Looking for the China of pagodas, farmers in rice paddies and Mao-suited masses pedaling bicycles through grim city streets? You won't find such scenes here when Shanghai's World Expo opens on May 1. What you will find: A giant octopus, an alpine meadow and an apple-shaped “green city,” among dozens of pavilions in all shapes, colors and sizes featuring a kaleidoscope of visions for the Expo's theme: “Better City, Better Life.” And, of course, millions of other visitors. Shanghai's Expo is likely to be the largest World's Fair ever, with some 70 million visitors expected to attend in the six months before it closes on Oct. 31. In Pudong, on the east side of the river, where the national pavilions and most big facilities are located, giant white funnels will provide shade, channel sunlight to underground walkways and collect rainwater for recycling. In Puxi, on the west side, a collection of local and corporate pavilions will demonstrate “urban best practices” focused on sustainable urban technologies and heritage preservation. Solar panels installed in various Expo buildings will create a 5-megawatt solar power system — China's largest. Zero-emission electric vehicles will be used within the Expo grounds. Expo organizers say most of the materials used to make the pavilions will be recycled. Like the Beijing Olympics, the Expo will leave a legacy of new landmarks, the most eye-catching the 226-foot-high (69 meters) China Pavilion — a scarlet structure some say looks like a mahjong table. Though imposing, it's much shorter than the 984-foot (300 meters) Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition. A clamshell-shaped cultural center that will seat up to 18,000 people, a vast conference center and a new stadium also will permanently join the forests of skyscrapers lining the Huangpu. Hoping for an escape from the crowds? The Swiss pavilion features a 4-minute chairlift ride above a rooftop alpine meadow. The United Arab Emirates has a pavilion shaped like sand dunes, Romania's a green apple, Macao's a jade rabbit lantern. Saudi Arabia's spaceship pavilion, which features desert date palms and a 1,600 square-meter cinema screen, stands almost fully completed, gleaming against muddy construction rubble at adjacent unfinished sites. The Saudi pavilion is the most expensive at $146 million, while Australia is spending $76 million and France is shelling out $68 million. Whether it's Belgian chocolates, Japanese sushi or hot, prickly Sichuan cuisine, the Expo will offer a smorgasbord of choices, with nearly 200 outlets able to feed some 40,000 people at a time, Expo organizers say. Outside the Expo site, the city has built a new airport terminal, subway lines, expressways, tunnels and bridges to accommodate hundreds of thousands of extra visitors a day. No detail seems too small — public signs sporting mangled English have been replaced, new awnings hung on colonial-era mansions and 10 roly-poly baby pandas flown in from western China to amuse guests who venture out to the city's zoos. Still, the realities of actually attending the Expo are bound to be daunting. The $28 (190 yuan) tickets for May 1 opening day are already sold out. Touts are selling them online for triple or more the $23 (160 yuan) price for a non-peak day. Since there is no vehicle parking around the Expo site, visitors will be navigating security checks and jam-packed buses and subways to get in and out. The level of crowding, especially on peak days when up to 800,000 visitors are expected, may exceed anything most people have ever experienced. Organizers say they will have a system to warn against entering when the area is already too crowded. At least the Expo site is spacious — about the size of 990 football fields. Universal expos, like the ones in Aichi and Shanghai, are held every five years, with smaller so-called “international” expos held in between. The last international expo was held in Zaragoza, Spain, in 2008.
