Starting from the moment that World Expo organizers released the public solicitation for the World Expo mascot on January 17, a special team of 50 people started their year-long journey to select a lovable mascot for the event.

The public selection lasted for four and half months. According to the experience of previous World Expos and Olympics, the organizers often asked designated teams to create the mascots rather than public solicitation.

The organizers of Shanghai Expo realized that it is not enough if they just rely on the media promotion for the solicitation, they should also make great efforts themselves.

The staff of the mascot selection office traveled to more than 50 cities in China and across the world. It also did a door-to-door promotion to over 80,000 people, asking them to submit ideas for the Expo mascot.

They talked with 1,500-plus designing companies, 800-plus advertising companies, 1,000-plus animation companies and 200-plus colleges, and get their support for the mascot solicitation.

It is the biggest-ever promotion campaign for the mascot solicitation in China.

The team promised to the organizers, they will receive at least 15,000 entries. But their final goal is set at 20,000.

Finally, the organisers received 26,655 entries in the worldwide design competition that ran through May 31.

Designing the mascot is harder than designing the emblem, said Song Jianming, deputy director of China Academy of Art.

"It is easy to draw 10, or even 20 emblems a day, because it's just a simple image. The mascot is different. It is much more complicated. A professional needs one month to think of one mascot."

During the nationwide promotion of the mascot selection, the team found that many people don't understand what World Expo is. In order to give an actual idea of the event, the team also promoted the World Expo history, from the first Expo 1851 in London to the latest Aichi Expo in 2005.

Since the large-scale promotion hasn't been started in China in April, many people still regard the event as an international commercial exposition. The team also explained the meaning of Shanghai Expo to the public.

Among the 26,655 entries to the Expo, the youngest person to submit an entry was only three years old, and the oldest was 83.

About seven percent of the entries are designed by children less than 10 years old. The designers are of all kinds of professions, including students, retired people, sportsmen, nurses, designers, clerks, painters, writers, teachers and actors. Nearly 70 percent of the designers are from eastern costal cities.

The organizers are proud of the selection result. With the unveiling of the World Expo mascot, the selecting and the choosing work have come to an end, but now, it is another brand-new start during the journey of the preparation for Shanghai Expo.