LISBON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- MEO Fan event 2016 kicked off here on Saturday, offering both adults and children the chance to explore and play, building with Lego blocks, playing video games among a variety of activities.
"This is the second edition of this toy fair where we have several collections, with the highlight this year being the Titanic ship made of 220,000 pieces," curator of the event Paulo Neves told Xinhua.
The ship was made by Bright Bricks, led by Ed Diment, and took at least three months to make.
Neves also pointed to the giant Lego constructions of footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Eusebio in the entrance, Portugal's main football stars.
Neves had his own lighthouse made out of Lego blocks on display which he purchased recently.
The "Megabloks" area was undoubtedly most popular among children, where they built their dream homes and animals.
"My 6 year old daughter loved the pool of (Lego) pieces," said Sonia Realista, 39, an architect. "I am always wanting her to play Lego but she wasn't very interested at home, so I think this event is really important for children to play and use their heads."
Her daughter made a house out of Lego blocks, but Realista had enjoyed seeing the Lego constructions made by professionals, where you could see on display an impressive number of miniature detailed villages, with shops, a cinema, trees, and people, and the streets lined with trees, as well as a train track.
At the other end of the event there is a Barbie section where you can find collections styled by Raul Lopes, who purchases the barbies and then designs their clothes and scene.
His collections on display included "Florence and the Machine," "Costume Ball" and "Lusitana Paixao." In another collection he had portrayed a Portuguese pop band from the 1980s called Doce, composed of four women.
Children had their pictures taken in another corner which their parents could later find on Facebook, with the girls sitting in a princess-like chair.
The girls also had a table where they could have their make-up done and nails painted to look like princesses, clearly avoiding a gender-neutral approach in the event.
At the event you can also purchase Lego pieces and adults can enjoy a typical Portuguese liquor called Ginja, among other treats.
The event will end on May 1.
NAIROBI Nike Vapormax Flyknit , March 28 (Xinhua) -- World half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya will not take a rest, but immediately return to training as she prepares for the Yangzhou Half Marathon in China next month.
Until her glorious win at the World Half Marathon in Cardiff, Wales last Saturday, few people knew Jepchirchir. However Nike Vapormax , the Kenyan returned home Monday, aware the global spotlight will be fixed on her and she is enjoying it.
Asked if she has any plans to move up to the full marathon distance, Jepchirchir ruled it out as she seeks to firm her grip in the 21km distance.
"I don't plan to move up to the marathon. My next race will be the Yangzhou Half Marathon in China next month," she said with no uncertainty.
With the battle for tickets in the Kenya team becoming so intensive Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit Navy , Jepchirchir will be more relaxed and safe to focus on the shorter distances, if she is to have any realistic chances of making it to Rio in August for the Olympic Games.
"I want to run the 10,000m at the Kenyan trials and I want to qualify for Rio," she said. "But as you know Nike Air Vapormax Navy , the Kenyan trials are always explosive and no one is assured of a slot until you cross the line. I will be ready for the challenge."
Indeed the race for China ticket is thickening. There is the diminutive world 10,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot to contend with.
Before 2014, no country had secured all of the medals in the women's race at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Kenya has now pulled off the feat twice in a row.
In a race that was decided only on the final straight, Jepchirchir added her name to the list of previous Kenyan winners of the title Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit Gold , joining the likes of Tegla Loroupe, Mary Keitany, Florence Kiplagat and Gladys Cherono.
From underdog to global champion. Now the challenge is to remain at the top in Yangzhou Half Marathon and Rio Olympics.
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is looking to water from the Yangtze River to ease its drought Nike Air Vapormax Gold , but experts say the ambitious south-to-north water diversion project is not a cure-all for the capital's thirst.
The landmark middle route of the 500-billion-yuan (81-billion U.S.-dollar) project started supplying water to Beijing Friday.
It will pump 9.5 billion cubic meters of water each year from the Danjiangkou reservoir in central China's Hubei Province to the northern provinces of Hebei and Henan as well as Beijing and Tianjin, benefiting some 100 million people.
About 1.05 billion cubic meters of water from the Hanjiang River, the Yangtze's largest tributary, will be running from Beijingers' taps each year through 1 Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit Triple White ,400 km of pipelines and canals.
The flow of Yangtze water to Beijing is a decades-old dream dating back to Mao Zedong's days as leader.
EASING THE WATER CRISIS
The Yangtze water will make up a third of Beijing's total supply and will hopefully narrow the huge gap between its annual water demand and supply.
With Yangtze water piped in, Beijing will have 150 cubic meters per person, an increase of 50 percent, according to figures provided by the Beijing water authority.
It said the Chinese capital's per capita water volume is currently 100 cubic meters Nike Air Vapormax Triple White , only 1.25 percent of the world's average level.
Beijing needs at least 3.6 billion cubic meters of water a year to supply its 20 million residents and to keep