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The first floor of the City Footprint Pavilion houses ten Chinese artifacts from the Tang Dynasty, including five Buddhist sculptures and five volumes of Buddhist sutras, all of which have made their first journey outside the Mogao Grottos of Dunhuang in Gansu Province. Among the treasures is a 65-cm-tall, six-armed Bodhisattva Guanyin statue carved from a single piece of willow trunk. The serene expression, the garment and its trimming and decorations all signal astronomical value. On the third floor, visitors can enjoy the copper-gilded eleven-face Bodhisattva Guanyin statue from Tibet, the Buddhist sutras written with fused gold, the copper statue of Yamantaka, various Thangka works and many other divine objects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Czech Pavilion is also a must-see. In the Czech Republic, people all believe they will be blessed by touching two bronze plaques inlaid in the pedestal of the Statue of Cardinal St. John of Nepomuk, which was erected on Charles Bridge. Each of the two plagues is 20-kilogram in weight, 66 cm in length and 52 cm in width. Touched by countless disciples and visitors during the years, their bronze patina has begun to rub off.

Treasures Unclassified

Plenty of assorted treasures have been amassed at the Expo Park that defy categorization. Joint Africa Pavilion features a replica of a 3-million-year-old human skeleton named Lucy, offering visitors an up close and personal brush with the roots of our species.

The Egypt Pavilion brings us the top eight national treasures of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Among them are a 3,500-year-old golden necklace from Amenhotep I, the second Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, a 2.3-meter-tall Goddess Hathor Column carved in basalt, and a gold foil mask belonging to Sheshonq II. All showcase the exquisite workmanship of ancient Egypt.

The Germany Pavilion houses two glazed brick panels derived from the Ishtar Gate of the inner city of the ancient Kingdom of Babylon. The Turkey Pavilion has splendid crowd-pleasers in the form of an 8,500-year-old sculpture, the earliest coins cast at the end of the 7th century BC, and the first bilateral contract signed in 1295 BC.

Chinese provincial pavilions aren’t shy to compete with bigger jurisdictions, bringing a grand feast of national treasures and cultures to the Expo table. Liaoning Provincial Pavilion puts two of their most precious fossils on display, the earliest bird fossil called Sinosauropteryx and the earliest flower fossil named Archaeofructus liaoningensis, each of which have over 100 million years worth of cache. The heyday of bronze metallurgy is represented by the pedestal of Zeng Houyi’s Jiangu drum from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period (770-221 BC): entwined by eight pairs of major dragons and tens of minor dragons whose pierced body crevices are inset with turquoise gems. The complicated skills and workmanship guarantee the treasure impossible to replicate. The dazzling copper acupuncture figure from the Ming Dynasty fully illustrates the channels and points spread across the human body. Further along are displayed the stone carvings of the Sun God image from the Neolithic Period, one of the two unearthed bronze drums with taotie motif from the Shang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BC), and 5,000-year-old bronze heads with gold foil masks from the Sanxingdui ruins in Sichuan Province, along with glazed terricotta worriors and horses from Shaanxi Province.

Every pavilion has its eye candy, its historic and religious talismans, and its tales to tell. The ocean of treasures is worth a long, slow cruise.

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VOL.59 NO.12 December 2010 Advertise on Site Contact Us