideas for the Expo mascot.

　　Among the 26,655 entries to the Expo, the youngest person to submit an entry was only three years old, and the oldest was 83.

　　About seven percent of the entries are designed by children less than 10 years old. The designers are of all kinds of professions, including students, retired people, sportsmen, nurses, designers, clerks, painters, writers, teachers and actors. Nearly 70 percent of the designers are from eastern costal cities.

　　6. Other world Expo mascot

　　Fluvi is a water creature, the Expo Zaragoza 2008 mascot. His body is semi-translucent and jelly-like.

　　He is a positive character, purifying, cleaning and nourishing everything he touches. It forms part of the Posis family. As it moves around quickly it gives off tiny drops of water. It is innocent, generous and kind to nature. Wherever he steps, he leaves footprints that nourish, fertilise and give life.

　　Kiccoro ( Forest Child )

　　The Forest Child has only just been born. Jumping around everywhere, he's (she's) full of energy! The Forest Child wants to see and do everything! He's (she's) looking forward to making lots of friends at the Expo.

　　Morizo ( Forest Grand Father )

　　The Forest Grandfather has been living in the forest since long ago. He's an easy-going and kind old man, he has seen many things and knows everything, but he hasn't lost his curiosity. Hearing about the Expo, he's enthusiastic about lending a hand.

　　Twipsy is the World Expo 2000 Hannover, Germany mascot. Twipsy is a multi-coloured creature: with a large mouth, a big nose, a plant for left arm, an human hand for right arm, a man's foot and a woman's foot.