Umbrella Public Relations Stunt Achieves World Record Claim

Umbrella display: Located within the volcanic region of exotic Hainan Island, Mission Hills Resort Hainan marks a magnificent addition to Hainan's tropical island paradise. Boasting an exceptional variety of world-class lifestyle, recreation and wellness facilities, the Resort is poised to be one of China's most sought-after leisure destinations. Caption and Image Credit: Mission Hills Resort Hainan

Umbrella Public Relations Stunt Achieves World Record Claim

Yesterday, at what has been billed as the world’s largest golf facility, Mission Hills Shenzhen, China, people holding umbrellas on the fairway of a picturesque golf link, claimed a world record by creating a “human” displayed QR Code.

Close-up detail. Image Credit: Mission Hills Resort Hainan

The QR Code was formed by nearly 2,000 staff carrying umbrellas and an aerial photograph was taken from a height of 270 feet so that the code could be used in Press Releases.

The purpose of this PR effort is designed to promote sustainable eco-tourism ... and in celebration of Mission Hills' 20th anniversary, the Group is giving away twenty 3 day / 2 night Romantic Premier Spa Suite Getaway packages at Mission Hills Haikou Resort on the tropical island of Hainan.

When users scan the QR Code, they will be directed to a campaign website to answer three simple questions related to sustainable eco-tourism. Those who complete the questions with the correct answers will be entered into the draw for a chance to win one of the Mission Hills Micro Holiday packages valued at US$2,600.
(ht: PR Newswire)

Say Hi to the world, 1,369 people love Taiwan, the arrangement of the world's largest human OR Code, hands in the air to empty footage Say Hi to let the world see Taiwan, to show the enthusiasm of the people of Taiwan. Caption and Image Credit: Wen Shiren Cultural Foundation and the Taiwan Foundation (taiwansayhi.com)

QR display detail - Wen i Taiwan ‧ wonderful movie tidbits Say Hi to the world activities Video posted January 16, 2013. Image Credit: Wen Shiren Cultural Foundation and the Taiwan Foundation (taiwansayhi.com)

This is not the first time people holding umbrellas stand in a predetermined pattern in order to form a QR Code upon which folks with camera/QR enabled smart phones could scan the code created and be directed to a website to qualify or buy something of value or interest. At the beginning of December last year, 1369 people raised black, white and blue umbrellas to form a QR Code directing people to a website that promotes Taiwan culture and tourism - http://www.taiwansayhi.com.
(ht: 2d)



** Article first published as Umbrella Public Relations Stunt Achieves World Record Claim on Technorati **

Hangzhou Bay Bridge - World’s Longest Span Across The Ocean

China has formally opened what it says is the world's longest sea bridge with a ceremony and fireworks. The six-lane bridge was built to address traffic congestion in the booming region, and will cut the driving time between Shanghai and Ningbo to two-and-a-half hours from four. Image Credit: BBC NEWS

Hangzhou Bay Bridge - World’s Longest Span Across The Ocean

Hangzhou Bay Bridge is an S-shaped stayed-cable bridge linking both sides of the Hangzhou Bay. It is the longest sea-crossing bridge on this Oblate Spheroid! The bridge is 22.37 Miles long; it has six lanes in both directions and shortens the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 74.56 Miles.

MAP - Hangzhou Bay is a gulf in the East China Sea. For the Zhejiang province this is a first class project as both ends of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge are in the province´s cities of Cixi and Zhapu. The bridge is the main project of the 5.200 kilometres national highway between Heilongjiang Province in the north toi the Hainan Province in the south. Graphic Credit: hangzhoubaybridge.com

Although the bridge is already linked and the opening ceremony was held on 26th June 2007, it opened to the public transport May 1, 2008.

First preparations for planning the bridge started a decade ago; close to 600 experts spent nine years on designing the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. Chief Commander of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge project is Mr Wang Yong.

Hangzhou Bay is known both in China and internationally for it´s fantastic tides, a natural wonder that is a major tourist attraction. . The tides are moving in a speed that can reach 30 kilometres (19 miles), sounds like thunder and the waves can be up to 8 meters (25 feet) high. One reason for the study of the project for a decade is the tide which will make the construction process complicated. Image Credit: hangzhoubaybridge.com

This excerpted from Times Online -

China opens world's longest road bridge
Jane Macartney in Beijing - Times Online - May 2, 2008

“If you want to grow rich, you must first build roads,” an old Chinese saying goes. The opening yesterday of the world’s longest road bridge over the sea should swell still further the coffers of the glittering metropolis that is Shanghai.

The £840 million [1.66 billion dollars] bridge, measuring 36km, spans Hangzhou Bay to link China’s financial hub and the port city of Ningbo to the south. It will reduce travel time between the two key cities in the Yangtze delta from four hours to two and a half.

A ceremony was held in the middle of the cable-stayed bridge to mark the official opening. The bridge has been built to withstand the typhoons that sweep in from the Pacific to batter the east coast each summer. Its steel pylons are 89m long, reaching beneath a sea as deep as 60m in some places. In addition, the sections of the bridge had to be winched into position over expanses of quicksand-like mudflats.
----
In a break with tradition, private firms provided almost a third of the investment needed for the project. Image Credit: hangzhoubaybridge.com

State television greeted the start of traffic on the bridge with great fanfare, devoting almost the first ten minutes of the evening news of the Labour Day holiday to the subject. Wen Jiabao, the premier, visited the southern end of the bridge in Ningbo.Private investors funded almost 30 per cent of the project, the first time that China’s private sector had been allowed to put money into a major public infrastructure work. Officials say that the capital costs should be recovered in 15 years.
Reference Here>>

Please note that the title of the Times Online article referenced here is in error, in that the longest "ROAD BRIDGE" is located in the United States. The world's longest road bridge on this Oblate Spheroid is in Louisiana: the Lake Pontchatrain Causeway near New Orleans links Metairie to Mandeville, and spans 24 miles (~40 km). It is not an engineering marvel, but it is longer by almost a couple of miles ... Sorry China.

Blue Orb ... Cubed

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

Blue Orb ... Cubed

The human experience is, at once, no boundaries and at other times is all about boundaries. The way we humans relate to the nature around us is fascinating.

In the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, venues are being constructed that interpret and capture the essence of the very world we live in.

Chinese labourers work at the National Aquatics Center on April 3, 2007 in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: Guang Niu/Getty Images

This from AP via Yahoo! Sports -

Bird's Nest, Watercube to get test events in 2008
Associated Press - March 21, 2007

BEIJING (AP) -- The Bird's Nest and the Watercube -- the 2008 Beijing Olympics' signature structures -- will get their first tests early next year.

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center (L) and the National Stadium in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

Twenty-six test events are set for 2007, but none are in the national stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, or the aquatics center, known as the Watercube.

BOCOG vice president Yang Shu'an said Wednesday that 16 additional test events would be held in 2008, but did not specify where each of the competitions would be held.

The first major test event this year is the World Junior Rowing Championships begins Aug. 8 -- one year before the opening of the Games. Baseball, cycling, canoeing, archery and beach volleyball also are among the test events.

"All of these sports are equally important to help us accumulate experience to help us host the Beijing Olympics next year," Yang said. "There will be a big learning curve. For example, the timing and scoring systems. We have to ensure that we test the timing and scoring systems so they will work properly during the Olympics."

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

BOCOG president Liu Qi said a test to carry the Olympic torch to the summit of Mt. Everest would take place in May.

"Chinese athletes will try to climb Mt. Everest while carrying the torch," Liu said Wednesday in the Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Pao. "It is a first in Olympic history."

Liu said he expected a decision next month about whether the torch relay would pass through Taiwan.

"The mainland is still consulting with the Taiwanese side about the torch relay," he said.

China has offered to allow the torch relay to pass through Taiwan, but officials there have said it is acceptable only if the island is part of the torch's international route.

The two sides split amid civil war almost 60 years ago and the mainland still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.
Reference Here>>