Visitors will have a chance to visit a pavilion which is made completely of bamboo at the Shanghai World Expo this year, said Chief Representative of the Vietnam National Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo Tran Van Tan.

"The Vietnamese Pavilion itself can be seen as an exhibit because it is in shape of a warehouse and made entirely of bamboo" said Tan, the Chief Representative of Vietnam National Pavilion at the expo in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua. The pavilion has an area of 1,000 square meters and is more than 12 meters high.

The Shanghai Expo 2010, themed in "Better City, Better Life", is scheduled to begin on May 1 and last until October 31.

Tan said that Vietnam's pavilion will follow closely the general theme of the expo, in which the country wants to emphasize environmental protection.

"We chose bamboo as the main material for our pavilion since it is one kind of natural materials and represents Vietnamese people' s characteristics," said the chief representative. The bamboos are enduring and firm.

"To build the pavilion, we need about 80,000 bamboos. A majority of them will be taken from China," Tan said.

At the expo, Vietnam will be introduced to the international visitors as a country of diverse peoples and multi cultures.

To that aim, the country will showcase pottery products of feudal dynasties such as Ly and Tran, and lacquer products with the pictures reflecting the country and people of Vietnam, according to Tan.

Tan said that other products may include coffee, handicrafts and wood sculpture works.

Moreover, as Vietnam is celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the establishment of its capital city of Hanoi this year, the introduction about the peculiarities of Hanoi will also be a focus, said Tan. At the same time, Hanoi, in its development as an urban city, is facing with a lot of environmental issues that need to be addressed to become a better city.

"We expect to see a large number of people including both Vietnamese and foreigners visit Vietnam's national pavilion at the exhibition," said the chief representative.

Vietnam considers this time's expo special as it is held in China, a country which has a traditional relationship with Vietnam and this year marks the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic relations.

Vietnam has made careful preparations for the expo in Shanghai, said Tan.

Particularly, as bamboo is a material which is easy to catch fires, Vietnam has cooperated with a Chinese company to produce a fire-resistant chemical only for bamboos for the first time ever, according to Tan.

Vietnam hopes to have the coordination from the expo organizer in security issues to protect our national pavilion at the upcoming Shanghai World Expo, said the chief representative.