Expo 2010

Expo 2010
Shanghai World Expo.svg
Expo 2010 logo
Traditional Chinese 中國2010年上海世界博覽會
Simplified Chinese 中国2010年上海世界博览会
alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 上海世博會
Simplified Chinese 上海世博会

Expo 2010, officially Expo 2010 Shanghai China (simplified Chinese: 中国2010年上海世界博览会; pinyin: Zhōngguó Èrlíngyīlíng Nián Shànghǎi Shìjìe Bólǎnhuì) is being held on both banks of the Huangpu River in the city of Shanghai, China, from May 1 to October 31, 2010. It is a World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition is "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as the "next great world city".[1] The expo Logo features the Chinese character 世 ('world', Chinese "shì") modified to represent three people together with the 2010 date. It is the most expensive Expo in the history of the world's fairs. The Shanghai World Expo is also the largest World's Fair site ever at 5.28 square km.[2]

More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organizations have registered to participate in the Shanghai World Expo, the largest ever. China expects to receive almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world to come and visit the World Expo. More than 70–100 million visitors are expected to visit the expo, which would make it the most visited in history.[3][4]

Contents

History

Early participation and hosting

Liang Qichao, one of the many scholars to write about the possibility of hosting an expo

Shanghai has been one of the main cities envisioned to host the expos for some time. Many scholars have written about the possibility and made suggestions in books. Unofficial participation in fairs outside China have happened since 1851. In 1910 the Qing dynasty decided to host China's first fair with the 1910 Nanyang industrial exposition.[5]

Selection process

Shanghai scored the highest in each of the four rounds of voting at the 132nd Meeting of the International Exhibitions Bureau in Prince's Palace of Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco, with Yeosu, South Korea maintaining second place. Yeosu later won the bid to host Expo 2012, a three-month specialized world expo.

132nd Meeting of the International Exhibitions Bureau[6]
December 3, 2002, in Prince's Palace of Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
City Nation Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Shanghai  China 36 38 44 54
Yeosu  South Korea 28 34 32 34
Moscow  Russia 12 10 12 -
Querétaro  Mexico 6 6 - -
Wrocław  Poland 6 - - -

Organization

Better City, Better Life, the theme of Expo 2010

The site of the event is the Nanpu Bridge–Lupu Bridge region in the center of Shanghai along both sides of the Huangpu River. The area of the Expo 2010 covers 5.28 km2.[2]

After winning the bid to host the Expo in 2002, Shanghai began a monumental task to reshape the city. More than AU$48billion[7] was spent for the preparation, more than the cost of cleaning up Beijing in the preparations for the Olympics in 2008. Shanghai began clearing 2.6 square kilometres along the Huangpu River; that involved moving 18,000 families and 270 factories, including the Jiang Nan Shipyard, which employs 10,000 workers.

Six new subway lines have opened between 2008 and 2010. Four thousand brand new taxis have been added in the month preceding Expo2010 opening. The city night lights have been once again improved, using energy-saving LED technology.

Today, the expo site is crowded with national pavilions, sculpture gardens, shops, and a sports arena and performing arts centre which is shaped like a flying saucer.

Shanghai has trained more than 1.7 million volunteers and adopted Olympic-level security measures, adding metal detectors to subway entrances and screening cars entering the city.

For the first time, Shanghai Expo will also feature an online version of the expo grounds featuring 3D renderings of the expo grounds, and a 3D version of the pavilion interior and offerings.

Participation

The World EXPO has provided an unparalleled opportunity for the tourism industry. During this year’s Spring Festival, Shanghai received 2.79 million tourists, an increase of 12 percent from the past year, resulting in record high numbers of visitors. Overall Shanghai’s tourism revenue achieved an increase of 13 percent year on year during Spring Festival, resulting in RMB 2.1 billion in total revenue. [8]

Flags of participating countries waving in front of the China pavilion

192 countries and 50 organizations registered to participate in the Shanghai World Expo. This was a record number.

Opening ceremony

Fireworks in the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held in the evening of April 30, 2010, with the attendance of dozens of world leaders.[9] The ceremony consisted of an indoor and outdoor component. Jackie Chan, Lang Lang, and Andrea Bocelli were among the performers in the indoor component. The event featured an outdoor display of fireworks, lasers, and dancing fountains after a performance by singers and dancers.[10][11] The outdoor ceremony was produced by David Atkins Enterprises. 6,000 LED balls were floated into the Huangpu river representing fish. Organisers called the outdoor show "the largest searchlight display in history, the largest collection of multi-coloured laser firepower ever assembled in one place, the world’s largest LED screen, one of the largest dancing water fountains ever, and the “largest light show ever attempted”."[12] President Hu Jintao inaugurated the opening of the Shanghai World Expo.

Expo music

Performances

About 20,000 performances are staged between May 1 and October 31 in 2010. Many singers have been in the expo song writing and preparation process since 2008. Some singers include Alan Tam, Gigi Leung, Stephanie Cheng, Khalil Fong, Hacken Lee, Denise Ho, Hins Cheung and Vincy Chan.[13]

Theme songs

Mascot

Haibao

Haibao is the mascot of the Shanghai Expo 2010. It means treasure of the sea. It is based on the Chinese character for man or person, "人". Some say that Haibao resembles Gumby,[16] but the expo's secretariat said that it is an original design chosen through a competition and they had never heard of Gumby.[17]

Expo Axis

Expo Axis at night

The main building - called "Expo Axis" - has the world's largest membrane construction[18] and was built by SBA (architects) and Knippers Helbig (structural engineers). The building consists of some steel-glass funnels with a 1,000 m long membrane construction. The main construction was completed at the end of 2009.[19]

Pavilions

Theme pavilions

There are five central theme pavilions at the Expo 2010, exploring different aspects of urban development. They are called Urban Footprints, Urban Planet, Urban Dwellers, Urban Beings, and Urban Dreams.[20]

National pavilions

National pavilions include: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium-EU, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Eguunbat, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pacific Pavilion, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.

Corporate pavilions

Corporate pavilions include: Aurora Pavilion, Broad Pavilion, China Railway, China State Shipbuilding Corporation Pavilion, Coca-Cola Pavilion, Cisco Pavilion, Information and Communication Pavilion, Oil Pavilion, Japanese Industry, PICC, Private Enterprises Joint Pavilion, Republic of Korea Business, SAIC-GM Pavilion, Shanghai Corporate Joint Pavilion, Space Pavilion, Space Home Pavilion, State Grid, and Vanke Pavilion.[21]

Cancellation of Maglev Train route

To improve intercity traffic, officials in Beijing announced plans on March 6, 2006, to begin construction of a second commercial maglev train system in Shanghai by the end of 2006. The planned Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train would have connected Hangzhou as a west extension of the existing line and was planned for completion in time for Expo 2010.[22] However, after massive public protest and the fall of the project's champion, Chen Liangyu, to corruption charges, the project was put on indefinite hold by the Chinese government in May 2007 to study "electromagnetic radiation concerns".[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ China Rules the World at Expo 2010
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Shanghai World Expo showcases China's soft power". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iyDIJZop3_PvdzHRLFc8vCcxLlPwD9FA07P00. 
  3. ↑ Chinese FM says World Expo a diplomacy priority
  4. ↑ China to host world's first green energy expo next month
  5. ↑ HK.huaxia.com. "HK.huaxia.com." 南洋勸業會：南京一個世紀前的世博會. Retrieved on 2010-05-08.
  6. ↑ English.peopledaily.com.cn. "English.peopledaily.com.cn." Shanghai Wins World Expo 2010 Bid. Retrieved on 2010-05-08.
  7. ↑ . http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/youve-come-a-long-way-baby-shanghai-finds-its-big-feat-20100430-tzbt.html. 
  8. ↑ Knight Frank China Knight Frank Research, Shanghai Retail Quarterly Report, Q1 2010
  9. ↑ "Chinese officials open Shanghai Expo". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043001155.html. 
  10. ↑ "World Expo Aims To Woo Chinese Customers". Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/2010-World-Expo-Shanghai-Fair-Showcases-189-Countries/Article/201004415623116?lpos=World_News_Second_Home_Page_Feature_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15623116_2010_World_Expo%3A_Shanghai_Fair_Showcases_189_Countries. 
  11. ↑ "Shanghai marks comeback with Expo extravaganza". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGlI66t_-GaZT9xSgwXHbqXT13aQD9FDFR1G2. 
  12. ↑ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bff10556-5463-11df-b75d-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss
  13. ↑ En.expo2010.cn. "En.expo2010.cn." Hong Kong musicians invited to write Expo tunes. Retrieved on 2010-05-17.
  14. ↑ "Expo song released for 30-day countdown". Xinhua News Agency. April 1, 2010. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-04/01/c_13233648.htm. Retrieved 21 April 2010. 
  15. ↑ mainichi (April 19, 2010), 岡本真夜：上海万博ＰＲ曲に盗作された疑いの「そのままの君でいて」が正式決定. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  16. ↑ "上海万博：また盗作騒ぎ　マスコット「ガンビーに似てる」". The Mainichi Daily News. 24 April 2010. http://mainichi.jp/select/world/news/20100424k0000e030038000c.html. Retrieved 24 April 2010. (Japanese)
  17. ↑ "上海万博：マスコットのコピー横行　「そもそも米キャラの盗作」". The Mainichi Daily News. 24 April 2010. http://mainichi.jp/select/world/news/20100424dde035030059000c.html. Retrieved 24 April 2010. (Japanese)
  18. ↑ http://www.archdaily.com/57749/shanghai-2010-boulevard-knippers-helbig/
  19. ↑ Shanghai Daily; 31.12.2009
  20. ↑ An Introduction to the Theme Pavilions of the Expo 2010. In: Shanghai Expo Magazine. Issue 6/2009.
  21. ↑ Pavilions
  22. ↑ Xinhua (March 6, 2006), Maglev railway to link Hangzhou, Shanghai. Retrieved March 6, 2006.
  23. ↑ Lu Wenjun, Shanghai will complete a metro network of 400 km before Shanghai Expo, Sina News, July 16, 2008.

External links

Preceded by
Expo 2008		 World Expositions
2010		 Succeeded by
Expo 2012
Expo 2010
Shanghai · List of participants at the Expo Shanghai 2010
2010 Shanghai Expo opening ceremony • Expo 2010 pavilions • Expo Axis • Haibao • History of Shanghai expo • Right Here Waiting for You 2010 • Seed Cathedral • Shanghai Arena