World Expo Opens in Shanghai

photo from guardian.co.uk


Today I got an e-mail from my mom saying that she saw the fireworks for the opening of the World Expo in Shanghai on National News, and asked if I had seen them. unFORTUNATELY, I was not actually in Shanghai for the opening of the World Expo---Which led me to investigate via the world wide web what the opening was like----which led me to this and this article, in which I discovered some interesting information:

1. "Temperatures in Shanghai today reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit)"
What!? Before I left it was not "freezing" at worst, and almost "warm" at best. Ok, so that may be exaggerating a little. The day we left was almost nice. But I'm saddened to think that we may have had only 1--ONE--day of spring :(

2. "The broadcaster, a unit of government-owned Shanghai Media Group, also called on visitors to obey rules set out by expo organizers as it showed footage of people cutting in line, trash littering the grounds and visitors circumventing a barrier to pick flowers off a tree on display."
This just makes me giggle to myself. People not standing in line? People not using trash cans? People ignoring barriers to take flowers from a display? None of this would EVER happen in day-to-day C-land, I can't imagine why it's happening at the Expo. I'm just wondering why they left out "kids peeing on the sidewalk."

3. "China’s richest city estimates 70 million people will visit the six-month long World Expo, more than 10-times the number who traveled to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. To ensure smooth operations for the fair, Shanghai has deployed armed police to patrol the Expo park, restricted sales of knives and given local residents a five-day holiday through May 4, during which they’ve been asked to say at home as much as possible." Yeah! that's me, we got our holiday extended by 2 days... Happy World Expo... I'm in Kunming....... woops... I must have missed the part where we were supposed to stay home as much as possible.

4. "Six people who protested about having their homes destroyed to make room for the Expo have been sent to labour camps, the Hong-Kong based Chinese Human Rights Defenders were quoted as saying by AP." It is amazing how C-land is able to "get 'er done." The Expo site is along prime property along the huangpu river in the center of Shanghai, not exactly "open" land. Very convenient for those attending the Expo, very inconvenient for those who used to have a home.

5. The expo breakdown:

Theme is "Better City, Better Life"

70 million visitors expected, mostly Chinese

192 countries and 50 organizations on show

20,000 cultural performances

First Expo in a developing country

Site is 5.3sq km, twice the size of Monaco

China says cost is $4.2bn - others say costs reached $58bn

Standard day ticket costs 160 yuan ($23: £15)

Runs from 1 May to 31 October

In related news. My roommate and I are thinking that this is prime time to do some apartment letting and pay of any remaining student loans. :D We think that we can beat the quality of "The Olympic Experience Hostel" in Beijing!