Shanghai is shining and it’s not just because the summer sun is beaming over China’s financial capital. This bustling metropolis has Expo ‘fever’ with a record number of people from around the globe enjoying the first-ever world exposition to be organised in a developing country.
Spread over a 5.28 ha. well landscaped site located on both sides of the Huangpu River in central Shanghai, Expo 2010 Shanghai China opened its turnstiles on May 1 for six months of education, enlightenment and fun.
In late June when I visited the Expo more than 20 million people had already strolled across the spacious and tidy site. The final figure is targeted to top 70 million!
Themed “Better City, Better Life”, Expo 2010 has attracted governments and peoples of the world to “discuss cities’ cultural achievements, development practices and advanced concepts, explore brand-new housing, living and working models in the new century and showcase interesting examples of sustainable development and harmonious society”.
More than 245 countries and corporate sponsors are participating in the first world exposition to focus on the many issues of the city.
This important topic is dealt with in pavilions that range from the spectacular to the sublime. One of the most remarkable things I discovered about the Expo is the architectural styling of the pavilions and the diversity of their decorations.
For instance, the United Arab Emirates built a rose red structure that looks like a sand dune while the Swiss pavilion has a ski lift. The Expo Cultural Centre resembles a UFO!
Thailand’s contribution is a pavilion constructed as a temple while Brazil’s area looks like a bird’s nest, a tribute no doubt to the Olympic stadium in Beijing.
With limited time and long queues – up to 500,000 people on site each day – I limited my visits to regions and countries of particular personal interest.
China’s marquee exhibition area was the first on my list. Soaring 69 metres into the Shanghai sky – the tallest of any pavilion – and built like an inverted pyramid, the striking structure built to the theme ‘Chinese Wisdom in Urban Development’ was a definite highlight.
China Pavilion
Most impressive was a massive wall where a celebrated painting has been ‘animated’ to provide a unique insight into Chinese urban history.
Surrounding the China Pavilion are low rise buildings where 31 provinces from Anhui to Yunnan plus autonomous regions and municipalities stage their exhibitions but only until October 31.
The glittering curtain may come down that day but the show will definitely continue in Shanghai just as it has done for many generations.
One of my very favourite places to get an insight into the Shanghai of yesteryear is along the busy Bund.
Stroll along the 1.5 km long stretch of riverfront that makes up the Bund today and you’ll encounter more than 50 stately stone sentinels from the 1920s and 1930s.
The grandest of the grand is the massive Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Building. Built in 1923, the British at that time boasted that it was “the most extravagant construction ever erected in the region from the Suez Canal to the Bering Strait”.
British merchants operated from this building until 1949 when there was a change in government policy and philosophy.
Flowing in front of these architectural classics, the Huangpu River divides Shanghai into western and eastern segments.
The former is the area where Shanghai has grown from an insignificant fishing village to a world class metropolis with some 17 million residents.
The eastern riverbank, by contrast, was virtually neglected over the centuries although some warehouses, factories and facilities for river vessels were built. Beyond these buildings was swampy farmland, simple houses, dusty roads and grazing water buffalo.
The scene began to change in 1990 with the announcement of major plans to develop Pudong, or East Shanghai. Construction continues on infrastructure that is making the Pudong New Area bigger than Shanghai’s central city.
Despite the ongoing construction in what’s said to be the world’s fastest growing city there are already many eye-opening architectural masterpieces.
East Pearl TV & Radio Tower
Soaring 468 metres, the Oriental East Pearl TV & Radio Tower is the tinted pink glass landmark of this burgeoning sector of the ever expanding city.
Take the lift up this landmark building for an eagle’s eye view over the expanse of Expo City. Down below you will see all types of river craft plying the muddy Huangpu.
If Pudong is Shanghai’s ‘new baby’ then Nanshi is its ‘grandfather’. Contained within the city’s oldest district are several attractions. The most visited are the Yuyuan Gardens.
Built in the 16th century by a high-ranking official to honour his father there are 40 picturesque landscaped settings within 2 ha. of delicately landscaped gardens.
This is classic Chinese gardening at its finest with dragon spined walls, glazed porcelain tiles and an abundance of well-pruned plants and peaceful ponds.
Spring and autumn are not only idyllic seasons to see bursts of colour throughout these Ming period gardens they are also pleasant times to comfortably tour this cosmopolitan city.
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