[isomdh]

Hello from Shanghai! I was at the Expo for the fist time yesterday. The number of visitors has been rising steadily and has stayed above 300,000 for the last four days. As a result, coupled with the clear blue sky but hotter weather, it was a pretty tiring day. I left at 7am and didn't get back till 10:30pm. What did I see? Not too much. I chose to hang around Zones D & E for the most part, as I have planned two more days to visit the more popular country pavilion zones. The grounds are so vast and spread out that it was not possible to get beyond Zone D. It did not help that I took a ferry to the other side to catch a show in the Expo Culture Center at 4pm, only to find out the limited seating meant one must have a ticket, which is free but being on a first come first served basis was long gone by the time I got there. Still, I managed to talk myself into the performing center and missed only 15 minutes of the spectacular show. We also saw another big-production show that mixes dancing with acrobatics at the Entertainment Hall right after lunch in Zone D, preceded by a Shaolin Monks show on an outdoor stage. Several corporate pavilions had long lines so we stayed away. That was our motto for the day - take it easy and pick lines that require less than 20 minutes wait time.

The Oil pavilion appears to be the most popular pavilion in Zone D as the lines were long all day and into the night, so we missed the supposedly amazing 4D show that the weak at heart and pregnant women are advised not to see. Our first pavilion, the closest to No.2 Gate from where we entered, is the Coke pavilion. The highlight of this pavilion is at the end of the visit where everyone gets a small bottle of Coke. The bottle is cute and is a keeper after enjoying the content. The most interesting pavilion we did is the Pavilion of Urban Footprint, one of the Theme Pavilions. In it you will find fine museum pieces from around the world on display. The World Exposition Pavilion is also interesting if you are into the history of Expo. Another pavilion I wanted to visit but missed because we run out of time is the China Railway Pavilion. As you may or may not know, China is fast becoming a world leader in high-speed rail travel. The CSSC Pavilion, short for China State Shipbuilding Cooporation, is also quite interesting. I would not waste time in other corporate pavilions which we chose to visit after dinner when lines got shorter. This include the Japan Industry pavilion, the Cisco pavilion, and the Korea business pavilion - all with long lines during the day. Some pavilions offer two versions to visit, one shorter than the other. The Space Home Pavilion is one and we chose the shorter version because the line was shorter, so it is hard to say if the longer version is worth a visit.

Getting to and from the Expo is very easy. Just take one of the many subway routes near your place of stay and you should be able to transfer your way, if necessary, to one of the gates. As others have pointed out, entry ticket into the China Pavilion is the most coveted item and the most difficult to obtain. At 300,000 plus a day, only less than 1 in 5 can expect to get their hands on a ticket. So, I am fully prepared to enjoy my remaining two days at the Expo without getting into the China pavilion. I'm not going to let that spoil an otherwise spectacular experience. For the photo/video buffs, don't miss the observation deck on the Space Ship, aka Expo Culture Center. You can pretty much see the site in every direction.

There is plenty of place to eat and drink, including Starbucks, and free drinking water is provided throughout the grounds. Just bring an empty bottle (drinks are not allowed into the park) and you are all set!

[starshipdtl]

Bill Cotter, on 17 May 2010 - 03:27 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 agree Bill, but you probably know some media people and could get a press pass thru them. Then you would not have to wait in line. Of course you may be montored by the government and maybe even given a free tour guide observer to moniter your activities.
Also no one has mentioned yet that if you pay thru the nose for a one day tour, you get a pass to the China Pavilion guarenteed.

I am disapointed as I tried to explain to the Chinese organizers that they should use an airline computer organized ticketing program to guarentee that people could see important pavilions without taking time away from visits to other pavilions. A part of that reservation system would be to limit multiple visits to popular pavilions, by the same person.

[marknyc]

I'm leaving for the Fair on July 7 - we have three days to see it. What would people recommend as the top 10 pavilions to see?

I should add that I love corporate exhibits - things like "The Wonderful World of Chemistry" and Futurama. Any blatant commercial stuff like that? =)

Mark

[expoboy]

marknyc, on 24 June 2010 - 04:01 PM, said:

I'm leaving for the Fair on July 7 - we have three days to see it. What would people recommend as the top 10 pavilions to see?

I should add that I love corporate exhibits - things like "The Wonderful World of Chemistry" and Futurama. Any blatant commercial stuff like that? =)

Mark

Yikes, that's a hard one. Forget about the Chinese Pavilion; unless they've changed the practice of handing out tickets to the first 50,000 people to pass through the many gates that day, you'll never get in. Saudi Arabia is pretty awesome but I've read the lines are up to 9 hours now. The SAIC/GM and Oil Industries corporate pavilions are two that I enjoyed; I'd put those on your list. Japan and Korea were both great but, once again, humongous lines. Being a fan of Scandinavian industrial design, I liked Denmark, Sweden and Finland quite a bit and the lines were fairly short when I was there. The UK Seed Cathedral is a must see also and the lines for that seemed to dwindle as the day went on. Luxembourg was interesting with beautiful gardens in its courtyard. Being that I work in the aviation industry, the Civil Aviation/China Eastern pavilion was interesting. As I mentioned before, the US Pavilion, once you get past the dull office/industrial park facade, was a pleasant surprise. If you like wine, Chile's pavilion was interesting and there was a good wine bar near the exit.
My suggestion is to be on the Metro around 8 a.m., buy your tickets at the gate then be prepared to wait in long lines to enter the fairgrounds proper.

[CofP33]

We just returned from Expo 2010 and were able to get "Golden Tickets" (tickets to the China Pavilion) by lining up at Gate 1 around 6am. We actually arrived on another day at a bit after 7am and received them as well. Unless things change, if you are one of the first 30-40 or so in line, you should get one. The wait in line was not bad, except for right at 7:00 when they open up the security line area there was a moment of people trying to rush the line. Once in the security line area there was no way to cut in line. Many people were sitting on little plastic stools and eating or chatting. That area is covered and there is a bit of cooling mist to keep people comfortable.

They were handing the tickets for the China Pavilion out as you came through the turnstile. Ours were for 2:30-3:30pm. Even with the tickets, we had to wait 90 minutes or so in line before we actually entered the pavilion. As with most of the pavilions, it was interesting, but not all sure it was worth the hassle. (Wish we could have passed on our second pair of tickets.)

We spent four day at the fair, but missed seeing many of the national pavilions due to lines. Crowds were up to the 500,000 level for some of the days we were in Shanghai (up to 400,000 one day we were at the Expo). We did enjoy spending much of our last day on the Puxi side, where things were a little quieter, especially in the Case Building area.

The Expo was definitely worth going to. The exteriors of the pavilions are more interesting that at Aichi and are eye-catching all lit up at night. Don't feel like you have to see all of the pavilions to make it worthwhile. For many of them we thought afterwards that they really wasn't worth the time we waited in line.

We were told that hotels are pretty well booked in Shanghai. It is pretty easy to take the metro and/or a taxi to the fairgrounds, so I think anywhere you can find a descent place and price should work.

[expoboy]

Great to hear you got into the China Pavilion. Just curious; why didn't you hand your second set of unused tickets to someone once you were past the gates? Is there some prohibition against doing so? I'm sure the lucky recipients would have been very grateful. Using Gate 1 was probably partly why you got those tickets. We entered through Gate 6 (nearest the China Pavilion) each day and never had any luck. Gate 1 (nearest the Expo Museum) must be less frequented so your chances were probably better there.

[vladimir schimkewitsch]

Thank you all for keeping us updated on this amazing Expo. These posts are very interesting to me. Please keep us all informed with everything that is happening there. Thank you.