Crowds flock to first day of World Expo 2010 - Summary

Shanghai - Crowds poured into the World Expo 2010 site in Shanghai on Saturday as the six-month event opened to the public following a spectacular opening ceremony on Friday night.

Tens of thousands of people were queuing before the gates opened.

The organizers said they had sold or distributed more than 350,000 tickets for the opening day.

China said earlier that it aimed to attract an average of around 400,000 visitors daily, or 70 million by the time the expo closes on October 31.

More than 20 heads of state and government attended Friday's spectacular opening of the expo, which featured fireworks and music and dance performances.

In his opening remarks before the ceremonies began, Chinese President Hu Jintao promised a "great and unforgettable" event.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso opened the EU pavilion at the expo on Saturday, calling it "a sign for the special relationship between the EU and China."

"The EU is extremely committed to the special relationship with China ... for better friendship, respect and understanding between Europe and China," said Barroso, who was scheduled to meet Hu later Saturday.

Around 200 countries and 50 organizations have built pavilions on the 5-square-kilometer Expo site straddling Shanghai's Huangpu River.

Some 20,000 performances are scheduled, such as China's famous Shaolin Temple fighting monks and "Cha," a musical celebration of tea culture.

Visitors also have to queue to tour the individual pavilions. The US, UK, Australian, Japanese, Thai and Spanish pavilions were among the most popular during the trial opening days last month.

This year's expo is focused on the challenges of urbanization under the slogan "Better City, Better Life."

Shanghai's 18 million inhabitants put it among the world's 10 largest cities.

With pavilions costing tens of millions of dollars, exhibitors seek to gain returns by encouraging tourism and other investment.

Analysts estimate that setting up the Shanghai event cost some 54 billion dollars, including major infrastructure projects carried out by the city government.

The expo experienced some teething problems during trial openings last month, with long queues forming at security checkpoints and pavilions, and chaos on a nearby subway line.

The organizers said the problems had been solved in time for the official launch.

In a message published in state media on Saturday, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, secretary-general of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE), said he expected the expo to be a "magnificent experience that will be remembered for years to come."

Security is tight in Shanghai, with tens of thousands of police deployed and some two million "civic volunteers" on the streets.

The Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Defenders said Shanghai authorities had sent at least 10 local rights activists to labor camps and detained or placed under house arrest dozens of others to prevent them staging protests during the expo.

World Expositions began in the 19th century as celebrations of scientific and artistic creativity, and showcases for the world's finest industrial and cultural products.

Shanghai is the first World Expo since Hanover in 2000, while the 2005 expo in Japan's Aichi was named an "international" event. Italy's Milan is scheduled to host the next World Expo in 2015.

The first expo was London's Great Exhibition of Industries of All Nations in 1851. The Shanghai expo is the first one hosted by a developing nation.

Since 1928, the Paris-based BIE has approved and supervised expos "so that they may continue to educate the public and promote innovation in the service of human progress."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321488,crowds-flock-to-first-day-of-world-expo-2010--summary.html.