Three-Day Tour Tips for the Shanghai Expo 2010 (excerpt)

Day One

Arrive at the passageway on Yaohua Road at 8:30 a.m. After entering the Expo Site at 9 a.m., book a visiting time for the China Pavilion on the booking machine at the entrance.

• Morning: Expo Center – Theme Pavilions

Individual visitors need to book a visiting time for each pavilion themselves. Bring your ticket and ID card. You can use a booking machine, 200 of which are placed at the entrances and exits of the Expo Site, to book the time and get a booking receipt. Group visitors who have already made arrangements through tour agencies can skip this step.

After the booking is done, the first visiting day starts. Walking down the Expo Axis to the end, you will find Celebration Square, the venue for the Expo's daily grand opening ceremony. Then you can visit the Expo Center, the venue for the opening ceremony of different national pavilions; if you're lucky, you might spot national leaders or celebrities there.

After the Expo Center, take a look at the four Theme Pavilions: the Urbanian Pavilion, Pavilion of City Being, Pavilion of Urban Planet, and Pavilion of Public Participation.

• Noon: Catering Center on the Expo Boulevard—Culture Center

At lunchtime, you can enjoy delicious food in the Catering Center on the Expo Boulevard between the Expo Center and the Theme Pavilions.

After lunch, you might be interested to see some performances in the Culture Center, where the China National Song and Dance Ensemble will present two free shows daily.

• Afternoon: China Pavilion—China's Joint Provincial Pavilion—Israel Pavilion—Saudi Arabia Pavilion, etc.

After seeing the performances, you can go to the China Pavilion.

Now it's around 1:30 p.m. It's time to queue up for the China Pavilion, which will take at least 45 minutes in line. Remember, just be patient.

After entering the pavilion, take the lift 49 meters up to the top floor, where a glass floor overlooks the lobby. The famous Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is on this floor; the people in the 100-meter-tall picture can move and act through hi-tech devices. Then, go down to the next floor at 41 meters, where you will experience a train trip; the next floor down, at 31 meters, focuses on introducing China's future low-carbon cities.

There are also the joint provincial, municipal and regional pavilions, each of which takes up an area of 600 square meters and has various features. The next stop after that is the Hong Kong Pavilion and the Macao Pavilion. In the Macao Pavilion, you can even lie down on the floor to watch films showing on the ceiling.

Don't leave the pavilion area after visiting the China Pavilion. Instead, walk east to visit the nearby Oman Pavilion, Pakistan Pavilion, Israel Pavilion and Sri Lanka Pavilion after a short break.

Across the street, you will see the pagoda for Buddhist relics (over 1,000 years old) in the Nepal Pavilion. Then you can visit the India Pavilion next door, as well as the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, which was constructed with the largest investment among all the foreign pavilions.

The next stop is the Morocco Pavilion, which looks like a large glass box. There are also two leasehold pavilions—the Turkmenistan Pavilion and the Qatar Pavilion—for you to check out. Then you will see the "Sand Dune," the United Arab Emirates Pavilion.

At sunset, take a break and have some food. By the way, the tap water within the Expo Site is safe and drinkable, and a catering store is never more than a five-minute walk away.

• Evening: Lebanon Pavilion—Iran Pavilion—DPRK Pavilion—Japan Pavilion—Republic of Korea Pavilion

Take a walk in the beautiful evening and stop by the Lebanon Pavilion, Iran Pavilion, DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) Pavilion, Uzbekistan Pavilion and Kazakhstan Pavilion.

Then walk across the road to visit the Japan Pavilion and the Republic of Korea Pavilion, both of which really deserve a look. Between them you can also see the Vietnam Pavilion and Asia Joint Pavilions.

Now go back along the Expo Boulevard to the Culture Center—you may run into the parade along the way. End the first day of your visit at Celebration Square, where the Site's closing ceremony is held each night.