A national pride

EXPO MOVEMENT HONORED: Flags are hoisted during the World Expo opening ceremony on April 30 night (FAN JUN)

While the Chinese people proudly see the opening of the Expo, media and people from other countries regard it as a symbol of China's importance on the world stage.

"I think the Expo in Shanghai will have a very positive effect in terms of promoting China, and lead China to new heights," said Ellis McArdle, a 21-year-old student of the State University of Vermont in the United States. He lived in Shanghai when studying in China last year and saw the buildings being constructed on the Expo site with his own eyes.

Kyle Patrick Long, an American student at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, said he plans to visit the Expo later this year, partly for fun and partly to complete his master's degree dissertation on an Expo-related topic. "I personally think it is a very exciting event as I am interested in world cultures, as well as in China's ability to put on world-class events and fast, massive, infrastructure upgrades," said the 25-year-old.

Denmark's DR2 TV channel said the Expo motivated the world's countries to showcase themselves in China.

In Milan, the Chinese community was extremely proud of China as Shanghai opened the gates to the Expo that underscores the Chinese financial center's comeback as a major world city.

"I couldn't watch the ceremony live because I was working, but I knew about it and felt very proud of being a Chinese," Qu Jiankang, a 35-year-old worker, told Xinhua News Agency.

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao newspaper, which covered the Expo on its front page, said in an editorial that Shanghai's hosting of the international event is another symbol of the Chinese people's renaissance and indicates the rise of China's national power.

The media and business community in Pakistan hailed the Expo. Almost all Pakistani TV channels reported the Expo or broadcast the opening ceremony live. TV "Express 24/7" described the Expo as the world's largest-ever festival which will attract millions of people from around the world.

Raphael Hokororo, the Tanzania Information Services Assistant Director, called the Shanghai Expo a good opportunity to promote exchanges and enhance understanding among all countries.

"The Expo will help further open China's market to African products, and Chinese products to enter the African markets," Hokororo said, hailing China's support for African countries and the deepening African-Chinese partnership.

Some overseas Chinese in the United Arab Emirates watched TV broadcasts of the opening ceremony and spoke highly of the Expo.

Zhang Huizhan, a senior leader of the Chinese community in the Arab country, said overseas Chinese have the duty to introduce the Shanghai Expo to their foreign friends so that they can better understand the great changes China has witnessed in the past three decades of reform and opening-up.

Opening days

EARLY BIRDS: The Shanghai expo site opens its door to welcome the first batch of visitors on the morning of May 1

"Our operation in the first three days has been stable and orderly," said Hong Hao, Director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, at a press conference on May 3. "But we have been improving our services to tourists since the Expo started, on the basis of media reports and suggestions from the public."

May 1, the first day of the Expo, was the Labor Day, beginning a three-day public holiday for the Chinese. On that day, visitors flooded into the Expo site from every corner of the city as well as neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Some also flew in from the northern cities of Beijing and Tianjin.

According to figures from the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, a total of 207,700 people visited the Expo on its opening day.

Huge crowds of early visitors flooded to the site, beginning the line-up for safety checks at the entrances even before the 5.28-square-km park was formally opened in the morning. Many took campstools and simple meals, and were prepared for a long and stressful day. Throughout the day, long queues stood outside popular national pavilions, like those of China, Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UK, Italy, South Korea and Spain.

While many Chinese chose the crimson-colored China Pavilion, one of the few permanent structures in the area, as their first destination, few would miss the opportunity to see the Little Mermaid in the Denmark Pavilion, the Golden Lady in the Luxembourg Pavilion and other treasures that have arrived in China for the first time. The China Pavilion has become so popular that all individual visitors must obtain an advance reservation ticket at the Expo site entrances. The tickets are distributed to the early visitors who queue for up to three hours at the entrances before the Expo site opens in the morning.

The hustle and bustle is nothing surprising for many Chinese, who, growing up in a country with a population of 1.3 billion people, are used to long queues and jostling for anything that is scarce—such as a train ticket during the holiday travel rush.

On May 2, a scorching sun brought Shanghai's daily high temperature to above 30 degrees Celsius. The pavilions of the Shanghai Expo welcomed 215,000 visitors, most of whom put up parasols or retreated to shelters to cool down themselves in the extremely uncomfortable heat. Only 132,000 people visited the Expo on May 3, a sharp drop compared with the previous two days. During these two days, many visitors complained about having to queue unsheltered under the sizzling sun in front of some of the most popular national pavilions and a total of 46 visitors were sent to receive medical treatment for heatstroke.

Hong said at a press conference on May 3 that the organizers had adopted various measures to provide people with relief from the heat, such as opening more shelters, using water mist sprayers, turning on air-conditioning in the venues, broadcasting tips to prevent heatstroke and distributing anti-heatstroke medication at some reception desks across the site.

Hong also promised that more shelters and drinking supplies would be installed and cooling facilities would be well maintained. "The aim is to guarantee a comfortable visiting experience before the extreme heat approaches in July," said Hong.

A total of 550,000 people visited the Expo during the three-day Labor Day holiday, equivalent to approximately 180,000 visits per day, which is only about half of the expected daily volume of 400,000 people. Without a future increase in visitors, the 184-day event would welcome only 33.12 million tourists, a far cry from the expected 70 million.

While some people expressed their concern about a less-than-festive gala, the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination is generally optimistic about achieving its preset goals. It said the only reasons for a slow start were the sudden rise in temperatures and fear of holiday crowds.