Expo 2010 Shanghai China Night Vision

Disclaimer: I know it's March 2011 and these photos were all taken last year, 2010, but that does not mean I can't blog about them anymore. The way I see it, pictures/videos capture not the moment but the memory of the experience; it triggers back how you felt and what you saw... taking you back to that experience. ALL PHOTOS BY JI unless otherwise stated

When the sun sets, the Expo grounds turn into a LED spectacle. Most people would be in awe with all the lights.  If you have seen the movie AI - Artificial Intelligence, you would feel that you are in that time sans the rubles, flying cars, robots but the atmosphere was close. It's like the pre-Jetsons age!

China Pavilion

The icon for this particular Expo. I like it a lot, it has this look/feel of contemporary traditional design. I mean the elements of traditional chinese designs are still present even if the structure is very contemporary. I find it a good fusion.

China Pavilion

More of the Expo Grounds

Taiwan Pavilion

 Taiwan's Pavilion was fully-booked until the end of the Expo. From the outside you could see this "floating" globe that is an actual spherical screen it's so cool since it zooms in and out. Just imagine google earth on a spherical screen.

Taiwan Pavilion

Philippines Pavilion

I have to admit i was excited to enter our pavilion, okay it was more of "shoot i hope its something decent" the queue wasn't that bad, as soon as I entered I heard clubbing music, and we just missed the dance presentation, the crowd i think was 90% korean, which didn't really surprise me. It was a busy crowd and unlike most pavilion, ours was more of the merchandising, I guess we aren't really that technologically advanced like most countries so we just showcased our products.  And the main highlight of our Pavilion was the "Hilot" of course it was for free! Overall the Pavilion was alright, it passed. Maybe next time we should focus more on showcasing our natural resources, culture and tradition, the various lifestyles we live here in the Philippines, you know just so we can show the world how "rich" our country really is. Just thinking.

Philippines Pavilion

The following pavilions, I was not able to go in, just took a picture of the outside. The queues for these pavilions were ridiculously long although I am sure the wait was worth it, i still wouldn't wait since my time was restricted.

Portugal Pavilion

Portugal Pavilion

Latvia Pavilion

Latvia Pavilion

Estonia Pavilion

Estonia Pavilion

Serbia Pavilion

Serbia Pavilion

Spain Pavilion

Spain Pavilion

Germany Pavilion

Amazing architectural design from Germany, and to think this structure is temporary.

Germany Pavilion

France Pavilion

Why are the French so... classic? We all should learn from the french, I still have to see something french-made/inspired that is not elegant. I could be wrong.

France Pavilion

Romania Pavilion

Romania Pavilion

Sweden Pavilion

Sweden Pavilion

Expo 2010 Shanghai China part 2

Disclaimer: I know it's March 2011 and these photos were all taken last year, 2010, but that does not mean I can't blog about them anymore. The way I see it, pictures/videos capture not the moment but the memory of the experience; it triggers back how you felt and what you saw... taking you back to that experience. ALL PHOTOS BY JI unless otherwise stated

Continuation..

Vietnam Pavilion

Another personal favorite, I like how everything was made of wood, the rich wood color gives warmth and simplicity to this structure.

Vietnam Pavilion Exterior

Entrance/ Foyer

Vietnam Pavilion Interior

Exit/ Foyer Part

United Kingdom Pavilion

The United Kingdom Pavilion was also a crowd favorite, the queue for this was just horribly long. I personally don't find the structure that interesting during the day, but comes night time and its quite an attraction.

Back Part of the United Kingdom Pavilion

United Kingdom Pavilion from an Ant's View

This is the front view of the UK Pavilion, I don't see anything special with the cube structure

United Kingdom Pavilion Front View

But I saw pictures of it during the night. Since it was drizzling the night we were near the UK Pavilion, the LED lights were not turned on. Apparently those spiky things have LED lights on their tip, enabling the whole cube to change color. It's pretty cool.

Canada Pavilion

I am partial to this pavilion since I lived in Canada. I like how minimalist the structure is, its classic and massive hehe, the inside of the structure is pretty straight forward, nothing too fancy, just a ramp that goes into the main room I think its just functional, ergonomics played a key element in its design.

Canada Pavilion

Inside the main room, are several interactive activities, there are these bikes and hand pedals you would have to work for the super tall screen in front of you to play a movie. The movies are different each time since the playback depends on how hard you work the pedal. I worked quite a sweat.

Me, having a blast with the pedals.

Canada Pavilion Back View

Italy Pavilion

One of the busiest pavilions, what else can you expect from Italy? aside from being CLASSIC! I swear i wanted to cut in line just to get in the Pavilion, you can barely see what is inside from the glass, just a glimpse enough for you to want to get in.

Italy Pavilion

Luxembourg Pavilion

Whenever I hear this country, I am reminded that they have the highest GDP per capita meaning POVERTY does not EXIST here. I am guessing they have an abundance in steel since the entire structure was built from steel. I learned this the "HOT" way I accidentally touched the exterior wall and damn it was really HOT!

Luxembourg Pavilion

Luxembourg Pavilion Interior

Luxembourg Pavilion Back View

Brazil Pavilion

Nothing special with this pavilion, aside from the HOT BRAZILIAN GIRLS inside assisting but they were kinda uptight and timed everyone's stay inside. The music and the video presentation as really catchy though.

Brazil Pavilion

Expo 2010 Shanghai China

Disclaimer: I know it's March 2011 and these photos were all taken last year, 2010, but that does not mean I can't blog about them anymore. The way I see it, pictures/videos capture not the moment but the memory of the experience; it triggers back how you felt and what you saw... taking you back to that experience. ALL PHOTOS BY JI unless otherwise stated

EXPO 2010 SHANGHAI FACTS:

I won't go into details of the entire Expo, I will just be sharing our trip's highlights.

Just to give you an idea of how MASSIVE the entire Expo ground was, they opted to divide it into 5 different section, A,B, C,D and E having each sections subdivided as well.

Expo 2010 Site Image source: http://map.expo2010.cn/expoen/

2- number of new inventions presented in the Expo

5.28 - in sq. km the total area of the Expo Site   

246 Flags of Participating Countries

246 - Number of participating countries

22900 - number of events  held in the Expo

79965 - number of volunteers

73 - in millions, the number of visitors it had

The Expo had its own transportation system. Buses are scheduled to go around and have different routes.

They also provided a Ferry to cross to the other side of the Expo. All transportations are FREE.

Zone A Pavilions:
 Morocco Pavilion

Morocco Pavilion

The first Pavilion we entered, showcased the rich architecture of the country.
I wanted this to be my house.

Interior of Morocco Pavilion

Kyrgyz Republic Pavilion

Inside the Kyrgyz Republic Pavilion

Kazakhstan Pavilion

South Korea Pavilion

One of my personal favorites, but wasn't able to go in since it had a 3-hour waiting.

S. Korea Pavilion

To give you an idea how intricate the exterior of this pavilion was, see the photos below:

South Korea Pavilion Closer View

South Korea Pavilion

United Arab Emirates Pavilion

This particular Pavilion was another crowd favorite, I like how the structure is a Sand Dune.

United Arab Emirates Pavilion

European Countries to follow

Expositions

In my previous entry, I mentioned it was my Chinese friend who got me curious about the Expo 2010 Shanghai China and  the main purpose of our trip was to attend the Expo 2010, we initially planned to go to ALL the Pavilions especially that of China but to our dismay this was IMPOSSIBLE due to the long lines aside from that most of the best Pavilions were RSVP and were already fully booked till the last day

Expo 2010's Symbol the China Pavilion photo by: ji

World Expositions are galleries of human inspirations and thoughts; from my experience it is basically a showcase of countries' cultures, it gives a glimpse of how it is to live in that country (well at least for most of the Pavilions that I went in to).  The theme of the Expo 2010 was " Better City, Better Life",  most of the Pavilions, especially those of developed countries presented their ideas and inspirations of better living in future urban environments. You would be stunned of the presentation and amazed by the ideas and inspirations, it made me want to live in the future at that moment.


Facts:
1851,The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London held the very first Expo, it was commonly called "The Great Exhibition"

Image source: Wikipedia

1851- 1938: The first era World Expositions focused on trade and famous for the display of technological inventions and advancements from around the world

1889: Exposition Universelle. Each host of the Exposition has a main symbol, for this particular fair which was held in Paris, France the symbol is the Eiffel Tower which was completed in 1889.

Image Source: Wikipedia

1939-1987: Cultural Exchange - fairs were more strongly based on cultural significance and began to address the issues of humankind, exchange of solutions became defining elements of the expos.

1988- Present: Nation Branding - in Tjaco Walvis' "Expo 2000 Hanover Numbers" shows that improving the national image was the primary participation goal of the countries. ( based on my experience I think Expo 2010 showed elements from each era)

Expo 2010 Shanghai was open from May 1 to October 31, 2010.

Image Source: http://en.expo2010.cn/

The expected visitor for the entire duration was 70 million, according to wikipedia a total of 73,084,400 visitors were admitted to the Expo during the six-month run of the expo.

2012, Yeosu, South Korea will host the Expo with the theme " The Living Ocean and Coast" (as early as now I am saving for this trip, I saw the plans and scale model for this Expo and it looks promising.)

Image Source: http://eng.expo2012.or.kr/eng/preview/specialization_01.asp

Expo 2020, Manila, Philippines has expressed its intent to bid with the theme " Manila, Celebrating Light and Life" I kid you not! This kind of ticked me off err No more Comment


Will be posting my Expo 2010 Shanghai Experience next..