The Germany pavilion is one of the most talked about at Expo 2020 Dubai, continuing to attract curious crowds and repeat visitors as the world's fair enters its final days.
Hundreds of people queue outside the pavilion, sometimes for more than three hours, to be part of the entertainment and excitement it offers.
Outside, attendants distribute water and even offer impromptu craft classes, teaching people to make paper hats as they wait in line.
Many are revisiting the pavilion, which is built around a campus theme, for the pure joy of sitting on swings in the final zone called the “graduation hall”, moving in synch with glowing bulbs.
People are surprised Germany is so cool, no one was expecting that from Germany
Sebastian Rosito,
Germany pavilion
Others head back for a closer look at the interactive exhibit that shows how to capture energy from the ocean or watch an lift mock-up that moves horizontally.
Sebastian Rosito, director of the pavilion, said the fun element came as a surprise to visitors.
“It’s a different art of storytelling that people are loving,” he told The National.
“Entertainment and education when combined is popular. We are witnessing this every day with the crowds.
“People are surprised Germany is so cool. No one was expecting that from Germany. We even got this reaction from Germans who visit.”
Here is a selection of attractions that people are keen to see before Expo ends on March 31.
Charged with energy
From the moment a visitor is enrolled with a name tag, it’s the start of unusual methods of learning.
Parents dive in behind their children into a large pit filled with 100,000 yellow recycled plastic balls.
Outside the pit, each ball when placed in a special scanner tells a story about green efforts in Germany.
These balls will be given away to nurseries and schools in the UAE and Germany once the Expo ends.
Visitors can move a lever to watch how energy from waves sparks electricity. This exhibit shows how a generator placed on the ocean bed uses the movement of waves to capture and supply electricity for a year to more than 600 households.
Then tug on a rope that manoeuvres a kite on a screen, for a quick lesson on harnessing wind energy.
In another cubicle, children yank a chain that rattles into a deep hole to depict geothermal energy from deep within the Earth that the city of Munich aims to channel for district heating by 2040.
Fun with learning
Being part of the experience, and not a spectator reading display boards, is attracting people back to the pavilion more than once.
Helen Nevis, a tourist from South Africa, has visited the pavilion three times in two weeks.
“I like how we each get a name badge and our names are put up on the walls with information about our country’s environmental efforts,” she said.
“It’s a real eye opener.”
Families gather around a large table to navigate a ball through chambers where it picks up make-believe bacteria replicating a German research project to treat waste water.
Another group of three struggle to maintain their balance on discs that constantly move as part of a game about intelligent systems to control electricity.
Ms Nevis said she took dozens of videos to show friends the lessons she learnt about sustainable construction in a separate room on megacities.
In here, models of sky scrapers show elevators using magnets instead of ropes, vertical farming and building facades made of clay and crushed glass.
Swing along
A crowd favourite is the final space filled with swings.
The name of each visitor is beamed on the wall as they enter and settle on a swing.
When the group swings back and forth and hits a synchronised rhythm, their movement controls the gleaming bulbs at the centre which dip and soar in tandem.
Adults and children clap and cheer during the finale that comes with a message of working together.
“People have got emotional as they are very happy in this room,” said Mr Rosito, the pavilion director.
“It was a way to spread awareness that we really need to work together to solve the big issues of today.”
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Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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Korean Film Festival 2019 line-up
Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
Nearby Sky, June 29 at 4pm
A Resistance, June 29 at 6pm
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
