Shanghai World Expo ends today

Flags near the entrance to the World Expo site

Today the World Expo in Shanghai, China ends its six-month run.

I visited the Expo in May and that trip felt like a one-day tour around the world.

Not even the intermittent rains during that visit prevented me from savoring the sights and sounds of various countries, many of which would have been almost impossible for most people to go to, mainly due to financial constraints.

The Expo brought me closer to countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and Egypt.

In a way, it served as my link to distant places.

However, I wasn’t able to see all of the national pavilions because one day wasn’t enough to explore the more than five-square-kilometer Shanghai World Expo site.

That’s actually larger than two Monacos.

Pavilions from Africa

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Pavilions from the Americas

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Pavilions from Asia and Oceania

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Pavilions from Europe

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10/10/10 reminds me of 08/08/08

Bird's Nest

Today is October 10, 2010 or 10/10/10, and I’m reminded of 08/08/08 or August 8, 2008, the day the Beijing Olympics opened.

I wasn’t there during the event itself, but the following year I was able to visit the Bird’s Nest, where the opening ceremony was held.

I saw it sometime in May 2009 though, and not on 09/09/09.

Behind me is the Water Cube and around my neck is a fake Olympic gold medal

Shanghai is “Shanghai-lier” the second time around

The first time I visited Shanghai was in April last year, but I didn’t really consider it a trip because our main destinations were Beijing and the nearby Great Wall of China.

Shanghai served as the connection between home and the Chinese capital. (See post about train trip between Shanghai and Beijing)

We did explore Shanghai, but we concentrated on these attractions: the Bund, Pudong, Nanjing Road and People’s Square. It was a hasty tour.

This year, we were able to relax, and visit more places, in Shanghai because it was our one and only destination.

I appreciated Shanghai more after that second visit.

Yuyuan Garden, where you can see excellent examples of Chinese art and architecture

Xintiandi, where you can see Paris-style sidewalk cafes

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, a pit stop in The Amazing Race 16

Nanjing Road at night, with its colourful neon signs

2010 World Expo, arguably the biggest event in China since the 2008 Beijing Olympics

One of the national pavilions at the 2010 World Expo

The Philippines comes to Shanghai

 

It’s a place like no other in Shanghai, China: the clothes, the food, the language, everything there was so familiar to me. 

But of course, it’s the Philippines Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. 

It seemed I had cut short my trip to Shanghai and returned to the Philippines right away. 

Clothes 

 

The “I am Ninoy, I am Cory” t-shirts reminded me of the victory of Senator Noynoy Aquino in the May 10 Philippine presidential election. 

Noynoy is the only son of Ninoy and Cory, both of whom are considered icons of democracy in the Philippines (Read my post about the death of Cory last year). 

Food 

Travel Cafe Philippines offered (surprise, surprise!) Filipino food. 

I was quite relieved to eat familiar food, because I’m not really gastronomically adventurous. 

The food was a bit pricey though. 

Everything in the picture below (plus the drinks that aren’t seen) cost 160 renminbi or about 23 US dollars. I know a place in Shanghai where a delicious and nutritious meal for two persons only costs 25 renminbi. 

 

Well, it’s okay. How many times would I get the chance to eat Filipino food in Shanghai? 

Language 

I encountered absolutely no language barrier while ordering food. 

The young worker told my mother that she's from Quezon City

The people working at the Travel Cafe were Filipinos. Probably only one of them wasn’t, and up to now I still have this feeling that she just made fun of me. 

 

Elsewhere inside the pavilion, the Filipino word “hilot” (traditional Philippine massage) was displayed prominently. It was something that my legs really needed at the time. 

 

At the World Expo 2010, the Philippines is indeed in Shanghai. And many visitors are coming to see what it’s all about.

Three national pavilions make Shanghai World Expo even more colorful

I didn’t see all of the national pavilions at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai but of the pavilions that I did see, I consider the three below the most colorful: 

1. Angola Pavilion 

Angola is a country in southern Africa, bounded on the north by the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), on the east by Zambia, on the south by Namibia and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. 

 

The Angola Pavilion and my mother

2. Serbia Pavilion 

Serbia was a part of the former country Yugoslavia, in Europe’s Balkan peninsula. 

 

3. Belarus Pavilion 

Belarus was one of the 15 republics that composed the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

Shanghai brims with World Expo signs

Haibao outside the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

I doubt that there’s a square kilometer of land in Shanghai that doesn’t have an Expo sign.

Such signs are ubiquitous; you can even see some on the ground.

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World Expo visitors brave rains to enter Germany Pavilion

The Germany Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010

I would have lined up to enter the Germany Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 had the line been a little shorter.

But the line never got shorter. New people seemed to replace the ones who had already gained entry into the pavilion.

The Germany Pavilion was like a “blockbuster movie” at the Shanghai Expo. Even the bad weather didn’t prevent visitors from waiting for their turn to see what’s inside.

Sigh.

If I had had the time, I would have really lined up to enter the pavilion during my visit to the Shanghai Expo site. Never mind the long line and the bad weather.

Around the world in one day: Shanghai World Expo 2010

I was able to embark on a trip “around the world” during my visit this month to the Shanghai World Expo 2010, which opened on May first and will close on the last day of October.

I spent only less than a day at the Expo, but it was more than enough time for me to catch a glimpse of the culture of many countries.

All for the price of 160 renminbi, or 23 US dollars.

China Pavilion (from Asia)

Nigeria Pavilion (from Africa)

USA Pavilion (from North America)

Brazil Pavilion (for South America)

Russia Pavilion (from Europe)

Australia Pavilion (from Australia)

Selection of pictures explained

It would be tedious to post here the pictures of the pavilions of all countries, because there are hundreds of them. Besides, I don’t have pictures of all of the national pavilions.

For simplicity, I chose a pavilion to represent each continent. The most populous country in the continent represents that continent. That’s my sole criterion.

Even though Russia is both a European and an Asian country, its pavilion was chosen to represent Europe instead of Germany’s because Russia has more people than Germany.

I’ll just write a separate, short blog about the pavilion of Germany, the most populous exclusively European country.

Shanghai is not just all about tall buildings

Nestled amid the high-rise buildings in Shanghai is the People’s Square, which, according to a tourist map, is the “political and cultural center” of the largest city in China.

I found three structures there really interesting not because of their height, but because of their unusual architecture: the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Municipal Hall and the Shanghai Grand Theater.

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Municipal Hall

Shanghai Grand Theater

Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year fall on the same day in 2010

In Shanghai, China. Pic taken in April 2009, two months after the Chinese New Year

Both Valentine’s Day and the first day of the Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 14.

I do recognize that not everyone cares about Valentine’s Day and not all people are Chinese.

But I’m sure there are many people who are really looking forward to celebrating the Day of Love.

And more than a billion of this planet’s inhabitants are Chinese. Add to that number those who are not Chinese, but follow some Chinese traditions.

Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China

How would people who have both characteristics spend that day? Especially the ones in China itself?

I can already see lots of fireworks.