First Day at Expo - 21 May 2010. It was just before 7am when this shot was taken. These people were queuing to secure entry tickets for the China Pavilion.
Before we could join the previous queue, we had to first queue here to get our Expo entrance tickets. Ticket booths open at 8am.
A guy examining the black market tickets sold by this lady wearing black jacket. Don't be surprised if these men actually got conned! She was not the only one doing this "business" and they dare doing so in front of the ticket booths where thousands of eyes are watching!
At last our entrance tickets for the day! Each day ticket costs RMB160.
Long queues at ticket booths
Entrance No. 6 where the Expo Axis, the main building of the Expo, is. This is the entrance with the biggest crowd. So it is best to avoid entering through here.
Canopies at Expo Axis
Waiting for security clearance which took us more than an hour. Lighters and water are not allowed to bring in!
Unbelievably huge crowd!!
A nice sculpture named "Our Hearts Flying" in front of Theme Pavilion. A streamlined ribbon, linking people throughout the world with love, is proud to voice the volunteers' wish - "Our City, Your Joy"
The first pavilion that we managed to get in without the need to queue!
New Zealand Pavilion with its theme - City of Nature : Living between Land and Sky
Cambodia Pavilion with its theme : Cultural Life in the City.
Malaysia Pavilion with its theme - One Malaysia, Harmonious City. The design is based on a Malaysian hut structure. Quite nice!
Singapore Pavilion with its musical box design. Theme - Urban Symphony.
Look at the queues everywhere!
The Singapore shop showcasing Singapore products and souvenirs.
Get a taste of Singapore food here. They sell chicken rice, laksa, satay etc.
Philippines Pavilion with its theme : Performing Cities.
Thailand Pavilion with its theme - Thainess, Sustainable Way of Life
Australia Pavilion with its theme - ImagiNation
Portugal Pavilion with its theme - A Square for the World
Slovakia Pavilion with its theme : The World of Humanity
Belarus Paviliona and its theme - Culture Diversity in the City; Economic Well-Being in the City; Scientific and Technical Innovations in the City; Improvement of Living Condition; Urbanization
Czech Pavilion with its theme : Fruits of Civilisation.
Bosnia and Herzecegovina - Whole Country, One City.
European Joint Pavilion I
Norway Pavilion with its theme : Powered by Nature.
Ukraine Pavilion with its theme : Building on the Past, Shaping Our Future.
Turkey Pavilion with its theme : The Cradle of Civilisation.
Ireland Pavilion with its theme - Relationship between Urban and Rural, Man-made and Natural.
Greece Pavilion with its theme - POLIS, The Living City.
Sweden Pavilion with its theme : Spirit of Innovation.
Denmark Pavilion with its theme : Welfairytales.
Latvia Pavilion with its theme - Patterns of Forests, Oceans, Lands, Sky and Wind.
Estonia with its theme - Save City.
Finland Pavilion.
We managed to catch the last part of the day parade while in the European Zone.
Spain Pavilion with its theme - From the City of Our Parents to the City of Our Children
Belgium EU Pavilion with its theme - Movement and Interaction.
Serbia Pavilion with its theme - City Code
Switzerland Pavilion with its theme - Rural and Urban Interaction.
Visitors get a chance for a cable car ride here!
Poland Pavilion with its theme - Paper-cutting
Germany Pavilion with its theme - Balancity.
France Pavilion with its theme - The Sensual City.
The UK Pavilion with its theme - Building on the Past, Shaping Our Future
Italy Pavilion with its theme - City of Man.
Luxembourg Pavilion with its theme - Small is Beautiful.
A nice wall structure in the European Zone.
The Africa Pavilion.
Visitors getting the passport stamps at the booth.
Egypt Pavilion and behind, on the right, South Africa Pavilion with its theme - Rise of a Modern Economy, ke Nako!
Angola Pavilion with its theme - Angola Ensures a Better Life.
Libya and Nigeria Pavilions.
Lithunia Pavilion with its theme - Blossoming Cities.
Russia Pavilion with its theme - New Russia, City and Citizen.
Croatia Pavilion with its theme - Diversity of Cities, Diversity of Life.
Romania Pavilion with its apple-like structure, and theme - Greenopolis. Nice live classical performance while we were there but as a Singaporean, I won't be interested in this at all, if you know what I mean!
Austria Pavilion with its theme - Feel the Harmony.
Performers at the Austria Pavilion being interviewed by the media.
In the evening, we decided to queue to get into the Singapore Pavilion. It took us more than an hour to finally get in!
Not sure what they are trying to show here!
Lots of goof information here but I wonder how many actually bothered to take a closer look into these data!
View from the Rooftop Garden of the Singapore Pavilion. Looks at the queue!!
Rooftop Garden.
Queue for the Thailand Pavilion, also viewed from Rooftop Garden.
Dendrobium Singapore Shanghai Symphony which was exclusively created to commemorate Singapore's participation in the Shanghai Expo 2010. This jade and gold-hued hybrid is a symbolism of Singapore and Shanghai’s vibrant offerings, and a reflection of the two cities’ strong bilateral relations
Malaysia Pavilion with its lighting at night. Nice!
Singapore Pavilion - Dim and Uninteresting!
The elevated pedestrian walkway connecting to the Expo Axis. A misty evening. At the background is the China Pavilion.
Lu Pu Da Qiao. 泸浦大桥
One of the six glass funnels at the Expo Axis.
Macau Pavilion. The design was inspired by rabbit lanterns, which were popular in southern China in ancient times
Taiwan Pavilion with its theme - Mountain, Water, Heart and Lantern. Wonderful lantern light show!
Cultural Centre, seens from Expo Axis.
Expo Axis.
China Pavilion, seen from Expo Axis.
On our way out... end of day 1 @ Expo.
Day 2 visit to the Expo - 24 May 2010. Gate 7 of Expo. This time, we decided to arrive at the Expo after 1030am to avoid the crowds.
It was a breeze to go through the security check this time.
Lots of washrooms right after the entrance.
Another crowded day.
The first Pavilion that we got in for the day - The Belarus Pavilion. Rather impressive. We learned that this relatively small country in Eastern Europe (about 3 times the size of Singapore) is rich in arts of culture. If I remember correctly, it has 28 museums and more than 120 theatres!
In the Bulgaria Pavilion, one of the pavilions in the European Joint Pavilion II. Its theme : City of Shared Heritage.
This is a popular spot for photo shoot in the Bulgaria Pavilion.
Montenegro Pavilion, another pavilion in Joint European Pavilion II.
Caribbean Pavilion with its theme - Many Islands, Different Experiences.
Canada Pavilion with its theme : The Living City: Inclusive, Sustainable, Creative
Very long queue but it was moving rather fast and smoothly. We queued for about half an hour to get in.
A very good and large video screen, capable of showing video of 180 degrees view. This video is definitely far more interesting that the MTV shown in the Singapore Pavilion!
Another view of the Canada Pavilion. The Pavilion is a C-shape structure.
Lunch at the Canada Pavilion. Vegetable wrap and chocolate drink. I like the vegetable wrap but the chocolate drink was lousy.
Poutine and coffee. Poutine is a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curd, covered with brown gravy and sometimes additional ingredients. It is a diner staple which originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada. Good!
The USA Pavilion with its theme - Rise to the Challenge.
Many young children came visiting the Expo too! Not sure what's the point of bringing them here.
Columbia Pavilion with its theme - Columbia is Passion, The City is Activity.
Peru Pavilion with its theme - Food Breeds the City.
Brazil Pavilion with its theme - Pulsing Cities: Feel the Life of Brazilian Cities. The large LED screen allows visitors to play interactive football games with virtual football players.
See the crowds! The weather was getting hot....
This shot was taken from the elevated pedestrian walkway.
Elevated pedestrian walkway that connects to the Expo Axis.
We decided to go on a ride on one of these that take us to the Expo Axis. Each ride costs RMB10 per person.
Here we are at the Expo Axis again.
A short performance at the Expo Axis. Not sure which country they are from though.
Macau Pavilion and Hong Kong Pavilion, seen from Expo Axis.
Macau Pavilion.
China Pavilion, a permanent building at the Expo.
The main entrance of the China Pavilion. It is disappointing that we did not get to go in!
A bronze sculpture named "Never-Ending Life" in front of the China Pavilion.
Oman Pavilion with its theme - An Evolving Journey.
Israel Pavilion (a seashell structure) with its theme - Innovation for Better Life
Pakistan Pavilion with its theme - Harmony in Diversity
United Arab Emirates Pavilion with its theme - Power of Dream.
Qatar Pavilion with its theme - My City: Present Ambitions and Future Expectations
Another view of China Pavilion, seen from another elevated pedestrian walkway.
Lebanon Pavilion with its theme - The Tell-tale Cities.
This is one that I like very much - The Republic of Korea (South Korea) Pavilion with its theme : Friendly City, Colourful Life. We didn't get to go in though.
The characteristic of The Republic of Korea Pavilion - all the walls are decorated with basic letters of the ROK alphabets which give a strong sense of national identity. Uniquely Korea!
Tons of people waiting to get into the pavilion. See that lady with a child on the right? Not sure how she sneaked in and sat there. The sad thing is the staff actually gave in to her and of course, she managed to jump queue!
Very lively traditional performance while we were there. Thanks to my 20x zoom camera that I was able to take this shot from far!!
Uniform sewn with ROK alphabets. Nice!!
We went into these few pavilions - Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as the queues were considerably short and moving very fast.
Theme of Myanmar Pavilion - Better Urbanization with Harmonized Eco-System.
See the uncultured behaviour of the visitors!
Laos Pavilion with its theme : City of Charm - Luang Prabang Charming World Heritage Town.
The highlight of the exhibit in Laos Pavilion - a model of Vat Xieng Thong Temple, the largest and oldest of the monastery in Luang Prabang that was built in 1560. This temple is one of the most elegant and best-preserved examples of temple architecture in Luang Prabang.
Woodcraft products sold in the Myanmar Pavilion.
This is the most impressive. An fully automatic major table made of Laos wood but the invention was by Chinese. This set is selling at RMB98,000 or about S$20,000.
Vietnam Pavilion with its theme - 1000-Year History of Hanoi.
Little did I expect this small pavilion to be impressive. It was like visiting an art museum!
The facade of the 1,000-square-meter Vietnam pavilion appears like a river and and building was constructed largely by bamboos.
Uzbekistan Pavilion with its theme - The Crossroads of Civilisation.
Kazakhstan Pavilion with its theme - Astana, The Heart of Eurasia.
The Japan Pavilion with its theme - Harmony of the Hearts, Harmony of the Skills. The exterior was not impressive but it is another super popular pavilion. This was one pavilion that I was very keen to get in but had to give up as the waiting time was more than four hours!
See the queues!
Free connecting ferry service between the east (Pudong) and the west (Puxi) sides of the Expo
Expo Cultural Centre, seen from the ferry.
Lu Pu Da Qiao 泸浦大桥
Japan Pavilion.
Glass funnels of Expo Axis. There are six of them. The nightly light show of the glass funnels is best viewed from this end.
Here we are - Puxi Expo site. Republic of Korea Business Pavilion with its theme - Green City, Green Life.
Pavilion of Footprint. There was no queue in the early evening when we arrived and the exhibits are museum-quality. I would say a not-to-be-missed at the Expo.
City with Open Arms. Many of the exhibits are on loaned from museums around the world and photography of these exhibits are not allowed.
Ancient Bell set 编钟古韵。 3-minute performance in every hour.
See the two performers behind the bells?
City of Troy
By the time we finished off at the Footprint pavilion, the queue at the Japanese Industry Pavilion as become very short but my two legs were too tired to walk further, so we headed back to the hotel.
Day 3 Visit to the Expo - 25 May 2010.
We arrived at about 11am and just like the previous day, it was a breeze going through the security check at Gate 3 of Puxi Expo site.
Our first stop for the day - World Expo Museum.
A short video on the history of Expo and its mascots.
Some of the Expo Mascots.
Expo Music Box and it was playing Blue Danube.
A "pet" greeting the guests at the Japanese Industry Pavilion.
The theme of this pavilion - Wonderful Life from Japan. This was our second targeted stop for the day but....
... we had to give up finally. Look at the sign, two and a half hours of waiting for those in the front of the queue but 3 hours for those at the back (another sign at the back). Sigh, if only I could walk further the night before!
Vanke Pavilion with its name "2049" and theme - Possibility by Respect. This is the corporate pavilion of Vanke, a top Chinese property developer.
China Aviation Pavilion with its theme : "Harmonious City, Human and Outer Space"
Corporate Pavilion Square.
See that Chinese name : 创意大厨房（meaning Creative Big Kitchen). I thought this is a pavilion showcasing some sort of creative and futuristic kitchen concept but alas, it is actually a food court!
One of the Cases Joint Pavilion.
In one of the Cases Joint Pavilion. This modern Korean cultural performance (Sachoom) caught the attention of a big crowd.
Another attraction in this Pavilion.
Another Cases Joint Pavilion. Not crowded at all here.
Hangzhou Case Pavilion in the Cases Joint Pavilion.
Suzhou Pavilion, also in one of the Cases Joint Pavilion.
What a perfect timing to catch a performance!
Pavilion of Future, another interesting pavilion!
Relatively short queues as compared to many other pavilions.
A huge video display that looks like a book. Impressive!
Here are the illustrations of the 8 fundamentals to urban planning.
Networks
Sustainability
Harmony
Beauty
Basic Needs
Nature
Housing
... and Opportunity.
A video showing Freiburg, a Green city in the south-east of Germany.
This large wall panele the wishes of young students for the cities in the future.
Communication Tower
25m-high High Definition LED screen showing the wishes of the young students. Fantastic graphics!
This sections showcases some of the latest technology.
Intelligent Biochemical Detection Toilet. I like this!
Time to head back to Pudong Expo site for the night scene. One of our targets at Pudong - Expo Cultural Centre. Looks at the crowd waiting to board the ferry. I was so fearful that a stampede might happen! This reminds me of my very first trip to China (Shenzhen) in 1995.
A full view of The Republic of Korea Pavilion, seen upon arrival into Pudong Expo site by ferry.
The Saudi Arabia Pavilion with its theme : Vitality of Life. This is another super popular pavilion. 6-8 hours of waiting! This is another pavilion that we failed to get in.
Indian Pavilion with its theme : Cities of Harmony
Expo Cultural Centre that looks like a flying saucer.
Nepal Pavilion
This pavilion has the most wonder wood carvings!
Many people offered money on the exhibits. This is just one of them.
More money here..
Money..
Money again.
These are for sales
Main entrance of the Cultural centre. We didn't expect to be told that we had to wait for 1.5 hours to get into the observatory deck! We gave up.
A skating rink in the Cultural Centre.
There is also a Cinema City.
Time to pamper ourselves. A lovely meal at Blissful Butterfly in the Cultural Centre with beautiful night scene from the restaurant. This is the best vegetarian meal we have ever had but expensive. It costs us RMB990（for two） 前菜 ： 三围碟
黄焖鱼翅羹
小主菜 ： 飘香黄椒扒。
主菜 ： 白灼时蔬
香辣牛蒡排
主食 “ 炒饭
巴西菇炖鸡盅
点心 ： 美点双辉
季节水果
Thanks to this vegetarian meal! We got into the observatory deck straight from the restaurant after our dinner! :D
Beautiful scene from the cultural centre observatory deck.
Good thing never seemed to last long. It was only 930pm and we were that we had to leave!
Shooting continues after we got down. All these shots were taken using a tripod that we brought along on all three days.
Saying goodbye to Shanghai Expo.....
It was about 11pm by the time we left. Oh dear, a long way out to the gate to catch a cab! THE END.
