The story of Ou Ou and Meng Meng, the EU mascots at Shanghai Expo 2010

Ou Ou was born in snowy Finland in the very north of Europe inside the Arctic Circle. His mother was an opera star from the Czech Republic, while his father was a football star from Italy.

Meng Meng was born in sun-kissed Cyprus in the very south of Europe lapped by the blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea. Her mother was a film star from Sweden, while her father was a shooting star from Estonia.

Both families travelled widely around the borderless EU, working and living in various EU member states.

Taking advantage this social mobility within the EU, Ou Ou attended kindergarten in Holland, primary school in Lithuania and high school in Romania.

Every summer, Ou Ou would spend his holidays on the beaches of Portugal, while in winter he would go skiing in the mountains of Austria. Ou Ou went on to study astrophysics at Oxford University in the United Kingdom thanks to an ERASMUS scholarship, but instead of pursuing a career in science he gave it all up to join a travelling circus from Spain. Likewise, Meng Meng attended kindergarten in Slovenia, primary school in Denmark and high school in Bulgaria.

Meng Meng spent her summer holidays in the lush, green countryside of Ireland, while in winter she would go fishing in sunny Malta.

She eventually went on to study astronomy at Heidelberg University in Germany, but her heart and her feet always told her she wanted to be a dancer and so she headed east to Poland to attend dance school.

Ou Ou’s career as a circus star took him all over Europe from Latvia to Slovakia and back again.

Likewise, Meng Meng’s career as a dancing star saw her performing in all the great concert halls of Europe, from Luxembourg to Hungary.

And then one romantic night in France, Ou Ou and Meng Meng fell in love in the city of lights and decided to get married. They went to Greece on their honeymoon and since then have lived happily ever after in Belgium.

So where will they spend the summer 2010? In Shanghai of course at the EU Pavilion where everyone is invited to come visit them there!