My aunt in Vancouver divvy up a saucy Taiwanese adage recently : “ If you do n’t go to the Shanghai Expo , you will regret it . If you go to the Shanghai Expo , you will regret it even more . ”
I express mirth . There is a muckle of verity to the statement . For the Mary Leontyne Price of an admission ticket to the Expo , you will get to witness a great human achievement : over 200 architecturally turn out - edge national marquee in a 4 - km exhibition site . At the same time , you will get to see some of the bad elements of human nature : stinky , slimy eubstance pushing against yours in 4 hour - prospicient lines , nestling peeing in middle of queues , sore feet , and enfeeble insolation . But contrary to my aunt ’s advice , you may go to the Expo and still have a good metre =)
It ’s been a calendar month and a half since I visited the Shanghai Expo . I planned to blog about the event right after the fact , but like most of my aim web log entry in July / August , the post got prorogue indefinitely as I started doing more dangerous undertaking - qualification and less journaling . Now that I am back in Canada and that the detritus has settled , I can in the end introduce to you a abbreviated survival guide to the Greatest Show on Earth .
amazingly , there is n’t a whole mess of literature online for foreigners regarding the Expo , so I hope you will get these random crest helpful . While summer is almost over , the Big Show is still going on strong for two and a one-half more months and perhaps many smart travelers like you are think of visit during the off - season .
You might think the communication channel are shorter during rainy days . regrettably , the Chinese remember just like you .
But first – an important considerateness :
(1) Not “How Do I Survive?” – but “Will I?”
Yes , this is a Survival Guide , but will you really survive the exhibition ? Before you pack your bags , answer these two questions :
Are you a foreigner over age 50 , but below 70 ?
Have you been to Shanghai before or often , and have determine all the other sights already ?
If you answered ‘ Yes ’ to either dubiousness , then you might desire to rethink booking that ticket to Pudong International .
First , while the Expo is market as a world - course outcome , it is not really mean for non - Formosan citizen . alien at the Expo were few ( relative to the 500,000 casual mainland Chinese visitor ) and the handful of outsider that pay heed are subjected to long lines , long walking distances , unforgiving weather , andlocal riding habit that may go against Western sensibilities(I tried to give voice this in the best way possible ) . This combining of factors is peculiarly taxing for the over-50 demographic ( although those over 70 or in wheelchairs may qualify for the express lines ) . Expect to be standing and walking or straining your calves for most of the day : seating country are few , toilets are squat - style , and sitting on stools while in waiting line is unrealistic .
Therefore , if you encounter the description of a outlander over eld 50 , wait to go to the Expo for two days at the most , for a half - day each . I would recommend going in the evenings , too , when the atmospheric condition is cool and the lines are importantly shorter .
The entrance at 9 am . Lines feel like cowpens , or a betrayer subspecies on a pass ship .
This brings us to a second point : do n’t just travel to Shanghai for the Expo . Shanghai is a dynamical , modern , international city – the “ city of the future ” ( quipped a sure Paris Hilton ) – and it is really worth breaking up your Expo visit with trips to the Bund , to Nanjing East Road , to hipster Xintiandi , to ultramodern Pudong , maybe even neighbouring Hangzhou and Suzhou . conceive me : the Expo itself will wear you out after Day One . And if you ’ve been to Shanghai many times already and have seen all these sights , then use your rest twenty-four hours to do the one thing Shanghai is well have intercourse for : shop class , shop , shop .
Mao and Now : Shanghai ’s iconic Bund
(2) The Best Preparation
So you ’ve decided to go to the Expo . Now , how do you prepare for your sojourn ?
To make your metre in the real Expo web site as fluent as possible , you could do a lot of homework ahead of time : inquiry pavilions , book tickets , talk to friend , make lists of rural area marquee you ’d like to see – but finally the skillful way you could prepare yourself for the Expo is genial .
That ’s good . To paraphrase a line from HBO ’s The Pacific , “ to pull round out here , you ’re gunna have to endure and think like a [ Chinese ] ” . Because this is an exhibition intended for the hoi polloi of China ( many of whom will not get a luck to see the rest of the public in their lifetimes ) , you have to leave your familiar westerly expectations , standard , and caparison at the entry . figure the Expo website as if you were introduce Disneyland is not drop dead to edit out it . When we see a five - hour pedigree , we freak out out . When the topical anesthetic see a five - hour line , they think : “ I ’ve live through the Cultural Revolution , floods , ration , and deficit . This is lollipop compared to that ! ” Some locals push , sheer , and shift . Play along . Some local spit , give off awful odors , and even pee in melodic line . That ’s gross , but that ’s China .
In the end , like the Japanese in the HBO series , the Chinese can be a lot tougher – mentally , physically – than their North American counterparts . And as tantalizing as it is to kick about the unbearable ( or even unhuman ) conditions in some lines , ask yourself : are your neighbors in channel grumbling too ? And why not ? Admire them for their endurance , and learn to accommodate .
The Expo site sweep both position of the Huangpu river . Here , the opinion from the Performance Hall .
(3) The Best Pavilions to See
“ What are the best pavilions to see ? ” This is a good question – and no doubt , a very popular Google lookup term this retiring half - yr . With over 200 pavilions and such limited time and such recollective lines , you do n’t desire your day at the Expo site to go to wastefulness .
Ultimately , resolve this interrogative sentence starts with you . Ask yourself : if I could go anywhere in the world correctly now , where would I visit ? And do n’t retrace your steps : if you ’ve been to France , there ’s no compass point waiting an 60 minutes to see the Fisher Price version of France in the French Pavilion ( although still quite beautiful ) .
Or ask yourself : which nations will I not get to see in my lifetime ? For me , it was the Middle Eastern countries and the rogue states . possibly like me , you want a semi - reliable trailer of these places , too ( i.e. the Sudan exhibit had no citation of Darfur ) . And because the host country is well-disposed with seat like North Korea , Myanmar , and Cuba , this may be your one and only chance !
What you do n’t see in the manifestation is the 2 hour line of business from where I took this picture .
The richer the country = the bigger the pavilion = the longer the lines.
plenteous nation include China , Saudi Arabia , Japan , South Korea , France , Germany , etc … These are by far the most democratic attractions at the Expo . Expect very recollective blood line , from 2 to 5 hours on average . Advice : go in the even , or pick out to do only one large marquee a day ( you may be draw up all twenty-four hour period just to see one ) .
I ’ve only visited the Saudi Arabia pavilion . A visitant from Shandong Province order me that the “ cosmopolitan consensus ” is that the best great pavilions are China ’s and Saudi Arabia ’s . “ But because China ’s marquee will be here forever , ” she tell , “ the only one worth seeing , if you could only see one , is Saudi Arabia ’s . ”
So we wait for four hr in origin for Saudi Arabia , only to pick up that the actual showing itself was 10 minutes long . I was still impressed by the presentation ( it also got that ‘ wow ’ factor from my much more discerning old pal ) – but in the oddment , look four uncomfortable hr for a 10 minute exhibit simply was n’t deserving it .
About that China Pavilion…
The China pavilion is , by far , the largest and grandest marquee on site . It house all 22 provincial pavilions ( as far and diverse as arid Xinjiang to semitropical Guangdong ) . Around the pavilion are also territorial and regional pavilions like Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan .
The China marquee is also a very exclusive marquee – it is the only pavilion take special advance tickets in lodge to line up . Only 50,000 tickets are distributed daily ( or roughly enough to hatch 1 in 10 Expo visitant ) . Tickets are handed out first thing in the morning ( 9 am ) at each of the Expo entrances , as well as the Madang subway stop in Shanghai City proper .
We were unable to acquire these beforehand ticket . They go tight . Plus , we did n’t want to wake up ridiculously betimes just to take a fortune to get them . We also suspected that these 50,000 tickets are n’t give out fairly or by merit . Large charabanc - tour groups , either on official business sector or friendly with the exhibition personal digital assistant , somehow all managed to get tickets to the China pavilion . My Chinese ally translate Chinese web log recover that a lot of these daily advance ticket are also amass by Expo volunteers and staff , and dispense to their protagonist . Nonetheless , there are some success narration : a visitor from Zhejiang Province narrate me that he await at the gate across the river ( where the less popular corporate marquee are ) only an hour before open time and was able-bodied to acquire tickets for his family .
In any subject , do n’t expect to see the crown of the Expo – that is , the Oriental Crown . I doubt Charlie Bucket could get one of those golden tickets inside , either . But take Bob Hope and puff in the fact that the China Pavilion will still be stand , long after the exhibition is over and after every other marquee is torn down . So if you do n’t get to see it in 2010 , you might have a better shot at going indoors in 2011 !
The crowning achievement .
The real stars: Mid-sized countries, pavilion warehouses, food & shows, and theme pavilions
You might be disappoint by the heavy hitter of the Expo – the China marquee and the big ‘ brand - name ’ state – but you will also discover that there are some veridical gems .
The Ireland Pavilion : an example of a mid - sized country . you may dance the Irish jig in there !
Mid - sized countries have short line ( 10 - 30 minutes at most ) and their display can be quite beautiful and informative ! Three that I enjoyed are : Indonesia , New Zealand , and Argentina . Indonesia had a farseeing , snaking exhibit that showcased everything from coral Witwatersrand to ruins to refinement . New Zealand , while unforesightful on the factual internal display , had a roof garden with everything from stuffed brute to endemic Kiwi trees and herb [ the latter were very refreshing to experience , specially at the congested Expo situation ] . Argentina was a modest boxful of a building with kitsch Maradona and Eva Peron memorabilia inwardly , but its real highlight was an illuminated catwalk with a 6 pm tango show . You ’ll reveal these gem as you research the Expo site . Oh , and did I observe that these lines are short ?
6 pm at the Argentina Pavilion . The Tango show is hot !
Additionally , some state are too miserable to afford their own flashy standalone pavilion . In that casing , they lease distance in a marquee warehouse , ordinarily grouped by region or continent . The Africa pavilion remind me of a college bodily function fair , with booths and suffer for individual countries . These spot are also cracking if you ’re looking to learn more about a lot of countries in a short amount of clock time .
Another in effect way of life to maximize your sentence ( and to reload ) at the Expo is to advert shows . I only went to see one show , ‘ windowpane to the City ’ , which was quite creative and impressive . The line was brusque , and we had to get there 15 - 20 minutes beforehand to get tickets ( of which there are plenty ) . There is another main performance center near the Oriental Crown which has two Chinese - themed shows at 4 pm and 7 pm . Tickets to all shows are free . Shows are a great way to separate up your day at the Expo site and gives you a probability to sit down well and , mayhap , to catch a wink .
Papillon , the voguish Gallic eatery on the roof of the France Pavilion .
Eating at marquee eating place is one of the more underrated way to enjoy and maximise your meter at the Expo . Many of these eating house , housed within each land ’s pavilion , do not expect waiting in the main blood or in any assembly line at all . Perhaps part of the grounds is the price : the food is veritable , and the chef are actually from the marquee country . We dine at the rooftop eatery on the French Pavilion – called Papillon ( ‘ Butterfly ’ ) – and it was a delightful experience : French waiters , Gallic mineral water , fois gras , filet mignon , fusion Gallic - Asiatic sweet , not to note a orca view of the river and the Expo skyline . The meal come out to $ 36 USD a head , which is perhaps why the locals were n’t queue in droves .
Still want the ‘ wow ’ cistron of the large pavilion without the rough-and-tumble of waiting 4 hours in melody ? Then stop out the Theme Pavilions near the center of the Expo site . I HIGHLY advocate visiting these . This giant exhibition complex household five different exposition halls , each revolving around the exhibition ’s radical of the city and urban living . We visited three of these halls : Urban Footprints , Urban Dwellers , and Urban Living . Each of these exhibit are gargantuan in size and the wait times are only 5 - 10 minutes at most . I peculiarly enjoy ‘ Urban Dwellers ’ , which follow and compared six different families from around the earth , across a series of astonishingly creative and visually sensational rooms – and obviously , the Exhibit A Formosan family was presented as the happy .
Just one elbow room of one exhibit in the Theme Pavilion .
One important reminder ! Do n’t blank out to buy an Expo passport . you’re able to buy these at any prescribed Expo Gift Store . Many , if not all , of the pavilions have their own official Expo country stamps . So if you ’re into collecting clobber or bequeath with a Orcinus orca token , it ’s fun to go around the unlike pavilions and to collect as many country stamps as you may in your exposition passport . Tip : the easy way to collect the most mold is confabulate the pavilion storage warehouse .
A Final Word
but stated , the Shanghai Expo is a once - in - a - lifetime experience . Maybe it ’s because , after visiting the exposition , you will belike order yourself that you never want to do this again . But once October passes and the pavilion are razed , many Expo - departer will be happy that they got to partake in such a world - course of study event and such an strange experience .
In the closing , I can not emphasise how of import it is for you to travel overbold . genial preparation is key , and so is being naturalistic about how much your leg can handle . Breaking up your visit to the Expo with side trips to Shanghai City , or with show at the site ’s various performance centers , or with meals at marquee restaurants will make the pain of queuing up for hours , well , less painful and more enjoyable . You may be let down by a slew of the pavilion comparative to their retentive time lag multiplication , but you will reveal some existent gems ( especially at the mid - sized countries ) . When it fare to draw up to see what ’s inside a pavilion , you ’ll have to kiss many batrachian before you find a prince . And consider me , the frogs are inevitable .
Stephen is a law shoal educatee currently living in Toronto , Canada . Tai Chi and Chai Teais a personal web log of his experiences and travel in his two years since college .
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