The writing on the wall says it all
- Source: Global Times
- [09:59 July 06 2010]
- Comments
A girl (left) looks for a place to sign her name on the signature wall Monday at the Cuba Pavilion inside the Expo Park. Photo: Ni Dandan
By Ni Dandan and Chen Xiaoru
The Cuba Pavilion said that it plans to repaint a wall dedicated to visitors wanting to leave their mark on the structure by signing their names, after guests have left it with abrasive comments such as "The Cuba Pavilion sucks."
The wall that is modeled after one cherished by customers at a popular restaurant in Cuba was intended to create a pleasant atmosphere inside the pavilion running under the banner "A City for Everyone," according to Mirtha Rippes Aller, director of the Cuba Pavilion.
"We will redecorate this part of the pavilion, but we're not sure if we'll be letting visitors write on it again," she told the Global Times Monday, declining to comment further on the issue.
Though the 500-square-meter pavilion has in the interim posted a sign asking visitors to refrain from adding impolite words to the maze of crowded scribbles, phrases like "What can you do to me anyway?" written in Chinese have since been penned.
A visitor surnamed Sha from Hunan Province who was touring the Cuba Pavilion Monday told the Global Times that he had no interest in leaving his signature behind on the wall - a platform that has given him and his compatriots a bad name.
"It's a pity that visitors have marked such rude things," he said. "I can only hope that these people didn't really mean to hurt anyone's feelings."
The news has also left many Chinese across the country disappointed. More than 27,000 comments disapproving of the action were posted Monday on social networking website kaixin001.com.
The Shanghai Etiquette Commission, authorized by the World Expo Coordination Bureau to monitor the manners of visitors, has responded to the situation by asking people to pay due respect to all country participants.
"The visitors who wrote these things were probably just looking to have a little bit of fun and may have never intended to cause harm, but it's important that visitors show consideration to everyone when they tour pavilions inside the Expo Park," Fan Ying, director of the Shanghai Etiquette Commission, told the Global Times Monday.
Fan also reminded visitors to be on the best behavior while at the park, saying that following simple manners would go a long way in giving the world a positive image of Shanghai and Chinese people.
