Expo 2010 meets expectations--my first day report.
May 03, 2010, 10:03 AM
Destination Expert
for Shanghai Region
Crowds were very manageable, but some country pavilion lines at Expo 2010 were long with waits approaching up to two hours during the third day of the six-month-long world’s fair.
The China pavilion, the dominant architectural achievement, was uplifting and entertaining but also a bit disconnected without a central theme or media effort pulling it together.
Overall, public areas throughout the day were not crowded, food booths had no lines and the parks were virtually empty. Shanghai Daily reported only 111,000 visitors by noon on Monday, and the lines for the China pavilion were completely gone by 6 p.m.
During my first of three planned days, I went through much of Asia and the Middle East, avoiding the long lines at the Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan pavilions. You could spend the whole day waiting and touring just those three, not much entertainment for around 10 hours of standing, a lot of it in the sun. United Arab Emirates also had a considerable line, rearranged at the site to keep people out of the sun and heat approaching 30C. .
I arrived at the South Xizang Road Gate at the Metro stop of the same name at around 8:25 a.m. for the 9 a.m. opening. Pavilions open at 9:30. The crowd when I arrived was around 3,000 queued and did not change much in the additional forty minutes. The entire security and entry process took less than 20 minutes. So at 9:20 I bought an ice cream bar inside the Expo for 3 yuan, the street price in Shanghai.
From the Puxi side (north and west of the Huangpu River) you can take a bus through the new South Xizang Road motor vehicle tunnel or take the Expo ferry (free) to two docks on the Pudong side of the fair grounds. I took the ferry over, a nice way to take in the riverfront Expo development. On my exit, I took the bus. For some incomprehensible reason, the Expo makes you walk around 200 or more meters from the bus station to the gate, even though the road runs adjacent at one point to the exit gate. They force visitors to walk up steps and on the grand promenade to enter or leave the Expo grounds. This was one of the few poorly conceived concepts of the expo site development.
What strikes you immediately on the Pudong (country pavilion) side of the fair is the wide-open space between structures. This spread-out site development gives a more relaxing and park-like setting to the event.
Thus far, a disappointing impression is that a few signature pavilions seem to attract all the attention when the others, comprising more than 80%, seem to be nearly empty. The food and beverages did not seem too out of line. Cans of Coke were 3 yuan, bottles were 4 yuan and bottles of lemon drink were 5 yuan. A vegan vegetarian buffet lunch at the Expo’s branch of Gong De Lin was 88 yuan, a bit much for the variety and quality of the food, but not outrageous. A cafeteria-type tray of food (a set meal) was 58 yuan. Again, this was no bargain but not too bad for food at a major tourist event.
What was a major disappointment were the prices for official souvenirs. At the souvenir shop upon leaving the China Pavilion, most items ranged from 70 yuan to well over 350 yuan, not exactly family pricing for a momento of the visit. Prices were 4 to 10 times the market price for similar items.
Overall, the World Expo 2010 met my expectations for a well planned and somewhat grand effort by the Shanghai and Chinese governments. The riverfront site is picturesque, the exhibition sites well planned, and many pavilions (so far) appear to be worth a modest wait
After 11½ hours today at the site, tomorrow will bring some of the Americas and Euro pavilions. I hope my feet hold out.
Day Two and I get a late start, 12 noon arrival at the Madang Rd gate of Metro Line 9. No line at this hour, no pavilion reservation tickets either and certainly no China Pavilion tickets available, but I saw it the first day.
The entry process is not as smooth as I was led to believe. You must arrive on Line 9 at Madang, then go to the street level, walk half a block to the security gate, get the search and x-ray routine, and walk a bit more and go back underground to catch the Line 13 Expo shuttle which runs between Madang Road on the north to Lupu Bridge, still on the Puxi side and then under the Huangpu River to the Shibo Avenue terminus of the shuttle. The shuttle is free, and you arrive sandwiched between Australia and Southeast Asia and Europe, a fine place to start exploring some popular pavilions.
Australia—Architecture B, Crowd handling, B, Program, A Overall, A-. Bizarre line snakes a half km in the sun it seems. Program doesn’t get much better than this: A history of the country with comic caricature figures, and an in-the-round multi-media presentation with the screen rotating in the center featuring scenes from throughout the country. Only problem with the presentation is that it was completely in Chinese with no effort to project subtitles or anything else in English. The pavilion was clever and informative without being self-absorbed.
Singapore—Architecture, B+, Crowd, B+, Program C. Overall, B-. Everything looked good until you began to read the captions and see the pictures. This entire pavilion is sponsored by real estate developers who have apartments and developments to sell. And they continue to let you know this throughout the presentations, even flashing subliminal messages during a movie. The roof-top garden is nice, but too late to make a difference. This is a large and long infomercial.
Spain—Architecture, A, Crowd, B, Program A. Overall, A-. Spain broke away from the pack of countries which pushes innovation, green efforts and tourism. Spain puts you into a cave/tunnel and projects flamenco dancing with a live dancer on a small stage, bullfights, soccer and other interesting visuals. The photography with the accompanying sound effects and projection-cave is riveting. I was mesmerized and just stared . Then, you go into an area with long screens angled in every direction showing historical still and moving pictures of Spain. And when you least expect it, you enter a huge showcase room featuring one piece of what I call installation art, although some may just call it sculpture. It you want to enjoy it as it is intended, read nothing more about the Spain pavilion and don’t let others spoil the surprise. The crowd universally broke into smiles and got their cameras clicking as it was such a hit with everyone. Stay for the bubbles, part of the effect.
UK—Architecture, B, Crowd, B, Program B. Overall, B. This is a well-intended effort focused on the urban green space, use of parks in the cities and the “seed cathedral” which has 60,000 acrylic rods holding seeds provided by the Kunming Institute of Botany. The rods are what gives the pavilion its porcupine appearance. This entire exhibit is serious and in tune with the “Better City, Better Life” theme. Unfortunately there is little involvement by the visitor other than lying on the gray plastic grass which is supposed to symbolize UK’s urban open space. No humor and little entertainment value. High social purpose but that alone cannot make a successful pavilion. Almost every country has something to say about its “green” efforts. UK just does it dryly.
Luxembourg—Architecture, B+, Crowd, B+, Program, C. Overall B. Nice rusting steel architecture as the pavilion pushes the country’s prowess as a steel producer. Flowering wall gardens and ramps are very effective. Program is an infomercial.
Netherlands—Architecture, B+, Crowd, B+, Program, A-. Overall, A-. The fascinating large playground look is used well to showcase various items developed or manufactured in the Netherlands. The sheep benches on the ground level with children’s playground is a interesting feature. The much-needed shady area open to the public is a welcome addition to the Expo. The showcased items on the ramps are actually interesting!
Belgium/EU—Architecture, C+, Crowd, B+, Program, B. Overall, B. The box building features many informercial boasts of the country and the EU. No effort to present the matter in a new or interesting form, Long line to the free samples of freshly molded Belgian chocolate makes it a popular feature. There is a diamond cutting demonstration, but not presented so many can see and understand.
I had a “corn beans” and lemonade snack at the Uncle fast food restaurant for 12 yuan. Soft serve ice cream was 15 yuan this time, too much. Luxembourg has what looks like a gourmet restaurant with prices accordingly way over 100 yuan per person. Took the subway back and had the same convoluted up and out of subway shuttle and back down to Metro Subway Line 9 routine.
Overall, this was an outstanding day. Even though the infomercials were getting real old real fast, the countries above usually made an effort to present interesting and informative programs. Perhaps you can put Singapore and Luxembourg on your “pass on by” list, and add Belgium if you agree like I that waiting an additional 10-15 minutes for a micro sample of Belgian chocolate is not worth the effort.
Today I became confident that this World Expo 2010 becomes a must-see for world’s fair-goers
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