Blue Wings Innovation issue March 2014

AFTER EL BULLI

MOOMINS AT THE MUSEUM

Innovation issue

HELSINKI’S RUSSIAN CONNECTION

CHONGQING’S GADGET CITY

Trends, destinations and insights for travellers • March 2014

Your l na perso y cop

SHANGHAI

BUILDS THE FUTURE

NEW YORK

SUBWAY STORIES

HELSINKI COFFEE CULTURE GOES GOURMET

The new

superstars of IT

jetpak.com

Fastest deliveries in the Nordics We offer the Nordic region’s fastest door to door services focusing on delivery within 12 hours. By using commercial flights we can get your shipment delivered even within few hours. Our 24/7/365 services cover ad hoc express shipments, tailor-made distribution and logistic solutions. We also offer sameday shipments to and from Europe.

An offer to be signed in your city?

An urgent spare part to a customer in a different city?

A whole service unit to another country?

Let us take care of it!

0800-552200

077-570 0000

09899

36 32 11 00

EDITORIAL

BY PEKKA VAURAMO CEO OF FINNAIR WWW.FINNAIR.COM

ART DIRECTOR Miia Taskinen miia.taskinen@sanoma.com SUB-EDITOR Anna-Maria Wasenius

CONTENT MANAGER Kati Heikinheimo ENGLISH EDITING Laura Palotie REPROGRAPHICS Anne Lindfors, Tuukka Palmio ENGLISH TRANSLATION Wif Stenger SUBMISSIONS: bluewings@sanoma.com EDITORIAL OFFICES Lapinmäentie 1, 00350 Helsinki, Finland, Postal address P.O.Box 100, 00040 Sanoma, Finland, tel. +358 9 1201, fax +358 9 120 5988, e-mail firstname.lastname@sanoma.com ADVERTISING SALES Media Assistant Sirkka Pulkkinen tel. +358 9 120 5921 PUBLISHER Sanoma Media Finland Oy Custom Publishing PRINTED BY Hansaprint, Turku, Finland 2014 PAPER Nova Press 70g, Cover paper Lumi Art 200g CIRCULATION 60,000 ISSN-0358-7703

SHUTTERSTOCK

LAYOUT DESIGNER Peter Sade

Finnair starts flying to Miami International Airport this winter.

The importance of networking

A

good network is essential for a successful business whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, the director of a large multinational company, or an airline.

During my career I’ve spent a lot of time in Asia and travelled a great deal. I’ve learned to appreciate excellent flight connections

and that’s something that I want to ensure Finnair always offers. By doing so we offer our customers more opportunities for networking.

We’re a network operator and our strategy is based on carrying people via Helsinki to different Finnish, European, Asian and American destinations.

In addition to our own roster of destinations, Finnair­offers plenty of

­connections thanks to its oneworld ­membership and codeshare options with other airlines.

Last year we started co-operating with American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia on a joint business agreement on service over the Atlantic that has already resulted in better, faster and more cost-efficient connections for

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Arja Suominen arja.suominen@finnair.com FINNAIR HEAD OFFICE Tietotie 11 A, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, 1053 Finnair, Finland, tel. +358 9 81881, Postal address: P. O. Box 15, 01053 Finnair, Finland CUSTOMER FEEDBACK www.finnair.com > Information and services > After the flight or by mail: Customer Relations, SL/08, FI-01053 FINNAIR. www.finnair.com www.finnair.fi www.finnairgroup.com

our customers. A similar ­co-operation with British Airways and Japan Airlines launches in April providing more flights between Europe and Japan.

At Finnair, we’re working hard to further develop our services so that we can offer our customers an even better network in the future.

Wishing you a pleasant journey, Pekka Vauramo PS Finnair starts operating nonstop scheduled service between Helsinki and Miami, Florida this December.

See WWW.FINNAIR.COM for further details.

MARCH 2014

26 46

20

24/7 UNDERGROUND IN NEW YORK

26

SHANGHAI’S SLICK NEW SHAPE

36

TRANSFORMING THE IT SCENE

46

HELSINKI’S NEW COFFEE CULTURE

52

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

56

TOP 5: MANCHESTER CURRY HOUSES

58

BOHEMIAN MARSEILLE

66

CHONGQING: THE GADGET-LOVER’S PARADISE

72

OUR HANOI STREET FOOD GUIDE

Stories from the world’s largest subway

Takes off with futuristic urban architecture

Meet five global players going against the grain

Is changing the café experience in the Finnish capital

Helsinki’s growing Russian-speaking population means business

From cheap and cheerful to slick and sophisticated

France’s second largest city is culturally and culinarily diverse

Head to the supercity for one-stop electronics shopping

Go with the Pho

ON THE COVER LINDA LIUKAS BY MAIJA TAMMI

TRAVEL COLUMNS 18

8

10

12

14

16

NEWS

INNOVATION

DESTINATION

FOOD

SPORTS

HELSINKI

New Finnair Champagne

Europe’s local potential

Luther’s Wittenberg

After El Bulli

Future basketball stars

Moomins in focus

4 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

REGULARS

Brazil, p. 6 Wittenberg, p. 12 Roses, p. 14 Helsinki, p. 18 New York, p. 20 Shanghai, p. 26 Manchester, p. 56 Marseille, p. 58 Chongqing, p. 66 Hanoi, p. 72

6

TRAVEL MOMENT

34

TIINA ROSENBERG

44

ALEXANDER STUBB

69

THIS MONTH AROUND THE WORLD

80

FINLAND IN FIGURES

36 56

20

FLYING FINNAIR

72

New border crossings

82

Before and during the flight

83

In-flight entertainment

85

Helsinki Airport

86

Maps and destinations

88

Corporate responsibility

92

Fleet

94

Frequent flyer benefits

95

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

5

6 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

TRAVEL MOMENT

BY TIMO SANTALA

FLOATING HOSPITAL FROM THE REMOTE VILLAGES in the Brazilian Amazon it can take up to 24 hours to get to the nearest health centre. That’s why a local NGO Saúde e Alegria (Health & ­Happiness) provides a fully equipped hospital­boat that travels along the river visiting remote villages like Urucurea on

Arapiuns­River where this baby and her mother live. Along with the basic health services they also perform urgent surgeries­ that save lives. But the real happiness and joy spark up when the circus group that comes on the boat starts to perform health education for the kids through clownery.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

7

TRAVEL NEWS

WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY KATJA PANTZAR PHOTOS BY HANNA LINNAKKO

THE BEST BOTTLE OF BUBBLY IN THE SKY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS, FINNAIR IS INTRODUCING A NEW HOUSE CHAMPAGNE AND IT’S EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE IN FINLAND THROUGH THE VENERABLE AIRLINE.

“

Mika Vanne takes care of Finnair’s wine and spirits selection.

T

his Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Grande Réserve Champagne is exclusively available for Finnair in Finland,” says Mika Vanne, Finnair’s wine & spirits retail sales manager. “And it’s only available onboard Finnair flights, in the pre-order shop, our Tax-Free shop opposite Gate 28 and our lounges at Helsinki Airport.”

While Finnair recently celebrated its 90th anniversary, it’s a modern airline with one of Europe’s newest fleets – the average aircraft age is 6 years. It’s fitting that Finnair’s new house Champagne is a relatively young classic, with an unconventional backstory.

FOR A

FINNAIR PLUS

special offer, please see page 97.

WWW.FINNAIR.COM

WWW.NICOLAS-FEUILLATTE.COM

Founder Nicolas Feuillatte made his fortune as a coffee merchant in New York City and launched his eponymous brand in 1976 after acquiring vineyards in the Champagne region. Partnering with local co-operatives representing 5,000 growers gave him access to different grape varieties, and he was able to 8 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

build Nicolas Feuillatte into one of the world’s top brands of bubbly competing with older Champagne houses such as Veuve Clicquot and Möet & Chandon.

SIPPING SUCCESS

“When Finnair was looking for a new Champagne, we did extensive research

FIFTH DAILY FREQUENCY

TO LONDON followed by several rounds of blind taste testing and Feuillatte consistently came out in the top two,” says Vanne, a wine expert and educator. “The fact that we were offered an exclusive Nicolas­ Feuillatte Brut Grande Réserve helped clinch the deal.”

CHAMPAGNE COMPLEMENTS JUST ABOUT EVERY TYPE OF FOOD.

Nicolas Feuillatte has three different white non-vintage Champagnes: Brut, Brut Réserve and Brut Grande Réserve. Each one is made from a slightly different mix of grapes and the Brut Grande Réserve is matured for the longest period of time – up to three years. “The result is a fresh, slightly fruity but also leesy and toasty Champagne that tastes delicious in the air and complements just about every type of food,” says Vanne.

According to Vanne, who recently visited the Nicolas Feuillatte­production facilities in France, the cooperative ownership structure is one of the things that set it apart from the big houses.

“As Nicolas Feuillatte’s owners are the growers whose grapes are processed in the company, they don’t have the pressure to make large profits like the stock-traded Champagne houses do. It also can’t be sold to anyone and that guarantees consistent quality and supply.”

FINNAIR is increasing the number of flights it operates to London Heathrow from four to five times daily. Effective March 30th, flight AY995 departs Helsinki at 16:30 for arrival in London three hours later at 17:30 local time, while AY996 departs London at 19:35 and arrives in Helsinki at 00:35 local time. The new frequency will be flown

NON-STOP TO XI’AN DIRECT SERVICE three times a week to Xi’an starts up of March 30 with a departure time from Helsinki of 17:40 (not 7:50 am as erroneously printed in the previous issue) and a flight time of 7 hours and 50 minutes.

primarily with Finnair’s new Airbus A321 aircraft, which are equipped with fuelefficient Sharklet wingtip devices and operate within Heathrow’s strictest noise parameters.

In addition to its own five daily frequencies, Finnair offers two daily codeshare round trips operated by fellow oneworld partner British Airways.

MORE FLIGHTS

TO LAPLAND

IN RESPONSE to growing tourism demand Finnair will boost the number of flights to Lapland at the start of this year’s winter season in November.

Flights from Helsinki to Kittilä, Ivalo and Kuusamo will increase and timetables will provide good connections on the routes between Lapland and destinations in Europe and Asia via Helsinki.

CHANGE FOR GOOD RAISES €55,000

JOINT FARES

THE 18TH ANNUAL Change for Good collection for UNICEF on ­Finnair’s international flights raised 55,490 euros for UNICEF’s Schools for Asia campaign that supports children’s schooling in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, East Timor, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam.­Children are provided with qualified teachers, safe and clean school facilities, and life-skills education in health, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation and HIV prevention. Since 1994 Finnair and its customers have donated over 1.2 million euros to UNICEF.

AS OF APRIL 1, Finnair and its fellow­ oneworld alliance members Japan Airlines and British Airways are selling joint fares between Europe and Japan.

Finnair flies from Helsinki to Tokyo daily, and to Osaka and Nagoya five times per week, ­connecting Japan to more than 50 Finnair destinations in Europe. During the summer season, the Osaka and Nagoya routes will be operated daily.

Both Japan Airlines and British Airways are increasing their scheduled services between Japan and Europe this summer.

Japan Airlines launches new daytime nonstop flights between Tokyo and ­London on March 30th. As of May, British Airways will fly twice a day to Tokyo.

TO JAPAN

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

9

TRAVEL INNOVATION

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY LEENA JOKIRANTA

Markku Markkula speaks with Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission.

EUROPE’S

LOCAL POTENTIAL

I

n order to take its innovation policy to the next level, the EU should invest in pioneering work done in cities and regions. That’s the main thesis of Markku Markkula, former member of the Finnish­ Parliament and advisor to the presidents at Aalto University, where his focus has been on European strategy and innovation policy. He is also a member of the EU Committee of the Regions – a body made up of 353 representatives that acts as the voice of regions and cities in EU decision-making.

“Eighty per cent of the value of innovation comes from the widespread adoption of new innovations, while the remaining 20 per cent comes from the actual production of innovations,” he says, adding that a more network-centric and entrepreneurial mindset should be adopted in companies and organisations around Europe.

The EU’s new multiannual financial framework for 2014–2020 reveals that more than one-third of the union’s funds, 367 billion euros, are targeted towards regional policy, especially innovation and capacity building. According to Markkula, different areas in Europe need to define their strategic priorities by what is referred to as “smart specialisation” in order to create economic transformation.

“Innovation today is most often

10 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

based on multidisciplinary approaches,” Markkula­says. “Thus we need to balance technological, design and social innovation in the public and private sectors.”

In Helsinki, the regional smart specialisation strategy, which is the instrument for implementing EU funding and European partnerships, focuses on innovation and urban design, healthy ageing and the development of a low-carbon economy through concepts such as cleantech and smart traffic.

Markkula says that one example of a pioneering urban environment is Aalto University’s campus in Otaniemi, Espoo near Helsinki. Spaces such as the Aalto Design Factory, Urban Mill and Startup Sauna allow students and researchers to collaborate on entrepreneurial projects.

More than 100 nationalities, thousands of researchers and 16,000 students work on this campus and in the surrounding neighbourhood. This “Espoo Innovation Garden” is one of six finalists pursuing the title of European Capital of Innovation, which will be announced on March 10 (the other five cities are Barcelona, Paris, Grenoble, Malaga and Groningen).

“We need to focus on pioneering activities in closing the innovation divide and building a competitive Europe,” Markkula says.

WITH TRAVELLERS IN MIND, ­Finnish technology company Uros has created the Goodspeed mobile Internet service, which provides low-cost data packages with speeds up to 3.5G, allowing you to minimise connectivity costs abroad. You could, for example, look up the history of each artwork while touring the Louvre in Paris without having to worry about massive roaming bills.

Goodspeed is especially convenient for people who need to stay connected for business purposes. Users can forego prepaid SIM cards or public or hotel Wi-Fi, and share their private connection with up to five devices.

Goodspeed offers three service plan options. The Lite plan costs about 12 euros per month, plus a roughly seven-euro daily fee in most countries.

The Goodspeed hotspot that enables the service can be purchased at pointshop.finnair.com.

See getgoodspeed.com for more information on the service.

URO S

COR

EASY SURFER

TRAVEL DESTINATION

TEXT AND PHOTO BY JUSSI TUORMAA

LUTHER’S WITTENBERG SPARKLES AGAIN LIKE SLEEPING BEAUTY, THE GERMAN TOWN OF WITTENBERG IS WAKING FROM A LONG SLEEP IN OBSCURITY. THE CITY OF LUTHER IS FINALLY EMERGING FROM THE SHADOWS TO CELEBRATE ITS COLOURFUL HISTORY.

music, both at church services and socially. The spirit of the Reformation and Protestantism inspired new music, with Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach as its foremost composers. Melanchthon, on the other hand, particularly enjoyed the visual arts and admired his era’s best painters. Some he knew personally, such as his Wittenberg neighbour Lucas Cranach the Elder and Albrecht Dürer of Nuremburg.

Wittenberg prides itself on a long legacy of intellectual and creative achievement. Four of its buildings – the homes of Luther and Melanchthon, and two churches –are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Schlosskirche (“Castle Church”), formally known as All Saints’ Church, is where Luther famously nailed his theses onto the door. At St Mary’s, visitors can admire Cranach’s Last Supper and altar paintings.

THE THREE RS

Wittenberg is about 100 kilometres from Berlin – a short train ride away.

E

ven on a day trip, there is a wealth entrance to the university. He studied theof history to be found in the main ology under Luther and began to translate streets and myriad alleyways of Witthe New Testament into Finnish. tenberg’s old town, which are lined with CULTURE CRAM churches, museums, courtyards and cafés.

Life in Wittenberg was very cosmopoliA deep dive into the city’s history can begin on any street corner, taking you back tan. According to Luther’s closest collaborator, the scientist and theologian Philipp centuries in time in the blink of an eye.

Melanchthon, as many In the sixteenth century, as 11 different languages Wittenberg was the crawere typically spoken at dle of the Protestant ReforRENAISSANCE, the dinner table. Latin mation as well as German REFORMATION, was the language he used Renaissance painting and RETROSPECTION. to correspond with Europrintmaking. Here, in 1517, pean humanists such as Martin Luther proclaimed Erasmus of Rotterdam. his revolutionary 95 Theses Melanchthon’s Renaissance-style against the Catholic Church’s sale of indulhome is now a museum which reveals gences and began to translate church sermuch about this intellectual leader of the vices and the Bible into the vernacular.

Lutheran Reformation. Dr. Stefan Rhein, As a university town, Wittenberg the head of the city’s museums, emphaattracted students and scholars from all sises Melanchthon’s role as an avid procorners of Europe. One of them was the moter of education and founding father of reformer Mikael Agricola, the father of the modern school system. the Finnish written language, who is comAs for the arts, Luther most enjoyed memorated with a memorial plaque at the

12 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Now officially known as Lutherstadt Wittenberg, this city of 50,000 continues to attract academics, pilgrims and tourists. It is a town that Protestants speak of in the same way that Catholics talk about Rome and Muslims about Mecca: as the ultimate pilgrimage destination. Many will certainly congregate here in 2017, when the town celebrates the 500th anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses with a Reformation festival.

Despite the town’s towering reputation in religious history, most of modern Wittenberg’s residents do not belong to any church. Yet, even when the city was part of Socialist East Germany, there were active Protestants here. In 1983, they arranged an event in which a blacksmith forged a sword into ploughshare. Inspired by Old Testament verses, this became the symbol of the East German peace movement.

Wittenberg, flourishing again after decades in obscurity, offers visitors the Three Rs: Renaissance, Reformation and retrospection. It is an inspiring place to visit for Protestants exploring their roots and for anyone fascinated by history, art and religion.

FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to Berlin up to five times daily in cooperation with Air Berlin.

TRAVEL FOOD

TEXT BY TREVOR BAKER PHOTOS BY EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA AND FRANCESC GUILLAMET

AFTER EL BULLI

F

rom a taxi driver’s point of view, El Bulli must have seemed like the best restaurant in the world long before it topped the critics’ list. Approaching the seaside town of Roses near the SpanishFrench border, the coastal road swoops up pine-covered hills with glimpses of the Med bursting through the trees on both sides. Then the road twists its way down to the hidden bay of Cala Monjoi.

Those happy days of ferrying wealthy gourmets, who might not realise that it’s unusual to tip heavily in Spain, ended in 2011; this is when El Bulli’s owner, Ferran Adria, decided to close. El Bulli will reopen as a “foundation” (a museum and research centre) in 2015. Disappointingly for taxi

Celler Can Roca, The Best Restaurant In The World?

14 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

drivers, however, the restaurant’s last great creation, due out this month, is just a voluminous recipe book.

HOMEY AND SURREAL

However, taking the same coastal road in the opposite direction, from Roses to Cadaqués, you can get an equally spectacular reminder that the province of Girona had much to offer long before El Bulli arrived. Cut off from the rest of Catalonia by mountains, Cadaqués looks like an artist’s rendering of a Mediterranean fishing village. The white houses cluster around narrow streets where you can lose yourself in minutes, giving the place the appropriately surreal impression of being much

bigger than it really is; it’s hardly a surprise that its most famous resident was Salvador­ Dali.

This is where three ex-El Bulli chefs, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, came when El Bulli closed. Their new restaurant, Compartir, mixes innovative new Catalan cooking with something more homely and family-oriented. There are dishes like a sorbet of ajo blanco (white garlic), and sardines so fresh that they could easily be waving their firm tails as they are brought to the table.

HAIL THE NEW RESTAURANT KING

But it’s perhaps the capital, Girona, that offers this province’s most authentic taste

of surrealism. On the surface it’s much quieter than its big brother Barcelona, located about 100 kilometres to the south.

The first sign of exoticism comes when you cross the slatted steel Eiffel Bridge (built before Gustave Eiffel’s tower in Paris) and look out over the multicoloured buildings on either side of the gentle Onyar river.

This playfulness and love of spectacle is best experienced at the famous Celler Can Roca. In April of 2013 it took the top spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, a crown once worn by El Bulli. The 14-course tasting menu starts with a bonsai tree with candied olives dangling from its branches (“to say ‘welcome to the Mediterranean’” says Head Chef Joan Roca).

Other dishes are like treasures from a fairy tale forest: a consommé of root vegetables with a subtle, earthy quality; rich, sticky eels; a “flower” made from tender slivers of beef, arranged with “leaves” of beetroot and other bright vegetables.

It’s not obviously Catalan food, and yet it couldn’t have come from anywhere else.

“There’s always been a great tradition of food here,” says Roca. “We just needed El Bulli to tell the rest of the world all about it.”

Lobster with pickled mushrooms to share at Compartir.

El Bulli 2005–2011: Every recipe from the last seven years of the world’s most creative restaurant is published by Phaidon this month.

FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to Barcelona daily and up to twice a day during the summer season.

COORDINATES COMPARTIR Riera Sant Vicenç, s/n, 17488 Cadaqués, Catalonia tel: +34 972 25 84 82 ES.COMPARTIRCADAQUES.COM

CELLER CAN ROCA 48 Can Sunyer, 17007 Girona, Catalonia tel: +34 972 222 157 CELLERCANROCA.COM

Compartir, three El Bulli Chefs’ latest adventure.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

15

TRAVEL SPORTS

TEXT BY KRISTIAN PALOTIE

The Temple Owls play the Rhode Island Rams in a March, 2013 game in Philadelphia.

GOOD TO KNOW

SHUTTERSTOCK

• The 2014 Final Four will be played at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas from April 5 to 7. The defending champions are the Louisville Cardinals.

• Five players to watch for are Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid (Kansas), Jabari Parker (Duke), Julius Randle (Kentucky) and Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State).

• Universities with the most championships are UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), Indiana (5), North Carolina (5) and Duke (4).

MAD ABOUT BASKETBALL

T

he NCAA Tournament or “March Madness,” the month-long collegiate basketball championships, is the most watched annual sporting event in the United States. It’s also when future NBA stars first become household names.

About 12 billion dollars (€8.7 billion)­ is wagered on games, more than on any other annual sports tournament. Any bar with a TV fills with basketball fans, and even non-fans participate in “pools,” betting a few dollars and drafting­ brackets predicting the tournament’s progression.

Hanno Möttölä is the only Finnishborn player to have played in an NBA game (with the Atlanta Hawks from 2000-2002). Previously Möttölä played for the University of Utah, making it to the NCAA Tournament all four years and the championship game in 1998. We spoke to Möttölä about his experiences.

How did March Madness become so massive?

The 1979 National Championship game [the highest-rated game in the history of televised college basketball], when Magic Johnson’s Michigan State beat Larry Bird’s Indiana State, probably took this tournament over the top.

16 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

What’s the significance of the NCAA tournament today?

For one month, everyone cares about basketball. Collegiate basketball is much closer to the average American [than the NBA]; everyone has ties to at least one university. Even people who barely follow sports take part in bracket pools – and usually they’re the ones who win. President Barack Obama fills out a bracket as well; this is televised in the annual “Presidential Bracket” programme on ESPN. Tell me about your first year at Utah?

I’ve never trained as hard as during my first year – my body couldn’t have. [The star player] Keith Van Horn played ahead of me, and my role was pretty easy: I set screens [impeding defenders] and grabbed rebounds. But when I got my chance, I played well, especially in the ­bigger and more televised games. The coaching staff and the system in place allowed me to succeed early.

After Van Horn graduated, many wrote you off. But Utah made it to the NCAA championship game, defeating heavily favoured Arizona and a starstudded North Carolina on the way.

Did you predict this success?

Yes. The system was in place and the

roster more experienced. Our defence always gave us a chance to win; it was just a matter of scoring against athletic teams.

Against Arizona we played a defence that we had practiced for five minutes and gotten crushed by our second unit. Still, we stopped the best team in the nation. In the semi-final versus North Carolina, we never gave them a chance for a comeback.

You lost in the National Championship game, with Kentucky coming back from a big deficit and winning 78-69.

As a disappointment, where does this game rank?

I will never watch it, even though I have it on tape. Of course it’s the most disappointing game I’ve played in, but at the same time it’s been a huge motivator.

Who’s an opponent who stood out?

Tim Duncan’s Wake Forest team was the only one to beat us in our home arena during my four-year career. But I guess it’s acceptable to lose to the greatest power forward of all time.

FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to New York JFK daily and offers numerous daily frequencies to destinations throughout the US in cooperation with its oneworld partners.

Elämässä pitää olla...

glooriaa! www.gloria.fi/tilaa

TRAVEL HELSINKI

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY PETER MARTEN PHOTOS BY ©MOOMIN CHARACTERS™, FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY, ©TOVE JANSSON ESTATE

MUCH MORE THAN

MOOMINS AT ATENEUM

HELSINKI HIGHLIGHTS THIS MONTH ICE SKATING at an outdoor rink: You can enjoy this classic winter pastime right across from the Ateneum Art Museum on Railway Square.

A statue of author Aleksis Kivi keeps a watchful eye on the proceedings. Open daily until at least March 31, longer if weather allows. Skate rental available.

ICEPARK.FI

T

ove Jansson, probably Finland’s most famous writer and artist, would have turned 100 this year. From March 14 to September 7, an extensive exhibition at ­Helsinki’s Ateneum Art Museum celebrates her centenary.

“Tove Jansson had many faces,” says curator Tuula Karjalainen, also the author of a new biography, Tove Jansson – Tee työtä ja rakasta (Tammi, 2013). Penguin will publish it in December as Tove Jansson: Work and Love.

A member of Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority, Jansson achieved international renown as the creator of the Moomins.­ These imaginative creatures entertain children and adults alike with their adventures and philosophical wisdom in her novels, picture books and comic strips.

A PAINTER ABOVE ALL

Around the world, Jansson is best known for her Moomin stories and illustrations, and the exhibition displays a variety of Moomin art.

“But she considered herself a painter above all, and she had a wide-ranging career,” says ­Karjalainen. “She also illustrated [books and political cartoons], designed theatre sets, wrote books for grown-ups and composed poems and songs.

“When people think of Tove Jansson, they generally know one small piece of the puzzle, but I’ve taken a wider perspective,” says 18 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

­ arjalainen. Paintings form the core of the K Ateneum show. “Many people are unaware of how many paintings she did and how enchanting they are.”

What are Karjalainen’s own favourites? “I really like her work from the 1930s, before the war, and I think it will be new to many people. I also love her self-portraits, and went to great lengths to gather as many of them as possible. Displayed in order, they form an impressive series. The first is from when she was 14.”

Jansson’s political cartoons show a side of her that may surprise Moomin fans: “How brave she was,” says Karjalainen. This was even truer during wartime: “It seemed Finland would fall to either Germany or the Soviet Union. That would have been especially bad for Tove, who dared to mock Stalin and Hitler mercilessly [in her political cartoons].

She despised war. But she was still able to use humour to portray these monsters.”

Jansson also showed bravery elsewhere in her life – in her relationships and travels. “She travelled Europe alone as a young woman, which was rare in those days,” and “crisscrossed the globe many times” during her life, visiting places as far-flung as Morocco, Japan and the US. Japan forms the next stop when the exhibition leaves Ateneum this autumn.

ATENEUM.FI/EN

BAROQUE CONCERT series: As spring approaches, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra plays concerts in two Helsinki landmarks, Helsinki Cathedral and St John’s Church (Johanneksen kirkko): Bach’s St John Passion (March 23, Cathedral), Graun’s Death of Jesus (March 26, St John’s), Mozart’s Requi­em (April 6, St John’s) and Bach’s St Matthew ­Passion (April 17, St John’s).

FIBO.FI/EN

MORE THAN 20 PHOTOGRAPHERS take part in the Helsinki Photography Biennial, curated by Istanbul-based designer Başak Şenova. With an ecological theme this year, shows are being held at locations across the city, including the Finnish Museum of ­Photography (Cable Factory, Tallberginkatu 1G) and ­Hippolyte Photographic ­Gallery (Yrjönkatu 8–10), from March 27 to May 14.

HPB.FI/VENUES

TOGETHER ACROSS THE ATLANTIC Are you flying between Europe and North America? Finnair has teamed up with American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia to provide you with more flight choices, smoother connections and better pricing on transatlantic routes. Make your global travel experience easier and more rewarding.

Learn more at finnair.com

28 163

NOW BETWEEN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA

GATEWAYS IN NORTH AMERICA

ONWARD DESTINATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA

16 126 GATEWAYS IN EUROPE

102

DAILY RETURN FLIGHTS

ONWARD DESTINATIONS IN EUROPE

THE NEW YORK CITY METRO, “THE SUBWAY,” TURNS 110 THIS YEAR. WHEN MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF STATIONS – 468 – IT’S THE LARGEST UNDERGROUND SYSTEM IN THE WORLD. IT’S ALSO ONE OF THE FEW THAT FUNCTIONS AROUND THE CLOCK. HERE HOMELESS PEOPLE RUB ELBOWS WITH WALL STREET BANKERS, TOURISTS SHUFFLE THEIR MAPS AND SINGERS SEEKING STARDOM PERFORM ALONGSIDE DEXTEROUS HIP-HOP DANCERS.” TEXT BY MIRVA LEMPIÄINEN

PHOTOS BY KATJA HAGELSTAM

er deep voice echoes off the concrete walls of the downtown-bound F-train platform. Sitting on the bench in a miniskirt and black heels, 19-year-old Najah Lewis strums her guitar with the stage presence of someone playing at the Grammy Awards. But as far as she is concerned, the subway station at 14th Street and 6th Avenue is a top venue for a show.

“I love the fact that you get to perform for people from all walks of life,” says Lewis, who moved to New York from Michigan three years ago to pursue a singing career.

The F-train is running late and the crowd on the platform gets thicker by the minute. To keep people entertained, Lewis belts out a Miley Cyrus tune.

20 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

“I came in like a wrecking ball, I never hit so hard in love...”

Dozens of people inch up closer. A man records the performance on his iPhone while a young woman appears to be wiping tears off the corner of her eye.

“I almost cried,” the woman says with a sigh before hopping on the train.

Accompanying the subway songbird is mom Eureka, who joins her daughter underground on weekends and after work. “I try to watch out for her,” she says. “She’s so married to music.”

Lewis does mostly cover songs by the likes of Michael Jackson, John Mayer, Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Maroon 5. “Every now and then I throw in an original,” she says.

She is not just belting out tunes for the fun of it,

Patroy Booth of the Bronx is a freestyle dancer who also studies acting.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

21

Londoner Lydia Samuels performs in the heart of Brooklyn’s trendy Williamsburg.

though. “I want to be a star,” the singer adds. “I’m going to just keep doing my thing until it happens.”

Lewis says she enjoys performing underground.

She makes about $25 (€18) per hour in tips, and says that training her voice to reach far in the tunnels has been great for developing professionally; she can sing for hours without feeling strained.

Work opportunities have also come about in the subway. Lewis often gets booked for restaurant gigs when people spot her while waiting for the train. The talent scouts from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. recently recruited her from the platform to do voiceovers for public service announcements. One of her YouTube videos has gotten 10,000 views. Even if she does get her big break in the music industry, Lewis says she’ll still perform in the tunnels when her schedule permits.

“If you can make it in the subway, you can make it anywhere.”

“IF YOU CAN MAKE IT IN THE SUBWAY, YOU CAN MAKE IT ANYWHERE.”

ENTERTAINMENT GALORE UNDERGROUND While Lewis entertains the crowds under the streets of Greenwich Village, 26-year-old Lydia Samuels 22 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

from London tries her luck across the East River in Brooklyn’s trendy Williamsburg neighbourhood. She has set up her one-woman auto harp show at the Bedford Avenue subway station, playing traditional English and American folk songs such as tunes by Johnny Carter. Every now and then the L-train whizzes by, drowning the harp’s tender sounds under its noise.

The Briton doesn’t mind the disruption. It’s her first day playing in the subway tunnels and she loves it. Her harp case lying on the platform is filling up with dollar bills.

“People are really respectful,” she says. “In England they treat you like a beggar.”

Samuels says she only plans to sing for “a couple of hours,” as she isn’t sure if it’s legal to perform in the metro network. But there’s no need for her to hurry – the First Amendment gives anyone the right to perform in the subway.

The city also has an official subway artist programme, titled “Music Under New York” (MUNY), dating back to 1987. Those who pass a round of auditions are added to an official roster that currently comprises 350 bands and solo artists who play 7,500 subway gigs a year. They are allotted designated space on a rotational basis in 40 major stations such as Herald Square and Times Square.

Still, most performers don’t care about becoming licensed. Among those are Two Real Boys, a break-dance duo consisting of two teenagers from the

1904 The first subway line opens, running from City Hall to 145th Street in the Bronx in 36 minutes.

With a great echo, the F-train’s 14th street subway station is one of Najah Lewis’ favourites.

1940 Instead of several private companies handling the subway’s operations, the entire system is consolidated into the New York Transit Authority.

1968 The New York Transit Authority is placed under the control of the state-operated Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

2012 Super Storm Sandy floods nine subway tunnels and shuts service for millions of commuters. Damages are estimated at $800 billion (€583 billion).

2013 After seven months of repairs, the MTA is now at a pre-Sandy level of service and the subway again runs all the way to the badly damaged Rockaway Beach, Queens. Construction along various lines is expected to continue for two more years.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

23

In 2012 the NYC subway recorded more than 1.65 billion rides. Times Square is the busiest station.

Many commuters pass the time by playing games on their phones.

• THE SYSTEM is owned by the city of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

• THE SUBWAY consists of 24 lines. The system runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

• IN TOTAL New York City has 1,355 km of subway track, with 1,055 km of that in passenger use. It takes about 24 hours to ride through all 468 stations.

• MORE THAN five million people ride the subway on weekdays.

• RIDES are paid with an electronic metro card. A single ride costs $2.50 (€1.90), an unlimited one-week pass $30 (about €22) and a monthly pass $112 (about €90).

• SOME TRAINS RUN EXPRESS, only stopping at stations marked with white circles on the subway map. Others run local, also stopping at all the black circles.

• THE MOST IMPORTANT THING to know when riding the subway is whether you are heading uptown or downtown.

• THE BEST STATIONS for seeing musicians perform are Times Square, Union Square and Grand Central in Manhattan and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. Artists also sporadically perform onboard trains.

• THERE IS A SECRET STATION downtown that is one of the most beautiful in the transit system. Featuring tall tiled arches and brass fixtures, the City Hall station was opened in 1904 and closed down in 1945. You can see a glimpse of it by staying onboard the downtown 6 train once reaches its final stop, Brooklyn Bridge, and turns around in the tunnel.

• EVERY JANUARY the Improv Everywhere comedy group organises the No pants Subway Ride on a pre-determined day. Hundreds of people ride the subway in their underwear, surprising unsuspecting ­ commuters and tourists.

24 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Bronx: Patroy Booth, 19, and Tyshawn Mitchell, 18. They say they have been performing in the trains almost every day since they first started last year. Generally “the cops don’t bother us,” Booth says.

“In New York people actually like to watch us,” he adds, donning his trademark outfit – pink bunny slippers and rainbow-coloured striped socks. “I wear the shoes to stay different,” he explains.

Usually the Two Real Boys start their show by entering a random subway train and turning on the music from their boom box. Booth’s favourite dance tunes include the greatest hits of Michael Jackson, his idol.

Booth glances at the straphangers – as the subway passengers are called – before throwing out his punch line. “Ladies, we’re single and ready to mingle, with no Pringles.”

After that follows a wild mini-show that goes on for a couple of minutes: Booth and Mitchell take turns dancing and doing somersaults, cartwheels and flips inside the train. Sometimes they twirl on the floor, other times they hang from the ceiling’s handle bars upside down. Booth also sometimes gives girls quick lap dances.

Mitchell says he admires Booth’s versatility. “He is like a dancer and a comedian at the same time.”

On this particular day, the crowd is receptive. The adults are clapping along to the music and children are laughing. Smiles seem to rise to everyone’s faces, and the guys are bombarded with $1 bills.

On a good day they can earn $100 to $200 (€ 73 to 145) in 3 to 5 hours, explains Booth.

“I love making the kids happy,” Booth says, adding that he has had “a lot of amazing times” underground.

COMMUTING CAN BE A PAIN Of course travelling on the New York City subway isn’t always just fun and games. In fact, commuting long distances on a daily basis can be very frustrating – especially during rush hour when the trains get packed. Delays are common, as are service disruptions when the trains get stuck underground for several minutes. Announcements are notoriously difficult to hear and understand, aside from those that are automated. For many city residents, the subway is just the necessary evil.

“It’s getting worse,” says lifelong New Yorker and Bronx Community College student Juanita Matthis.

Living in Brooklyn, she has to travel more than three hours on the subway to get to her school and back.

She says her biggest qualms are with the everincreasing fares and the growing crowds – plus the fact that you never know what you’ll encounter underground. Matthis says she once saw a prostitute busy at work with her client at the Broadway-Junction station in Brooklyn at 1:00 am.

Joseph Busso is another native New Yorker who is no stranger to weird subway sights. A former inspector for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, he often encountered homeless people living along the tracks.

“I saw people with beds, stereos, running water,” Busso says. He adds that he understands why the New York City subway with its 468 stations may seem scary to newcomers.

“When I talk to tourists, they are lost half of the time,” he says with a laugh, though admitting locals also make transit mistakes at times. “Canal Street is the worst. So many tunnels, we get lost!”

Italian tourists Mirka Toninato and Andrea De Marchi know the feeling. The first moments of their recent nine-day New York vacation were spent trying to figure out the inner workings of the massive subway system.

“It’s not as easy as the London subway. In London every line is more simple,” says De Marchi. He says it’s especially confusing that each colour refers to several different train lines instead of just one. Understanding the difference between express and local trains was also difficult at first.

After a few days of trial and error, however, everything made more sense. For the rest of their vacation Toninato and De Marchi enjoyed buzzing around town with relative ease. They also got their share of free underground entertainment when a cello player entered their train, explains De Marchi. l

“LADIES, WE’RE SINGLE AND READY TO MINGLE, WITH NO PRINGLES.”

FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to New York daily.

Haluatko energiasi tuulesta?

Tuulisähköä kotiisi helposti www.vantaanenergia.fi/tuuli ja liitä sähkösopimukseesi • Klikkaa pienellä lisämaksulla tuulisähköosuus 1 000 kWh/vuosi. tuulisähköosuus maksaa vain 2,00 €/kk.

• Yksi Saat sertifikaatin todistuksena ilmastomyönteisestä • energiaratkaisustasi.

Vantaan Energia on Suomen suurimpia tuulisähkön tuottajia.

www.vantaanenergia.fi

GENSLER

The trio of supertall buildings in Shanghai’s Pudong area – the Jinmao Tower, Shanghai World Financial Centre and Shanghai Tower.

26 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

AEDAS

SLICK

CITY THERE’S MORE TO SHANGHAI’S INCREASINGLY DIVERSE ARCHITECTURE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE. TEXT BY DANIEL ALLEN

C

openhagen and Shanghai. Two cities poles apart, both geographically and architecturally.

Yet for Kristian Lars Ahlmark, a partner at leading Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen, there are striking similarities.

“Like Copenhagen, Shanghai was a merchant port,” says Ahlmark. “And just like Copenhagen, it has large industrial areas that are ripe for reclamation.

Groundbreaking projects in both cities are now transforming these areas from uninhabitable brownfield sites into mixed-use spaces that underpin an exciting urban transformation.”

For many visitors to Shanghai, it’s hard to see beyond the impressive and increasingly dense clutch of supertall buildings rising up from the riverside district of Pudong. At a height of 632 metres, the recently topped out Shanghai Tower is currently the world’s second tallest structure, outdone only

by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. This is muscular architecture with a capital A.

CITY ON THE GROW Contemporary Shanghai faces all the problems associated with high-speed urbanisation. The past two decades have seen the addition of huge quantities of office and residential space – over 18 million square metres in 2010 alone, nearly 80 times the area of New York’s massive One World Trade Center. With the city set to house at least 30 million by 2030, up from 24 million today, rural-to-city migration remains a huge driver for development.

“Asian cities, in particular those in China, are expanding rapidly due to massive urbanisation,” says Ken Wai, board member of British-Asian architectural firm Aedas. Typically, one of the negative aspects of accelerated development is that well-considered planning falls by the wayside.

“Shanghai is well aware of these potential failings,” he continues. “It has consistently upgraded its infrastructure, and is developing new hubs which redistribute the load away from the downtown area.”

One of the ways Shanghai is doing this is by creating a well-dispersed set of new business centres. Aedas is currently working on four major projects in up-and-coming Hongqiao, one of which is a new business district near Hongqiao Airport. The masterplan, which Aedas co-designed with Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, will see the construction of ten office towers, plus an underground shopping centre accessed by two giant glass cubes.

ASIAN CITIES ARE EXPANDING RAPIDLY DUE TO MASSIVE URBANISATION.

FIELD OF NEEDLES Yet these days there’s far more to Shanghai’s architectural scene than headline-grabbing projects such as the Shanghai Tower. China’s largest city is not merely a Potemkin village of concrete, steel and glass leviathans.

“Shanghai’s pioneering architecture isn’t just limited to Pudong’s ‘field of needles’,” says Manuela Gatto of Zaha Hadid Architects, project director of Sky SOHO, Hadid’s first architectural work in Shanghai. “Its trading heritage means that the city has always been open to influence by the West. Shanghai’s development involves a constant renovation of all its districts.”

“Shanghai is now liberally sprinkled with innovative and lively mixed-use developments,” adds Ben van Berkel, co-founder and principal architect of Dutch UNStudio. “Its rich, diverse architecture supports the history of the city, but in a very contemporary way. Shanghai is far more adventurous in its strategies than most cities. In many ways, what’s going on here has never been attempted before.”

28 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

SUPERTALL FUTURE? Many Shanghai-based architects also believe that supertall buildings, if designed intelligently, can help to make the city more liveable. Higher urban density will certainly be vital when it comes to accommodating Shanghai’s burgeoning population.

Aiming to build green has certainly been the intention of Gensler, the architects behind the new Shanghai Tower. A range of innovations, including rooftop wind turbines that will produce 54,000 kWh of renewable energy annually, have earned the building a LEED Gold standard (a sustainability ratings system for buildings) and a China Green Building three-star rating.

Despite the fanfare, however, there is nothing inherently sustainable about a skyscraper.

The Shanghai Tower may be generating its own

DANIEL ALLEN

AEDAS

The Aedas Media City complex will sit on the banks of the Huangpu.

The futuristic Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai’s Pudong area.

ARCHITECTURAL WALKING TOURS DESPITE ITS HUGE AND DENSE POPULATION, Shanghai is one of China’s great cities to see on foot. A range of excellent walking tours highlighting colonial-era and contemporary architecture are offered, many of which can be customised.

LUXURY CONCIERGE ARCHITECTURAL TOURS Tel. +86 13501662908 LUXURYCONCIERGECHINA.COM

SHANGHAI FLANEUR Tel: +86 138 1892 2040 SHANGHAI-FLANEUR.COM

ANNE WARR / WALK SHANGHAI Tel. + 86 13501660761 WALKSHANGHAI.COM

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

29

Shanghai is one of the world’s most progressive and dynamic cities, which is reflected in its architecture.

DANIEL ALLEN

Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s Green Valley project will transform Shanghai’s Expo site.

SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN

30 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

power, but supertall buildings typically consume huge amounts of energy, both in their construction and day-to-day use.

“The fascination with buildings of 500 metres and upwards is really a non-issue,” says Ame Engelhart, director of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s Hong Kong office. The design of tall buildings must also emphasise the human factor, she continues.

“People will treasure skyscrapers only when they become an integral part of the richness of urban life.

The highly repetitive residential towers sprouting up all over China may be housing the masses, but they rarely engender any sense of place or community. We architects have a responsibility to design towers that are practical, inspirational and sustainable.”

GREEN TEST-BED Over the last few years, architects from around the world have discovered that China offers seemingly boundless opportunity for unfettered creativity. Compared to restrictions in European and American cities, Shanghai represents a testing ground for bold new ideas in both architecture and urbanism.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen (SHL) opened a Shanghai office in 2011. Success has seen headcount rapidly rise from three to 30, with the Danish firm currently working on five Shanghai-based projects, chiefly redevelopments of former industrial riverfront sites.

“The idea behind opening our Shanghai office was to focus long-term on the city,” says Kristian Lars Ahlmark. “We needed to be close to our clients. The office is half Chinese and half Western, which is about as cosmopolitan as our Danish offices.”

One of SHL’s most eye-catching projects is Green Valley, part of the redevelopment of Shanghai’s 2010 Expo site. Located next to the distinctive red Chinese pavilion, the 50,000 square metre project will accommodate shops, offices and restaurants. A central courtyard will be flanked by two major buildings, each with hanging gardens in its atrium.

“The focal point of the site will be a spine of greenery and water features, open to all the citizens of Shanghai to enjoy, not just local residents and businesspeople,” explains Ahlmark. “We believe in behaviour-changing architecture, such as encouraging people to leave their car behind and walk the last 300 metres to work. Shanghai needs more spaces like this.”

SURREAL SKY SOHO Another progressive project in the Hongqiao area is Zaha Hadid’s Sky SOHO, a new high-rise office and retail complex scheduled for completion this year.

With four main towers connected by a sinuous retail podium, walkways and bridges, the futuristic project is set to become an iconic landmark.

“Sky SOHO will be one of the first new large-scale

ZAHA HADID

The futuristic Sky SOHO project features four main towers connected by a sinuous retail podium, walkways and bridges.

UN STUDIO

UN Studio’s Hailun Plaza is a mixed use development with a twisted, “sculptured” main tower.

32 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

ZAHA HADID

GRAND EXPERIMENT By 2015, the Shanghai Tower, the Hongqiao business district and the renovated Expo area will all reach the market at roughly the same time. This will bring down the price of high-end office and commercial space, which in turn may impact new development in the near term.

As a city which is constantly evolving, however, Shanghai will continue to provide enormous opportunities for architects for the foreseeable future. The

ZAHA HADID

projects encountered by those arriving at Hongqiao Airport and Station, and undoubtedly the most recognisable,” explains Manuela Gatto. “Reflecting the area’s focus on transport, it has already been nicknamed the ‘bullet train’.”

Aedas and UN Studio are also weighing in with some impressive new projects. The former has just been commissioned to design a new downtown media-focused development along the Huangpu River.

The highlight will be an innovative 155 metre tower with a twisted geometry.

UN Studio’s SOHO Hailun Plaza is a mixed-use development currently being built on the intersection of two Shanghai metro lines in the city centre.

“This is a very exciting project,” says Ben van Berkel. “It really introduces a new identity to Shanghai, with the design incorporating a diverse and fully involved urban strategy. As the main tower can be seen from many angles when you approach this part of the city, we avoided a frontal approach, instead making it a very sculptured building. The faceted and coloured texture of the facades will change appearance when approached from different directions, adding to the dynamics.”

Light and airy, the Sky SOHO complex is set to be another iconic piece of Shanghai architecture.

speed at which things are moving will also drive quality and innovation in Chinese architecture.

“Shanghai will become one of the world’s most important cities architecturally within the next decade,” says Ken Wai. “As the commercial engine of China, there will be a continuous drive for better buildings, and that includes supertall skyscrapers. I believe the future will be greener and the grand experiment will continue.”

“The architectural scene in Shanghai will remain very international, but I hope we will see more work from young Chinese architects over the coming years,” adds Fanny Hoffmann-Loss, senior architect at German architectural firm gmp International.

“The Westbund Biennale last December featured the work of a large number of very promising Chinese architects, including Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu. It bodes well for the future of this great city.” l FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to Shanghai daily.

The sweeping facade of Zaha Hadid’s Sky SOHO complex.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

33

EUROPEAN VOICES

BY TIINA ROSENBERG

Innovation through movement

H

elsinki is home to a instead embracing altruism and selflessdiverse urban culture. ness. It doesn’t require any particular Skateboarding, grafphysical equipment, but focuses on learnfiti, street dance and ing and developing one’s own physical other creative ways abilities. to use public spaces Physical dexterity and agility are valhave long been part of ues within themselves, but when they are global city life. While complemented by dance, they bring new public space in effect belongs to all of us, dimensions to art as well. UrbanApa’s verits use has been increasingly restricted in sion of art is less serious and more active. recent years. This is a result of the privaIts events have a fresh, positive vibe, as tisation of public properties, which limits the troupe is constantly seeking out new venues­and bringing their collective use. dance events into public­ One innovative examspaces. UrbanApa prople of how to get organised in the contemporary PARKOUR DISMISSES jects serve as meeting­ art scene is Urban­Apa, an points for amateurs THE IDEAS OF event concept launched and professional artists COMPETITION, POINTS while also paying special­ in 2010 by two young attention to children Helsinki artists, Sonya AND AWARDS. and young artists. The Lindfors­and Anniina concept­is also inspiring Jääskeläinen. Within just because its events are so a few years, UrbanApa closely connected to today’s broader forms has grown into an extensive commuof art and culture. nity network, combining urban culUrbanApa was recognised with a ture and contemporary art, primarily street and modern dance. UrbanApa’s Finnish­State Award for Dance in 2013. activities comprise a broad spectrum But in addition we should be pleased that it’s the activities themselves – not comof performance spaces, workshops, petitions or awards – that give children jams, site-specific shows, clubs and and adolescents a chance to participate in festivals. dance and modern art while developing awareness of their own bodies.

URBANAPA’S BACKGROUND lies Our era is bursting with material and in parkour, a training discipline practiced around the world. In park- consumption. Being able to just make use of your own body without any help from our, you aim to move through an gadgets demonstrates real innovative urban environment with ease, conthinking. Let’s dance! l trol and efficiency. Moving from one point in the city to another isn’t easy, as there are plenty of Tiina Rosenberg is the rector of the obstacles blocking your way, University of the Arts in Helsinki for the such as roofs, columns, benches, 2013-2017 term, and currently on leave of fences, walls and trees. One way to absence from her professorship at the ­practice parkour is to move in the University of Stockholm. Her research has urban space from roof to wall to focused on feminist theatre, performance roof without touching the ground. studies, feminist theory, gender and sexuality, Parkour dismisses the ideas of and critical theory. competition, points and awards,

34 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Suomen suurin tiedelehti

Huumorintajuinen, älykäs ja luotettava. se oikea minulle.

VIIVI PUMPANEN Tiede-lehden lukija, juontaja, malli

Tiede-lehti on myös komea!

Totea itse .

Tilaa: tiede.fi

LOVE, TECH AND ROCK‘N’ROLL TEXT BY ANNINA HUHTALA

WOMEN ARE STILL RARE ODDITIES IN THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY – AND THIS IS JEOPARDISING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, CLAIM FIVE CAPABLE TECH SUPERSTARS FROM THE NORTH.

36 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

PHOTOS BY MAIJA TAMMI

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

37

Nelli Lähteenmäki, whose Health Puzzle aims to revolutionise healthcare, is not scared of anything. The world is full of opportunities for the bold, she says.

38 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

F

irm handshakes, wide smiles and vigorous arguments. These women are friendly, energetic and full of praise for each other – and the source of their energy soon becomes clear. It’s not just about coding here. These female geeks are out to change the world.

There are more women working in technology in the Nordic countries than anywhere else in the world.

Yet even in Finland, women account for only 29 percent of employees in the IT sector.

The reason is simple: the tech industry has an image problem. Young people glued to their smartphones certainly have a positive attitude toward technology. But when the time comes to choose a profession, girls are still more likely to go for a career in teaching or healthcare.

Women consume technology just as much as men.

Since everyday life is rapidly becoming digitalised, more experts are needed to create new applications.

But future apps will only be targeted at young men in their twenties if they are the only ones doing the designing.

Forget gender quotas, though, say these strong IT women. There is a legion of female Mark Zuckerbergs lurking just around the corner if only we started talking about IT in sexier terms, they argue. The work is

creative and people-oriented, and technology can be a channel for virtually any passion.

The IT field is in fact a supportive place for women.

In the fast-paced tech world, nobody has time for obstacles like glass ceilings. And those ancient clichéd images of nerds with pizzas, cans of Coke and thick specs…forget it.

UNSEXY BUSINESS The tantalising aroma of fresh-baked buns wafts through the sparkling new offices of Qentinel, both a cheerful workplace and an exceptionally successful IT firm. During the last IT bubble, when their schoolmates were busy sipping Champagne to celebrate fortunes made with mobile ringtones, engineers Mari Lättilä and Marjo Sjöberg focused on the grey and boring.

It paid off. When the bubble burst, many other companies crashed, but Qentinel toughed it out. With last year’s turnover exceeding 10 million euros, the 100-strong business has recently expanded to Estonia, Poland and Germany.

“The best praise we’ve heard is that we’ve managed to make the unsexy sexy,” says a bemused Lättilä.

Tweaking IT systems may sound unexciting, but it’s a big mission. When an organisation’s bug-ridden travel expense system is improved by Qentinel, the

Marjo Sjöberg and Mari Lättilä’s IT systems tweaking company Qentinel boasted a 10 million euro profit last year.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

39

Engineer, economist and business angel, Elina Lepomäki is looking to politics for her next challenge.

40 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

“I’M A GAMBLER. I SUPPOSE I TAKE RISKS MORE EASILY THAN THE AVERAGE WOMAN.”

employees’ energy is freed up for more productive things than whinging. Poorly designed information systems can be found everywhere, not just offices: in healthcare, space technology and construction. Ironing out the bugs literally improves people’s quality of life in significant ways.

Sjöberg, 42, and Lättilä, 45, maintain that running a business is surprisingly easy. You just ask a client for money and deliver true value in return.

“In moments of doubt, I just look at Marjo. She’s never in doubt. It’s her best feature,” says Lättilä.

“If you don’t dream big, then you won’t achieve big either,” muses Sjöberg.

Besides being business partners, Sjöberg and Lättilä are best friends. They see their gender as an advantage: a woman sticks out in people’s minds.

They also see most women as better communicators than men.

“The next big wave of new technology firms will serve the predominantly female fields of elderly and healthcare,” Lättilä predicts.

HEALTHY TECHNOLOGY “I want the service to look like us: lovely, supportive and approachable,” says Nelli Lähteenmäki, 28, describing her new health application.

The same adjectives indeed apply to the charismatic start-up entrepreneur. Lähteenmäki, an industrial engineer, has wasted no time moving her career into the fast lane. A year after falling in love with California, she moved her whole life there and was soon zipping around Silicon Valley selling cloud services – something she knew nothing about until then. Now she runs her own company, Health Puzzle, which is seeking to revolutionise the ailing healthcare system.

“At the moment, doctors devote all their time to putting out fires, since they don’t have tools for anything else. Our dream is to keep people out of waiting rooms with individualised preventive healthcare,” she says.

Today, regular exercisers collect immense amounts of data about their pulse, calorie consumption and even sleep quality. Health Puzzle’s first mobile app, YOU, offers its users health challenges based on this collected mass of data. In the future, this may even include genetic data.

With its first round of funding successfully completed, Health Puzzle has signed an agreement with a major Finnish health service producer. Lähteenmäki is excited – and with good reason.

“I know we’re building something that no one else has done before. Imagine if future doctors could use our app to send their patients health-promoting challenges?”

The start-up world is a boundless realm of opportunity for energetic go-getters like Lähteenmäki.

Things move fast and there are no unnecessary rules holding you back. After the sale of Nokia’s phone business, there are inspiring start-up vibes humming in the Finnish air.

“The gaming company Supercell has changed our conception of what success looks like. It’s great that you don’t need to be formal – you can keep it casual, have fun, and express yourself just wearing a hoodie,” she says.

Lähteenmäki has her own trademark outfit as well: short shorts, which she never trades in for pinstripes, even when pitching her business ideas to big-time investors. And in tech circles, that’s fine.

This bold entrepreneur has some pointers to share with other young women: shape your own destiny. If you feel held back and things aren’t improving, just leave. Find people who boost healthy confidence.

Few things require exceptional intelligence. What you need most is faith in your ability to learn. Watching Lähteenmäki’s bright face, one can only nod in agreement.

NO TO QUOTAS Although Lähteenmäki confirms that most investors are men, more and more women are emerging on the scene. One of them is Elina Lepomäki, engineer, economist and business angel – and an obvious high achiever for someone who is only 32. When her big brother and cousin applied to study at the Helsinki University of Technology, she decided to try out too, as a “personal challenge”. After completing a degree in data security technology, she also studied at the Helsinki School of Economics before heading to London to work as a banker. At 25, she was appointed as the youngest manager in the organisation that year.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

41

Linda Liukas raised more than $300,000 (â‚Ź218,000) on Kickstarter in just a few weeks for her newest project, a computer programming book for kids.

42 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

“I’VE EXPERIENCED THE BEAUTY OF CODING AND WANT TO SHARE IT WITH OTHERS.”

“People will recognise your abilities regardless of your gender. The fact that I was a blonde geek helped me to stand out in London’s tough banking circles,” she says.

When it was time for Lepomäki to take her first maternity leave, she took it as an opportunity to run for the Finnish Parliament on the conservative National Coalition Party ticket. She narrowly missed a seat in the legislature, but as first reserve, she may soon replace current MP Alexander Stubb, who has announced his candidacy for the European Parliament.

“I’m a gambler,” she says. “I suppose I take risks more easily than the average woman.”

So far, being a business angel is only a hobby for her. She is involved in six start-ups in fields from waste management to intelligent medicines. Although it is her fervent hope to see more women involved in tech businesses, she does not believe in quotas.

“Women tend to avoid risks more than men; there’s apparently an evolutionary basis for this. But it would be good if women didn’t end up in this field so randomly. We don’t all have big brothers we try to beat,” says Lepomäki.

Coding, for instance, offers addictive moments of insight which more girls should have a chance to experience, says Lepomäki. She believes that “straight A” schoolgirls often get the wrong picture of the real world – where good report cards don’t guarantee anything.

The field of technology offers immense opportunities for self-expression. And even if all girls don’t get hooked on coding, it’s at least good to know what not to choose, she says. Moreover, IT skills can have surprise perks: Lepomäki, a tough IT guru, charmed her present husband by hacking his computer.

“I was testing a firewall,” she says with a grin.

PIPPI THE GEEK Fortunately, many of Lepomäki’s concerns are being addressed by the last sparkling character of the bunch: Linda Liukas. Her brainchild, Rails Girls, is a coding school where girls and women learn the basics of programming at free weekend events.

Over the past few years, Liukas, 27, has become a celebrity in tech circles. She’s the Pippi Longstocking of coding, a perfect role model for teens. The opencode community chose her as a Ruby Hero of 2013 – a sort of geeky version of an Oscar.

Liukas became hooked on coding as a teenager.

While other girls where drooling over boy bands, Liukas picked a different idol: Al Gore.

“I just wanted to be different,” Liukas explains with a laugh.

On discovering that the American politician had no Finnish website, the besotted Helsinki 13-year-old decided to fill the gap.

“Teenage girls have an incredible amount of explosive energy. It should be channelled into creativity.

Coding isn’t math – it’s logic and copy-paste,” she says.

Rails Girls, which is run by volunteers, has exploded into a global network within just a few years.

Liukas is now supported by a big enough team of experienced coders to give her time to focus on her other pet projects. By day, she sits at her desk creating images of a girl called Ruby, the protagonist of Hello Ruby, a book teaching kids the fundamentals of programming through stories and fun activities.

Earlier this year Liukas launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding project to raise 10,000 dollars (€7,269) to publish the book. The original target was surpassed within only 24 hours, and a few weeks later, Liukas had already raised 337,000 dollars (€ 245,000) from more than 4,300 backers. If the final sum exceeds 500,000, Liukas promises to expand Ruby’s world into a mobile app.

Liukas sees programming as a basic skill, just like reading and counting – something every child should learn before they hit their teens. Instead of dreary computer classes, Liukas believes in learning through story-telling. Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson’s magical stories, which she read as a child, made a lasting impression on her.

“I’ve experienced the beauty of coding and want to share it with others,” Liukas says, and recites a line from the early-twentieth-century Finnish poet Edith Södergran: “I want to stand on the verge of the future and shout: I’m not afraid!” l

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

43

EUROPEAN VOICES

BY ALEXANDER STUBB

A love letter to Michael Booth

D

ear Michael, – the OECD, the World Economic Forum, Thank you so much for the UN – we aren’t doing too badly. your recent book – The Internationally, we have dominated the Almost Nearly Perfect Peo- top spot in education for a decade. We ple: the Truth About the are number three in competitiveness, in Nordic Miracle. The book the top 10 for happiness, and one of the was funny, well written world’s least corrupt and most transparand to the point. ent states in the world. And this is just a Your tongue-in-cheek approach just fraction of the stuff where our star shines confirms what I already knew from home brightly. (my wife is British) – Brits have a great sense of humour.

WHILE TRAVELLING AROUND the Nordics­you must have marvelled at our I loved the way you described the Norpower-showers, single faucet sinks and dic countries. Danish TV is bad, Swedes modern central heating without radiaare less democratic than they claim, Nortors. After all, you come from a country wegian oil isn’t very “green,” Icelanders still reliant on a Victoare... well Icelanders, and rian plumbing system. At we Finns probably drink a least in Denmark where bit too much on Fridays. I WITH ALL you live, you can take a also liked the way you later STEREOTYPES, warm shower and go to described the reactions to THERE’S AN ELEMENT bed without a hot water your book. In Finland we bottle. were pretty cool about it, OF TRUTH. As for calling us the Swedes were indifferent, drunks of Europe? I’ve Danes just a tad pissed off, ­Icelanders frustrated that they did not get been out in the UK on a Friday night: our more of a mention and the Norwegians drinking habits seem very British, if anywere insulted. thing. Cheers! Kippis!

We Finns have a great sense of humour You also say that our landscape is too and that’s why I wanted to share some “samey.” We have a beautiful archipelago of of my thoughts on your criticism of us 20,000 islands, the Lake District with more Finns. It’s always good to look at yourself than 100,000 lakes, and Lapland.

There is nothing fake about the average­ in the mirror and for an outsider to Finn: what you see is what you get. We reflect on that image. But the truth may not be big talkers, but if a Finn likes is that Finland has emerged as a you he will eventually open up. And he’ll top three country in the past 20 do that sober too. years and much of it has been And we joke about it ourselves. How do because of the EU and the end you tell the difference between a Finnish­ of the Cold War. In the past, we might have taken your crit- introvert and a Finnish extrovert? One looks at his own feet when he’s talking to icism seriously. Now we can you, the other looks at your feet. brush it off like dandruff The bottom line is that these are hilaribecause if you look at ous stereotypes and as with all stereointernational measures types, there’s an element of truth. Please come and visit us again. You will soon find that our slogan holds true: “Finland, even cooler than you think!”

Yours truly, Alexander Stubb l Alexander Stubb is Finland’s Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade.

44 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Testivoittaja!

4/2013

THE BEST COFFEE MAKER IN THE WORLD Dark as night or light as tea. Jet fuel or velvet. With or without sugar, milk, cream or sweeteners, for that matter: there are as many perfect cups of coffee as there are people, so we’re not telling you how to drink it. How to brew it well, on the other hand, is a matter of science. It shouldn’t take longer than 4-6 minutes: 70% of the flavors and aromas are extracted during the first third of the brewing process, so the temperature between 92 and 96 degrees – has to be right from the first drop. What coffee you brew is up to you, but how clean and fresh the water is can be affected by your coffee maker. The SVART Precision has a fully detachable water container. By using this every time and not, say, an empty coffee pot, you’ll avoid re-brewing any remaining stale coffee. It might seem obvious, but it makes a big difference.

Like you can see from the chart, most other certified coffee makers take much longer getting up to the right temperature. The result is that more crud is being extracted during that important first third.

0 min

1 min

facebook.com/nordicCoffeeCulture

wilfa.com

4 min

5 min

6m

optimal brewing tim

88°C 84°C 80°C 76°C 72°C

Optimal brewing temperature band of 92-96 degre Wilfa Svart Precision

Other certified coffee makers*

* European Coffee Brewing Centre

nordiccoffeeculture.com

3 min

92°C

68°C

The best drip coffee is made with precision. SVART Precision.

2 min

96°C

THERE’S A CAFFEINE REVOLUTION BREWING IN THE FINNISH CAPITAL, A FAMOUSLY AVID COFFEE-DRINKING CITY, WHERE A VIBRANT SOCIAL CULTURE IS NOW GROWING AROUND ARTISANAL BREWS.

HELSINKI’S NEW

BEAN SCENE TEXT BY SILJA KUDEL

I

t’s a chilly January afternoon on the Helsinki waterfront as a group of coffee cognoscenti gather at Johan & Nyström, a café and concept store dedicated to specialty brews.

The group begin swirling, sniffing and slurping the dark stuff as if they were sampling high-end wines, comparing bean nuances from Sumatra, Brazil and Ethiopia.

Although Finland is known as one of the world’s most fervid coffee-drink-

46 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

PHOTOS BY JONATAN INGVARSSON, SILJA KUDEL, ISTOCK AND LEHTIKUVA

ing countries per capita, it has been less famous for the sophistication of its brews.

The prevailing preference has traditionally been for light roast drip coffees garnished with a splash of cold milk, several times a day. Distinctively no-nonsense, like the local culture.

However, a recent boom in micro-roasteries and gourmet coffee is breeding a new generation of coffee geeks in Helsinki.

Forget dark versus light roast, a true connoisseur only cares whether it’s a sweet,

syrupy Blue Batak from Indonesia or a lush, floral-toned Geisha varietal grown on the high slopes of Panama.

THE NEW WINE “Origin is everything. With single-origin varieties, you can taste yearly variation in the microclimate and soil, just as you can with any fine vintage wine. People are still raving about the 2011 crop year of honey-prep coffee from Panama,” says Lari Salomaa, country manager of Johan

Loved for its laid-back decor, Johan & Nyström is a micro-roastery and concept store house in a converted waterfront warehouse.

FORGET WHETHER IT’S A DARK OR LIGHT ROAST: ONLY ORIGIN COUNTS.

“The big roasteries source their beans from brokers and wholesalers. We go straight to the source,” says Lari Salomaa of Johan & Nyström.

LARI SALOMAA’S COFFEE-CUISINE PAIRINGS 1 “THE BERGAMOT FLAVOURS of Kenyan and Ethiopian coffee are perfectly paired with chocolate cake or any rich chocolate dessert.”

2 “STRONG SUMATRAN COFFEE has a sweet aftertaste which makes it a great digestive. It’s also smooth at breakfast when your taste-buds are at their most sensitive. You don’t want ­anything too acidic when you’ve just woken up.”

3 “BRAZILIAN COFFEE has a caramelised, full-bodied flavour and a long, sweet aftertaste that is well-matched with ­berry-topped cheesecake.”

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

47

NO SOCIAL OCCASION IS COMPLETE WITHOUT A COFFEE POT ON THE TABLE.

& Nyström, the Swedish coffee roastery that started the Nordic coffee revolution back in 2004. Growing interest in local food, green eating and fair trade saw Finland wake up to the complex pleasures of specialty coffees.

“We went straight to the source and began importing raw coffee beans direct from farmers, which enables us to control quality all the way from plantation to

cup. We also pay producers higher prices by cutting out the middle man,” says Salomaa.

Since then, other entrepreneurs have followed suit, giving rise to a thriving artisan coffee scene in Helsinki. “There’s friendly competition, but we support each other because we’re all passionate about teaching Finns the huge difference between coffee and coffee.”

HELSINKI CAFÉ CRAWL JOHAN & NYSTRÖM

KAHVILA SÄVY

Housed in a converted red-brick warehouse on the Helsinki waterfront, this cosy coffee shop serves up a warm atmosphere and an impressive range of specialty coffees, all handroasted at its own roastery.

Tea lovers are also in luck.

Kanavaranta 7C

Another favourite pit-stop for local creatives in trendy Kallio, this diminutive coffee shop run

by Kaisa and Mikko Sarén makes no compromise on quality. The husband and wife team only serve products they truly get excited about.

Aleksis Kiven katu 12

JOHANOCHNYSTROM.SE/FI

KAHVILASAVY.FI

FREESE COFFEE

CAFÉ EKBERG

The new kid on the block is a speciality­coffee shop opened last year by Kalle Freese, Finnish Barista Champion 2013. The street is named after his forefather, the poet Jacob Freese. Top-quality seasonal coffees served in a relaxed setting.

Open on weekends only.

Freesenkatu 5

For the quintessential old-world café experience, visit this familyrun­business dating back to 1861. Buffet breakfasts, daily lunch specials, scrumptious pastries and takeaway bread.

The mille-feuille comes highly recommended.

Bulevardi 9

FREESECOFFEE.FI

CAFEEKBERG.FI

GOOD LIFE COFFEE

HELSINGIN KAHVIPAAHTIMO

CAFÉ SUCCÈS

Loved by local bohos in the hip inner-city district of Kallio, this laid-back establishment serves fine gourmet coffees from around the world, brought to you courtesy of Lauri Pipinen, Finnish Barista Champion 2011.

Kolmas Linja 17

Founded by passionate coffee spokesman Benjamin Andberg, Helsinki’s first premium micro-roastery is a well-kept secret in the wooden quarter of Vallila. Industrial-chic décor, café open Wed-Sat. Päijänteentie 29

For a taste of classic Finnish food culture, don’t miss this Helsinki institution legendary for its delicious, whopping-sized cinnamon rolls (korvapuusti) baked fresh on the premises daily.

Korkeavuorenkatu 2

GOODLIFECOFFEE.FI

HELSINGINKAHVIPAAHTIMO.COM

SPOTTEDBYLOCALS.COM/ HELSINKI/CAFE-SUCCES

48 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

CAFFEINE COUNTRY That’s not to say that the Finns are java rookies – far from it. Finland has been among the world’s top coffee-drinking nations for decades, with per capita consumption averaging about two cups a day.

That’s at least twice the amount consumed by most other Europeans. According to Euromonitor, Finland is currently ranked second on the list of the world’s top coffee-consuming countries, behind only The Netherlands. These are curious statistics for a small nation with no history of colonial power. How, then, has coffee become such an ingrained part of Finnish culture?

“No social occasion is complete without a pot of steaming coffee on the table.

Serving coffee is a deep-seated social ritual at any festive occasion, whether a birthday, graduation party, wedding or funeral.

Without coffee, something vital is missing,” says Johanna Mäkelä, professor of food culture at the University of Helsinki.

Coffee came to Finland in the early 18th century while Finland was still under Swedish rule, initially a “forbidden fruit” enjoyed only by the upper classes due to high luxury taxes. It later spread to working-class homes in the wake of industrialisation in the late 19th century.

“This hard-to-get luxury became accessible to the whole population, yet it retained its former aura of prestige. The coffee pot and grinder became cherished family heirlooms in Finnish homes,” says Mäkelä.

The coffeepot also has symbolic value at workplaces, Finland being the only country in the world where coffee breaks are statutory.

“Coffee breaks are an important social ritual at work. If you don’t join the office coffee klatch, you miss out on vital information and become an outsider,” says Mäkelä.

A strong Lutheran work ethic is believed to account for the Finnish obsession with caffeine; the hardworking Finns drink coffee as a quick pick-me-up in order to stay productive. Decaffeinated coffee is conspicuous by its absence in the otherwise generous selection of Finland’s leading coffee company, Paulig, and ordering decaf at a coffee shop is tantamount to asking for a glass of milk at the pub.

KNOW YOUR COFFEE-QUETTE A unique 19th century tradition now witnessing a renaissance is the Finnish “coffee party” (kahvikutsut), where gentlewomen drank coffee, exchanged gossip and showed off their baking skills. The

Ask a Finn to skip their coffee break and you’re asking for trouble. Cray-fishermen celebrate their catch with campfire coffee in the 1950s.

Give them Wi-Fi and espresso, and they’ll work anywhere. Coffee shops are the new offices for digital nomads.

hostess would traditionally serve at least seven varieties of cake and confectionary, first pulla (a sweet bun flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon) followed by täytekakku (gâteau topped with berries and whipped cream).

Traditional Finnish coffee parties involved intricate social rituals. “When the hostess gave the signal, it would be extremely rude to head for the buffet elbows first. It is customary to play coy (kursailla) and make a silent evaluation of who should lead the way. Usually it’s the highest-ranking guests, the vicar and his wife,” explains Mäkelä.

Even today, the same subtle rituals are still carefully observed at weddings and funerals, after which a spread of coffee and cake is customary. “Whether we realise it or not, we’re still following the conventions of our grandparents’ era.”

drip coffee. After a brief flirtation with espresso, Finns are going back to filter coffee, which has always been by far the most popular brew in Finland,” says Mäkelä.

With palates growing more sophisticated, a growing number of Finns are choosing to enjoy their coffee in a social

FIND ME @ CYBERCAFÉ The traditional Finnish coffee party is making a comeback with the new foodie fetish for manually brewed coffee. Javalovers are hosting gatherings where they compare brews and explore new coffeecuisine pairings. And drip coffee has by no means been put on the backburner.

“The hot trend right now is gourmet

setting rather than from a takeaway Styrofoam mug. Cafés are becoming Helsinki’s living rooms, as in many other urban hubs around the world. Urban nomads spend hours lounging on comfy couches with their laptops and coffee mugs.

“This trend may seem very modern, but it fulfils the original function of the traditional London coffee house, which was a

50 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

“ESPRESSO IS A SCIENCE BEST LEFT TO BARISTAS.”

public space where people often did business. Just as we are ‘rediscovering’ filter coffee, we are in many ways returning to the roots of our coffee culture,” says Mäkelä.

ESPRESSO YOURSELF When it comes to espresso, Salomaa – Chairman of the Finnish Chapter of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe – recommends going out for a cup rather than making a home brew.

“It’s such a violent way to make coffee.

You force boiling water through a small cake of finely ground coffee at a pressure of nine bars in less than 30 seconds. It’s a science best left to an experienced barista.”

Salomaa winces at the thought of java philistines who see no difference between specialty coffee and instant “battery acid.”

“We have a saying in Finnish, kylmä kahvi kaunistaa: cold coffee gives you a facelift by making your lips curl. But with a truly good coffee, you can drink it cold and it’s still delicious.”

He affirms that the artisan coffee boom is not about snobbery, but a newfound appreciation for quality: “When you develop a taste for gourmet coffee, you don’t want the bulk stuff anymore. And hold the milk and sugar!” l

Life is for

BEING CARED FOR On board Finnair we take good care of you by making your flight experience as unique and cosy as possible. We provide personal, multilingual service, so being far from home won’t feel far from home.

Find a new way to fly finnair.com

RUSSIAN-SPEAKERS ARE THE MOST VISIBLE PART OF A GROWINGLY DIVERSE AND ENTREPRENEURIALLY ORIENTED FINLAND.

THE NEW RUSSIAN HELSINKI TEXT BY LAURA PALOTIE

H

elsinki, established as the capital of Finland by Czar Alexander I in 1812, bears countless signs of its Russian history everywhere in its centre, from the red brick Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral to the two-headed eagle perched atop an obelisk in the Market Square. Finland’s most ubiquitous brewery brand, Sinebrychoff, was founded by a Russian businessman in the early 1800s. But over the past couple of decades, as Finland has transitioned from famously homogeneous to markedly cosmopolitan, the concept of Russian Helsinki has begun redefining itself.

According to Statistics Finland, five per cent of the country’s population today has been born abroad.

Those born in Russia or the former USSR are by far the largest immigrant group, making up about a fifth of all Finns born abroad with a total about 52,000 people. The country’s Russian-born population has doubled over the past decade, and roughly 62,000 Finns speak Russian as their first language.

Russian investment in Finnish companies is growing, there are thousands of Russian-managed businesses in Finland, and in May of 2013 the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle launched a Russian-language news broadcast. Finland’s diversifying profile is, in many ways, being led by its Russian-speaking population, which often also demonstrates the country’s increasingly entrepreneurial spirit.

52 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTI PIKKUJÄMSÄ

BUSINESS FROM EAST TO WEST According to Päivi Karhunen, academy research fellow at The Center for Markets in Transition (CEMAT) of the Aalto University School of Business, many entrepreneurially minded Russians are pursuing opportunities elsewhere in Europe due to problems of bureaucracy and corruption within the business landscape at home. “There’s a migration going on, not just into Finland but elsewhere in Western Europe,” she says. In her research Karhunen has specialised, for example, in the internationalisation of Russian businesses, the assimilation of Russian business owners into Finland and the investment strategies of foreign companies in Russia.

“Many members of the Russian growing middle class want to improve their quality of life by bringing their families to a place such as Finland, which is known for its safety, strong school system and overall quality of life. Finland isn’t a market for getting rich quickly, but what you lose in that you gain in predictability, transparent regulations and a well-functioning public sector,” Karhunen continues.

Although immigrants in many parts of the world are likely to start businesses in their new home countries, Russian-speakers in Finland have a special competitive

THE COUNTRY’S RUSSIAN-BORN POPULATION HAS DOUBLED OVER THE PAST DECADE.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

53

advantage: according to an extensive study of Finlandbased Russian business-owners between 2010 and 2011, many launched businesses in the travel industry or in related logistics due to the large numbers of tourists who can benefit from Russian-language services. Russians make up by far the largest group of travellers to Finland; of the country’s 381,500 overnight visitors in November of 2013, nearly 128,000 were Russian.

“The number of Russian-speakers here is rapidly increasing, and a large segment of them places high priority on integrating into Finnish society,” adds Karhunen, citing the growing number of Russian-speakers completing their military service in Finland, and the demand for Russian-language news. “And those that start businesses don’t advertise themselves as Finnish-Russian, but as Finnish,” she adds.

ZAKUSKA CLASSICS RESTAURANT BELLEVUE, located behind the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral in Helsinki, has served Russian delicacies for nearly as long as Finland has been an independent country. Bellevue was opened by Estonian-Finnish Grigori Pawlow (who later changed his name to Reko Paulo) and his wife Hulda in 1917, initially as a café.

The restaurant was famously busted during prohibition for carrying an extensive collection of liquors and other vices, and legend has it that Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (president of Finland from 1944 to 1946) had his seljanka brought in from Bellevue.

The menu includes comfort foods such as Chicken Kiev, caviar, borscht soup and beef Stroganoff. Saturday’s hearty and markedly luxurious zakuska buffet (38 euros), featuring a full array of classics including pickles, sour cream and honey, cabbage salad, blini pancakes with fish roe and a Georgian cheese pie, comes highly recommended.

The Paulo Foundation, established to oversee the Paulo family’s estate after Reko’s passing in 1957, was directed by Veikko Palotie, the grandfather of this article’s author.

Rahapajankatu 3,

RESTAURANTBELLEVUE.COM

54 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

A BICULTURAL POPULATION “When this new immigration wave from Russia was in its beginning stage, some people had trouble becoming active parts of Finnish society simply because it was so different,” says Levan Tvaltvadze, anchor of the Finnish Broadcasting Network Yle’s Russian-language news, Novosti. “But now that we have a new generation of RussianFinns who have moved here as kids and grown up here, integration is much more visible. They are truly FinnishRussians, not immigrants.” Tvaltvadze, who is of Georgian origin, has lived in Finland since 1996.

“THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO SPEAK TWO LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATE WITH BOTH CULTURES WILL BE NOTICED.” Novosti covers topics relevant to Russian-speaking Finns, from the recent closure of a Russian-speaking preschool to the politics of mandatory military service for Russian citizens in Finland. “We get a lot of feedback about stories that offer practical information for this segment of the population,” Tvaltvadze says. He predicts that in about a decade, as the children of the most recent immigration wave begin to reach adulthood, the visibility of this new population segment will only increase.

“It’s too early to say what their impact will look like exactly, but I think that these young people who speak two languages and communicate with both cultures will be noticed,” he says.

One of the most common misconceptions among Finns, he says, is the presumption of homogeneity within the Russian immigrant population. “I’ve had journalists ask me how Russians feel about this or that issue, and I simply say that there are so many of us, that we are so different from one another, that often the only thing we have in common is language; your roots can be from Caucasia or Asia or the former Soviet Union or the Baltic states. But understanding this diversity will take some time,” he adds.

MOBILE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Within an increasingly cosmopolitan and internationally mobile Europe, this diversity is expected to become all the more pronounced. Dmitri Sarle, CEO of ArcticStartup, a blog that reports on entrepreneurship in the Nordics and Baltics, was born in the USSR but relocated to Tallinn at six years old with his family, right before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then he has attended schools and universities in Estonia, Sweden and Manchester.

“From an early age I’ve felt like I wanted to be a citizen of Europe,” he says. “[When people ask me where I’m from] I’m a little hesitant to answer. I’m Russian, but I’ve lived in so many places and gone to school in English. I’ve always wanted to be international. It’s good that things are becoming more globalised.”

Sarle says that his story is not atypical. “I know more and more people here who have three or four passports, who have lived in four or five countries and know three or four languages. That’s becoming the norm.”

Like many new Finns, Sarle moved to Finland for love; his wife Anna, also born in St Petersburg, runs the Lakshmi Yoga Club with her mother in Helsinki. “Guys usually seem to come to Finland for two reasons: Nokia or a girl,” he says with a laugh, adding that from his own interactions with other Russian-born Finns he isn’t sure what explains the influx of recent immigration; “The Finnish quality of life is very high, of course,” he says.

He adds that at least in his own circles, he has found Finland’s Russian-speaking population to immerse itself relatively closely into the local community. “I personally haven’t found any ‘just for Russians’-kinds of things.

I’m sure there are some, of course, but it’s not prevalent. That’s nice to see because even in Manchester, the Russian community was very tightly knit and there were things like Russian-only discos.”

constructed in a matter of weeks. However, the Russian­ business culture is traditionally more hierarchical, whereas in Finland one can, say, walk straight into the boss’s office to ask a question,” she says. She agrees that Finland’s growing Russian-speaking population is likely to transform the business environment as well.

“Considering the future of international business and trade, it’s going to be a huge strength that Finland now has a major population of people who are fully immersed in two cultures,” she says. She adds that ­Finland could benefit from making more active use of its geographic position, whether it be in business, politics or academia. For example, building excellence on ­Russia is now one of [Aalto business school’s] main areas of focus.

“Finland, in many ways, has a role as a bridgebuilder between the EU and Russia, and could provide information for businesses coming from elsewhere in Europe and going East. At Aalto you see a clear interest among students from abroad in courses dealing with Russia,” she says. “A strong focus on Russia-related research isn’t something you see just anywhere.” l

A BRIDGE-BUILDER ArcticStartup’s next project is a service called Wire.as (currently in beta) that will help angel investors link with startups in Scandinavia and the Baltic region. “I see more and more people coming to Finland for things such as Aalto University’s Startup Sauna, Slush [conference] or [the Nokiafunded] AppCampus; these things are doing a good job of promoting Finland,” Sarle says.

“People in Russia, too, are finding ArcticStartup more and more, and there’s a lot of venture capital coming this way from Russia.”

According to Päivi Karhunen, Finland’s booming startup culture would present valuable opportunities for Finnish and Russian CEOs to learn from one another.

“It’s often said that the Russian approach to business is such that a giant new port, for example, can be MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

55

MANCHESTER CURRY HOUSES

1

EAST FEAST The majestic Vermilion is a tenminute walk from Manchester City’s Eastlands home. The ocean’s booty is a speciality at this restaurant, part of a company with its own Bay of Bengal-based trawlers supplying ingredients for prawn bhoonas and tandoori seafood platters. Breathtaking décor over three levels designed by Miguel Cancio Martins of Buddha Bar, Paris fame creates a magnificent dining experience enjoyed by celebrity diners the like of Tim Burton.

VERMILION.UK.COM

FINNAIR FLIES to Manchester nonstop

twice daily.

56 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

TOP

MANCHESTER CURRY HOUSES

MANCHESTER

LONDON

FROM CHEAP AND CHEERFUL TO SLICK AND SOPHISTICATED, MANCHESTER’S CURRY HOUSES WILL KEEP OUT THE COLD MARCH WINDS.

4

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY SIMON FRY

JOIN THE CLUB A plaque outside Rajdoot, standing in the imposing Manchester Town Hall’s shadow, refers to it hosting the city’s curry club monthly since May 1979.

Opened in 1966 and billing itself as Europe’s first tandoori restaurant, its subterranean, reassuringly old-school setting boasts dark, bold colours, a relaxed air of grandness and a menu of north Indian dining evoking the Mughal Empire.

2

3

SIMPLY FED The city’s bestkept foodie secret has attracted regulars for over 30 years. Sonamed because diners choose a curry combination from around ten options, This & That at 3 Soap Street (tel. 0161 832 4971) provides quick, filling and very affordable food and sublime lassi in endearing, soulful surroundings – check out the mural. A must-visit, from babes in prams to octogenarians via rock star Mick Hucknall, all Manchester life is here.

RAJDOOT.CO.UK

ISTOCKPHOTO

TRADITIONAL TANDOORI Expect classic curry house elements – traditional music, joss sticks, carpets, Ganesha, Cobra on draught – at Punjab until a refurb later this year updates this 23-year-old eatery at 177 Wilmslow Rd (tel. 0161 225 2960). This Curry Mile stalwart formerly sponsored a nearby university football team, while a photo on display shows the manager with Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar. Awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence last year.

5

WORTH THE WAIT Serving dishes replicating railway recipes from the Raj plus new street food researched in India, authenticity is all at Mughli, a restaurant moving with the times. It has been family-run since 1991, and nothing makes the menu without Mum’s approval. Eye-catching Bollywood imagery, laidback music and food praised by the Daily Telegraph draw Manchester United’s stars and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who waited “around three minutes” for a table in 2013.

MUGHLI.COM

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

57

58 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

CHARMING, GRITTY MARSEILLE IS ONE OF FRANCE’S OLDEST CITIES. BENEATH ITS TRADITIONALIST SHELL BEATS A YOUTHFUL, BOHEMIAN HEART THAT’S OPEN TO DIVERSITY, CREATIVITY AND DREAMS.

MEDITERRANEAN

MOSAIC

TEXT BY MIRA JALOMIES

PHOTOS BY PEPPE MANCUSO

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

59

Clothing store owner Eva la Torre poses outside her boutique in the Cours Julien area.

An impromptu jam session starts up on the steps of Le Panier.

The non-alcoholic minty drinks are one of La Caravelle’s most popular summer beverages.

La Caravelle is one of the dozens of bars dotting the waterfront.

60 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

T

he balcony of the La Caravelle bar offers one of Marseille’s best views. The U-shaped Old Port is fringed with pink buildings, its entrance guarded by ancient fortifications. In its centre, a forest of yacht masts creaks and wobbles gently in time with the Mediterranean waves.

Looking upward at an angle, I can see the city’s hilltop landmark, the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. As the sun sets, the gilt Madonna on top of it glows as if on fire.

The Old Port district has been Marseille’s heart and soul since it was founded 2,600 years ago. Here traditions are more dominant than anywhere else in France’s second city. The waterfront is dotted with restaurants and classic cafés and bars such as La Caravelle, most dating back decades.

This bar’s wooden tables are scratched, its dark sofas worn as dust gathers on the model sailing ships along its shelves. Only the customers are contemporary: the young man on a laptop in the corner, the chic young women sipping minty drinks.

This appealing place is a bit like Marseille itself. The oldfashioned setting bears the patina of age, but there is a youthful, bohemian vibe in the atmosphere.

THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE DESIGNATION BROUGHT AN EXTRA BURST OF ENERGY TO THE CITY.

NEW BREEZES AMID THE OLD Marseille exudes a strong desire to restore and reinvent itself. Many of the ornamented buildings in the city centre have been scrubbed of decades of soot while the waterfront areas have turned into parks and swimming beaches. Last year’s European Capital of Culture designation brought an extra burst of energy into street-repair and construction projects.

Also under way is the ambitious Euroméditerranée urban renewal project: an extensive, ecologicallyminded neighbourhood north of the New Port complete with hotels, malls and river parks.

The facelift can also be seen in more subtle changes. Climbing up a slope from the harbour to Le Panier brings me into one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, which has recently undergone a rebirth.

Its previously shabby backstreets have become a picturesque district of colourful buildings, pretty cafés and small artisans’ shops.

Hidden away here is my roost for the night, Marseille’s most unusual lodgings, the trendy, artsy Au Vieux Panier B&B. This mini-boutique hotel has just five rooms. Each is re-designed by a different artist annually. Mine is painted in joyously bright, psychedelic graffiti from floor to ceiling. Not the most restful perhaps, but certainly memorable.

In the afternoon, I sit on the hotel’s rooftop terrace, above the orange and red roofs of the Old Town.

Mini-boutique hotel Au Vieux Panier features five rooms, each re-designed by a different artist annually.

MARSEILLE IN A NUTSHELL POPULATION 850,000, urban area 1.5 million. Marseille is France’s second-largest city, with the third-largest metropolitan area.

Tourism in Marseille is growing, though it still attracts relatively few foreign visitors. It has become a popular weekend destination for Parisians, as it is just over three hours away

by TGV train. Prices are lower than on the Riviera.

The most pleasant weather is in May, June, September and October. Summers are warm and dry, winters mild and damp.

The city has a good bus, metro and tram network, but the centre is easier to explore on foot.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

61

“IN MARSEILLE, EVERYONE CAN BE WHOEVER THEY WANT TO BE.”

From the street floats the voices of kids playing football and neighbours gossiping. Somewhere, someone is strumming a guitar and singing cheerily.

A bit later, I encounter these musicians amid the outdoor cafés and restaurants around the Rue des Pistoles, which forms the neighbourhood’s central square. These youngsters aren’t playing for money, just for their own enjoyment and to pass the time.

MULTICULTURAL METROPOLIS The Old Town is relaxed and inventive, but the real hotbed of creativity is the Cours Julien. The bohemian quarter to the east of the city centre is Marseille’s most colourful area. Doors and walls are adorned with large, sometimes brash paintings.

This is where local youthful trendsetters head to take part in countercultural arts events or just to hang out, says Nathalie de Maillé, who works as a tourist guide.

LA CARAVELLE “In Marseille, everyone can be whoHôtel Bellevue, 34 Quai du Port ever they want to be. But nobody sticks out from the crowd,” she says with AU VIEUX PANIER B&B a smile, gesturing toward the Cours 13 Rue du Panier Julien.

The city has welcomed so many MARIE-EVE immigrants from North Africa, the 80 Cours Julien rest of the Mediterranean as well as Asia that it’s easy to forget that you’re OOGIE LIFESTORE in France at times. This area’s restau55 Cours Julien rants can take you on a tasty tour from Ukraine to Libya, India or Japan.

LES MOTS DES THÉS The locals spend long days hang92 Cours Julien ing out on or around the Cours Julien’s large, oblong central square – whether at a playground, café table or a bench.

You can wander through the market, which on Wednesdays is dedicated to organic foods.

No-one seems to be in a hurry to get anywhere – not even to work.

“We don’t work in Marseille, at least not much,” quips Louise, a young sales attendant at Oogie, a shop on the square, and urges me to keep shopping. “If you want something unusual, this is the neighbourhood to find it.”

Oogie itself is a little treasure trove. Besides selling clothes, books and music, it’s also an art gallery, café-restaurant and hairdressing salon. And on Thursday evenings, it turns into a disco. Hidden away on these streets are many other idiosyncratic shops offering interior design items, vintage clothes and young designers’ collections.

BARS, HOTELS AND SHOPS

62 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Oogie Lifestore is one of the many quirky boutiques – it doubles as a disco on Thursday nights – in the creative quarter of Cours Julien.

Plage du Prophète is a bus ride (#83 from the Old port) away and a good spot for children.

At some stores, such as designer Marie-Eve’s eponymous boutique, clothes and accessories seem to be conjured up right before your eyes. In this feminine atelier-boutique, bolts of cloth, ribbons and buttons spill over in a romantic jumble.

Enough shopping, though. Time to pause at the green-and-pink Les Mots des Thés tearoom, which offers lovely biscuits. This too, is also a boutique, though, an emporium of items matching the place’s colour scheme, from jewellery to bath products to flowerpots.

Cours Julien’s restaurants offer a tasty tour from Ukraine to Libya, India and Japan.

HEAD FOR THE BEACH When the young and young at heart of Marseille are not hanging out on the Cours Julien, they wander the main shopping thoroughfare through the city centre, the Canebière or its side streets. But if it’s summer, or just a sunny weekend, they head for the beaches.

Six kilometres from the centre, the large Prado Beach can be reached by bus from the Old Port. If you’re not in a hurry, though, it’s much more pleasant to walk. Along the way, you pass joggers and dog-walkers as sun-worshippers sprawl on the rocks.

The nearest beach to downtown, the fine-grained Plage des Catalans, is popular with volleyball players, families with kids – and toughskinned swimmers, even in early May when the water is still quite chilly.

The most beautiful views are around the little coves. Gaudily-painted boats rock in the water below peaceful hillside residential areas reminiscent of fishing villages. Laundry flaps on the balconies, each with a view of the azure sea.

If you get peckish along the way to Prado, there are plenty of places to stop for a bite. The more upscale places serve Marseille’s classic bouillabaisse, a hearty tomato-based seafood stew, which the locals traditionally eat on Sundays.

Or you can wait till you reach the Prado Beach area to eat. There are rows of restaurants along the road, but one has the best location, right by the water on a beach made of small round pebbles.

A glass of rosé wine, the afternoon sun and the glittering Mediterranean, which gently swirls the pebbles, all make me feel languid.

“The best thing about Marseille is that there is room for dreams here,” I remember Nathalie saying.

I close my eyes and give way to dreams. l

MARSEILLE HAS A SURPRISING NUMBER OF BEACHES.

FINNAIR OFFERS several daily codeshare connections via Paris to Marseille and non-stop flights to Nice up to four times per week during spring and summer months.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

63

beglobal. global. be beone. one. be AlmostAlmost 900 destinations around around the globe.

900 destinations the globe.

As a Finnair Plus member, you canyou be can be As a Finnair Plus member, everywhere you need be. Learn at more at everywhere youtoneed to be.more Learn oneworld.com oneworld.com

member of member of airberlin American Airlines British Airways Cathay Pacific Iberia Japan Airlines AmericanQantas Airlines Qatar British Airways Cathay PacificS7 Iberia LAN airberlin Malaysia Airlines Airways Royal Jordanian Airlines Japan Airlines LAN Malaysia Airlines Qantas Qatar Airways Royal Jordanian S7 Airlines

oneworld benefits are available only to passengers on scheduled flights that are both marketed and operated by a oneworld member airline oneworld (marketedbenefits means that mustonly be ato oneworld member airline’s flight number on your For and information onby oneworld, arethere available passengers on scheduled flights that are bothticket). marketed operated a oneworld member visit www.oneworld.com.

Air Berlin, Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Airlines,For LAN, Malaysia on oneworld, airline (marketed means thatAmerican there must be a oneworld member airline’s flight number on Japan your ticket). information Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, andBritish oneworld are trademarks of their respective companies. visit www.oneworld.com.

Air Berlin, American Airlines, Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia

Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, and oneworld are trademarks of their respective companies.

AN ELECTRONICS

SUPERCITY THE CENTRAL CHINESE CITY OF CHONGQING, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS “THE NEW SHANGHAI” DUE TO ITS RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH, IS A HUB FOR TRAVELLERS HUNTING FOR BARGAINS ON LAPTOPS, MOBILE PHONES AND CAMERAS. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JOHAN AUGUSTIN

ranes work incessantly along the Yangtze and Jialing rivers flowing through the centre of Chongqing in central China. New concrete apartment blocks are rising in steady succession to provide housing for the constant flow of new arrivals moving here in search for work. Chongqing city has more than eight million inhabitants, while the province has a population of 32 million – in an area as big as Austria.

The growth is ongoing. According to the local customs administration, Chongqing’s total volume of foreign trade rose by 24 per cent between 2012 and 2013.

Many of the city’s residents are employed in the electronics industry – one of Hewlett Packard’s manufacturing bases, for example, which supplies laptops to the entirety of southwest China, is located within an hour’s driving distance from the city. This US brand has around 30 retailers in the city of Chongqing.

The city’s status as a tech hub is also noticeable to ordinary shoppers – and when it comes to purchasing electronics in Chongqing, the ability to bargain is important.

GADGETS FOR A STEAL Saipo Electronic Market, a department store in the downtown commercial hub of Jiefangbei is known for offering the cheapest laptops in the country. Two 66 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

floors are devoted to cameras and four to other electronics. Here visitors can haggle the price down and get some accessories thrown in.

“Our prices are lower than in department stores and other shops – maybe a thousand yuan [€120] less than the average price for a computer,” says Min Wong, supervisor at the HP department, adding that one reason for Saipo’s low prices is the affordable rent for retail space.

Companies such as Apple, Lenovo and IBM fight for space on the steel and plastic shelves of Saipo – but what about the authenticity of US brands such as Apple, whose products are made in factories in Hong Kong?

“It’s still the same product,” says Wong. “The only difference is the warranty. If your iPad comes from Hong Kong, you won’t get a warranty and the price will be 200 yuan less. You’ll pay 3,400 instead of 3,600.”

Customer Zhang Lijuan, shopping at the Nikon stand, says that retail prices for cameras in Chongqing are among the lowest in the country. “Much cheaper than in Shanghai,” she says. “There are still few foreign tourists in Chongqing, but the Chinese know where to shop; they come to Chongqing from all over the country to buy cheap cameras,” she says, adding that buying a camera here can save a shopper up to one thousand yuan.

Chongqing is a transforming city with modern architecture and exciting buildings such as the Guotai Arts Center.

An employee at Saipo Electronic Market is checking the latest gadgets on his smartphone.

COORDINATES ­Saipo Electronic Market: 19 Lin Jiang Road, Yu Zhong District Suning Electronics Department Store: 177 Ba Yi Road, Yu Zhong District

Samsung has many retailers, and is one of the top-brands with its own stores.

Even though Chongqing is full of high-tech the Chinese soul still lingers within the city.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

67

WARRANTIES AND COPYCAT BRANDS Electronics stores advertising top brands including Canon, Nike and Apple line the pedestrian street of Chongqing’s commercial centre, just a stone’s throw from Saipo. In this large shopping area, where an enormous Samsung sign lights up the night sky, the Suning Electronics Department Store offers five floors filled with everything from smartphones, computers and television sets to vacuum cleaners, coffee machines and appliances. Employees highlight the benefits of shopping here instead of the city’s electronic markets.

“We offer better service and are totally honest. They’ll trick you at the market, and you won’t get a factory warranty or any customer support,” says a salesperson wishing to be identified only as “John.”

Labour Day is approaching and John is offering a 20 per cent discount on all of his Canon models, which is customary for many department stores right before Chinese public holidays. He displays a Canon Eos 60D for 7,000 yuan (less than €860) and a 600D for 4,000 yuan.

Lower prices and designs copied from global megabrands are common here. A brand such as Huawei, whose smartphone models bear more than a passing resemblance to Samsung’s Galaxy and Apple’s iPhone, may not be mentioned as often as the two established

mobile giants, but the Chinese company is fighting for a market share. Their D2 tablets and android-based smartphones are several thousand yuan cheaper than the iPhone 5.

PAPER OVER PLASTIC A group of Russian tourists touring China have found their way to Suning’s camera department. They had heard about Chongqing’s cheap electronics, but are still positively surprised.

“We’ve bought a couple of HP laptops and a Canon EOS 5D Mark III,” says Ivan Avdonin. “You can’t compare prices in Moscow with this; we just hope the quality lasts,” he says with a smile, adding that bargain hunters should prepare by carrying enough cash.

“Nobody accepts cards.”

Chinese authorities have realised the city’s shopping potential and are investing in Chongqing as the new hub of southwest China – one of the county’s five national central cities, including Shanghai and Hong Kong. A new airport terminal is expected to be completed in 2015. Meanwhile the government is offering tax incentives and affordable commercial spaces to attract business from abroad. l

BARGAIN HUNTERS SHOULD PREPARE BY CARRYING ENOUGH CASH.

Are you searching for good deals on smartphones, computers or iPads? Head over to Suning Electronics Department Store.

68 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

FINNAIR FLIES nonstop to Chongqing four times every week.

THIS MONTH AROUND THE WORLD WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO AND SEE COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY MIRVA LEMPIÄINEN

COLOURFUL NEW YORK

ANDREW TAYLOR

Phagwah is the Indo-Caribbean version of Holi, the colourful Hindu spring festival that is widely celebrated across India and Nepal. New York’s Guyanese and Trinidadian community organises a big Phagwah parade in Queens for the 26th time, complete with impressive floats, a culture show and a colourthrowing extravaganza.

MARCH 16 PHAGWAHPARADE.US

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

69

THIS MONTH AROUND THE WORLD

Sheep of NZ

Oscar anticipation

Austin is cool

Arctic action

It’s only natural that New ­Zealand, a country of three ­million people and 60 million sheep, would host the World Premier Shearing and Woolhandling­ Championships.

The goal of the Golden Shears contest, launched in 1961, is to remove the sheep’s fleece in an efficient way, using New Zealand’s own Bowen technique.

Finns have high stakes in the 86th Academy Awards in Los Angeles: for the second time a film from Finland is up for an Oscar. Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?

(Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) is a short comedy about chaotic family life by Selma ­Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres emcees the ceremony.

Indie films, live music and interactive technology: this unlikely combination has been a winning concept in Austin, Texas since 1987. South by Southwest is a mega-festival of more than 2,000 live bands that attracts tech geeks, hipsters and celebrities. Rock legend Lou Reed’s memory will be honoured with a tribute concert.

Rovaniemi is full of action in March: first the Finnish city hosts the 5th Arctic Business Forum for folks interested in investing in the arctic areas, and then the Winter Swimming World Championships come to town. Spectators can watch the games in an ice bar in Lordi’s Square or take a quick dip in the Kemi River.

FEBRUARY 27–MARCH 1 GOLDENSHEARS.CO.NZ

MARCH 2 OSCARS.ORG

MARCH 7–16 SXSW.COM

3

4

MARCH 11–13 AND MARCH 20–23 ARCTICBUSINESSFORUM.COM ROVANIEMI.VISITROVANIEMI.FI/ WINTERSWIMMING2014

5

9

1

3

7

8

6

2

70 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

ROVANIEMI REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY LTD

THIS MONTH AROUND THE WORLD

Media festival

Smart tech in HK

Japanese pop

Baltic melodies

More than 600 attendees and 40 speakers gather in Singapore’s Capella Hotel to discuss and shape the future of the Asian media landscape. This year’s theme of the Festival of Media Asia Pacific is agility. Awards will be handed out in 18 different categories to brands, agencies, and media owners hailing from 12 countries.

Attracting 3,000 visitors and 100 exhibitors from 21 countries, CARTES Asia in Hong Kong is the region’s leading conference for smart technologies in the banking, telecom, transportation and security sectors. The event was inaugurated in 2010. This year’s speakers include representatives from Visa, MasterCard and Secure Identity Alliance.

With a vibrant food and entertainment scene, Osaka has become Japan’s culture capital.

The first OSAKA-POP Festival presents manga, music and fashion events around the city. One festival highlight is the International Cool Japan Awards ceremony, rewarding fans of Japanese pop culture in categories such as costume play, figures and anime.

Presenting the best musical talents of Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea area, the 6th annual Tallinn Music Week brings together industry professionals and 20,000 music lovers. Some 200 artists made the cut this year out of 728 applicants. The music showcase gigs will be interspersed with panel discussions and speakers.

MARCH 16–18 FESTIVALOFMEDIA.COM/ ASIA-PACIFIC

MARCH 19–20 CARTES-ASIA.COM

MARCH 21–30 OSAKA-POP.COM/EN

MARCH 27–29 TMW.EE

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

71

EVERY MOUTHFUL IS AN ADVENTURE ON A GASTRONOMIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE STREETS OF HANOI.

GO WITH

THE PHO TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DANIEL ALLEN

“B

anh mi nong gion nao! Crispy hot bread for sale!” On street corners across Hanoi’s Old Quarter, female baguette sellers in conical hats announce their freshly baked wares each morning. Schoolgirls on bicycles, businessmen in smart sedans, housewives on mopeds – the list of customers pulling up beside their mobile bread stalls is as diverse as it is devoted.

Banh mi (pronounced “bun mee”) harks back to France’s colonial presence in Vietnam. Local vendors soon put their stamp on the popular Gallic staple – the kind you can pick up in any Parisian boulangerie – many cramming the imported baguette with local delicacies: barbecued pork, lemongrass chicken, crushed meatballs and tofu. In Hanoi, despite the recent proliferation of coffee shops and fast food joints, a filled banh mi remains the breakfast of choice for many residents, not to mention every backpacker in town.

CURB-SIDE GASTRONOMY “I think what surprises many first-time visitors to Hanoi is that you won’t find banh mi for sale in any of the city’s chic new bakeries and cafes,” says Australian expat and Vietnamese street food tour guide Mark Lowerson. “These baguettes have to be purchased 72 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

from stalls on the street, in alleyways, at bus terminals – many kept warm by coal braziers or inside covered bamboo baskets.”

The fact that banh mi are strictly street food isn’t actually all that surprising. Throughout the Vietnamese capital – perhaps more so than in any other Asian metropolis – there has always been a connection between the street and great cuisine. The city, which recently celebrated its one thousandth birthday, has certainly put those ten centuries to good use perfecting its curb-side gastronomy.

“Today the Vietnamese capital is a street eater’s paradise, with a smorgasbord of options for those who want to eat like a local,” says Nguyen Thanh Van, executive sous chef at Hanoi’s Sofitel Metropole Hotel.

“In fact, many swear that the best food in Hanoi is sold on the sidewalk.”

KITCHEN CITY “In Hanoi, street food is not merely a quaint or exotic culinary excursion,” adds Lowerson. “It lies at the heart of a rich culinary tradition, a tradition that has shaped the culture and daily rhythm of the city.”

While street vendors in Hanoi often cook in small shop fronts, they serve their culinary creations on the sidewalk, as clientele seated on flimsy plastic stools congregate around low tables. It is here that you will find huge numbers of Hanoians happily grazing

A vendor sells Hanoi-style potato chips.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

73

A Hanoi pensioner enjoys some local street food.

Hanoi is famous for its cheap and tasty street snacks.

Budding chefs at Hidden Hanoi.

74 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

CLASS ACT throughout the day, oblivious to the constant flow of mopeds and cyclos that characterises Hanoi traffic.

“Street food here isn’t only about enjoying cheap, tasty cuisine,” says Nguyen My Giang Huong, owner of highly rated Hanoi restaurant Green Tangerine.

“Touring this city is a bit like walking around a big communal kitchen. Friends, families and colleagues all meet to eat on the street. Many foreign visitors here make friends simply by asking neighbours to pass chopsticks or chili sauce.”

TOURING THIS CITY IS A BIT LIKE WALKING AROUND A BIG COMMUNAL KITCHEN.

MUST-TRY DISH LIST With its long history of street cuisine, Hanoi is the birthplace of many quintessential Vietnamese dishes. Among the most famous is pho, a fragrant rice noodle soup served with fresh herbs and tender slices of meat. The pho in Hanoi is almost universally outstanding.

Two variations are most popular: pho ga (with chicken) and pho bo (with beef ). Pho is traditionally served as a breakfast food, with sellers setting up shop in the early hours, although many restaurants offer this delicious Vietnamese staple throughout the day.

“The best varieties of pho are beautifully aromatic, with crisp shallots and ginger, cinnamon and star anise, hot chilies, lime juice and nuoc mam (fermented fish sauce),” explains Hanoi-based food blogger Quan Nguyen. “It’s the subtle contrast in seasoning that makes this simple soup so appealing. For some of Hanoi’s best pho, check out Pho Gia Truyen on Bat Dan in the Old Quarter.”

While pho is probably the first food everyone thinks of when they come to Hanoi, bun cha is a northern speciality that should be on every visitor’s must-try menu.

“Bun cha consists of barbecued pork patties and slices, served in a light dipping broth, with rice noodles and various green vegetables and herbs on the side,” explains Nguyen Thanh Van. “With all these different elements going on simultaneously, it takes a few mouthfuls to enjoy the full bun cha experience. The broth is flavoured by pork bone, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and lime, while kohlrabi, herbs, chili and garlic lend crunch, zest and heat. Check out Bun Cha Nem Cua Be Dac Kim Restaurant on Duong Thanh Street for some of Hanoi’s finest bun cha, or 43 Cau Go.”

A GROWING RANGE of Hanoi-based cooking classes now offer visitors a chance to learn about Vietnamese cuisine, and to try their hand at ­recreating a few delicious local staples.

HIDDEN HANOI Hidden Hanoi offers the best introduction to culinary culture in the Vietnamese capital. All cooking classes are fully hands-on. Would-be chefs have the chance to prepare their own typical Vietnamese meal in a purpose-built kitchen before sitting down to enjoy it with other students. Market and street food tours are also offered.

HIDDENHANOI.COM.VN

SOFITEL METROPOLE As well as serving up top quality haute cuisine at its Le Beaulieu (French) and Spices Garden (Vietnamese) restaurants, the Sofitel Metropole also offers an interesting cookery class. Accompanied by a chef from the hotel, participants visit a local market before returning to the Metropole kitchen for instruction.

CONCIERGE@SOFITELHANOI.VNN.VN

STREET FOOD TOURS STREETFOODTOURSHANOI.BLOGSPOT.FI

OTHER ASIAN COOKING CLASSES SEOUL ONGOFOOD.COM

BANGKOK BLUEELEPHANT.COM/COOKING-SCHOOL

BEIJING HUTONGCUISINE.COM

SHANGHAI CHINESECOOKINGWORKSHOP.COM

TOKYO BUDDHABELLIESTOKYO.JIMDO.COM

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

75

The streets of Hanoi bustle after dark.

MARKET MAZE Vietnamese cuisine demands fresh ingredients, which makes Hanoi a veritable rabbit warren of assorted food bazaars, some permanent, others impromptu. Despite a growing number of supermarkets, most shopping is still conducted at local wet markets and neighbourhood shops.

“The most important thing about Vietnamese cooking is that all ingredients are bought daily,” says Tran Hanh An, co-founder of perennially popular cooking class and foodie tour outfit Hidden Hanoi. Most Vietnamese people will go to the market at least once a day, even if it means getting up early or stopping on the way home from work.

“The refrigerator doesn’t play an important role in cooking here,” she continues. “When my parents bought their first fridge they put it in our lounge to show how wealthy we were. In the winter we ended up switching it off because there was nothing in it.”

styrene boxes, tarpaulins, plastic bags and extension cords. It’s dark, it’s odorous, and it’s totally fascinating.

Hanoi’s night market (Dong Xuan), held every weekend, is also a good place to sample street food. The brightly-lit food zone is the most animated, serving late night guests until early morning, and offering dishes such as hotpot, grilled meat, glutinous rice, and steaming plates of pho cuon (beef wrapped in long wispy strips of rice vermicelli, served with aromatic herbs and spicy sweet-sour fish sauce).

The food available on Hanoi’s narrow streets and leafy boulevards is just as much a part of the city as its lakes and old-world architecture. There’s a saying in Vietnam that while southerly Ho Chi Minh City is the belly of the country, Hanoi is the head. After sampling its gastronomic delights, some might argue that the capital has cornered the market in both politics and cuisine. l

ALL INGREDIENTS ARE BOUGHT FRESH DAILY.

EAT STREETS BY NIGHT With its cornucopia of seafood, meat, vegetables, spices and snacks, the daily Chau Long market – at the junction of Long and Nguyen Truong To – is a must visit. A totally authentic Hanoi bazaar, the whole place seems to be held together by lids from poly76 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

FINNAIR OFFERS daily connections to Hanoi via its Asian gateways and nonstop service three times weekly from June 2.

Ilmoitusmyynti: Oy Suomen Myyntitieto Ab | Mirja-Liisa Vuorenmaa | P. 09-7742 3316

Annankatu 1, Helsinki www.hotelanna.fi info@hotelanna.fi Tel. +358 9 616 621

Ask about our great holiday packages!

Atmospheric

Meetings & Holidays!

CONFERENCE AND LEICURE HOTEL

PETÄYS RESORT

Day Meeting 44,00 €/person Stay the Night & Have a Meeting 149,00 €/person/double room

Petäyksentie 35 14620 Tyrväntö FINLAND

tel. +358 (0)3 673 301 info@petaysresort.fi www.petaysresort.fi

Warming

organic wool

for the whole family

Webshop at www.ruskovilla.fi.

Deliveries to all EU-countries.

RUSKOVILLA CLASSICS - SINCE 1981

Osta omaksi pala Kuusamoa!

Kurkista mallistoomme, tutustu hintoihin ja löydä Kuusamo-myyjämme osoitteessa: www.kuusamohirsitalot.fi

Kuusamo Saapunki

P.S. We are looking for distributors abroad.

Please contact: sales@kuusamohouses.com

advertisement

advertisement

A sustainable northern winter city

HIUKKAVAARA IN OULU

– Living Lab

When structural change hit Oulu, we pondered how we could ensure a livelihood and new challenges to the educated and highly skilled people of Oulu, and at the same time create new businesses.

This is how the Hiukkavaara Living Lab was born, says Matti Matinheikki, Deputy Mayor of Oulu.

Hiukkavaara will be the largest district to be built in new Oulu and the whole of northern Finland in the coming decades. Located near the old garrison area, Hiukkavaara will offer 20,000 homes to new residents, while the new Hiukkavaara center will offer services to some 40,000 Oulu residents living in nearby areas.

Hiukkavaara is a sustainable northern winter community – a district that is user-oriented, intelligently energy-efficient and serves as a center for urban life throughout all four seasons. according to Deputy Mayor Matinheikki, Oulu’s new Hiukkavaara district is an example of how the city can contribute to the creation of a sustainable society when sustainability is set as a goal from the get-go.

Arctic Smart City The Hiukkavaara Living Lab, an urban environment that promotes innovation, is being developed in accordance with the arctic Smart City theme. The

goal is to focus on the development of sustainable and energy-efficient city planning and construction that answer the challenges imposed by the extreme conditions of the arctic. another major theme is the construction of a smart city that utilizes iCT technologies. Oulu is also making use of integrative city planning practices, where the different interest groups related to the development process and construction of the district are given the chance to participate in planning right from the beginning. These interest groups, such as residents, users, the third sector and companies, will take part in the realization of the district for the duration of its entire life cycle.

We are building a winter city – an urban space that functions well in all seasons, emphasizes Matinheikki.

One aspect of this is that there is plenty of room for snow, so there is no need to transport excess out of the area. The winter city concept also includes, for example, winter events and winter sports. various possibilities are being investigated in the winter city strategy, which compares examples and experiences from elsewhere in Finland and the rest of the world.

Capital of Northern Scandinavia Oulu is a first-rate operating environment for companies. The city has developed a multifaceted and extensive ecosystem that offers a strong basis for companies’ growth and development. The goal is to build Hiukkavaara into an international-level exhibit of competence in Oulu, a testing environment for new businesses and a development environment for applied wireless radio technology, systems and business, sums up Deputy Mayor Matti Matinheikki.

www.businessoulu.com

FARMIVIRTA – sustainably produced electricity Farmivirta (“farm power”) is produced on Finnish farms near consumers using small power plants.

The excess energy produced is sold to consumers.

Juha Hulkko from Oulu is a pioneer in the field: he produces all the electricity he needs himself and sells the excess energy to Oulun Sähkömyynti as Farmivirta, for use by consumers.

How did you come up with the idea?

“I’ve been concerned about Finland’s energy self-sufficiency for a long time now. Finnish nature is full of renewable energy (biomass, water, wood, peat, wind, sun), but for some reason we do not have enough faith in its use in energy production. We all know the risks of nuclear energy, but in the absence of alternatives we have been forced to make use of it. Such decisions have hindered new innovations in the energy sector,” says Hulkko. “i support organic and local food production. Why couldn’t the same idea be applied to energy? i wanted to test it out in practice since i do not believe that these issues can be solved with talk alone,” reasons Hulkko.

“Now consumers have a say in how the energy they use is produced,” says Hulkko, emphasizing value judgments.

Oulun Sähkönmyynti Oy and Hulkko have agreed upon a fixed price for electricity produced in 2014. Even though the unit price is almost triple the market price, there are already a number of consumers who have made the value judgment, both in the business and consumer sectors.

As far as is known, Juha Hulkko is the first person in Finland to produce electricity and heat through wood gasification on his farm and sell it to the markets.

STOP the dust

+

+

+

= No dust

Sand without dust with the Abranet® net abrasive.

The innovative Abranet® abrasive has thousands of small holes allowing the sanding dust to go straight to the dust extractor. Save time and money, and get a cleaner and healthier work environment.

Mirka Ltd is a world leader in abrasiKWH Mirka Ltd 66850 Jeppo Finland Tel. +358 (0)20 7602 111 www.mirka.com

ves technology innovation, offering a complete range of technically superior, high quality abrasives, supplementary products and complete sanding systems. Mirka’s core business areas are automotive refinish (ART), original equipment manufacturing (OEM),

construction & decoration as well as the wood and furniture industry. All of Mirka’s products are manufactured in Finland and more than 90% are exported and sold in over 80 countries, including subsidiaries located in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

Quality from start to finish

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE Employed persons by industry, 3rd quarter 2013

FINLAND IN FIGURES

MANUFACTURING Food prod. and textiles 14%

Construction and energy Miscellaneous services

FOREIGN TRADE 2012 EXPORTS BY PRODUCTS

BY ACTIVITY: 56,777 MEUR (per cent of total)

14%

34%

19%

Forest industry prod

Other manufactured goods 23%

8%

23%

Chemical ind prod

13%

Electric and electronics

Agriculture

4%

16%

Other industries

IMPORTS BY USE IN 2012: 59,158 MEUR (per cent of total)

Energy Capital goods

Metal and engineering products 48%

Trade and hotel

Transport and communications

MONTHLY TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL IN HELSINKI 2013 MEAN MAX MIN RAINFALL AVERAGE 1981-2010

Intermediate goods

Financial and business services

16%

10%

14%

Machinery and equipment

Forest products 15%

13%

15%

Metals and metal products

Manufacturing

0

C 0 C 0 C mm

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

52

36

38

32

37

57

63

56

76

70

58

-4,9 -1,8 -5,2 3,1 12,6 17,5 18,1 17,2 12,6 7,5 4,7 2,3 3,3 6,0 4,3 12,9 22,6 28,6 25,6 25,5 20,3 14,4 9,4 7,8 -22,6 -9,4 -18,4 -5,9 2,1 9,0 11,3 8,6 0,3 -3,1 -7,0 -10,3 80

Non-durable goods Durable consumer goods 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS (MEUR) TOTAL 2012 SWEDEN GERMANY RUSSIA USA NETHERLANDS CHINA GREAT BRITTAIN FRANCE

EXPORTS

56,777 6,283 5,238 5,688 3,580 3,561 2,961 2,885 1,689

IMPORTS

59,158 6,220 7,282 10,579 1,970 3,327 4,642 1,752 1,808

POPULATION 5.4 mil­lion, giv­ing an av­er­age den­sity of 18 people per sq. km of land area; an­nu­al ­growth ­rate 0.5%­ Life ex­pec­tan­cy: men 77.5 and women 83.4 years. As in most oth­er in­dus­tri­al coun­tries, t­ he middle-aged ­groups predominate.

Av­er­age house­hold s­ ize: 2.1 persons. 54% of the households ­live in single-family hous­es; 44% in apart­ment b ­ locks. 84.4% are urban-dwellers, ­with 1 mil­lion in the Hel­sin­ki Area, which includes Es­poo and Vantaa.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CURRENT TRENDS IN FINLAND, SEE:

80 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Oth­er ma­jor cit­ies in Finland in­clude Tam­pere, Tur­ku, Ou­lu and Jyväskylä.

Languages: 90% ­speak Finn­ish; 5.4% Swedish.

Religion: 78% are Lu­ther­an; 1% Orthodox.

Education: 81% of the pop­ul­a­ tion aged 25 to 64 ­have com­ plet­ed upper secondary or tertiary ed­u­ca­tion and 37h% (the highest percentage in the EU countries) ­have uni­ver­sity or other tertiary qualifications.

AREA 390,920 sq. kil­o­me­tres or 150,900 sq. m ­ iles, of ­which 9% is fresh water; land area is 303, 909 ­sq. kil­o­me­tres or 117,337 sq. miles. There are 188,000 lakes.

6% of the l­and is ­under cul­ti­va­tion, ­with bar­ley and ­oats the ­main crops. Fo­rests (main­ly ­pine and ­spruce) cov­er 68% of the country.

GOVERNMENT Sove­reign par­lia­men­tary re­pub­lic ­since 1917. From 1809– 1917, au­ton­om ­ ous G ­ rand D ­ uchy with­in the Rus­sian Em­pire; be­fore ­that ­part of the King­dom of Swe­den for centuries.

The pres­i­dent is elect­ed eve­r y six years. The new president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö took office in March 2012. The 200 mem­bers of Par­lia­ment are elect­ed for fouryear terms.

Finland has been a member of the European Union since January 1995.

WORKING LIFE 80% of wom­en aged 25–54 are employed outside the home.

Av­er­age month­ly earn­ings, 3rd

quarter 2013: men 3,563 euros; women 2,957 euros. Un­em­ploy­ment ­rate 7.9%, in December 2013 according to Labour Force Survey.

ECONOMY GDP 2012: 192 billion euros, the annual change in volume -1.0%.

Annual inflation rate as of December 2013: 1.6%.

Currency: Euro.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER CAPITA 2012* (EUR)

Nominal

Adjusted for Purchasing Power Standard

NORWAY 77,500 49,900 DENMARK 43,800 32,000 SWEDEN 43,000 32,800 USA 38,800 37,900 FINLAND 35,900 29,400 GERMANY 32,300 31,100 FRANCE 31,100 27,500 UK 30,500 28,400 EU27 25,600 25,600

Eurostat

Source: Statistics Finland

This is Finland at WWW.FINLAND.FI (English, Russian, Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese) News by Finnfacts at WWW.GOODNEWSFROMFINLAND.COM Findicator: WWW.FINDICATOR.FI

Tervetuloa / Välkommen/ Welcome / Bienvenue / Willkommen / Добро пожаловать / Tere tulemast / ようこそ / Bienvenido / 欢迎 / Benvenuti / Velkommen / 환영 / Witamy /

www.finnair.fi www.finnair.se www.finnair.com

www.finnair.fr

www.finnair.de

www.finnair.com/ru

www.finnair.ee www.finnair.com/jp

www.finnair.es

www.finnair.dk

www.finnair.com/cn

www.finnair.kr

www.finnair.it

www.finnair.fi/pl

Flying Finnair AUTOMATED BORDER CONTROL

82

BEFORE AND DURING THE FLIGHT

83

INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

85

HELSINKI AIRPORT

86

MAPS

88

CORPORATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

92

FLEET

94

FREQUENT FLYER BENEFITS

95

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

81

FINNAIR INFO HOW TO USE THE AUTOMATED BORDER CONTROL GATES

Place your passport with the info page face down on the reader. Please wait while your passport is being read for biographical and biometric data. When the scan is complete, the gate will open.

日本人で、ICパスポート（※）をお持ちの方 は、2012年5月から試験的に、出入国審査場において 自動化ゲートをご利用頂けます。 ヘルシンキ空港のシェンゲンエリアから、日本に向 けて出国される際にお使い頂くことが可能です。 まず、パスポートの顔写真ページを読み取ります。 該当ページを開き、読み取り機に向けて置いてくだ さい。 こちらで個人情報と生体認証データを読み取ります。

Enter through the gate and turn right.

Remove your glasses and hat. Look directly at the screen keeping your face visible. The camera will compare your facial image with the biometric feature scanned from your passport.

Wait until the second gate opens.

The border check for EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals is completed when the gate opens. Third country nationals must now move towards the border guard, who will check your entry stamp and mark your passport with an exit stamp.

Have a nice journey!

Smooth crossings ARRIVING AND DEPARTING passengers at Helsinki Airport can use the 25 automated border control gates. Ten of these are located in the departure hall; the rest are located at arrivals.

The Finnish Border Guard’s automated border control helps serve growing passenger volumes at Helsinki Airport.

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals with biometric passports can take advantage of the automated border control gates. Third country nationals, who 82 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

are exempt from the visa requirement and hold a biometric passport, may also use the automated border control upon departure. The service is available for Japanese and South Korean citizens. The automated border control is monitored by a border guard ensuring secure border crossings.

Please note that passengers travelling with an infant or wheelchair must use the manual border control line.

ゲートが開いたら中に入り、右を向いてください。 カメラで顔認証を行い、パスポートの顔写真と照 合します。 二番目のゲートが開いたら、出入国審査官のカウン ターにお進み下さい。パスポートの入国スタンプを 確認した後、出国スタンプを押印致します。 ご協力頂きまして有難うございます。 ※ ICパスポートとは、2006年3月20日から申請受付 を開始したIC旅券、つまり冊子中央にICチップ及び 通信を行うための。 アンテナを格納したカードが組み込まれているバイ オメトリック・パスポートのことです。

www.finnair.com/jp

대한민국 전자여권을 소지한 승객께서는 유럽에서 한국으로 입국 시, 헬싱키 공항에서 자동출국심사 서비스를 이용 하실 수 있습니다. 우선, 전자여권의 사진 페이지를 인식장치에 올려주시기를 바랍니다. 이 과정에서 여권정보가 시스템에 자동 인식됩니다. 첫 번째 게이트가 열리면 안으로 들어가 오른쪽에 위치한 카메라로 안면인증을 거치게 됩니다. 이후 마지막 게이트에서 출입국관리 직원의 출국확인도장을 받으시면 됩니다. 보다 간편하고 빠른 본 자동시스템의 많은 이용 바랍니다. 대한민국 전자여권은?

2008년 8월 25일 이후 발급된 여권으로 표지 하단부에 전자칩과 안테나가 내장 되어 있는 여권입니다.

www.finnair.com/KR

FINNAIR INFO BEFORE THE FLIGHT

BEFORE DEPARTURE

Speed up your takeoff!

Checking in to your Finnair flight is quick and easy.

You can save time and reduce hassle by checking in at a self-service kiosk at the airport, online or by text message.

Find out more about our check-in services at WWW.FINNAIR.COM.

ONLINE CHECK-IN Check in over the internet at your convenience, 24 hours a day, for all scheduled Finnair departures from Finland or destinations abroad (except from Ljubljana, where check-in can be completed on the airport’s own website), as well as connecting flights. Online check-in is also available for leisure flights departing from Finland. The service opens 36 hours before departure.

AUTOMATIC CHECK-IN Save time before departure and leave the check-in to us: if you haven’t completed online check-in, we will automatically take care of it for you and send your boarding pass to your mobile phone. If your flight departs in the morning, you will receive a check-in confirmation between 5 pm and 7 pm the previous evening. If your flight departs in the afternoon, you will get a confirmation approximately three hours before the flight takes off.

This service is available for Finnairoperated flights and Flybe-operated AY2000-series flights departing from most airports in Finnair network.

CHECK-IN VIA A SELF-SERVICE KIOSK To check in at an airport selfservice kiosk, all you need is your passport or your Finnair Plus membership card or credit card. Finnair check-in kiosks are available at the following airports: Helsinki, Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Manchester, Munich, Oulu, Prague, St Petersburg, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tallinn, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich.

The kiosks at Helsinki Airport can also be used when departing on a leisure flight.

Finnair in a nutshell • FINNAIR IS NUMBER ONE in air traffic between Northern Europe and Asia.

• IN 2013, Finnair carried 9.3 million passengers.

• CLOSE TO ONE AND A HALF MILLION passengers fly between Asia and Europe via Helsinki each year.

BAG DROP SERVICE If you only have carry-on baggage, proceed directly to security control. After self-service checkin, checked baggage should be left at the Bag Drop desk within the normal check-in times.

ONLINE CHECK-IN is available for leisure flights departing from Finland, and at check-in kiosks for departures from Helsinki.

IN CASE A FLIGHT IS DELAYED OR CANCELLED, Finnair will inform you about the situation via SMS. Please make sure that you have provided Finnair with your mobile phone number. Find out more information on flight disruptions at FINNAIR.COM/FLIGHTINFO.

• IN 2013, THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS on scheduled flights totalled 8.5 million.

Domestic travel accounted for 1.6 million passengers. Passenger total on leisure flights was nearly 768,000.

• IN 2013, FINNAIR TRANSPORTED more than 146,000 tonnes of cargo.

• ESTABLISHED IN 1923, Finnair is one of the world’s oldest operating airlines.

• FINNAIR’S ROUTE NETWORK includes more than 50 international destinations.

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

83

FINNAIR INFO DURING THE FLIGHT

IN THE AIR

Welcome aboard!

SAFETY

PERKS FOR KIDS

• Safety information is presented by the cabin crew at the start of each flight. This information is also listed on the safety instruction card in your seat pocket.

• Children are offered puzzles or colouring books on intercontinental scheduled flights and leisure flights.

• Safety belts must remain fastened when the “Fasten safety belt” sign is on. For safety reasons we recommend keeping them fastened even when the sign has been switched off.

• Passengers may use MP3, CD or DVD players as well as laptop computers when the “Fasten safety belt” sign is off.

• Music and video entertainment is available on intercontinental scheduled flights and leisure flights.

• On the Airbus A340-300 and Airbus A330-300 aircraft, games are available as part of the personal entertainment system.

MEALS • Meals or snacks are served on most international flights. Pre-order meals are available for Economy Class passengers on most European flights.

• Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages are available on scheduled flights.

ENTERTAINMENT • Inflight entertainment on intercontinental scheduled flights and leisure flights includes music, movies and an Airshow programme, which allows passengers to track their flight on a map.

• On scheduled flights, headphones are available free of charge. On leisure flights, the entertainment fee includes headphones.

• Alcoholic drinks are for sale in Economy Class on European scheduled flights, except on routes to and from Riga, St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Tallinn.

• In Economy Class on intercontinental scheduled flights we serve a hot meal with complimentary wine and beer.

• On European and intercontinental scheduled flights, coffee, tea, juice and soft drinks are complimentary.

• In Business Class all drinks are free of charge. On leisure flights, there is a charge for all beverages.

• On flights to and from northern Finland, alcoholic beverages are sold after 9 am.

84 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Inflight shopping • You may order products in advance from our large and affordable pre-order assortment at www.finnairshop.com. On most flights we also have onboard sales items. The selection varies by route.

• Tax-free products, alcohol and tobacco are sold on aircraft flying to and from destinations outside the European Union. These include all intercontinental flights, as well as Ekaterinburg, Geneva, Moscow and Zurich. On flights within the EU, products are affordable but not tax-free.

• Due to limited space onboard, alcohol and tobacco products are not for sale on flights operated with Embraer aircraft, but these products may be ordered through the pre-order service.

• Gift items, cosmetics, fragrances and confectionary are sold on scheduled flights to and from the following destinations: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Ekaterinburg, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Manchester, Malaga, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice, Vienna and Zurich.

• SHOP WITH POINTS Pamper yourself with Finnair Plus points at www.finnairplusshop.com

FINNAIR INFO INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

THIS MONTH ’ S INFLIGHT PICKS BW P

ICK

OF T

HE M

Movies, TV, music and games onboard

ONT

H

S 12 Years a Slave In pre-Civil War United States, a free black man is abducted and sold into slavery until a chance meeting changes everything. (Important: The following content may not be suitable for younger passengers.) (Chinese Subtitles, Rating R)

In America Johnny, Sarah and their two daughters emigrate from Ireland to New York City in pursuit of a dream. The family uses ingenuity and sheer strength of will to make the most of their new life. (Chinese Subtitles, Finnish Rating K-11)

MUSIC MIXES ON THE FLY NOKIA MIXRADIO offers a wide variety of music on Finnair’s long-haul flights.

Mixes feature genres such as jazz and hip-hop and artists from regions including India and China.

Robots In a robot world, a young idealistic inventor travels to the big city to join his inspiration’s company, only to find himself opposing its sinister new management. (Finnish Rating K-7)

Architecture 101 35 year old architect Seung-Min receives a visit at his office from his first love who he has not seen for years. She now has a request - she wants Seung-Min to rebuild her home on Jeju Island. (English Subtitles, Rating NR)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug The continuing adventure of Bilbo Baggins as he journeys on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. (Important: The following content may not be suitable for younger passengers.)

(Finnish Rating K-12)

it back, relax and enjoy your flight with your personal entertainment system. Use your handset or touchscreen to choose from 72 movies, 150 TV shows, 24 music channels, up to 200 CD albums and 15 games.

From films to news and sports, there’s always something for you to enjoy, including programs from Hollywood, Asia and around the globe.

Available language tracks include English, Japanese, Korean, Thai, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Finnish, depending on the program, as well as Finnish and Chinese subtitles. We also offer family films and cartoons on all international and leisure flights. Selection may vary by aircraft type.

You can also create a music playlist from up to 200 CDs (on select aircraft).

Most entertainment systems also include a satellite phone for texting and emails, and a power outlet so you can use your own laptop computer or personal entertainment device. The system also offers an Airshow moving map that displays the progress of your flight.

Personal entertainment systems are available on Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 aircraft.

Headphones are free of charge on intercontinental scheduled flights. On leisure flights (AY1000 series) there is an entertainment fee including headphone rental (on Boeing 757, €5.00 per person including return flight; on Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft, €8.00 per person per flight). Most Airbus A340 aircraft and all Airbus A330 aircraft are equipped with an electricity socket, telephone and the option to send SMS & email messages via the Inflight Entertainment System (not available for inbound SMS to the US or Canada). Messages cost $2.00 each. Calls cost $7.00/first minute and $3.50/every 30 secs thereafter.

Entertainment/communication systems may vary by aircraft.

FINNAIR INFO BEFORE AND AFTER THE FLIGHT HELSINKI AIRPORT

TRANSFER SERVICE

34

33

32

32a

31x 31

31a-e 30

HOW TO TRANSFER • Check your gate and departure time on the airport monitors.

35

• If your baggage has not been checked through to your final destination, collect it from the baggage claim area and go to check-in and security control.

SHOP

Security control

Finnair Tax-Free Shop

FINNAIR LOUNGE

AIRPORT SHOPPING

Finnair Plus members receive special discounts at the Finnair Tax-Free Shop when presenting their membership card.

37

2ND FLOOR

37a-d

GROUND FLOOR

AUTOMATED BORDER CHECKS are available to passengers with biometric EU, EEA or Swiss passports.

Place your passport on the reader with the photo page down, then pass through the first gate, turn towards the monitor, and wait for the second gate to open.

NON-SMOKING Smoking at Helsinki Airport is prohibited outside of designated smoking rooms.

SHOPPING Receive special offers for airport services when you show your Finnair Plus card. You will recognise our partners by the Finnair Plus symbol.

Helsinki Airport features more than 30 shops and boutiques and various restaurants and cafés.

86 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Borde contro

36

Border control

SHOP

SHOP

2ND FLOOR

38

CHILDREN Children’s playrooms offer videos, microwave ovens and baby care facilities.

SHOP

Transfer Service 3

• All Finnair and Flybe departures are located in the same terminal.

WIRELESS INTERNET is available free of charge. An eService Bar is located across from gate 21.

Border control

LONG-HAUL AREA NON-SCHENGEN

• If you don’t have a boarding pass for your connecting flight, please contact the transfer service desk.

• Most passengers transferring from nonEU countries to EU countries have to go through security and passport control.

Please note that liquids are restricted in carry-on baggage.

SHOP

LOST AND FOUND INQUIRIES, Lentäjäntie 1 (next to terminal T2, street level) Open Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00 and Sat 09:00-15:00.

Tel 0600 41006 (1,97€/min +local network charge) WWW.LOYTOTAVARA.NET

SHOP

WALKING TIME GATE 24-30: 7 MIN

CHECK OUT

T2 29

28

Restaurant & Deli Fly Inn

27

FINNAIR LOUNGE 26

Finnair Tax-Free Shop

23

GATE AREA

Security check

er ol

CHECK-IN 240–270

CHECK-IN 201–232 SHOP

SHOP

24

25 Transfer Service 2

SHOP

Security check

22

Finnair Service Desk

GROCERY

21

20

SH

OP

SCHENGEN AREA

THE LATEST FINNAIR PLUS TAX-FREE OFFERS ON PAGE 97.

LOUNGE 2

SHOP

1ST FLOOR

19

Tourist info

18

Pharmacy

17 16

Transfer Service 1

15

CHECK-IN 101–114

14

Security check

Baggage storage

T1

GROUND FLOOR

13

GATE AREA 12

2ND FLOOR

11

FINAVIA

SHOP BUS CONNECTIONS The Finnair City Bus to the Helsinki railway station leaves from Terminal 2 every 20 minutes, stopping also at Terminal 1. Travel time is about 30 minutes. Price: €6.30

1ST FLOOR

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

87

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS FROM HELSINKI

Great Circle Estimated Distances Flight km Times

ALGHERO 2473 03:35

AMSTERDAM 1525 02:35 ALANYA/GAZIPASA 2722 03:45 AQABA 3494 05:05 ARRECIFE 4518 05:55 BANGKOK 7912 09:45 BARCELONA 2632 03:55 BEIJING 6325 07:55 BERGEN 1112 03:30 BERLIN 1123 02:00 BIARRITZ 2581 03:45 BILLUND 1060 01:50 BODRUM 2572 03:55 BRUSSELS 1651 02:40 BUDAPEST 1481 02:20 BURGAS 1982 03:00 CANCUN 9127 12:05

CATANIA 2636 03:45 CHANIA 2756 03:50 CHONGQING 6736 08:40 COPENHAGEN 895 01:40 DALAMAN 2639 03:40 DELHI 5229 06:50 DUBAI 4537 05:55 DUBROVNIK 2027 03:00 DÜSSELDORF 1512 02:25 EKATERINBURG 2098 03:05 FARO 3480 04:45 FRANKFURT 1543 02:35 FUERTEVENTURA 4578 06:05 FUNCHAL 4310 05:45 GENEVA 1994 03:00 GOA via Sharjah 6739 10:15 GOTHENBURG 785 01:25 HAMBURG 1172 02:00 HANOI 7478 10:10 HÔ CHI MINH CITY (Saigon) 8510 10:50 HONG KONG 7821 09:35 HURGHADA 3743 05:05 INNSBRUCK 1701 02:35 IRÁKLION 2777 03:55 KAVALA 2159 03:15 KERKYRA 2331 03:25 KIEV 1171 01:55 KOS 2620 03:45 KRABI 8350 10:20 KRAKOW 1186 02:00 LANGKAWI 8560 10:25 LAS PALMAS 4700 06:10 LISBON 3369 04:50 LJUBLJANA 1713 02:40 LONDON 1863 03:10 MADRID 2950 04:25 MALAGA 3357 04:35 MANCHESTER 1817 03:00 MARSA ALAM 3932 05:10 MIAMI 8342 11:10 MILAN 1953 03:05 MINSK 740 01:25 MOSCOW 876 01:40 MUNICH 1577 02:30 NAGOYA 7780 09:40 NEW YORK 6626 08:45 NICE 2202 03:25 NORRKÖPING 530 01:30 OSAKA 7751 09:30 OSLO 766 01:30 OVDA 3457 04:30 PALMA DE MALLORCA 2777 04:00 PAPHOS 2898 04:00 PARIS 1900 03:05 PHUKET 8312 10:05

88 BLUE WINGS MARCH 2014

Great Circle Estimated Distances Flight km Times PISA PONTA DELGADA PRAGUE PREVEZA PUERTO PLATA RHODES RIGA RIMINI ROME SANTORINI SEOUL SHANGHAI SHARM EL SHEIKH SINGAPORE SKIATHOS SPLIT ST. PETERSBURG STOCKHOLM TALLINN TARTU TEL AVIV TENERIFE NORTE TENERIFE SUR TOKYO TORONTO TROMSØ VARADERO VARNA VENICE VERONA VIENNA VILNIUS WARSAW XIAN ZAKYNTHOS ZÜRICH

2093 03:20 4316 05:50 1322 02:10 2397 03:25 8417 11:15 2668 03:45 382 00:55 1993 03:00 2235 03:25 2660 03:40 7050 08:40 7410 09:05 3664 05:00 9272 11:30 2353 03:30 1956 02:55 301 01:00 400 01:00 101 00:30 245 00:50 3230 04:25 4691 06:10 4745 06:10 7849 09:45 6619 08:50 1081 02:00 8665 11:40 1911 02:55 1847 02:55 1903 02:55 1462 02:30 633 01:15 940 01:40 6421 07:50 2526 03:55 1781 02:45

SCHEDULED DESTINATIONS LEISURE DESTINATIONS PARTNER-OPERATED CODE-SHARE OR MARKETING DESTINATIONS SEASONAL ROUTE EW SCHEDULED N SEASONAL ROUTE NEW SCHEDULED DESTINATION IN 2014

Atl Oc antic ean

DOMESTIC FLIGHTS FROM HELSINKI IVALO JOENSUU JYVÄSKYLÄ KAJAANI MARIEHAMN KEMI/TORNIO KITTILÄ KOKKOLA/PIETARSAARI KUOPIO KUUSAMO OULU PORI ROVANIEMI SAVONLINNA TAMPERE TURKU VAASA

931 01:35 360 01:00 235 00:45

464 01:00 282 00:55 609 01:30 823 01:25 391 01:05 335 01:00 667 01:15 514 01:05 214 00:40 697 01:20 281 00:55 143 00:35 150 00:35 348 00:55

Bay of B isca ya

Arct ic

Ocea n

Nor weg ian S ea

Nort

h Sea

Medit erranea n Sea MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS 89

Arctic Ocean FINNAIR-INFO WORLD MAP

Finnair Plus members earn Plus points from travelling on any scheduled flight with a oneworld airline.

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Ocea n Atlantic Ocean

oneworld: more than 800 destinations 90 BLUE WINGS MARCH 2014

Arctic Ocean

Taiwan

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS 91

FINNAIR INFO CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Society and the environment

Here are a few other examples of Finnair’s societal involvement in a changing world:

• From 1999 to 2009, Finnair cut its carbon dioxide emissions per seat by 22 per cent.

By 2017, it intends to reduce this number by another 24 per cent; total reductions per seat from 1999 to 2017 will equal as much as 41 per cent.

Finnair supports the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) goal of zeroemissions air travel by 2050, as well as a global emissions trading scheme.

• Finnair flies one of the youngest fleets in the business. The average aircraft age is 8.4 years. Operating with new aircraft cuts back on fuel consumption and emissions by 20 to 30 per cent. The airline also flies the shortest routes between Europe and Asia via Helsinki, reducing fuel consumption. Passengers and cargo are carried on the same flights.

92 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

• As part of the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) program, Finnair provides weather measurements to the Finnish National Weather Service and to a number of meteorological institutes globally.

• Through its collaboration with Nordic Offset, a Finnish company, AREA travel agency offers companies the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions from business travel by donating to renewable energy projects in growing markets such as China and India.

• Finnair employees are offered continuous training and development opportunities.

The company also conducts an annual employee wellbeing survey, participates in campaigns promoting equal treatment at the workplace, and places a strong focus on occupational safety.

TIM BIRD

Finnair wants to be the number one choice for quality- and environmentally-conscious travellers.

The airline collaborates with many environmental and humanitarian organisations, and invites its frequent flyers to participate in these efforts by donating Finnair Plus points.

POSITIVE CHANGE OVER THE 2013 HOLIDAY SEASON, Finnair organised the

annual Change for Good collection in cooperation with UNICEF. The campaign, which benefits UNICEF’s Schools for Asia programme, allows passengers to place donations of any currency in envelopes located in their seat pockets or collection boxes at Helsinki Airport. In addition, Finnair’s frequent flyers can support UNICEF’s work year-round by donating Finnair Plus points. Donations to the 18th annual campaign totaled nearly 55,500 euros while Plus point donations exceeded two million.

UNICEF’s Schools for Asia initiative supports ­children’s education in 11 Asian countries, including Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Working with local authorities, UNICEF helps finance new school facilities and teacher salaries as well as health and hygiene education and boarding school programmes for marginalised communities. In previous years Change for Good has benefited UNICEF’s clean water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives in India and the education of girls in Nepal, for example.

“Education is a passport to a better future and a way to break the cycle of poverty,” says Kati Ihamäki, VP of sustainable development at Finnair. ”Studies show that those who receive an education are more likely to send their own children to school. Education increases one’s coping skills and ability to care for him- or herself. This way one’s economic opportunities improve as well.”

Finnair Plus members can make point donations to UNICEF year-round at POINTSHOP.FINNAIR.COM.

FINNAIR INFO ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

HOW YOU CAN HELP

DID YOU KNOW? Since Finnair began its collaboration with UNICEF in 1994, the Change for Good campaign has raised 1.2 million euros.

At pointshop.finnair.com, members of Finnair’s frequent flyer programme can donate points to the following organisations: ☛ The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation ☛ The Association of Friends of the University Children’s Hospitals ☛ The Cancer Society of Finland

• Finnair supports groups such as the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and UNICEF, and has provided humanitarian assistance during environmental crises including the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The airline has also worked with smaller organisations including Tikau and ENO, an environmental education programme.

• Finnair prioritises recycling: for example, the airline has donated cabin crew uniforms, blankets and other textiles to Uusix and GlobeHope, companies that turn used materials into design items.

• Finnair serves 16,000 meals

onboard daily, with more than 55 per cent of the waste going to recycling or re-use.

• Plastic wine bottles, mugs, packages and utensils, as well as cardboard cups and paper napkins are burned to produce energy. Aluminium cans and clear plastic bottles are recycled. The recycling process begins during the flight.

• Plastic trays are washed and reused. In Business Class, washable dishes and utensils are used.

F

· innair’s emissions calculator (at www.finnair.com/emissionscalculator) allows travellers to check their personal fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by plugging in their departure and destination cities. Data assurance is done

by PricewaterhouseCoopers and updated on a quarterly basis.

☛ The Finnish Red Cross ☛ UNICEF ☛ The Baltic Sea Action Group ☛ Hope

FIND OUT MORE Finnair has published an annual overview of its sustainability efforts since 1997. The 2012 Sustainability Report, available online, offers information on Finnair’s efforts in four areas: customers, personnel, operations and safety.

Visit www.finnairgroup.com/

responsibility/index.html to access the report.

BLOGS.FINNAIR.COM

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

93

FINNAIR-INFO FLEET

AIRBUS A340-300 Number 7 Seating capacity 270/269/261 Length 63.6 m Wingspan 60.3 m Cruising speed 890 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,500 m AIRBUS A330-300 Number 8 Seating capacity 297/271/263 Length 63.6 m Wingspan 60.3 m Cruising speed 890 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,600 m AIRBUS A321 (ER) Number 11 Seating capacity 136–209 Length 44.5 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A320 Number 10 Seating capacity 110–165 Length 37.6 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A319 Number 9 Seating capacity 105–138 Length 33.8 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m EMBRAER 190 Operated by Flybe Number 12 Seating capacity 100 Length 36.2 m Wingspan 28.7 m Cruising speed 850 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,300 m EMBRAER 170 Operated by Flybe Number 2 Seating capacity 76 Length 29.9 m Wingspan 26.0 m Cruising speed 850 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,300 m

94 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Join Finnair Plus & enjoy countless benefits FINNAIR PLUS IS a frequent flyer programme open to all Finnair passengers. Children aged 2−17 can join the Finnair Plus Junior programme. Enter your membership number upon booking or show your card at check-in to earn points on Finnair and oneworld flights.

USE POINTS TO BUY services from Finnair Plus partners or make purchases from the online Finnair Plus Shop, which stocks more than 3,500 items from gadgets to design. Shop with points, money or a combination of both.

COLLECT POINTS FROM more than 300 international Finnair Plus partners, including car rental companies, restaurants, hotels, airport shops and more.

JOIN FINNAIR PLUS AT www.finnair.com/plus or by filling out an application form found as an insert in this magazine. The Finnair Plus site includes plenty of information and allows you to check your points balance, book flight awards, and browse special offers.

FINNAIR PLUS MEMBERS ENJOY a variety of benefits and flight award options. Purchase an Any Seat flight award at finnair.com/plus with a flexible combi-nation of points and money, a Classic flight award with a set amount of points, or a flight on a oneworld airline.

Finnair Plus

oneworld

BASIC SILVER GOLD PLATINUM

--RUBY SAPPHIRE EMERALD

THERE ARE FOUR FINNAIR PLUS TIERS: Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Move up to higher tiers by collecting qualifying tier points on Finnair or oneworld flights.

www.finnair.com/plus

BASIC BENEFITS:

+ C lassic and Any Seat flight awards

+ T ext message check-in for + + + + +

Finnair flights P ayment for excess baggage charges with points W aiting list priority based on tier P lusShop and partner service purchases with points D iscounts and points for partner services P oints for credit card purchases

ADDITIONAL SILVER BENEFITS:

+ B usiness Class check-in with + + + + +

Finnair Priority Lane* security checks O ne extra piece of baggage free of charge on Finnair flights F innair lounge access when flying with Finnair 1 0% points bonus on Finnair flights 1 0% discount on purchases made in Finnair Shops and on flights outside of the EU

ADDITIONAL GOLD BENEFITS:

+ C onfirmed seat 48 hours before

+ + + + + +

Finnair flights (European or intercontinental for Business Class, intercontinental for Economy Class) P riority Lane* security checks T ravel class upgrades for Finnair flights U se of a service phone number S pecial baggage free of charge on Finnair flights O neworld Business Class and Frequent Flyer lounge access + 1 guest 1 5% points bonus on Finnair flights

ADDITIONAL PLATINUM BENEFITS:

+ N o expiration of points during tracking period

+ Oneworld First Class

check-in and lounge access

+ 25% points bonus on Finnair flights

* For example: Helsinki, Stockholm-Arlanda

MARCH 2014

BLUE WINGS

95

FINNAIR PLUS FREQUENT FLYER BENEFITS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q A

How can I claim missing flight points?

Make sure to save your flight ticket stubs, e-ticket itineraries and original boarding passes until the associated points have been credited to your account. If your points are still missing three weeks after you took a Finnair or oneworld flight, you can submit the missing points yourself by logging into your Finnair Plus account.

Q A

Q A

How do I find out my Finnair Plus point balance?

ou can log into your Finnair Plus account to see how many tier Y and award points you have earned, as well as information on when they are going to expire. We also recommend subscribing to the Finnair Plus newsletter, in which you can find your current Finnair Plus point balance.

I've lost my Finnair Plus card – what should I do?

ou can order a new Finnair Plus membership card by logging Y into your Finnair Plus account. Before your order, check your Finnair Plus profile and make sure that your address details are up to date. You’ll receive a new card by mail in approximately three weeks, but in the meantime, you can continue to use your Finnair Plus membership number as usual – your number will not change.

If you’ve lost your Finnair Plus credit card, please contact the card issuer immediately.

96 BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2014

Did you know?

YOU CAN USE your Finnair Plus points to upgrade to Business Class. For instance, you can upgrade on most European one-way Finnair flights with just 10,000 points. You can now check your Finnair flight's upgrade availability online.

FINNAIR pLUS frequent flyer benefits pARTNERS FINNAIR PLUS FREQUENT FLYER BENEFITS PARTNERS

OffersOffers fOr fOr finnair Plus members in finnair Plus members in november FEBRUARY The Finnair Tax-free shop at the Helsinki Airport welcomes reme OFFERS FOR FINNAIR MEMBERS IN MARCH Finnair PlusTax-free membersshop withPLUS monthly offers and benefits.

Just The Finnair at Helsinki Airport welcomes your mber

Valen on feb tine 14

show your Finnair Plus card and save 20% or more on our Finnair Plus members with a variety of offers and benefits. regular tax-free prices on certain items.

Just show yourTax-free Finnair Plus shop card andat save 20% or more The Finnair Helsinki Airport on our regular tax-free prices on certain items.

welcomes Finnair Plus members with a variety of offers and benefits.

FINNAIR PROUDLY PRESENTS!

NEW HOUSE CHAMPAGNE

TAX-FREE SHOP

additional Nicolas offers: Feuillatte

GATe 28

Brut Grande Réserve

ray-ban sunglasses, aviator€24.90

€136

Normal tax-free

Normal tax-free price €170price €27.90

NEW & IMPROVED!

ray-ban sunglasses, Wayfarer

WINE WORLD & 2ND FLOOR LIFESTYLE WORLD

€92

Normal tax-free price €115

DESIGN ITEMS • EXCLUSIVE BRANDS FROM FINLAND LUXURy COSMETICS • TOp FRAGRANCES • GIFT ITEMS JEwELLERy • qUALITy wINES • SwEETS AND TOyS. Guess Road Trip Medium tote

€143

selected Products

Normal tax-free price €179

-20%

Guess Road Trip Small frame satchel

€119

WIN A TRIP TO neW YorK

teau Poitevin bourgeois aOC médoc

6.90

Normal tax-free price €149 Guess Road Trip Large zip around

€55

Normal tax-free price €68

VISIT OUR RENEWED GATE 28 STORE AND WIN Penfolds Hill 76 TICKETS TWO RETURN teau la Couspaude 2010, Koonunga €12.90 C saint Émilion Grand Cru Classé TO THE BIG APPLE!

mal tax-free price €19.90

6.90

Normal tax-free price €15.90

mal tax-free price €64.90

Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz

€23.90

Normal tax-free price €29.90

SELECTED CLINIQUE VISIT OUR RENEWED 2ND PRODUCTS FLOOR–20% WITH GREAT BRANDS Emerging markets: don’t panic

Subscribe to The Economist earn Plus points ABBAand The Museum

THE LEADING SOURCE OFmuSeum INSIGHT on business and epping into Stockolm'S ABBA the is international like world affairs, The Economist is now available to all Finnair Plus tending a live concert by the world's most successful pop members worldwide. Available as a print and digital package nd! Original costumes, memorabilia and gold records are or in print or digital only, you have the opportunity to enjoy display, along The withEconomist interactive sing-alongs andEarn dancehowever you wish. up to 12,000 ongs that can be recorded and saved onto your ticket Finnair Plus points when you subscribe byID. April 30th 2014.

nnair Plus members can use their Plus points (or points PRINT + DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION STARTS FROMfor €4.43 PER WEEK. a combination of cash) to redeem an award voucher trance to ABBA The Museum.

WWW.FINNAIR.COM/PLUS

nd out more and apply at www.finnair.com/Plus

ght rea it ri Ko ets rth ag No am nd ed?

Ob aa scu TH 2014 Chin be re RY 8TH–14 rs RUA een on FEB wye le ti tw la ng Im lu be ca’s da Tria rift revo eri t’s The mu Am Egyp ird rm eB Can refo f th w to ry o te Ho mys The on:

rati

mig

UA

RY

2N

D–

8TH

20

13

JANUARY 4TH–10T

H 2014

ldw wor The bble o ext w el

le is erab ? vuln overy How the rec t

ka loo uld ies sho ntr rld ou PORT wo rdicE SPcECIAL RE e y th No14-PAG Wh the A

Mobile health, miracle cure Behold Bello, our Latin American column Brands in the age of scepticism FEBRUARY 1ST–7TH 2014

Economist.com

How Neanderthal are you?

The triumph of a Parties Vladimir Europe’s Te Putin Economist.com

ide

ist.com Econom

n d Theermo p u s

m .co ist om Econ

FEBR

hine mac tion rope porta of Eu a’s de ent esid Obam for pr dder rde ler, sa Laga al bble r, sm dier ol bu safe spee scho BP: ses s are clist busin e cy The som hand Why

ism erous optim omy: dang World econ the Arab road Turkey takes rom 0 Europe 1, Gazp cluster n baco Denmark’s Fat profits: g pay is fallin Why bankers’

FINNAIR PLUS PLUSSHOP

Shop online with Finnair Plus points HOME DELIVERY

Innolux Candeo bright light pendant THE FIRST pendant bright light device on the market, the innovative Candeo can also be transformed into a design lamp providing atmospheric warm light.

At its full power Candeo is a bright light device as well as an efficient general and reading light which allows the colour temperature to be easily changed from warm white to pure white.

Katriina Nuutinen created the idea behind Candeo for a Master of Art diploma project with a goal to design an aesthetically pendant bright light that would be suitable for many spaces.

The lamp was awarded an honorable mention in the Fennia Prize 2014 design competition.

Regular price â‚Ź249 Member offer â‚Ź189 + 1,000 Finnair Plus points

THE ONLINE FINNAIR PLUSSHOP stocks over 3,000 items and delivers around the world. Pay with Finnair Plus points, money or a combination of both. Items will be shipped to your home or to your nearest post office.

FINNAIR PLUS PLUSSHOP

More PlusShop offers

KLIPSCH IMAGE S4A II & KLIPSCH IMAGE S4i II IN-EAR HEADPHONES €99, For Android and Apple devices Member offer €59 + 1,000 points

ARABIA TOVE'S ANNIVERSARY JARS –20% Sizes S, M, L

LENOVO YOGA TABLET 10" 16GB/32GB (WIFI) €329/379, with 16GB and 32GB memory Member offer €289/319 + 1,000 points

EVA SOLO VACUUM JUG 1.0L, HIGH €49.95, black and white Member offer €35 + 1,000 points

MARIMEKKO SÄÄPÄIVÄKIRJA/OIVA COFFEE CUP & PLATE €35.80, see other Sääpäiväkirja and Oiva products as well Member offer €27 + 1,000 points

FINLAYSON JUHLAMUUMI –20% Several products

KUURA ANKLE RUBBER BOOTS €62.50, black or khaki Member offer €45 + 1,000 points

THE NORTH FACE BASE CAMP DUFFEL M €120, several colour options Member offer €89 + 1,000 points

HMDX AUDIO JAM PLUS PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER €64.90, several colour options Member offer €49 + 1,000 points

PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

WWW.FINNAIRPLUSSHOP.COM

AVAILABLE IN STORE OR 100% CUSTOM TAILORED IN ITALY - WWW.MANGLANI.FI

Stefano Ricci reinterpretation of René Gruau “Drawing, 1986” © Société René Gruau Paris