Key unlocks New Zealand day at World Expo

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New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was on hand to officiate at his country’s national day at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

The highlight of the day was the gifting to China by the Prime Minister of a Maori canoe carving known as a Te Kakano.

The carving which consists of two parts, the Maumahara (canoe cenotaph) and the Waharoa (traditional gateway), has been carved by New Zealand artists in front of the pavilion since the beginning of the Expo in May.

The Prime Minister was full of enthusiasm for the unique gift at a post ceremony press conference.

“You will notice a very big carving of a canoe called a Waharoa that has been carved from a tree that was 3500 years old and brought to China where the bulk of the carving was undertaken,” he said.

“This morning we gifted it to the people of Baoshan and that’s where it will be for the rest of its life.”

The PM also gave a special gift to Chinese vice President Chi during his recent trip.

“It was a piece of green stone (jade), a much smaller piece than the one in front of the pavilion, but it was a personal gift from me to vice President Chi and it represents happiness, and strength, and the friendship between myself and the vice president,” he said.

A group of Maori entertainers called Moana and the Tribe performed in front of the pavilion to rapturous applause from the mostly Chinese crowd.

Mr. Key was very impressed with the New Zealand pavilion saying it was truly representative of a day in the life of a New Zealand family.

“Hopefully it gives you a sense of the wide open spaces and the very clean and green environment, and the prosperous conditions that New Zealander’s live in,” he said.

“I think our team has done a tremendous job of showing the billions of cultures that operate in New Zealand, we are very much a multicultural society.”

A highlight of the pavilion was the beautiful garden on its rooftop, and a marvellous tree called the Pohutakawa tree with its fantastic blossoming red coloured flowers.

“The indigenous people, the Maori people, believe that if the Pohutakawa tree blossoms early and it is full of those red flowers then it will be a very warm summer,” the Prime Minister said.

ENDS

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