Shanghai in the Spotlight: World Expo Shanghai 2010

World expos have a 159-year history. The first expo was held in London in 1851 to show off the fruits of the first Industrial Revolution. Twenty-eight countries around the world received the invitation from Queen Victoria. The early expos were largely mass-market general fairs and there was nothing regular about their scheduling. That changed in 1933 when Chicago held a world's fair named the "Century of Progress Exhibition" that documented technological inventions and innovations. Ever since, the World Expo has been held every five years and each hosting nation has picked a clear theme. World expos thus evolved from "non-sales product fairs" or "achievement exhibitions" to "thematic expos" with exhibits revolving around one main theme.

Shanghai won the bid to host the Expo in 2002. After almost a decade of hard work to upgrade its infrastructure, Shanghai unveiled its grand international show -- the World Expo 2010 -- on the evening of April 30, 2010. Here are some facts about the expo 2010:

• Duration: May 1st to October 31st
• Expected Visitors: 70 million
• Size of Expo Grounds: 2.5 square miles, twice the size of Monaco and 20 times bigger than the last World Expo held in Spain's Zaragoza in 2008
• Cost: $4.2 billion, twice what China spent at the Beijing Olympics
• Number of Participants: 200 countries and international organizations
• Official Theme: “Better City, Better Life”.  The theme aspires to promote better living in future urban environments for all humankind.  The theme is timely as the UN predicts that by 2010 a majority of Earth’s inhabitants will be living in urban areas.  The Expo looks at urbanization, sustainable development, and other similar areas of interest for the international community.

References:  

Official website of Expo 2010 Shanghai China at http://en.expo2010.cn/

Taiwan panorama June 2010.