Much ado about bamboo

China's pavilion at the Milan Expo.

The Chinese pavilion in Milan had a colored indoor "sea of wheat" made of more than 20,000 LED bulbs. The pavilion was put together by a team of Chinese, Italian and German workers.

The whole pavilion took the team about seven months to finish, much less time than Lyu had expected.

"For me, it's a career landmark," says Lyu.

Many visitors, especially residents of Milan, understand more about today's China after visiting the pavilion, he says. It doesn't use traditional Chinese images like ancient houses and red lanterns. Instead, it uses bamboo, a common plant in southern China, to present a modern image of the nation.

At the 2010 Shanghai Expo, Lyu's company built 10 national and theme pavilions.

With his successful management of the Chinese pavilion at the Milan Expo, he has been invited to build pavilions at the 2017 Kazakhstan Expo and 2020 Dubai Expo.

Apart from building expo pavilions, Lyu is also constructing museums in China.

The country in the last 10 years has seen a surge in museums being built even in smaller cities.