[expoboy]

Just back this morning from 7 days in Shanghai, 4 of them at Expo. The attendance has been below expectations since the first few days, around 200,000 per day. Even so, lines at pavilions are long . . . 4-5 hours for Saudi Arabia, 5 hours for Germany, 3 hours for Japan and Korea. Entry to the China pavilion is impossible. You must arrive about 3 hours before opening and hope to obtain a ticket to return later in the day at a specified time. Despite my best attempts, I never obtained the required entry ticket. According to news reports, officials are looking at altering the procedure for entry to the pavilion.

[Bill Cotter]

Unless they are giving away free cars or houses I wouldn't wait on those lines. If things are that backlogged I'm going to seriously rethink about going. China is a long way to go to see 2-3 pavilions a day.

[Randy Treadway]

I think most major Expos assume that 80-90% of visitors are going to be domestic- that is, citizens of the host country. And that's probably a safe rule of thumb.
Then put a major expo in the most populated country on earth, and long lines should be no surprise.

[Glen Schultzberg]

Welcome home expoboy! Beyond the long lines, how did you like what you did get to see of Expo 2010? Any photos or interesting stories?

[expoboy]

Glen Schultzberg, on 17 May 2010 - 06:24 PM, said:

Welcome home expoboy! Beyond the long lines, how did you like what you did get to see of Expo 2010? Any photos or interesting stories?

Thanks.

I'm still suffering major jet lag so haven't downloaded any photos yet. I got some great night shots. The Puxi portion of Expo, where the corporate pavilions are located, rivals Times Square and Las Vegas for neon light shows. Despite the long lines, I did see 51 pavilions, including the very popular Saudi Arabia, Japan, Spain, UK, Korea and US exhibits. The Saudi exhibit is an amazing total-surround 3D experience with a circular moving walk (shades of the Perisphere and Democracity at New York in 1939).

The pavilions are very large. Spain and Germany are nearly a block long. The UK's Seed Cathedral is almost a religious experience. The building has an other-wordly aura that is hard to describe. While the US Pavilion is no architectural masterpiece, the exhibit within, which stresses how diversity has played and will continue to play a key role in the way our cities develop, was much better than I had anticipated. Thailand had an audio-animatronic show. Many smaller pavilions with shorter wait times such as Chile, SAIC/GM, China Aviation, China Telecom and Poland were highlights. The big disappointment was not being able to gain access to the China Pavilion. As I mentioned, Expo officials are looking at improving the entry procedure. Germany and Spain are allowing rapid access if one provides passport stamps from their exhibits in the Best Urban Practices Area, a section of the fair where cities around the globe present "cases" for city planning.

While the lines for the most popular pavilions never dwindle, many exhibits such as Australia, Italy, France, etc., have much shorter lines after 7 p.m. or so. An odd thing is that the official guide is NOT available at the Expo site. I was finally able to locate a copy at the Urban Planning Museum on People's Square. Expo postcards are virtually non-existant. This may more a comment on the electronic communications age than on Expo itself.

I would not let the crowds deter me from visiting. Shanghai itself is well worth the visit. I was just astounded at the wait times since the overall Expo attendance had been much lower than expected. The local media was projecting an attendance of 35 million if attendance figures remain in the 200,000 a day range. I simply cannot imagine how different the experience would have been if the attendance had been in the anticipated range of 500,000 a day.

[Bradd Schiffman]

Bill Cotter, on 17 May 2010 - 04:27 PM, said:

Unless they are giving away free cars or houses I wouldn't wait on those lines. If things are that backlogged I'm going to seriously rethink about going. China is a long way to go to see 2-3 pavilions a day.

I'm with you Bill, this is really starting to look iffy for me now...

[Joey Chernov]

That description of the Seed Cathedral sounds about right, From what i've seen it's gained incredible reviews.
No postcards? Those are a staple at any fair, regardless of if it's in the digital age.

[Bradd Schiffman]

Everyone's got this link, right? http://en.expo.cn/indexn.html

It contains virtual tours of many of the pavilions (including GB and China).

Get to this screen, then click the "Enter" button:



I took a virtual tour of China as well as the Seed Cathedral a few weeks ago (both AWESOME), but now I find that the download speed is 10 times slower, so I guess it's finally become overcrowded online!

[Randy Treadway]

Joey Chernov, on 23 May 2010 - 05:35 AM, said:

No postcards? Those are a staple at any fair, regardless of if it's in the digital age.

Yes, but the number produced has been declining dramatically over the decades. I had trouble finding some for Expo 2000 in Hanover, but finally got some.
At least the ones that are produced are usually VERY nicely done.

I'm working on a digital collection of postcards for the big Expo in Brussels in 1910 now. Thousands of different cards. But the biggest of all were the simultaneous Expos in 1915 in San Francisco and San Diego. So many postcards were produced it is said to have depleted card stock on the entire west coast of North America.

Bradd Schiffman, on 23 May 2010 - 08:16 AM, said:

I took a virtual tour of China as well as the Seed Cathedral a few weeks ago (both AWESOME), but now I find that the download speed is 10 times slower, so I guess it's finally become overcrowded online!

Maybe they'll start issuing virtual front-of-the-line "fastpasses" to come back later at a designated time, thus duplicating the real world experience.

[Bradd Schiffman]

Actually, I have been getting my virtual passport stamped today...got China and Urban City so far...seems to be a little better now...

You've GOT to check out the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion in Sector D! It's like it starts where the Hong Kong street in Coca-Cola at the 64/65 NYWF left off, but multiply that by 100 and you'll get the idea...

[expoboy]

Randy Treadway, on 23 May 2010 - 08:57 AM, said:

Yes, but the number produced has been declining dramatically over the decades. I had trouble finding some for Expo 2000 in Hanover, but finally got some.
At least the ones that are produced are usually VERY nicely done.

I'm working on a digital collection of postcards for the big Expo in Brussels in 1910 now. Thousands of different cards. But the biggest of all were the simultaneous Expos in 1915 in San Francisco and San Diego. So many postcards were produced it is said to have depleted card stock on the entire west coast of North America.



Maybe they'll start issuing virtual front-of-the-line "fastpasses" to come back later at a designated time, thus duplicating the real world experience.

They have been issuing "fastpasses" for the China Pavilion since opening day. The catch is they are limited to 50,000 per day and you must be there AT LEAST three hours before opening of the fairgrounds to obtain one. There was vague talk of issuing reservation tickets for other popular pavilions. Saudi Arabia has machines in place but was not using them and there are reservation machines located throughout the grounds but they were only being used for the theme pavilions and were not really required as those exhibits were not particularly popular.

Once again, I would not be deterred from visiting Shanghai and Expo 2010 based on the crowds. I saw 50+ pavilions in 4 days. Just understand that there are exhibits you won't be able to see unless you have the time and patience to stand in line. This was true at Expo 70, Expo 92 and even Expo 2000, all of which I attended. From what I've read, it was also the case at Brussels in 1958 and Expo 67. I know Expo 67 tried a "fastpass" sort of arrangement during its first few weeks but found fairgoers even more frustrated after they stood in lengthy lines to obtain reservations only to find out the popular pavilions were "sold out" by the time they reached the front of the line.

The best plan is to get to Expo early, around 8 a.m., make a beeline for one of the popular exhibits and be prepared to stand in line for that exhibit. After that, concentrate on the other 90% of the pavilions which have much shorter wait-times. Then try returning to the popular pavilions in the early evening, around 7 p.m. and hope for slightly shorter lines (although this wasn't my experience; the lines were still long even at that hour).

Finally, for any true world's fair fan with the time and funds to go, Expo 2010 is a "must see" event!

[Bradd Schiffman]

Thank you for the update, Expo! You're right, there's no substitute for actually being there. With the Chinese acumen for business, I'm surprised no one has thought of selling VIP passes that let you bypass the line...I'd certainly be willing to pay...

[expoboy]

Bradd Schiffman, on 23 May 2010 - 11:50 AM, said:

Thank you for the update, Expo! You're right, there's no substitute for actually being there. With the Chinese acumen for business, I'm surprised no one has thought of selling VIP passes that let you bypass the line...I'd certainly be willing to pay...

I actually kept an eye out for people scalping China Pavilion tickets but had no luck. I'd have been willing to pay.

[Joey Chernov]

I am unable to gain admittance to any virtual pavilion from my laptop. It for some reason wont respond when I click "Enter" and proceeds as if nothing happened.

[Bradd Schiffman]

Joey Chernov, on 23 May 2010 - 06:30 PM, said:

I am unable to gain admittance to any virtual pavilion from my laptop. It for some reason wont respond when I click "Enter" and proceeds as if nothing happened.

Joey, you probably need something with more graphics processing power. I have two PC's at home, and I had to use the one built for graphics development in order to view the interiors properly. Designers today just assume you have a somewhat powerful graphics card in your PC...