Expo 2010 Shanghai, China

We had an opportunity to spend a day at the World Expo in Shanghai



It is on a large site with pavillions on both sides of the Huongpo River . We thought that we had left our hotel in plenty of time. There are numerous entrances to the Expo site but our group had decided to take one of the Water Gates.



While we arrived at 9am there were already 100's of people ahead of us. We were told that tourists can arrange for scheduled times to visit the China pavillion and our assigned time was 10:30am. Security is very thorough at all of the entrances. There are chain link fences to herd the crowd and before you can enter the terminal you have to proceed through security like you would find at an airport. NO photos are allowed during this process where you have to put bags and purses through scanners and you are patted down for contriband items. There is an extensive list of items not allowed which includes NO bottled beverages.

After you are security cleared you enter the cruise ship terminal to await the next ship which will cruise down the Huongpo on its way to the actual Expo site which takes around 45 minutes.



These are large 3 level ships with a beautiful spiral staircase to the second level. As you float down the river you get to see the waterfront for which Shanghai is famous



By the time we arrive at the dock and make our way to the China Pavillion it is obvious that we will not be able to get in due to the massive crowds. We take our place at the end of the line but it is futile as it is now past our appointed time and we were told that we had at least a 3 hour wait.


(China pavillion, Expo 2010 Shanghai)

Not wishing to waste our time in line-ups we took the free internal transit system and found our way to the East side of the site



The weather started out overcast and cloudy with spitting rain


(Saudi Arabia, I think, to resemble sand dunes)

As you are not allowed to bring in outside bottle water, there are many water stations on site where you can refill your water bottles



I don't know what this was but it looked neat



We are now walking with purpose and trying to find the Canadian pavillion



We were told that if we flash our Canadian passports then we will be allowed to "skip" the line and just go on inside

We finally find our way there and it was a pleasure to speak to the Canadian Rep who was from Vancouver and spoke perfect English without a Chinese accent. She radioed ahead to her associate to let us through . If felt like we had arrived home

We stop to admire some familiar colours



Inside the Canada pavillion



we are treated to a simple audio visual display



it was very dark inside and you cannot stop to take a photo because of the crowds behind who do not expect you to be stopping



Once inside I managed to find a place along the side and bump up the ISO a bit



To tell you the truth I was a little disappointed at the Canadian content. I thought that Expo was to promote your Country by showing photos to entice you to visit and spend your hard earned money . What a lot of money we have spent to build this single purpose building to be abandoned after Expo closes.

I also don't understand the slide show and why we have panorama photos posted of a cemetery, or why we have a photo taken inside the Ontario Produce Market . I think we blew it. There should have been a stunning photo taken from each province. There was none from Newfoundland, or Nova Scotia. None from the Rocky Mountains or the expanse of the prairies showing the vastness of our great land. What a waste of our Canadian taxpayer's money by also showing animated cartoons instead of the Beauty of British Columbia. I just don't understand who made these decisions

After our continuous diet of Chinese fare over the past couple of weeks, it was refreshing to settle down to a $5.00 plate of French Fries



As we did not have enough time to see everything, we only visited pavillions with short or non-existant line-ups


(Pavillion of the Americas)


(Costa Rica)


(Argentina)





We found the United States Pavillion but by now we were tired from walking



and were tired of line-ups, and we were hungry. We were thinking that if they let us in with our Canadian passports then we would try to get in but we didn't try

We went looking for food instead



we found the Chinese equivalent of McDonalds with Chinese fast food. It was cheap, hot and good. Food is prepared in bowls which stack and they have combos



I had the curry beef with rice, brocolli and custard. Not bad for under $50. yuan /RMB , which is less than $8.00 for both meals