Tauranga leaders bare chests for haka in Shanghai

Tauranga's two leaders, Mayor Stuart Crosby and MP Simon Bridges, stripped off their shirts and brought smiles to hundreds of Chinese by performing an impromptu haka during Tauranga Day at the World Trade Expo's New Zealand Pavilion.
They performed the haka on the outside stage at the pavilion, which sits in the heart of the World Trade Expo in Shanghai.
Led by Patrick Takoko, of the Gisborne Whangara Mai Tawhiti kapa haka group, Mr Crosby and Mr Bridges provided a memorable moment during the Tauranga Day celebrations.
"If I had known about this, I would have done more press ups and eaten less of those sausages at breakfast," said a sweating Mr Bridges, calling on his Maori heritage to produce an energetic haka. The 12-strong kapa haka group, second in the national championships at Baypark Stadium last year, perform 25 minute shows throughout the day, attracting a large crowd each time. New Zealand has a strong presence at the trade expo, with thousands of visitors each day.
"We keep the performance light and provide a little snapshot into our culture," Mr Takoko said.
The kapa haka show is an ideal introduction to New Zealand before the visitors step into the pavilion which features images of daily life and a luxurious roof garden, with more than 10,000 plants and a big pohutukawa tree.
It is the greenest pavilion at the expo, and in the first two months, more than two million people have walked through it.
So far, nearly 30 million people have visited the expo, which is made up of 145 national and corporate pavilions.
The queues are a test of patience and stamina - the waiting time to enter the more popular pavilions can be more than four hours.
During Tauranga Day, the delegation led by Mr Crosby and Cr Bill Faulkner hosted groups from Tauranga's sister city Yantai, and the Chinese city of Haimen, for lunch and dinner in the VIP area of the New Zealand Pavilion.
Vice-Mayor Li Shugin was accompanied by five of her ministers from the Yantai Municipal People's Government, and they were joined by Vice-Mayor Shen Jun Feng from Haimen, just north of Shanghai, which has attracted New Zealand business.
Representatives of Zespri, Dominion Salt, Aquasplash, Pingar, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Education Tauranga, Tourism Bay of Plenty and Priority One also dined with existing and prospective clients.
Mr Crosby told guests the free trade agreement meant "we can now progress more business and investment between the Bay and China".
"Tauranga and Yantai have had a 24-year mutual co-operation and friendship," Mr Crosby said. "I am sure that by working hard on developing more business, based on our mutual co-operation, we can improve the quality of life of people in Yantai and Tauranga."
Mr Shen said New Zealand businesses had set up in Haimen.
"I invite you to look at further opportunities there. We are a very similar area to Tauranga - close to a river by the sea."
Skellerup Industries has established a gumboot manufacturing factory, and family-owned Xinsheng Marine China bought the Tauranga-based Sea Nymph moulds business in 2008, moving the boat-building operation to Haimen.
Sunny Chen, a Xinsheng director, studied English and worked in New Plymouth for 10 years.
Back home, her family built outboard motors and generators and an uncle, aunt and cousin joined her in buying Sea Nymph.
The fibreglass boats were built on contract by Russell Smith of Steadcraft. Now Mr Smith, from Te Puke, is the operations manager for Xinsheng, living in China. "I didn't know as much about boats as Russell, and he has given us great support," Sunny Chen said.
The Tauranga delegation, with the aquaculture group from Opotiki, headed for Yantai today to complete more business.