2010-07 Expo 2010

The Expo 2010 is a 6 month long (May-October 2010) world’s fair and exposition being held along both side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The fairgrounds are over 5 square kilometers. Almost 200 countries are taking part and either building or sharing pavilions to show off their countries culture and/or products.

I arrived on the expo grounds a little before 9:00 when the gates open. Once the gates opened, it took almost an hour to get through the metal detector and x-ray screening as so many people were in line for the opening. Almost 500,000 people were in attendance the day I went. A very large majority was of course Chinese, but I was surprised I didn’t see more foreigners. On my way over, I was surprised the flight was not totally full, thinking that there would be a lot more people flying in and out of Shanghai than normally. A lot of tickets were provided to the locals free of charge to give them the opportunity to attend. The cost was 160 RMB or about $25. The expo is open until midnight every day.

After I entered the grounds, I saw huge crowds lined up under the pedestrian bridges. As I walked by, I noticed signs indicating the wait from that point of the line was 5 hours. I was hoping that not all pavilions would have waits that long. I never did figure out what that line was for.

Many countries have their own pavilions which are usually designed to represent some aspect of the county or culture. Some counties and regions group them selves together into a single larger building. Many Pacific Island countries did this as did many African countries.

The river that splits the area in two has a very large fountain system that is designed to put on a water show that is choreographed to music. Also near the river is a large area full of misters that create a fog across the plaza. This feels very good on a hot and humid day.

 

Many people brought their own fold up stools that they would use for seating.  They would open them up and make a seating area wherever they were.  The stools were only about 6"-8" tall, and I don't think I could have been comfortable on them.

Some of the pavilions have rides or shows, but most have displays of culture, history, products and/or artifacts. Some sell products or food (Belgium had waffles, ice cream and beer). One pavilion featured a 4-D show (3-D movie with interactive, moving seats), while another had a small ride on its rooftop.

To get back and forth across the river, large ferry boats crisscrossed the river every 15 minutes from 5 docking points. These boats had to also navigate through the regular heavy river traffic, which includes coal barges and large ocean going vessels.

The expo sells “passport” books which can be stamped at the various pavilions. These have become very popular here with long lines just to get stamps at some of the pavilions. Some countries even stopped doing the stamping, or limited the hours because the felt that many people just got the stamps and didn’t actually spend any time looking at the displays.  The Cuba pavilion moved their outside the building to keep the building from getting to crowded.  They were selling their main two exports inside--rum and cigars.  I tried the rum, but not the cigars

As it got dark, many of the buildings came alive with colors and special lighting affects. Even the bridges that crossed the river were lit up with moving light displays.

I ended up leaving the expo about 8:00 after a long day of walking and standing in lines. I took the subway (one of 4 new lines added to support the expo) back towards the hotel. Even though I was there a full day, I did not see everything or go in to all the pavilions.