Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I am Yang Ho -ling joined by Steve and Yuxuan.
Coming up soon. You walk into a curved pavilion that looks like it's been on road from an ancient scroll.
Warm bamboo hills wrap around you.
poetry is carved into the walls and scripts that have evolved for millennia.
You turn a corner and there it is!
A lunar rock from the far side of the moon, or maybe some soil from the moon.
In Osaka, China's story isn't told in chapters.
It's unfolded, seamlessly blending history, innovation and a vision for a greener world.
Join Roundtable and let's take a closer look at the China Pavilion at Expo 2025.
After that, life is full of little choice.
We just have to take the time to notice them.
On Round Table's Happy Place, we share the moments, discoveries, and simple pleasures that made our week just a little brighter.
But now, Expo 2025 is about to kick off in Osaka, Japan on April the 13th.
From ancient philosophy to high -tech exhibition, In addition, the China Pavilion is telling a story rooted in thousands of years of history with a twist of modern flair.
In today's discussion, we'll explore the design theme, philosophical ideas behind the dazzling structure, uncover the cultural treasures tucked inside, and take a sneak peek at the must -see highlights.
But before all that, the 2025 World Expo!
Yeah. Have you been to a World Expo before?
Unfortunately no. but I've been to the Shanghai Expos Venue.
It's now a museum right now.
So I visited it. Oh, cool.
Yeah. These are, these are huge events, right?
And they're pretty exciting.
I got the opportunity to visit Juan when it was in Korea.
I think it was 2012 in, in Yosu I did a radio show there as a matter of fact.
Ooh, so cool. Yeah, really cool experience.
You get to walk around to each pavilion, each country's pavilion.
Oftentimes they'll have food from that country, Which is fun highlight right and and you get to see what they have on display there.
It's it's a really fun Experience and there are so many people that go there every single time They they have one tens of millions of people visit and they have these wonderful Pavilions and some of the highlights they always have highlights from every Expo They hold but I was looking up some of the ones from this year.
This is from France 24.
This is pretty cool So encircling dozens of national pavilions is what they call the Grand Ring.
And the Grand Ring is recognized by Guinness World Records as the planet's largest wooden architectural structure.
That's one of the cool things you can check out there.
Really expensive to make, apparently millions and millions and millions of dollars, but it's got a circumference of almost two kilometers, if not a little bit more.
And it's meant to symbolize unity.
The mascot is a fun little character.
It's name is Miyaku Miyaku, if I'm saying that correctly.
Sounds cute. It's this red and blue.
Have you seen it? I don't exactly know what it's supposed to be.
With several eyes surrounded his face.
Yeah, five eyes that we could see on the front.
Real futuristic. And apparently one on the bobbly red tail.
Organizers say it is, quote, a mysterious creature born from the fusion of cells and water.
Futuristic. Yeah, that's another thing you can have a look out for.
Yeah, they're getting ready for it.
It's going to be kicking off very, very soon.
I really enjoy world expos in the sense that you see countries around the world, normally in our everyday life, which why really hard to develop our economy, to benefit the people, we try very hard to develop better technologies, so that we can touch the edge of science.
and we also, you know, work on these very concrete issue, yet during the World Expos, what countries are doing is to express their best side using different creative ideas.
And apparently that is what is happening in this year's 2025 Expo in the Chinese Pavilion, because we're trying to include the history, the culture and the philosophy, And using all those ideas and trying to demonstrate it in, of course, a lot of exhibits, but also the architecture itself.
Yeah. And if you would like or you are intrigued by all of our introduction, you've got plenty of time to actually visit it because it's gonna run… Six months is it?
It's gonna run for six months from April 13th through October 13th, under the theme of designing future society for our lives.
Why I'm saying this is because the structure and also the China pavilion theme is quite resonating with the whole big theme of the World Expo 2025.
So, inspired by traditional Chinese calligraphy scrolls, the China pavilions architectural design embodies the theme of building a community of life for men and nature, future society of green development, I saw images.
It looks huge. It's like a really big space.
Yes, and actually it is one of the largest foreign self -built pavilions at EXPO 2025.
Also inside it features three themed sections, you know traditional ecological wisdom, modern green development and a vision for global cooperation in building a sustainable future.
And they all have an aim, you know, one is called Harmony between Humanity and Nature, the second, Green Mountains and Clear Waters and also endless vitality.
Wow, very beautiful.
Yeah. The harmony between humanity and nature section that is delving into traditional Chinese culture that will emphasize the deep rooted wisdom and reverence that the Chinese people have for the natural world.
Then the green mountains and clear water section that will present China's modern commitment to green development.
And then the Endless Vitality section, that's where we go to the future, looking to the future, featuring China's exploration of outer space and the deep sea.
This reminds me of the Shanghai expo and the architecture there, the China pavilion there, it was, um, it embodied a system of brackets inserted between the top of a column and a cross beam that is also a traditional Chinese architecture structure, very, very famous.
And here, this architecture is also special with certain elements of special design and the romance of an architecture, isn't it?
So this china pavilion draws its design inspiration from an ancient Chinese medium of cultural transmission, the bamboo slip scroll, which is an ancient Chinese writing medium, people actually use wood and bamboo to make these slips and then they carve it and then they write words and characters on it and maybe use strings to connect all of them to make it as a book or a scroll.
So that is a kind of, as Ni -ho -lin said a little historical scroll that is opening up And it's shaped like, you know, this hen's roll and building unfolds gracefully into a bamboo -hued architectural masterpiece and resembling a giant Chinese book brought to life.
That sounds gorgeous.
Yeah. Mixing the old with the new very, very intricately designed too.
This is also, I think, delivering a message that we're trying to have the idea of the harmony between humans and nature, because this is a way that is connecting not only modern and history, but also human and nature as the character, the culture, and the wooden and bamboo elements.
And for those of you who have the luxury to go visit the place, And if you haven't been to China no Chinese style in their design inside like indoor design Actually, the color is also pretty much enjoyed by Chinese people one They want to decorate their house in a traditional Chinese style They use this kind of a little bit Brown but more like lighter brown kind of color We use it a lot The reason I'm mentioning it is because the Shanghai Expo Chinese Pavilion the red is very much China red And guess what?
This color is also with Chinese characteristics, but a more traditional, more subtle and modest kind of way.
And besides that we see a green and sustainable development is also a key feature that's stressed and also expressed in this year's expo in the Chinese pavilion.
Yeah, it's been used from even the stage of, you know, designing this zero waste construction principle has been used.
You know, the design team adopted augmented reality AR technology instead of building physical preview setups.
This allowed designers and visitors to virtually tour a full scale digital version of this pavilion and most materials were pre -assembled in the factory rather than on -site.
That's reducing costs by 90 percent and eliminating material waste.
Very efficient. Also after the Expo, the China pavilion can be dismantled and then brought back to China and then rebuilt again.
I don't know where they're going to rebuild it but that's what that's what they can do with it.
And if even if you cannot go outside of China or even if you don't have the chance to visit in Japan this time.
You can come to China and see it when it's resembled.
So enough about this amazing architecture, now I am entering the building!
What can I see? Oh yeah.
One thing and must visit thing is that you know there is something that is really precious that you need to see.
The pavilion will exhibit lunar samples brought back by the Chang 'e 5 and Chang 'e 6 lunar probes.
This will be the world's first opportunity to view samples from both the near side and the far side of the moon, up close and side by side.
Visitors can observe the structure of lunar soil and subtle differences between the two sides using specially designed lens devices." Actually, I've got a chance.
I think it was Chang 'e 5.
It brought back the moon's soil for a couple of years.
And I got the chance to see it by my real eyes.
Wow, that's so cool.
What does it look like?
Soil. But still. That's a little bit disrespectful, but that is, we need to understand how hard it could be when we can actually see it.
Definitely, and thinking about it, it's actually very romantic because the moon is so close to us.
We can see the moon every single day, I mean, every single night.
But with our technology, we can never ever see the far side of the moon.
Of course. Yeah. That's one cool thing they'll have on display.
Another cool thing, how could we do it without humanoid robots, right?
Yeah. UBTEC Robotics.
The Walker -C humanoid robot will interact with visitors at the Chinese Pavilion.
And, of course, this will be really fun for people visiting to have this human -robot interactive experience.
I would look forward to that.
And that is not the only robot or technology that you can interact with.
Sun Wukong, or maybe we're...
people would be more familiar with another name called, Monkey King.
Maybe not anymore. Wukong, the black myth.
Now we're very familiar with Wukong.
Yeah. But you're not actually interacting with Wukong.
It's a robot also developed by Chinese IT company iFlyTech. They said it's a next generation cognitive AI powered robot and also it will be equipped with advanced technologies such as noise -resistant speech recognition, multi -emotion speech synthesis.
So it can be angry at me or happy with me or crying in front of me when I interact with it?
Maybe have some emotional conversations with it and also multi -model interaction and it can interact with visitors in Chinese, Japanese, and also English.
Ooh, impressive multilingual, huh?
Yeah. Just quickly, Canada is going to be represented there as well.
Ooh, of course. The concept for the Canadian pavilion is regeneration.
That's inspired by the thawing of frozen waterways at the onset of spring.
I had a look at the exterior architecture, and this was in the plans for a long time.
I saw an article from the Canadian government website that went back to 2023 when they actually unveiled what it was going to look like, the concept unveiling happened at that time.
But the architecture itself, it's gonna represent a natural phenomenon seen in Canada called an ice jam, and that's when the ice on the surface of a river melts and flows and it creates this kind of intriguing ice formation.
So it looks like it's gonna be a pretty nice place.
I was looking at media outlets and what they were saying about the Canadian Pavilion from Japan and I saw one really funny quote, it said, actual interactions with Canadians will be a highlight.
So if you want to have some fun with some Canadian people and talk with them, I guess you can go to the Canada exhibit at the Expo.
Well, yeah, if you have interacted with actual Canadians - Can you believe it?
Actual Canadians! Not those fake Canadians.
We can then have some actual robotic interactions here in the China Pavilion.
Yeah, exactly. That's still something very cool and I look forward for it to open on the 13th of April.
We see sustainability, artificial intelligence, lunar samples.
The China Pavilion brings the future into focus.
But it doesn't forget the heart.
Whether it's through bamboo walls that breathe or ancient scripts brought to digital life, this space reminds us that technology must serve something deeper, our connection to each other and to the Earth.
You're listening to Roundtable.
Before we wrap up the week, let's take a moment to appreciate the good stuff.
we each share something that made us feel lighter, happier, or just a little more grateful.
Stay tuned for ROUNDTABLES Happy Place.
What is it? happiness from ROUNDTABLES This is ROUNDTABLES with me Steve Heatherly and Yuxun.
And happiness comes in many forms, a great story, a kind word, or even a small moment of peace.
So, who wants to share first today?
Yeah, I'll go first. Mine is also another new policy.
So, starting from April the 8th, the railway authorities will pilot a high -speed rail pat transportation service on select routes.
Yes, yes, so it is featuring isolated transport, which means your pet and owner will be separated.
Separation of passengers and pets and dedicated care.
So passengers can book the service online at least two days in advance.
Once the reservation is successful, they may transport one pet, either a cat or a dog that is domesticated, of course, in good health.
No wolves, yeah weighs no more than ...
Darn it I have to leave my wolf at home for the weekend.
Oh I'm sorry. Yeah so weighs no more than fifteen kilograms and it has a shoulder height not exceeding forty centimeters.
So not very big but most of the domesticated pads is satisfying the requirements.
Can I be the caregiver of these pads instead of being the one who's carrying the PAD?
Can I just hop on the train, take care of all these lovely animals and get paid?
Well, there will be professionals actually there to take care of all of these PADs.
So PAD owners can make reservations via this 1 -2 -3 -06 mobile app.
And during this trial period, the transportation fee will be charged with a 30 % discount actually, Yeah, with a price ranging from, not too early, from a minimum of 360 yuan, that's about 49 US dollars to a maximum of 860 yuan.
That's 117 US dollars.
Depending on how big the animal is?
Yes, and how far you're going.
Sure. So almost the price of two adult tickets, actually.
It's pretty expensive.
But still. Yeah, but the fact that it's available.
Yeah, it's quite nice, actually, my pet, my lovely black cat.
Nike was sent to me Oh, excuse me, Nike was fine.
I mean, another pet of my friend was sent to her by car, because back then it was not available by train and it was actually even more expensive than, well, taking a car and transporting the cat.
Yeah, because they need extra care when they're on on the road.
Right. So, um, I'm guessing Sorry to interrupt again they're they're kept in like a special what's that word special container yes I guess there's a word for that I can't think of it right now but you don't just bring your dog on a leash and then they go in a separate train car no they have kind of a special designed high -speed real pad transport containers okay yeah these containers comes with actually air circulation systems oxygen level and temperature humidity monitoring noise reduction and deal deal sorry to just cancel all of their smells of these pets deodorizer yeah yeah so there are capping
these containers throughout the journey which are placed in this high -speed rail Express cargo cabin which is specially designed for them yeah and of course there are some concerns like potential power outages could endanger paths right the Unfamiliar transport containers may cost trust of the paths and many are still hoping for future services that allow paths and owners to stay in the same carriage nice, but still that's that's Something making you happy.
Yeah, you know, do you have a cat or a dog?
No now you can have one.
Yeah But I am very happy for people are having one and would like to travel with their paths even though there are still some limitations, but at least we're seeing a very significant step.
Yeah, because as a previous pet owner, I know that when you go away for even just a couple of days or even just overnight, where there are cases where you want to bring your dog or your cat with you and you just don't have that option.
That means that you have to make arrangements at the local vet or with a friend or family member.
They have to keep them for you.
And it's just a lot of extra details, right?
But if you can just bring your cat or your dog with you, then that's a cool thing.
Yes, and actually, now onto China's social media platforms, you've got to see a lot of videos and livestreams of the pet owner and the pet enjoying local sightseeing together.
They're traveling together.
Usually they would travel on their own car or a motorcycle.
Now they can travel on China's amazing high speed trains as well.
Yep, prepare for twenty five million social media updates of people traveling with their pets.
I'd be delighted to enjoy them.
Yeah right. Okay how about you Steve, what is your happy place this week?
One of my favorite TV shows is called Black Mirror, have you ever heard of it before?
I love it and I'm bringing it up today because the new season, which is Season 7, was just released and I've watched a couple of episodes already, pardon me, and I'm really satisfied with the new season.
why I love this TV show if you're not familiar with it, what it does is it looks into the future but not so far into the future that it's unrelatable.
It also explores the dangers of technology.
It approaches topics of technology that we don't use in our daily lives just yet but we feel like we're just about to get to that level of technology which makes it all the more relatable.
but again it's this dystopian kind of setting or theme which means that it's all about the dangers of technology and what can go wrong when tech is misused and like I said the new season came out and it's really great so far Without spoil the whole entire story and plot can you give me your favorite episode for now?
Just to give you an idea well, I'll give you a previous episode.
How about that? Oh, sure Yeah because I don't want to spoil anything from the new season one of my favorite episodes is about a couple and the technology Available is a chip that you put behind your ear and that chip allows your eyes to record Everything that you see throughout the day, right?
So everything that you look at from the minute you wake up until the minute you sleep gets recorded Now, you have access to that, but also your romantic partner has access to that information, so you can just imagine, Where were you today?
Who were you with? Nobody.
I wasn't doing anything.
And then you want to secretly check the tape, because it's like CCTV 24 -7 inside your brain.
Wow. I can totally see that happening with our previous topic on Roundtable, the smart glasses, if you wear glasses, you turn it on all the time if its asked by your spouse, you get to do that So yes It is very interesting because it could be so relative and then It could also scare you as that It will bring you that sense of you may be The mini or future that it's possible.
Yeah, that's what I love about this show Is that it not every episode but a lot of the episodes you think oh, yeah This is actually probably going to be available to us, this technology in the not so distant future.
Exactly. What's your happy place today?
Well, my happy place is that, last week I actually had an amazing time with my son in Laotian Park.
That's a park here in Beijing, really near our office building.
And the park is a place filled with slides, climbing frames and all sorts of equipment that does not need electricity, just pure, unadulterated kind of fun.
And my kid had a lot of fun and I had fun with him and just turn a corner.
I realized that besides the kids playing area, there is also an area with the kind of smart facilities that people can use free of charge.
Some of them are powered by AI's like treadmills and the kind of exercising tools that you can even play with your friends.
You can have a little sporty contest with your friend because they're all connected to the internet, and there are also these very carefully designed, or smartly designed chess boards as well as goal boards.
All the little chess pieces are somehow connected on the chess board, so people would not accidentally take them away or lose them.
Accidentally? Or intentionally?
No, because if you do not have a chess board, then there's no point taking the pieces.
but because they are locked, kind of locked on it, but you can still move them.
So allowing, making sure that people can use them, you can play.
And also since it's in a park, it's also surrounded by Tui.
And during that time, not only did I have had a great time with my kid, I also realized that on that day, my exercise a month was surpassed the previous record history record in a recent time, and that's when I realized that interacting with nature would give you much, much more power to actually exercise.
So I would encourage all of you who do not really have a good exercising habit to interact with the space, with nature and give yourself a little more reason to keep a good and healthy lifestyle.
I was there last week, actually.
Hopefully you enjoyed it as well.
And that brings us to the end of today's roundtable.
Until next time, keep the conversations going and the ideas flowing.
I'm Yuhong Lin with Steve and Yu Xue, thanks for listening.
Bye -bye.
